Frequently Asked Questions about Sportsman's Travel Insurance

Not all travel insurance plans are the same!

Q: Why should a sportsman buy travel insurance?
A: For years, travelers used travel insurance to protect against unforeseen problems, from a cancelled flight to a serious illness—or in rare cases, even the financial default of a travel supplier. If an illness, accident, or other covered unforeseen circumstance forces a traveler to cancel or interrupt their plans, they face two major financial losses—money invested in nonrefundable pre-payments, and medical expenses that may not be covered by health insurance, especially if the illness or injury occurs outside of U.S. borders. These same kinds of problems can ruin a hunting or fishing trip just as quickly as they can ruin a beach or cruise vacation—and they can be compounded by the specialized gear and remote destinations common to outdoor adventures.

Q: How is Sportsman's Travel Insurance different from regular travel insurance?
A: Sportsman's Travel Insurance—the insurance plan for outdoorsmen—is custom-designed to offer everything featured in a comprehensive travel insurance plan, with added benefits and coverages created for hunting and fishing trips. Invariably, such trips require specialized gear—firearms and fishing equipment—and often include out-of-state licenses. This plan adds coverage for these special considerations—above and beyond a typical leisure travel insurance plan.

Q: Let's start with the basics—what does a typical travel insurance plan include?
A: One of the most important features of a comprehensive travel insurance policy is trip cancellation coverage, which protects the traveler's investment-meaning that the insurance company reimburses the traveler for all pre-paid, nonrefundable expenses for a covered loss. In most cases, such a loss is the result of an injury or illness to the traveler or a family member, or of the vacation destination having been made uninhabitable by severe weather.

Q: What else does a travel insurance plan usually include?
A: In addition to trip cancellation and delay, the more comprehensive travel insurance policies available today will cover trip interruption and delay; emergency medical expenses; transportation, when ordered by a doctor, to the nearest adequate medical facility; reimbursement for reasonable accommodations and expenses incurred due to travel delays; reimbursement for the purchase of essential items if baggage is delayed; and coverage against lost, stolen or damaged baggage.

Q: In addition to the insurance coverage, are any assistance services typically offered?
Yes. Travel Guard plans also feature "Livetravel" assistance, which provides 24-hour, "911" emergency travel agency-type services to all standard retail policies, in case a traveler has to change a flight, a hotel room or a rental car. Travel Guard has also added assistance with emergency cash transfers, pre-trip consultation services (travel advisories, passport requirements, inoculation information, etc.), and live messaging, which will relay any e-mail or phone message to family, friends or business associates.

Q: So what does the Sportsman's Travel Insurance plan add to the mix to offer customized coverage for sportsmen?
A: The plan covers loss, theft, damage or delay of hunting and fishing equipment during a trip, so if a rogue wave knocks your Browning over-and-under out of your hands—and overboard—while you are hunting ducks in the Dominican Republic, you are covered for up to $2,500 in replacement costs. And if your fly rod doesn't arrive on the baggage carousel in Anchorage with the rest of your luggage, you are covered for up to $200 to rent another rod until yours shows up. The Sportsman's Travel Insurance plan also features reimbursement for out-of-state license fees in the event of trip cancellation, and offer a Sportsman's Hotline for specialized travel assistance for hunters and fishermen (and women).

Q: Why is reimbursement of out-of-state licenses important?
A. License fees can add up—especially fees for overseas hunting trips such as African safaris, which with special tags or foreign permits can run into the hundreds of dollars. Now, with the Sportsman's Travel Insurance plan, if a hunter has to cancel a trip due to a number of covered reasons, that money would not be lost.

Q: Does this plan cover emergency medical evacuation? Even when traveling outside the United States?
A: Yes. The Sportsman's Travel Insurance plan offers extensive coverage for not only accident and medical expenses - up to $25,000 - but high dollar limit coverage for emergency medical evacuation, even overseas. So if you have a severe illness or critical accident, and after consulting with a local physician, the local medical facility cannot properly treat you, the plan will provide up to $300,000 for emergency medical transportation to the nearest adequate facility. For a hunter in the African bush, or a trout fisherman in the far northern reaches of Saskatchewan, that can become a critically necessary benefit, since the nearest adequate medical facility may be hundreds of miles away.

Q: What is included in the Sportsman's Hotline?
A: The hotline provides up-to-the-minute weather, hunting and fishing reports; local hunting regulations and locations of game registration stations; locations of nearby bait, tackle and sporting goods stores; construction and detour information (when driving to destination) and 24-hour roadside assistance services including towing, fuel, flat tire service, fluid delivery, jump-start and lock-out.

Q: Are there other insurance plans available for hunting and fishing trips?
A: Sportsman's Travel Insurance is the only plan specifically designed for active outdoorsmen - and women - on their hunting and fishing trips. Wisconsin-based Travel Guard, with its finger on the pulse of America's heartland and appreciative of the nation's rich hunting and fishing history, realized that even though few trips are as eagerly anticipated as a hunting trip in search of that Boone & Crockett elk, or a fishing adventure for that elusive trophy tarpon, there was no easy way to insure such cherished trips.

Q: Any other advice for hunters and fishermen considering travel insurance?
A: Yes. Just as leisure travelers should know what they are buying, it is equally important for outdoorsmen and women to ask questions, and to know what is and isn't covered when purchasing a travel insurance policy. Please see the Description of Coverage for complete details.

Q: How much does Sportsman's Travel Insurance cost?
A: The cost of Sportsman's Travel Insurance is based on the value of the trip and the age of the traveler. Typically, the cost is five to seven percent of the trip cost.