Travel + Leisure’s news teams has culled our best tips and tricks to bring you the definitive cheat sheet for smoother, smarter, stress-free trips.
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When Helen and Ray landed in Southern Spain for what was meant to be a relaxing and rejuvenating vacation, they were feeling confident that they had planned carefully enough to meet all the expectations for their trip. They had planned enough, but their trip did not go as expected.
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The start of the summer season means travel, and travel apps. MarketWatch’s Quentin Fottrell highlights mPassport and other apps for jetsetters.
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Kathleen Baty, the "Safety Chick," shows TODAY's Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb a few smartphone apps, including mPassport, that will keep you safe if you run into trouble while on spring break, and shows how to be secure in your hotel room with a peephole cover and portable alarm.
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Although it’s highly unlikely that you’ll need to be airlifted out of a country and returned home, it can be a devastating expense, often running $50,000 or more, say experts. Less-dramatic emergencies that don’t require evacuation can still send you to the hospital and ruin your trip.
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While there is no way to know where and when to be ready for a travel disaster, these eight apps can solve the problem of how. These apps will prepare you for the worst case scenarios and could end up saving your life when you're in uncharted territory.
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Stefanie Michaels (aka AdventureGirl) shows how you can travel like a celebrity with tips to make your holiday travel easier.
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HTH Worldwide is a traveler’s insurance company Penn State contracts to cover its students studying abroad. The service includes medical coverage as well as evacuation assistance during political unrest and natural disasters.
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The violence and political turmoil in Cairo over the past week that prompted the evacuation of thousands of tourists have also disrupted the studies of American students in Egypt, many who have been forced to flee the country.
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When Chad Miller went to Cairo to study international politics, he had no idea he's be witnessing a major historical event. Chad recounts what it was like to be in Egypt, and what it was like to get out.
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Despite the pockets of violence that have flared in Cairo and other areas over the past week, however, university officials stressed that they were looking out for the safety of students on study trips to Egypt.
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Here are five (free!) iPhone apps for native English speakers specifically making their way through the Middle Kingdom. Each of these feature intuitive user interface design for getting through sticky situations with a quick swipe, pinch and a little dash of good fortune.
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Medical evacuations can be complicated and costly. However, most travel insurance plans include a medical assistance benefit, which is critical. It gives members 24/7/365 access to a company that will arrange the evacuation and coordinate appropriate treatment along the way.
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A recent spate of tragic incidents has brought home the need to be as prepared as possible to deal with the unthinkable and minimize any fallout for your family, friends and dependents if something happens to you.
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Rob Howard, director of corporate sales, HTH Worldwide, on helping travelers navigate medical services abroad.
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For travelers, carrying an app-loaded phone can transform everything from planning a trip to navigating a new city. Though the first travel-focused smart-phone programs were mainly gateways to existing websites or stand-alone guidebooks, today it's all about location, location, location.
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As your clients travel the world, are they properly protected against financial exposure to catastrophic medical events? If they don't arrange for comprehensive international medical benefits and assistance services, they may find themselves exposed to huge losses - both physical and financial.
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Medical care and health insurance are among the most important issues to consider as you prepare for a new life in a another country. The good news is that your options for health insurance overseas can be more affordable than Medicare and can provide better coverage. The key is to make sure you can sleep at night. Here are three options for health insurance abroad.
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Speakers at an international-education conference urge colleges and study-abroad providers to adopt clear policies and procedures to deal with students' mental-health issues, so they are not caught flat-footed when such crises arise overseas.
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Anyone who travels frequently can attest: finding medical assistance while traveling in a strange city - especially in a foreign country, where language barriers can easily work against you - can be quite the challenge. But thankfully we live in an age chock full of so much convenient technology, that obstacle is becoming less of an issue.
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Travel medical insurance policies are designed to pick up where your client's primary health plan leaves off. If your client does not have health coverage, these plans act as primary insurance while he is abroad. The best designed plans offer more than emergency benefits.
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As international travel marches on, travelers seem to be faced with an ever-increasing number of health and safety concerns. Travel concerns run the gamut from pandemics, such as the H1N1 virus, to terrorist threats like the Mumbai attacks. Given the heightened risk, smart travelers are planning and preparing more than ever to avoid potential hazards.
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It is often said that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Dr. (Frank) Gillingham (medical director for HTH Worldwide) offers an overview of travel health insurance, as well as a discussion of some of the factors that should be taken into account when choosing coverage.
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If you intend to retire abroad, it's crucial to carefully manage your health care coverage. With the proper planning, you may be able to lower your health care costs, and have affordable coverage if you eventually decide to return to the U.S. Generally, out-of-pocket medical costs abroad will be far less than they are in the U.S.
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Laura Hilton, director of global health and safety resources, HTH Worldwide, spoke to ITIJ about her history with the company and finding the right doctors for the job.
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Are you approaching retirement with visions of your spouse and you traveling to the far corners of the earth? Or perhaps even retiring to a faraway beach bungalow? Before you pack, consider the American tourist who recently found himself doubled over with abdominal pain in a rural clinic outside Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
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An unhealthy assignee is not productive, and illness or incapacitation can wreak havoc on the success rate of an assignment. (Dr. Frank) Gillingham (medical director for HTH Worldwide) outlines the importance of pre-planning for the health and welfare of an organization’s most important assets – its human capital.
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Summer camp, teen tours and study-abroad programs are great for building character and broadening horizons. But with growing recognition that such activities can also result in injury, illness and even death, parents need to evaluate the risks and make contingency plans for emergencies.
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Anyone who doubts that global education has become a big business need only walk the exhibit hall at the annual conference of Nafsa: Association of International Educators, this week in Los Angeles.
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An estimated four million Americans live outside the United States, more than the population total of 26 different states. In the past, when these expatriates became significantly ill or injured, they usually returned to the U.S. for health care. But now that is changing as expatriates are increasingly inclined to get medical help overseas, where they live.
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WorkSpan introduces mPassport to international employee benefits managers as a new mobile health information tool for world travelers that offers access to HTH Worldwide’s global health and safety databases.
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Of the many goals that expatriates, accompanying family members and employers have for an international assignment, none is more important than having a safe and healthy experience both abroad and upon repatriation. In fact, the success of an entire assignment may depend on the health of the employee and family.
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ou've got travel insurance, and your physician's phone number is on speed dial. But what to do in an emergency when the language isn't your own?
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HOW DO YOU ASK "Where's the men's water polo event" in Chinese? That one might not be in the "Essential Mandarin Chinese Phrase Book" you picked up at the airport. Americans headed to China to take in the 29th Olympic Games in Beijing--which officially kick off Friday--Might need something a bit more high-tech to guide them through the fast-paced city of 12 million.
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RADNOR - A local company that provides information to travelers about doctors, hospitals, and pharmacies throughout the world has launched a product that formats it for mobile phones.
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Half a world from home and with chronic health conditions, a traveler to the Summer Olympic games in Bejing will wonder if good medical care is available. In fact, any visitor may seek competent care in case of an accident, contraction of an infectious disease or reaction to local air, food and water. With the prevalence of traditional, herbal medicine in China, the wary Westerner could easily encounter treatment that is not recognizable as "modern" medicine.
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Savvy agents and brokers have noted that the relentless pace of globalization is expanding the horizons of health insurance products. The economies of Asia, Europe, North America, and South America are integrating steadily, and U.S. citizens go abroad to work, play, and study in ever-increasing numbers. These "globalists" have awakened to the need for quality health insurance products to cover them anywhere in the world.
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