When planning a trip abroad, there’s a lot to think about. After finding the right destination, booking flights, accommodation and activities, you’ll eventually find yourself looking for travel insurance. As someone who regularly travels abroad to climb and ski, it was important for me to find a travel insurance company who covers these adventurous activities. When I began looking at different options, it became clear that TuGo was the preferred choice amongst my circle of friends. And as if that wasn’t enough, here are a few more reasons why I chose TuGo.
Why do you need travel insurance?
Accidents can happen anywhere, even when you least expect it. As soon as you’re away from home, you may be responsible for all or some of the costs of a medical emergency. Buying travel insurance lets you rest easy, knowing that if you woke up sick on vacation or got injured that you wouldn’t have to fund all the hospital bills yourself. Some countries may require proof of travel insurance before admitting and treating you in hospital, while others may even require it prior to issuing your visa. While I’ve been lucky so far and haven’t had to use my insurance, it remains an essential part of all my trips.
Adventure Sports Coverage
One of the hardest things for me to find in travel insurance is coverage for rock climbing, ice climbing, and skiing. These activities are often excluded or broken into several subcategories, which can limit what you can and can’t do on vacation. TuGo provides a clear list of activities that are covered at each level of their sports add-ons: Adventure Sports, Extreme Sports, and Contact Sports. I find the Adventure Sports optional coverage allows me to travel with confidence, knowing that I’m covered while doing the things I love most. I especially like that I can climb or ski without hiring a guide, and I can even work as an instructor in those fields. Take a look at the different activities covered here.
Trip Cancellation and Interruption Insurance
Trip cancellation insurance will reimburse the non-refundable portion of your trip in the case of an unexpected cancellation due to certain circumstances. I was required to purchase round trip flights prior to applying for both my Japanese and Chinese Visa. While I was optimistic that my Visa applications would be successful, I purchased trip cancellation insurance just in case. If my application had been denied, I had the reassurance that I wouldn’t have lost everything that I had spent on airfare.
Easy to buy and extend
Each travel insurance plan I purchase from TuGo is fully customizable to what I need for my trip. The website is easy to navigate and leads me step-by-step as I build my package. There are numerous medical and non-medical options to pick from, and each one includes a brief summary, which makes it easy to understand what I’m purchasing. If my plans change and I want to stay somewhere longer, it’s easy to extend my insurance. During my 2017 trip to Yosemite, I extended my plan twice from my original two-week stay to nearly two months. Each time I extended my plan, the friendly staff at TuGo made this a simple process, requiring nothing more than a quick phone call.
Accidents can be costly
While skiing in Japan, one of my friends fell and cut himself with the edge of his ski. The injury required a visit to the hospital and a couple stitches. Thankfully, he purchased travel insurance, which covered the cost of his hospital visit. Another time, a friend of mine hit a tree, and was sent to the hospital with a concussion. Once again, her travel insurance covered the cost of that visit. I’ve also had friends who’ve flown off of mountains in the US while climbing, due to sickness and injury. They would have been left paying thousands of dollars if it hadn’t been for their travel insurance. Of course, there may be instances where travel insurance claims for winter sports get denied, so it’s best to keep informed!
After everything is said and done, do your part and don’t forget to purchase travel insurance for your next trip! You never know when you could end up needing it.
Travel safe and keep adventuring,
Amanda
