Why Travel Insurance Is Important For Everyone, Regardless Of Your Health

Have you ever wondered why a healthy traveler with no pre-existing conditions would need to have travel insurance? Please keep reading because this story will give you some insight that might change the way you look at your own trips from now on.

Last month, just a few days into our Scenic Eclipse cruise to Iceland and Greenland, a guest started feeling pain in his side after a hike. Must be a pulled muscle, right? Our cruise continued on, and within a couple of days, we reached the most remote area we could be in, the eastern coast of Greenland, planning to move quickly south and west to avoid incoming bad weather the next day. By this point, the guest realized that his worsening symptoms were more than a pulled muscle and visited the medical clinic onboard, where a doctor and nurse are on staff. He was diagnosed with a ruptured appendix, a life-or-death situation that requires surgery within a matter of hours. The medical staff alerted the captain that medical evacuation was necessary. The medical staff, the captain, and the rest of the crew worked throughout the night with Greenlandic and Icelandic authorities to make it happen.

Our ship had to turn around and head into the weather, with 6-meter swells, to reach the closest island with an airstrip, maybe 8 or 9 hours away. (Side note: The stabilizers on the Eclipse are amazing, and there was minimal seasickness among guests.) The ship’s onboard helicopter - not normally allowed to fly in Greenland - was used to transfer him from the ship to the airstrip, where he was transferred to a medevac plane from Iceland and flown to Reykjavik for surgery. He spent a few days in the hospital there, then was required to spend a few days at a hotel in Reykjavik before being medically released to fly home. Thankfully, his surgery was a success and he is back safe and well at home, recovering nicely.

Back to insurance…. Think for a moment about the financial impacts if he had NOT had insurance. Fortunately, Scenic requires insurance with emergency evacuation coverage for their polar voyages such as this. This incident was exactly why. This person was healthy and had no reason to anticipate a medical issue during the trip. But that good health did not help him avoid a life or death medical emergency. It could happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. THAT is why you travel with travel insurance, my friends.

In this case, in addition to covering evacuation and medical costs, the insurance company assigned representatives to help guide the guest and his spouse through the entire process - from evacuation to medical treatment to hotel rooms to home. They stayed in contact, ensuring the patient received the proper medical care in an unfamiliar country. They made sure to check on the spouse as well and ensure she had what she needed, even inquiring about her personal well-being during this stressful and difficult experience. This is why I emphasize service over pricing when it comes to travel insurance. It may look good now to pay the bottom rate for the cheapest insurance. But will that company be there when you really need them to come through?

If you think your regular insurance covers you, verify that. Check that they will not only cover your medical costs if you need care out of your home country, but that they will cover any emergency evacuation costs that you might incur. It doesn't have to be a remote polar region - you can be on a ship in the Caribbean, but if you need immediate medical care, you may need to be medically evacuated. Many policies, including Original Medicare, do not currently cover international medical care or evacuation. Don't just assume yours will.

The decision whether to purchase travel insurance for a trip is entirely yours. But please, don’t ever use the excuse that you are healthy and won’t get sick. Do you have car insurance, even if you’re a good driver? Do you have property insurance, even if your home is well-built? Start looking at travel insurance the same way.