Tag Archives: medjet

Wendy's son, Charlie via ferrata at Whistler, British Columbia

Travel Insurance and Emergency Assistance: How to Protect Yourself

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If you don’t start thinking about travel insurance until you need it, chances are it’s already too late. For example, did you know that many benefits only kick in if you purchase your plan soon after paying the first deposit for a trip?

For our WOW Week 2024 Travel Talk on February 8, we brought in experts to discuss how to prepare for travel curveballs, from surprise injuries to natural disasters to political unrest, and how to minimize your risk, both financial and medical. Joining us were Stan Sandberg, co-founder of travel-insurance comparison site TravelInsurance.com, and Sheri Howell, from air-medical-transport and crisis-response provider Medjet. Check out all we learned from Stan and Sheri in the video below.

4 top takeaways

Some plans are more generous than others about covering pre-existing medical conditions. Most insurance policies will not cover pre-existing conditions unless you purchase them within a week or two of your first trip payment. However, a few plans have now extended this window to up to 24 hours after your final trip payment. You can filter for such policies when you do a search on travelinsurance.com.

Annual travel-insurance policies are on the rise. Historically these policies have only covered medical expenses, but some now also provide trip cancellation and interruption protection. Those benefits typically only cover $5,000 or so; if your nonrefundable trip costs are higher than that, you’ll get more complete coverage by purchasing individual policies for each trip.

Tread carefully on the gangways. River cruises are a surprisingly common source of travel accidents. Sheri explained that the vessels’ gangways are smaller and less sturdy than on ocean-going ships; the wake from a passing boat has been known to sweep travelers off their feet—and straight into the hospital.

A Medjet membership protects kids studying abroad. Family memberships cover two adults, plus up to five children until age 19, or until age 23 if they are full-time students. Members are  covered anytime they are at least 150 miles away from home, even when not traveling together.

Links to Useful Resources

How to Buy Travel Insurance: What It Covers, When You Need It

What Medical Evacuation Coverage Do You Need?

“Cancel For Any Reason” CFAR Travel Insurance: What It Is and How It Works

 

Be a smarter traveler: Sign up for Wendy’s weekly newsletter to stay in the know. Read real travelers’ reviews, then use the black CONTACT buttons on Wendy’s WOW List to reach out to the right local fixer for your trip.

Brook posing above Lysefjord with snowy mountains in the background.

Live Answers to Your Travel Questions: Join Us on Zoom for WOW Week 2024, February 5–9

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UPDATE: WOW Week 2024 is now over. Thank you all for joining us! We have posted the Zoom recordings below, in case you missed any talks or want to share them with your friends. Stay up to date by signing up for our newsletter. 

 

 

This year is shaping up to be another huge one for international travel.  We’re seeing more travelers booking trips farther in advance than in past years, as well as travelers taking more family and friends along.  Based on these bigger groups locking more trips in place earlier— especially to Western Europe—we’re predicting that Europe’s iconic locales, from Italy’s Amalfi Coast to the Greek island of Santorini, will be packed again this year, and that peak season will extend from May through early October.  Sadly, we’re not seeing any relief from the sticker shock that grew out of the post-pandemic demand for travel, what with Europe’s summer season coinciding with events such as the Olympics in France in July, the G7 Summit in Puglia, Italy, in June, and Taylor Swift concerts all over the U.K. and Europe from May through August.

Not to worry:  We’ve got solutions, and Brook (pictured above in Norway in November) and Hannah and I, plus special guests, will be sharing them during WOW Week, February 5-9, when we’ll host a Travel Talk every day at 7 pm EST.  Bring your burning questions!

NOTE: If you have trouble signing up for our Travel Talks, make sure you have a free Zoom account that is associated with the email address you are using. 

 

 

Where and When to Travel in 2024

Monday, February 5, at 7pm EST

Last year broke travel records, and you should expect—and prepare for—more records to fall in the year ahead. Wendy, Brook, and Hannah reveal what’s shaping up for 2024: opportunities to take advantage of, challenges to zap, and the coolest under-the-radar places, off-season values, foodie experiences, and more.

WATCH THE ZOOM RECORDING

 

South America Now: Smart Choices and Good Value

Tuesday, February 6, at 7pm EST

Wendy and Brook explain why the continent should be on your list for 2024, and WOW List experts for South America share what’s new, what’s best, what you haven’t thought of, and how to ensure your trip goes smoothly.

WATCH THE ZOOM RECORDING

 

Successful Family Travel in 2024

Wednesday, February 7, at 7pm EST

WOW List experts with the latest intel for maximizing your travels and minimizing stress—in Europe, North America, the Caribbean, and beyond—will share solutions. Learn how to keep everybody in your travel group happy, whatever their ages or conflicting needs and interests. Bring your questions!

WATCH THE ZOOM RECORDING

 

Travel Insurance and Emergency Assistance: How to Protect Yourself

Thursday, February 8, at 7pm EST

Learn how to prepare for the unexpected, from surprise injuries to natural disasters to political unrest. Experts explain and simplify how to minimize your risk, both financial and medical, and they’ll take your questions live, so bring your list of what’s been perplexing you!

WATCH THE ZOOM RECORDING

 

Take Better Travel Photos with Your Phone!

Friday, February 9, at 7pm EST

Photojournalist Tim Baker (a.k.a. Mr. Wendy Perrin) reveals simple tips to help you take much better travel photos with your smartphone–better action shots, group shots, food shots, night shots, video, and more. Tim’s advice is device-agnostic: Apple and Android users welcome!

WATCH THE ZOOM RECORDING

 

A big thank-you to our WOW Week sponsor, Medjet:

Medjet is a global air medical transport and travel security membership program that can give travelers greater peace of mind. Their sponsorship enables me, Brook, Kristine, and the rest of our growing team to spend time answering your travel questions (via our Get a Personalized Trip Recommendation feature) and finding the smartest trip-planning specialists for you (see Wendy’s WOW List).

Don’t miss this special WOW Week discount:

Medjet is offering our WOW Week audience an exclusive discount of up to $50 off New Medjet Annual Memberships. The deal is available from Monday, February 5 at 9am EST till Monday, February 12 at 5 pm EST. You can learn more about Medjet and get the deal by clicking the red button below. 

GET THE DEAL

 

This Cyber Monday Sale Will Give You Peace of Mind in 2024

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Wherever I go, it gives me great peace of mind to know my family and I will be covered in a crisis.  Even before the pandemic and recent events in the Middle East, travelers would often ask us about how to protect themselves.  First I point them to our article How To Buy Travel Insurance: What It Covers, When You Need It.  Then I tell them that if they really want peace of mind, they should consider this emergency assistance membership program that goes beyond what regular travel insurance provides:

If you should end up in a hospital far from home—with a complicated bone fracture, a Covid diagnosis, or any other reason—Medjet will get you back home to the doctor you trust and the hospital near your family and friends, saving you many tens of thousands of dollars. (Not every assistance program will transport Covid-positive members, but Medjet will.)  Medjet offers crisis protection too: If during your trip you feel that your safety and security may be threatened—because of a political threat, terrorist attack, natural disaster, or other crisis—they will come to the rescue with access to 24/7 security experts, and evacuation if necessary.

So I thought you’d want to know that on Monday, November 27—for one day only—Medjet is putting its annual memberships on sale again (this time with their largest discount ever: $60 off individual annual memberships, and $90 off family annual memberships). Memberships bought during the sale can be activated later, which means that you can take advantage of the deal now even if you’re not traveling until later in 2024.

CLICK TO THE SALE ON NOVEMBER 27

If you have any issues accessing the sale pricing,
you may call Medjet at 1-800-527-7478
and reference “Wendy Perrin Cyber Monday”

 

Not sure which membership is right for you?  Personally, mine is a MedjetHorizon family membership, so that my children are protected too—even when they travel without me—and so that we’re covered in a crisis such as a terrorist incident or natural disaster.

This sale is for new memberships only, so if you’ve already got one for yourself, consider gifting one. After all, it’s a gift you’d want to get.  I plan to give some as holiday gifts. In fact, I’ve already collected this enrollment info from the giftees. (And I plan to have their enrollment packages sent to my address, so I can give them as a physical gift, rather than spoil the surprise!)

Want to speak with a real live human being?  While it’s a cyber sale in theory, human beings at Medjet will be happy to answer your questions—not only on Cyber Monday but every day of Thanksgiving week except Thanksgiving Day and Sunday.

Full disclosure: Medjet is a sponsor of WendyPerrin.com. But that’s because I use their services myself and believe in them. And their sponsorship is another thing for us all to be thankful for: It enables me, Brook, and the rest of our team to spend time answering your many travel questions and finding the savviest trip-planning specialists for you.

Wherever we end up—such as Wadi Rum in Jordan—it gives me peace of mind to know my family is covered.

Protect Your Trip—and Your Health—in 2023

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Baffled by travel insurance and evacuation assistance? You’re not alone. So for our WOW Week 2023 Travel Talk on January 25th, we brought in experts to demystify these seemingly complicated topics, and to help you understand how you can (and can’t) protect your health and your financial investment. Joining us were Sheri Howell, from air-medical-transport and crisis-response provider Medjet, and Stan Sandberg, co-founder of travel-insurance comparison site TravelInsurance.com.

3 top takeaways

  • Buy insurance as soon as you’ve committed to a trip. To get the full benefits of a comprehensive insurance policy—including, in many cases, coverage for any pre-existing medical conditions—you must buy it soon after you’ve made your first trip payment. Don’t wait until your trip is just around the corner to start shopping for insurance.
  • Insurance just gets you to the nearest adequate medical facility. The medevac coverage in your insurance policy is crucial for getting you to a hospital in an emergency. But only a membership-based medical-transport program will then bring you to your hospital of choice back home.
  • Covid is now treated like any other illness. Unlike at the start of the pandemic, Covid is now covered by most insurance policies: You will be reimbursed if you have to cancel your trip because you test positive before you leave, and your medical bills will be paid if you need treatment abroad.

Links to Useful Resources

How to Buy Travel Insurance: What It Covers, When You Need It

What Medical Evacuation Coverage Do You Need?

“Cancel For Any Reason” CFAR Travel Insurance: What It Is and How It Works

 

Be a smarter traveler: Sign up for Wendy’s weekly newsletter to stay in the know. Read real travelers’ reviews, then use the black CONTACT buttons on Wendy’s WOW List to reach out to the right local fixer for your trip.

How to Protect Yourself and Have Peace of Mind When You Travel

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It may feel like the pandemic is over, but if you are planning a trip, there are specific things you need to do in order to protect yourself. In this talk, experts from the fields of health, travel insurance, and emergency assistance tell you how to prepare.

The WendyPerrin.com team was joined by experts on Covid medicine, travel insurance, and travel emergency assistance:

  • Dr. Timothy Triche, Professor of Pathology at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine
  • Stan Sandberg, Co-Founder of travel-insurance comparison site TravelInsurance.com
  • Sheri Howell, Vice President of air-medical-transport and crisis-response provider Medjet

 

(6:40) What travel insurance covers and does not cover during this stage of the pandemic

Stan Sandberg of Travelinsurance.com explains what travel insurance covers these days (Covid and otherwise), plus the ins and outs of successfully protecting your investment.

(23:14) The health tools we have for managing Covid concerns when we travel

Dr. Timothy Triche, Professor of Pathology at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine, lays out the tools we have to combat Covid when we travel, including why you still want to wear a mask on planes—and which type of mask.

(39:29) Getting yourself home if you run into trouble during a trip

Sheri Howell of Medjet—the membership program that provides global air medical transport, travel security, and crisis response—talks about how and when travelers who are stuck abroad can get home, how Medjet handles members who contract Covid, and how Medjet responds to a security threat or other crisis.

(52:20) Wendy and the experts take questions from the audience

The panelists field questions including how to get medical treatment overseas, whether it’s possible to obtain antivirals ahead of travel, the ideal timing for buying insurance before a trip, and whether Medjet has any age or geographic exclusions.

Read more

 

5 Testing Tips for an Easy Return Flight to the U.S.

Getting a Covid Test Abroad is Easy

How to Get a Quick Covid Test for Travel

How to Buy Travel Insurance: What It Covers, When You Need It

What Medical Evacuation Coverage Do You Need?

“Cancel For Any Reason” CFAR Travel Insurance: What It Is and How It Works

Traveler Reviews of Pandemic Trips Arranged by WOW List trip-planning experts

Wendy’s Travel Advice for 2022

New Nonstop Flights To Make Your Travels Easier in 2022

CDC Covid Tracker

Worldometer Coronavirus cases/deaths/recoveries counter

Covariants.org: An overview of Covid variants

 

Two Travel Sales I Recommend for Cyber Monday

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In 25 years as a travel journalist, I’ve found two best ways to make a trip safe and stress-free:  (1) Maximize every moment by using the right local fixers.  (2) Minimize every risk by using the right emergency assistance program.  So I thought you’d want to know that Medjet, which protects travelers from a range of risks—including terrorism, natural disasters, and questionable foreign hospitals—is having a Cyber Monday sale, Monday November 27 only, with discounts of $50 to $100 off memberships.

Years ago, shortly after I had children, a Condé Nast Traveler colleague gave me the gift of a Medjet membership. She said that, now that I was a parent, I couldn’t risk something happening to me overseas and not being able to get home to the kids. That Medjet membership brought me peace of mind all over the globe—and today I’ve upgraded to a family MedjetHorizon membership, so when the kids travel with me, they’re protected too. If you’re looking for the right gift for the traveler in your life, consider keeping them safe this way.

While you’re cyber shopping, also check out this extraordinary business-class and premium-economy airfare sale offering 60% off flights to Asia.

As for maximizing every moment of your next trip, read the trip reviews below to see what I mean, then peruse more traveler reviews to get even more trip ideas for 2018.

The truth about Travel Warnings

Watch: This Is How to Interpret Travel Warnings

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One of the biggest mistakes I see travelers make, over and over, is to unnecessarily cancel a trip or rule out a country because they’ve misconstrued a U.S. State Department travel advisory. A Travel Alert does not mean don’t go. And sometimes that’s true for Travel Warnings too. Right now there are Travel Warnings for 45 countries, ranging from war zones that should be avoided (e.g., Syria) to places that millions of people travel to safely every year for blissful relaxation (e.g., Mexico).

Last week, the U.S. State Department updated its Travel Warning for Mexico. According to State Department officials, this was a routine update. Still, the info that crime has increased in 2017 in areas including the states of Quintana Roo (where Cancun, Tulum, and Playa del Carmen are) and Baja California Sur (where Los Cabos is) is making the travel news rounds.

The reality is that most of the conflicts have been between rival criminal organizations and have not involved travelers. The Travel Warning acknowledges this, stating: “There is no evidence that criminal organizations have targeted U.S. citizens based on their nationality. Resort areas and tourist destinations in Mexico generally do not see the level of drug-related violence and crime that are reported in the border region or in areas along major trafficking routes.”

At Journey Mexico, the trip-planning company run by Zach Rabinor, the Trusted Travel Expert for Mexico on my WOW List, the staff has offered an in-depth explanation based on their first-hand, on-the-ground experience. They write, “It is important to note that, again, these conflicts and any related violence have not and are not targeting holiday travelers.  There has been no violence against tourists within hotels or resorts or traveling to or from any of the main tourist attractions in the area.” They also remind travelers that “Many areas of Mexico, such as the popular state of Yucatan and city of Merida, and throughout the Central Highlands in destinations such as San Miguel de Allende and Mexico City, have no travel warnings at all.”

Yes, you should be careful, but you should also keep these warnings in perspective.

Most countries are a lot like the one where you live: safer in some parts, unsafe in others. Just because Mexico has dangerous parts (e.g., border areas), it doesn’t mean you should avoid others that are hundreds of miles away. I took my own staff to Playa del Carmen in January of this year to host a summit with my WOW List travel specialists from all over the world, and we all felt safe the entire time. Would you avoid Beverly Hills because of terrorist shootings in San Bernardino (which is only an hour away)?

This video will help you quickly understand and act upon travel advisories. I shot it last year when I was in another country for which there is a Travel Warning but which tens of thousands of tourists visit safely each year. Can you guess where? Here’s a clue:

Wendy and a new friend in Cartagena, Colombia, last month.

Wendy and a new friend.

Transparency disclosure: Our sponsor, MedjetAssist, provided the financial support that made it possible to bring you these travel tips.

Be a smarter traveler: Use Wendy’s WOW List to plan your next trip. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.

Wendy Perrin on a cruise ship

Watch: How to Choose the Right Cruise

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People who say they wouldn’t be caught dead on a cruise have either never tried one or chose the wrong ship. There is an enormous variety of vessels and itineraries (including expedition ships, freighters, and yacht charters), but it’s vital to choose the right one for you, the first time. In this video, shot during my latest cruise, I lay out key factors to consider, as well as the pros and cons of different ship sizes and itineraries.

If you’ve got an additional savvy tip for picking the right cruise, by all means post it in the comments below. I may include the tip in an upcoming article featuring your advice! And if you’d like me to personally recommend the right cruise for your specific travel goals and needs, click to Ask Wendy.

Transparency disclosure: Our sponsor, MedjetAssist, provided the financial support that made it possible to bring you these travel tips.

Be a smarter traveler: Use Wendy’s WOW List to plan your next trip. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.

Watch: How to Protect Yourself From Zika Virus and Mosquito Bites

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Recently, health officials confirmed that the Zika virus is being actively transmitted by mosquitoes in Miami Beach, Florida. That’s the latest destination in a list of popular U.S. vacation spots—greater South Florida, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands—that have recently reported transmissions of the virus.

Experts are learning new information about the Zika virus every day, and the CDC is sharing that information online at cdc.gov/zika. There you can find up-to-date details on transmission, risk factors, mosquito control, as well as geographic listings and a map of where cases have been reported.

As we’ve stated here before at WendyPerrin.com, travelers who are thinking about pregnancy (along with those who are already pregnant) should not visit destinations where the virus is spreading. The illness has been reported in both men and women, and is known to be transmitted by mosquito bites, sex, blood transfusions, and from a pregnant woman to her fetus.

But as I’ve also stated, the rest of us should not let panic determine our travel decisions. The truth is that mosquitoes have been carrying nasty diseases for centuries: dengue fever, malaria, yellow fever. And nearly every country has mosquitoes. If we were to stop traveling to places with disease-carrying mosquitoes, we’d have to stop seeing most of the world and build a bubble around our own backyards. What’s more, as I explained to journalist Scott Mayerowitz in his recent article for AP News, “the rest of us should be careful not to focus so much on avoiding Zika that we choose a destination that puts our health at greater risk, whether from mosquitoes carrying other diseases or from another cause such as tainted water.”

It’s always important—not just in Zika-affected countries, but everywhere there are mosquitoes—to protect yourself. Here’s how my family and I did it in the rainforest along the Panama Canal. (While Panama is a Zika-affected country, we did not see or feel any mosquitoes during our time there.)

Wendy and her family, in mosquito-resistant clothing, in the rainforest of Panama last month.

Wendy and her family, in mosquito-resistant clothing, in the rainforest of Panama in April 2016.


Transparency disclosure: Our sponsor, MedjetAssist, provided the financial support that made it possible to bring you these travel tips.

Be a smarter traveler: Use Wendy’s WOW List to plan your next trip. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.

 

Watch: How to Make Family Trips Fun

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Dear fellow parents: I feel your pain. Traveling with kids is one of the biggest challenges of parenthood. My kids have been to 30 countries, and if I had a nickel for every meltdown in an airport line, every toy left in a hotel room, every time Charlie took a permanent marker and made a mural out of Doug in the back seat, every time a jet-lagged child woke me up at 2 a.m. announcing “I’m tired of sleeping now!”… I’d be rich enough to hire a nanny to watch the kids while I travel alone.

But that’s not the answer. Because even though taking the kids can mean inviting chaos, it also means carving out the time and space to reconnect as a family and create priceless memories. And it’s a great way to raise global citizens.

Plus, it can be fun. Honest. In this video, I show you how. Charlie and Doug even have cameos, as they were plane-spotting in the Caribbean with me when we shot this.

doug sint maarten airplane landing

For more hard-earned family travel tips, check out my 10 Keys to a Peaceful Family Vacation. And here’s advice from children themselves—because sometimes they come up with the most kid-friendly travel solutions:

What to Know Before Booking Your Family Cruise

How to Get Your Child to Try New Foods When Traveling

How to Save Time and Tantrums in Amusement Parks

How to Keep Your Kids Happy on a Cruise

Why You Should Sleep In a Museum

How to Have a Kid-Friendly River Cruise

doug charlie sint maarten airplane landing

 

Transparency disclosure: Our sponsor, MedjetAssist, provided the financial support that made it possible to bring you these travel tips.

Be a smarter traveler: Use Wendy’s WOW List to plan your next trip. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.