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Adventure Travel Insurance

 
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ldhr

Since 21 Jul 2009
1470 Posts
Hood River
XTreme Poster



PostWed Jan 02, 19 10:29 pm    Adventure Travel Insurance Reply with quote

I've been lucky with my international travels - I've never been injured or required emergency help.
I have some upcoming trips and I think I'd like emergency insurance.
Backcountry skiing from a hut in British Columbia - in case of emergency where we might need a helicopter rescue and medical coverage.

Anyone have first hand experience and can provide recommendations?

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tkaraszewski

Since 21 Oct 2016
41 Posts
Hood River
 



PostThu Jan 03, 19 5:37 am     Reply with quote

Check and see what your existing health insurance covers, mine covers 100% of emergency services obtained outside the US.

My company (the company I work for, not a company I own) uses Global Rescue (https://www.globalrescue.com/) to cover employees when abroad. They are a rescue/evacuation service that will get you from anywhere in the world to a major hospital, providing private helicopter service if required.

They're not the cheapest service, but they seem top notch, and something like this is especially useful if you're in a part of the world where you can't rely on government services to get you out of trouble (Canada's not really one of these places).

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Chipotle

Since 26 Mar 2011
70 Posts

 



PostThu Jan 03, 19 9:57 am    insuremytrip.com Reply with quote

insuremytrip.com is a really great site for this. You can filter plans based on coverage, location, type of sport, etc. I used to get it for every trip, but now I have an annual policy with allianz global which pays for itself after 2 trips.

I have never had to use the insurance, so can't comment on the claims process/etc. But I find the site very easy to use, plans reasonably priced, and other user feedback is all positive.

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jasonq

Since 12 Jan 2009
242 Posts
hood river
Stoked



PostThu Jan 03, 19 11:21 am     Reply with quote

ditto on insuremytrip.

I have also never used it, and my work coverage is also supposed cover medical evacuation, but the cost for a couple people for a couple weeks is cheap, and i figure if the shit hits the fan, having a person to call who is with a company that deals with this on a regular basis is worth it. vs trying to figure out who to contact to arrange an medical evac.

just make sure you pay attention to things like buying the action sports waiver.

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ldhr

Since 21 Jul 2009
1470 Posts
Hood River
XTreme Poster



PostThu Jan 03, 19 1:32 pm     Reply with quote

thank you!
FYI - I checked with them and they do not cover transport from a mountain rescue site....
or a beach rescue site.

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Joshiebaby

Since 14 Oct 2007
569 Posts
Vancouver, WA
Addicted



PostThu Jan 03, 19 6:05 pm    allianz bad expereince Reply with quote

This is a bit of a rant but here goes...

So I'll start by saying that the whole situation was pretty screwed up. My uncle was in Uganda working out in a small town and ended up needing an appendectomy. His appendix burst. He was transported to the capital city.

Fortunately (or unfortunately rather) he had an allianz health policy. Allianz insisted that there was adequate health care in the capital city and that he was going to be okay. I called the embassy and they said that they don't even do simple dental work in country and that they would 100% fly their people out of the country for the simplest procedures. Once I advised my dad of what was going on he jumped in a plane and went to go see my uncle.

I was going through airline training so I was unable to go, but my brother went with my dad. By this time, my uncle had gone through 2 surgeries (despite us telling them NOT to proceed with the second surgery via allianz who concurred with the assessment but failed to stop the surgery).

The place the surgery was done was using shared gowns and didn't have soap. It took a lot of threats and two people in country to get Allianz to pay up and get him medivac'd to South Africa where fortunately he made a full recovery. Allianz insisted that they had a "healthcare professional," which had inspected the facility and that it was up to standards... What standards I don't know.

When the medivac finally arrived my dad had to put down his credit card (7k the transaction barely went through due to failing signal on the CC machine) to pay the bill so they could get my uncle out.

I was on the phone non-stop recording calls with the insurance company and when I told them that I was calling from Ohio (a one party consent state) and had been recording all their calls they finally got him outta there. I think my comment that, "these are gonna play awesome to a jury when my uncle is dead and you should have medivac'd him out a week ago."

Now every once in a while I sent a text that says, "Hey remember that time that we saved uncle dave?" It's amazing to look back on now but I'd really like to see that company go under. Wouldn't trust them with a thumbtack.

Again sorry for the rant can't even proof read this I loath that company so much. DO NOT TRUST THESE GUYS. Sure it was one of the worst places in Africa you could ever get sick but they were so hesitant to spend money--if we hadn't had family on the ground advocating for him and reporting real life conditions he would be dead. Any other company would have handled this better once they heard from the Embassy but these guys really drug their feet.

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Chipotle

Since 26 Mar 2011
70 Posts

 



PostThu Jan 03, 19 6:14 pm    I'm sorry Reply with quote

Sorry to hear about your experience. I've been fortunate to never need to use any of my travel insurance policies. But I fully assume that when I do, it will most likely involve lawyers.

I used to guide cycling tours in Europe. Two years ago one of my older male clients developed a UTI in Italy. After a few visits to the doctor, they decided they needed to go home. Allianz flew him and his wife home business class to help with the pain. I think they even refunded some of his tour costs.

There are different levels of insurance. Some cover medical only, some cover trip cancellation/modification. I'm not sure what your uncle had, and it really doesn't matter because the situation sounds bad.

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dwaynej

Since 09 Sep 2013
207 Posts

Stoked

CGKA Member


PostThu Jan 03, 19 7:59 pm     Reply with quote

DAN has a good reputation in the scuba community. Their medical evacuations plans can be purchased for families...

https://diveassure.com/en/home/?pid=7073&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIu_jOjJ7T3wIVNx-tBh3W1QiwEAAYASAAEgJUrvD_BwE

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ldhr

Since 21 Jul 2009
1470 Posts
Hood River
XTreme Poster



PostFri Jan 04, 19 8:13 am     Reply with quote

thanks everyone!
I decided to join the American Alpine Club which includes rescue insurance.
My regular health insurance includes coverage in Canada and Mexico.

Interesting - back in the 90's I was in Costa Rica and one of my group broke their wrist.
We went to the nearest hospital ER.
100% free - no charges, even for American visitors.

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james

Since 17 Apr 2018
24 Posts

 



PostFri Jan 04, 19 10:57 am     Reply with quote

I used dogtag.com for my trip to La Ventana after reading about it on Bowen Dwelle's blog, but it was really expensive.

Check this out as well (paragliding focused): http://www.cloudbasemayhem.com/unscrambling-insurance-are-you-covered/

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