Travel Insurance

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Dear Globetrotter: 

Photo submitted by Katherine Shindel

"I bought this necklace and earrings from this very talented woman in Nuku'alofa, Tonga, in February 2020. (South Seas pearls are cheaper than Tahitian pearls.) I can't imagine all the hours she put into it."

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Dear Globetrotter:

Welcome to the 538th issue of your monthly worldwide travel magazine.

Following is an excerpt from a letter submitted by Linda Vogel of Pomona, California:

"I had a happy experience with the travel insurance company Generali Global Assistance (San Diego, CA, 800/874-2442; www.generalitravelinsurance.com), from whom I had purchased insurance for a March 30-April 22 tour of Algeria, Tunisia and Malta that was subsequently canceled due to COVID-19. ..."

My husband, Alan, and I wanted to go to Romania and Bulgaria in April 2020, so in October 2019 we went onto Vacationstogo.com and selected an Emerald Waterways (www.emeraldwaterways.com) river cruise from Bucharest to Budapest, planning an early arrival in Bucharest. We paid $11,970 for the two of us, purchasing our hotels and air separately.

We, being seniors, bought travel insurance, in this case with Generali Global Assistance (800/874-2442, www.generalitravelinsurance.com) through Vacations To Go.

The Caribbean island country of Jamaica introduced compulsory health insurance for all foreign visitors, called Jamaica Cares, on Nov. 1. The insurance will cost $40 per person and cover up to $50,000 in medical expenses in Jamaica. The health insurance cost will not be waived for those who have separate travel insurance.

The premium will be charged at the time the traveler fills out his travel authorization form, required before anyone can enter Jamaica. Travel authorizations can be filled out by visiting www.visitjamaica.com/travelauthorization.

Anyone traveling to Portugal can buy nationally sponsored travel insurance that includes coverage, with restrictions, for full medical care, emergency medical evacuation and repatriation as well as, unlike most insurers’ policies, coverage when a trip provider cancels or interrupts a trip because of COVID-19. (A traveler canceling or interrupting his own trip due to fears of COVID-19 will not be covered.)

For some years now, I’ve been recommending post-departure travel insurance policies, also known as zero-trip-cost policies or (as I coined it) “Betty James policies.” These policies eliminate the expensive trip-cancellation/interruption coverage but provide all of the other benefits of a full-feature policy, including overseas medical and emergency-medical-evacuation coverage as well as coverage for baggage loss, trip delay, etc.

Recently, some travel insurance companies eliminated the zero-trip-cost option.

In my March 2019 column, I made the following statement regarding a type of overseas emergency-medical-evacuation insurance policy offered by Divers Alert Network, or DAN (Durham, NC; 800/446-2671, www.diversalertnetwork.org), and their “membership” coverage: 

“I no longer recommend this type of coverage because, in case of a medical emergency, it will take you only to the nearest appropriate medical facility, and there is no provision for medical costs. If I had a medical emergency overseas, I’d definitely like to have medical coverage.” 

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Dear Globetrotter: