As someone who’s been to 41 countries and counting, let me tell you: The one law that applies in every country is Murphy’s Law.
From medical emergencies to missed connections, lost passports to getting arrested for reasons unknown, all sorts of crises can arise during travel.
That’s why some travel insurance providers include a perk called “emergency assistance,” which is a 24/7 hotline you can call for support and guidance during times of crisis.
These teams can help you rebook flights, locate the nearest hospital, arrange emergency transportation, find lost items, and even transfer your medical records from back home.
It’s a massively underrated and underutilized perk that could one day save your life while you’re abroad.
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Browse policies with 24/7 global assistance. - World Nomads
Comprehensive support for emergencies abroad plus concierge help. - Allianz Travel Insurance
Coverage for emergencies like evacuations and repatriations.
What Is Travel Insurance “Emergency Assistance”?
Emergency assistance is a feature of certain travel insurance plans that grants access to a 24/7 hotline that can provide advice and referrals while you travel.
The team of experts on the other end can help with anything from rebooking a flight to arranging emergency medical transportation, and their services are usually complimentary.
While it can vary by provider, most emergency assistance teams can help with:
- Referrals to local hospitals and physicians
- Translation and interpretation
- Emergency legal assistance
- Cash advances for medical bills
- Assistance with the replacement of medical equipment or prescriptions
- Locating lost or stolen items (including your passport)
- Transfer of insurance information and medical records
- Message delivery to family back home
- Rebooking flights and other travel arrangements
To give a real-world example, let’s say you trip on the streets of Medellín and crack your tooth. If you call emergency assistance right away, they can help you:
- Find a qualified local dentist
- Arrange transportation to get there
- Translate your symptoms for non-English-speaking staff
- Transfer your medical records from your dentist back home
- Notify your family and travel companions
- Preauthorize each of these expenses with your travel insurance provider
Each of these tasks might be difficult on your own — especially while you’re dazed and dealing with throbbing tooth pain.
Even still, not every travel insurance provider on the market offers emergency assistance. Some only include “concierge services,” which aren’t quite the same thing.
Emergency assistance vs. concierge services
Sometimes a travel insurance plan or a travel rewards card will offer concierge services but not emergency assistance. You’ll want to know the difference before you embark on your trip.
- Concierge services are like travel agents. They can help you find a rental car, reserve a table at a nice restaurant, and recommend things to do around town, but in the case of an emergency, their ways of assisting may be limited.
- Emergency assistance is more like travel 911. The team can assist in a far wider range of scenarios, including translation and interpretation, rebooking a flight, arranging emergency medical care, replacing a prescription, and tracking down lost items.
Granted, some emergency assistance lines also provide concierge services. World Nomads, for example, can help you book a hotel before you leave — or find a hospital once you get there.
But on the flip side, Chase’s concierge service only provides, well, concierge services. They can help you build out a travel itinerary, arrange transportation, and schedule a gift delivery, but their scope beyond that is limited.
What qualifies as an “emergency”?
I called Allianz Travel Insurance, which has a robust emergency assistance program, to ask what truly qualified as an “emergency” they could help with.
“I would call us any time you need help,” said an Allianz Travel rep. “Flight rebooking, translation, destination assistance, legal help, pet care, you name it. If you need help, call.”
But what are the limits of, say, translation and interpretation services? Could I call emergency assistance to help me translate my dietary restrictions to a restaurant?
“Yes. And translation services happen live over the phone.”
Of course, emergency assistance can’t help with absolutely everything. They can’t help you trade stocks or test your Thai curry to make sure it’s not too spicy.
What Services Does Emergency Assistance Provide?
Emergency assistance can provide a wide array of services, possibly more than you might think (I was certainly surprised by a few of them).
From wheelchair replacement to bail money, dental referrals to pet services, here’s a list of services emergency assistance commonly provides — though, as always, it varies by plan and provider.
Medical transportation arrangements
If you become seriously ill or injured while abroad, emergency assistance can help arrange transportation to get you to the nearest qualified medical facility.
If the doctor there decides that you need to be transferred somewhere else, emergency assistance can help arrange that, too.
Even though it might take slightly longer than hopping in the next available cab, asking emergency assistance to arrange transport for you comes with three major benefits:
- It’s safer.
- It’s faster, since emergency assistance can determine a destination for you.
- It drastically improves your chances of having your travel insurance claim approved later since they can preauthorize it before you reach the hospital.
COMPARE: Best Travel Insurance With High Medical Limits
Referrals to qualified medical care
Perhaps the most valuable service that emergency assistance can provide is finding qualified medical care in your area. That could be the nearest doctor, dentist, or even veterinarian for your pet.
That could be a life-saving perk if you’re somewhere with limited internet access or a language barrier that could make it significantly harder to find legit medical care on your own.
General medical assistance
Emergency assistance can also help with medical monitoring (aka making sure your treatment is up to standards), securing funds for treatment from family back home, replacing medical devices or prescriptions, assistance with vaccines and blood transfers, and more.
READ MORE: Common Medical Emergencies Covered by Travel Insurance
Translation and interpretation
Most emergency assistance programs can help with translation and interpretation over the phone.
That could mean helping you describe your symptoms to a local doctor, describing stolen property to the local police, translating the warning label on the side of a foreign medication, or even non-emergency situations like giving a cab driver specific directions.
Legal and personal support
Some emergency assistance teams can help connect you with a local lawyer, notify your nation’s embassy or consulate, and contact your family and travel companions if you get into a pickle with the local authorities.
And if things get really tough, they can even help you locate and process bail money.
That could be an essential service because let’s face it: Most of us probably don’t know how to say “I can’t recall, I need an attorney” in more than one language.
Travel rebooking assistance
Virtually all emergency assistance teams can help you rebook your travel plans if things go awry.
For example, let’s say you’re in a minor car accident in Quebec and there’s no way you’re going to make your flight in three hours.
Emergency assistance can help you rebook your flight for tomorrow, locate a hotel room, and arrange cabs to get you where you need to go for the next 24 hours.
Personal effects recovery and return
If you have to bolt out of town for some reason and leave your things behind, emergency assistance can help you locate your items and arrange for their safe return.
Same goes for your luggage in general. If the airline or travel supplier loses your bag, emergency assistance can be the one hounding them for a quick return while you go on and enjoy your trip.
Family and pet assistance
In some cases, emergency assistance may be able to help you find qualified childcare, car seats, veterinary care, boarding facilities, and more.
Concierge and lifestyle services
Finally, some emergency assistance hotlines will still provide you with basic concierge services.
You can call them to ask for help booking a flight, making dinner reservations, or suggesting things to do onsite.
How to Access Emergency Assistance While Abroad
Most travel insurance companies give you three ways to contact emergency services:
- A U.S. hotline
- An international hotline
- Via the app
You can usually find this information in your policy documents or on the provider’s website.
Once you do, save both phone numbers to your contacts, download the app, and find where to submit emergency claims.
. . .
FAQs About Emergency Assistance Abroad
Are medical evacuations included in all travel insurance policies?
Medical evacuation is a common benefit in most travel insurance policies. Still, you should never assume you have a certain level of coverage until you see it in writing in your policy documents.
What happens if I lose my phone or policy information while traveling?
If you lose your policy information while traveling you should still be able to contact your provider for emergency assistance — including with locating your lost or stolen phone.
Can emergency assistance help me find English-speaking doctors abroad?
Yes, but if one is unavailable, emergency assistance can provide live translation and interpretation services over the phone.
Does emergency assistance cover travel disruptions like missed connections?
Yes, emergency assistance can help you rebook flights and make other adjustments to your itinerary following a missed connection.
TL;DR: Emergency Assistance Abroad
Emergency assistance is a crucial lifeline for travelers, providing support in situations ranging from the inconvenient to the downright life-threatening. From missed connections to car accidents, your emergency assistance team can step in and help you recoup, recover, and return home safely.
So before you embark on your next adventure, choose a travel insurance provider with robust 24/7 support and save the hotline number to your contacts.
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