Travel Insurance: What You Need to Know Before You Go

When you buy travel insurance, a financial safety net for unexpected events during a trip. Also known as trip protection, it doesn’t just cover stolen cameras or missed flights—it can pay for emergency medical transport, hospital stays abroad, or even a medical escort service, a trained professional who accompanies patients during travel for health-related reasons if you’re recovering from surgery or managing a chronic condition. Most people think it’s about delays. But if you’re traveling with health risks—especially older adults, pregnant people, or those with mobility issues—what you really need is coverage that includes patient transport, the movement of individuals who require medical supervision during travel from airport to hospital, or home after discharge.

Here’s the thing: standard travel policies often exclude pre-existing conditions, or cap medical coverage at $50,000. That’s not enough if you need a medevac from Europe back to Australia. Some policies don’t cover medical travel assistance, services that coordinate care, transport, and communication during health-related travel at all. And if you’re booking a trip while managing something like Alzheimer’s, diabetes, or recent surgery, you need more than a basic plan—you need one that explicitly includes medical escort services and 24/7 emergency medical coordination. Many families don’t realize this until they’re stranded in a foreign airport with a loved one who can’t walk, can’t speak clearly, or needs oxygen. That’s when insurance becomes critical—not as a luxury, but as a necessity.

What you’ll find below are real stories and practical guides from people who’ve been there: how to choose a policy that covers medical escorts, what questions to ask your insurer before booking, how to avoid being denied care because your plan says "non-emergency transport" isn’t included, and why some travelers end up paying thousands out of pocket because they didn’t check the fine print. You’ll also see how medical escort services work in practice—what they do, who provides them, and how they connect with insurance claims. Whether you’re planning a quiet getaway with aging parents or a business trip while managing a health condition, this collection gives you the tools to travel safely, without surprises.