Best Pandemic Travel Insurance and Evacuation Membership Plans Of 2022

COVID-19 isn’t going away. And while staying home might be the safest thing to do, it’s not sustainable. Right now, I think there’s a heightened awareness of vulnerability. combined with a pent-up demand for travel. Travel insurance combined with evacuation memberships are a great way to find some middle ground! This post will focus on Travelex, Medjet Horizon, and Covac Global.

Why Insurance, Medical Evacuation Memberships, and Covid-19 Memberships are Important

My family of four are all fully vaccinated and we will continue our travels (taking calculated risks and thoroughly researching destinations) because that is what is best for our mental and emotional wellbeing. One of the precautions we take, outside of buying refundable airfare, is investing in insurance and evacuation memberships. It’s very important to consider the benefit of both of these, especially if your trip includes adventurous activities, visits to remote locations, or if everyone in your group is not vaccinated. It allows you more flexibility if things don’t go your way! Families in particular will have to navigate traveling with a mix of vaccinated adults and unvaccinated children.

COVID positive travelers are not currently authorized to be transported via commercial flight, so any transportation would need to be completed via a medical repatriation flight. Without further fanfare, I am providing a breakdown of my go-to coverage plans for you.

The Breakdown of Travelex, Medjet, and Covac Global According to Calling All Explorers

*Please do your own research before moving forward with any insurance or membership purchase!

Trip-Specific Insurance via Travelex (Travel Select Plan)

• A Travelex insurance plan can provide coverage for trip cancellation if you or a traveling companion test positive for coronavirus and must physically quarantine as a result, as certified by a physician.
• My favorite optional add-on allows you to cancel for any reason. The Cancel For Any Reason upgrade must be purchased with your initial plan and within 15 days of the initial payment made for your trip.
• Additionally, if a non-traveling family member is diagnosed with coronavirus and a physician determines that it is life-threatening or they require your care, you will be eligible for coverage.
• Finally, if a business partner tests positive for the coronavirus and you must cancel your trip to assume daily management of the business, you are eligible for trip cancellation coverage. This must be certified by a physician to receive coverage.
• If you or a traveling companion contract coronavirus while traveling, and it is diagnosed by a physician, you could be eligible for trip interruption, trip delay, emergency medical, and medical evacuation coverage.
• The Travel Select plan offers up to $500,000 in coverage for emergency evacuation and repatriation of remains and up to $50,000 for emergency medical and dental expense.
• This plan does not allow you to choose the hospital for treatment and requires that transportation to the nearest adequate facility be medically necessary.
• Coverage for a pre-existing medical condition is also available if you purchase the Travel Select plan within 15 days of the initial trip payment.
• Travelex Insurance recently launched its new Travel On mobile app, which provides travel advice, risk rating, and security alerts for your destination.

Medjet Horizon Membership (private jet evacuations should you fall ill abroad)

• Short-term and annual memberships available.
• Hospital to hospital medical transfer for members at least 150 miles from home regardless of medical necessity.
• Covid -19 transports from both domestic and international destinations. Pay attention here: transports are only from hospital to hospital. You must be hospitalized to be eligible to be transferred.
• Medjet will not transport other family members if someone in your party contracts Covid-19, even if they purchased the membership. A quick phone call revealed that they will make exceptions for minors.
• All-expenses-paid air medical transport in the United States as well as internationally.
• Emergency medical cash advance (up to $60,000) to pay upfront hospital fees. Many out-of-country hospitals require upfront cash payments.
• Medjet can neither break nor override a government-ordered (U.S. or “host country”) quarantine or border closure. Ongoing restrictions in some areas and required permit processing may significantly delay transport service timing.
• 24/7 travel security response and evacuation services due to political threat, terrorism, natural disaster, pandemic, and violent crime.
• 24/7 crisis response to kidnap for ransom, disappearance, wrongful detention, blackmail, and extortion.
• And if you really want to get dark, transfer of mortal remains.
• Memberships start at $184 for a short-term membership or $444 for an annual membership.

Covac Global Covid-19 Membership

• This membership will provide air transport home if you were to test positive and have one self-reported symptom while traveling abroad without the burden of hospitalization requirements.
• Self-reported symptoms can include but aren’t limited to: fatigue, headache, fever, or chills.
• $1,000,000 USD in transport benefit
• Covac will transport members to a hospital of their choice or directly home depending on their needs.
• They will transport the other family members who purchased the membership if someone in the party contracts Covid-19 IF there is space (99% of the time).
• About 85% of evacuees are returned home, while the rest need hospital attention.
• Covac Global members must purchase their membership at least 14 days prior to departure or provide Covac Global with a negative PCR test within 7 days of departure.
• Restrictions:
  • Countries that have an active government-mandated stay-at-home order
  • Traveling on a cruise ship (greater than 25 cabins)
  • Having a large-scale public gathering be the sole-purpose of your tip
• Country Restrictions (updated on Covac Global’s website every 10 days
• Individual membership starts at $825 for a 15-day trip or $2,920 for an annual membership.

Bottom Line

In an ideal world, a traveler would have travel insurance, medical membership, security membership, and a Covid-19 evacuation membership for all applicable trips, but you have to weigh cost, benefit, and the probability you will need each individual coverage based on location, activities, and current health.

Keep in mind that the medical evacuation coverage you get with most travel insurance is very important. Travelex Insurance will get you to the nearest hospital for emergency treatment and stabilization. The problem with only having insurance coverage is that if the hospital you land in is capable of treating you, they want you to remain there.

Medical repatriations are expensive, and companies do not want to incur that cost unless it’s absolutely and medically necessary. This is where Medjet and Covac Global come in.

With Medjet Horizon, once you’re stable, you get to decide if you want to stay in that hospital or be moved to one at home. With the Covac Global Covid-19 membership, all you need is a positive test and one self-reported symptom to be flown home and transported to your hospital of choice or personal residence. Medjet and Covac Global are not insurance and little paperwork is involved. Their role is to pay for everything related to transport.

I currently have Medjet Horizon coverage for both me and my family. I also purchase Travelex insurance on a trip-by-trip basis. While the annual Covac Global fee doesn’t make sense for my family, I may look into it for longer trips if my destination doesn’t offer lodging for travelers in quarantine and if the cost of a forced quarantine in a location (including the cost of additional time out of the office and kids out of school) outweighs the Covac Global minimum coverage period cost of 15 days.

Let’s Talk Numbers

For a family of four, the current annual price for Medjet Horizon covering both international and domestic medical transfer, security, and crisis response is $578. A 15-day Covac Global Covid-19 membership for a family of 4 is $2,565 and an annual Covac Global Covid-19 membership for a family of four is $9,500. I didn’t get into it because this article is already too long, but Covac Global also offers medical and security memberships. The annual cost for a Covac Global Covid-19 membership for a family of four including Covid-19 membership, medical membership, and security upgrade is $12,597.

Biggest Difference Between Medjet and Covac Global

The biggest difference between Medjet and Covac Global, in my opinion, is that Covac Global provides fully indemnified evacuation and repatriation memberships for Covid-19, medical emergencies and security crises, with no requirement that the member be hospitalized at the place of injury or illness. Covac Global will also transport the other family members that purchased the membership if someone in the party contracts Covid-19 or is injured (based on the package). Medjet will not transport healthy family members under the same package unless the member is a minor, at which point they will do everything in their power to make sure a guardian can travel with them.

In Summary

Now you have the numbers and information to start the discussion with your travel partners to figure out what is best for you. My family is traveling to Scotland this summer, but because we have a friend’s place to quarantine in if things go south, we won’t be buying Covac Global Covid-19 coverage. If one of us is hospitalized, then the affected member is covered by Medjet Horizon. Moving forward, I will definitely look into increasing coverage on a trip-by-trip basis.

Happy Travels! It’s always best to plan for the worst and hope for the best. Of course, working with a great specialist is also key. Not only will he/she help you realize your perfect trip, but he/she will also be on top of changing travel mandates and can pivot quickly should things go sideways.

Disclaimer: I’m not a licensed travel advisor nor do I work for Travelex, Medjet, or Covac Global. The information found within this post is based on research, opinion, and personal experience, and is intended as such. Insurance restrictions/options are updated on a regular basis, please do your own research.

This article has been updated with new information since its original publish date.