With all of the travel restrictions with COVID-19, we wanted to share some thoughts from the experts at Mission Nation on how you can best prepare for upcoming trips.
Mission Nation has over 200 years of combined experience working with traveling medical teams. They’ve worked through all kinds of travel crises, and they have put together a list of tips while traveling in this new COVID-19 era:
- Use a travel agent that can assist you in emergency situations and will track your travels while you are abroad. Keep their contact information with you and expect to have to use it.
- Do not book online fares during this period. Airlines will refer you back to an online carrier for help you need or should have from the airline or your travel professional.
- Multiple checks on travel requirements for destination and transit points leading up to travel date. This is a team effort. If you have information from your sources on the ground, it is very helpful to share with the travel agent. Things are changing rapidly.
- Pack properly with a two day supply in a carry on bag. Bring extra meds should you be quarantined.
- Plan your Covid testing options ahead of time.
- Many sites are not performing tests without symptoms in the US
- FDA approved home tests for SARS COV-2. https://www.emed.com/products/covid-at-home-testkit-six-pack
- Plan for testing before return flights. This can be challenging.
- Buy insurance that will help with Covid related costs.
- Trip delay, interruption, medical and evacuation costs can be substantial
- Recent group trip to GUA turned into an extended 14 day ordeal at airport hotel awaiting release. Hotel and meals costs were upwards of $2500 each person.
- Other insurance suggestions:
- Under the Emergency Medical Expense Benefit: Emergency medical expenses for an insured who becomes ill with COVID-19 and requires medical treatment while on their trip.
- Under the Emergency Medical Evacuation Benefit: Transportation to a higher level of care for an insured when their condition is acute, severe or life threatening as a result of contracting COVID-19 while on their trip. Transport must be authorized as medically necessary by the attending Physician and our Program Assistance Provider.
- Prepare to be flexible
- 40% of all tickets issued for international travel in the past 6 months have had to be reissued due to airline schedule changes.
- Once you accept a free change when schedule changes do occur, airlines will charge you to change to the flight added next week with a better schedule for you!
- Airline schedule changes are occurring daily.
- Sign up for State Department STEP program for travel abroad.
- Do NOT use split ticketing options.
- Due to significant schedule changes, using multiple tickets on an itinerary can bring unforeseen costs to changes on one ticket while the other had schedule change.
- Laminate a copy of your vaccine card, shrink to wallet size. Keep a couple copies as well as a photo of it on your phone.
Feel free to use the COVID-19 resources available on Mission Nation’s website.
https://www.missionnation.com/covid
