How to find travel insurance?
How to choose travel insurance?
When you are planning your program abroad trip, it is important to think about your protection while you are abroad. Things do happen and you should be prepared for the unexpected. A lot of study abroad companies offer travel insurance as a part of their program package which you, as a student, don’t really have to worry about. But if you are going to intern abroad or volunteer abroad on your own it is best to take the precautionary steps to avoid unwanted consequences. Travel insurance is just one of those things that will not cost you a fortune and will keep your protected when needed. At Link To Diversity we are dedicated at searching for best deals for students and travelers like you and this is why we created our website.
 What to do first?
The first thing that you should do is create a good and clear plan. Planning your program abroad is one of the crucial steps that you should take to be able to save thousands of dollars! It is always a good idea to check your current medical insurance policy and see if it is valid outside your country. There is a high likelihood that it will not cover any outside of the country costs. This is exactly the reason why you need to purchase travel insurance when you are participating in a program abroad. A simple accident can create lots of problems for you and increase your costs which you want to avoid. There are lots of travel discount cards, student IDs, and other identity cards that carry a basic travel insurance coverage with it. So do your research and find out what suits best your situation.
How to choose the right type of travel insurance?
First you need to choose the right type of insurance which will largely depend on the details of your program abroad. For instance, if you are going on a short 2 week or 4 week Volunteer Abroad trip, your travel insurance need will differ from when you are going to Study Abroad. Duration is one of those factors that will affect your choice a lot.
There are three basic kinds of travel insurance that you should know about:
- Trips up to 90days (short-term travel insurance) best for volunteer abroad trips
- Trips up to 1 year (long-term) best for international internships and study abroad programs
- Trips more than 1 year is generally for individuals who work abroad
Most likely you will deal with first and second types listed above.
What should your travel insurance cover?
A general rule of thumb: the more coverage you get the more you end up spending. Decide what matters the most to you while being abroad and put together a list of “must have” items. Here we included some of the most basic and needed items that should be on your list:
- Medical coverage which usually covers emergency costs like transportation and hospital treatment
- Dental coverage is a rare feature and is only intended to serve in extreme dental emergencies. Clean-ups and check-ups usually are not covered
- Luggage and other belongings coverage is a good thing to have in case something happens to your stuff while abroad or traveling
- Cancellation coverage is also a good thing to have. Sometimes things come up and your trip might get cancelled or delayed. When you have this coverage you will be insured against unexpected circumstance such as a weather disaster or a strike
- Emergency evacuation coverage is great to have especially when your volunteer abroad trip is in a politically unstable country or weather –disastrous area
- Personal liability coverage is good to have if you are notorious to break things and damage other people’s property
- Legal assistance and translation services can be very helpful when something goes wrong while you are abroad
Watch out for unusual circumstances!
Unusual circumstances are things to look out for as they can get very expensive! A lot of the items listed below are items that most likely will not be covered by your travel insurance and are considered exemptions:
- Pregnancy is one of those things that you can’t control when travelling, but it is your responsibility to plan your program abroad accordingly. If you are fifth – sixth months pregnant it is probably a good idea not to travel. This way you will save money and will have a much healthier stress-free delivery
- If you already have some kind of medical condition, please make sure that you have all the medications that you might take with you on your intern abroad or study abroad trip. Make an appointment with your doctor and get all prescriptions ahead of time. Make sure it is also enough for you to get by while you are abroad. Also check with your airfare provider on restrictions and rules. Know that most likely your prior medical condition is not going to be covered under your new travel insurance plan
- Extreme sports while abroad. When you go abroad one of the things that you will find yourself doing during your free time is travelling, extreme sports, and site-seeing. Know that if you get hurt during rock climbing, skydiving, scuba diving, bungee jumping, etc. are probably things that are not cover because they are dangerous in its nature
- Mental or physical disability might not be covered under your travel insurance plan but it always doesn’t hurt asking and researching a bit about it
Choose the right travel insurance policy!
Find a couple of different travel insurance providers and compare them against each other. Compare the following items between them to be able to come up with a good decision:
- Price - but don’t treat it as a most important factor! Look at the value provided rather than price. You can save in a short-run but you might end up paying much more in the long-run if you don’t have a good insurance coverage
- Educate yourself about premium and deductibles and how it works
- Compare what it included and what is not included in your travel insurance policy! These are important items that we talked about above
And don’t forget to use your insurance when necessary! Use it wisely and you will have less stress!
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