Travel Resources for Adventurers
Global Rescue Travel Insurance: A Comprehensive Review
Written by Antonio Cala.
Table of Contents
When it comes to exploring the world, keeping yourself safe is a top priority. Whether you’re a constant traveler, nature lover, or an all-around adventurer, the Global Rescue Membership comes into play as your go-to for travel safety. In this Global Rescue travel insurance review, we’re breaking down what makes it special.
From their services and membership plans to the crucial topic of travel insurance, we’re laying it all out. Stick around, and we’ll help you figure out if Global Rescue Membership is the right fit for your travels.
If you would like to know more about insurance options for adventure travel, make sure to check out our Complete Guide to Adventure Travel Insurance. Let’s jump in.
Global Rescue Overview
Who Is Global Rescue For
It’s a medical-only protection designed for adventure travelers planning to go remote in an independent or organized adventure trip. All nationalities are covered and options for people over 75 are available.
What's Included
- Medical Evacuation
At the core of Global Rescue’s services is its robust medical evacuation system. When faced with a medical emergency in a remote location, members can rely on Global Rescue’s expertise in executing timely and secure evacuations, ensuring access to the best possible medical care.
- Security Extraction
Beyond medical concerns, Global Rescue stands ready to address security threats. In the event of political unrest, natural disasters, or other crises, the organization’s security extraction services come into play, safeguarding members from potential harm and facilitating a swift exit from volatile situations.
- Travel Risk and Crisis Management
Global Rescue’s commitment extends beyond emergencies to proactive risk management. The organization provides comprehensive travel risk assessments, empowering members with real-time information on potential hazards, enabling informed decision-making even before departure.
- Medical Advisory Services
Recognizing that not all emergencies necessitate evacuation, Global Rescue offers medical advisory services. Members can consult with experienced medical professionals for guidance on health concerns, ensuring a holistic approach to well-being.
What's Not Included
Global Rescue specializes in emergency medical and security services. This means it may not provide coverage for aspects such as trip interruption or protection against lost or damaged baggage.
Potential members should be aware of this distinction and may consider supplementing Global Rescue’s specialized services with a traditional travel insurance policy for comprehensive coverage across both medical and non-medical scenarios during their travels.
- Trip Cancellation / Interruption
- Lost / Damaged Baggage
Membership Plans
Travel Membership
The Travel Membership is the basic plan and includes field rescue, medical evacuation, and transport to a preferred home hospital. It also offers medical advisory, intelligence services, and timely destination reports for proactive decision-making.
Total Care
The Total Care plan builds upon the Travel Membership by adding 24/7 virtual consultations with physicians, covering urgent and specialty needs, and giving access to prescriptions, labs, and imaging services.
The Total Care plan has 4 different tiers (Silver, Gold, Platinum & Unlimited) depending on the duration of the coverage and the number of consultations included.
Add Ons
There are 2 add ons you can add to any of your memberships with Global Rescue: the security package and the high-altitude evacuation.
The Security Package includes the physical extraction when you are in danger of bodily harm. It includes civil unrest, natural disasters, government evacuation orders and other security emergencies.
The High Altitude Evacuation is for individuals traveling above 15,000 ft (4,600 m) during any part of their trip (excluding airplane travel). It includes emergency physical transport due to injury or illness.
Pricing
Global Rescue offers every plan and add-on for different durations of the coverage (short term & long term) and for different groups of people (individual, family, students & age 75-84). Please, check out the latest pricing for up to date quotes.
What's Covered & Who's Eligible
Global Rescue Membership is the insurance option with less restrictions on the market today. They cover more places and more profiles than anybody else. Let’s look at the specifics.
Nationalities: all nationalities are covered.
Pre-existing conditions: Yes.
Seniors Over 65: People aged 65-75 are included in the Individual Plan. Extended Plan memberships are available to those age 75-84 and include all services but are contingent upon completion of a medical form and a physician’s medical verification.
Trip Duration: Short term policies (7, 14 or 30-days) and long term policies (1 to 5 years) available.
Groups: Individual, family and student plans available.
Situations covered: It covers civil unrest, natural disasters, government evacuation orders and other security emergencies (when purchasing the Security package).
User Reviews and Testimonials
Insurance companies often receive negative online reviews due to issues like complicated policy language, claim denials, slow processing times, and perceived unfair practices. Global Rescue is not an exception.
However, most of the online reviews are positive. They are one of the best rated travel insurance companies online.
Global Rescue vs Competitors
Global Rescue is very different from the other insurance providers in a way that they specialize on medical evacuation and field rescue only. Therefore, they do not provide any coverage for trip cancellation/delay and lost/damaged baggage.
Where Global Rescue shines is on its coverage. They will cover more destinations than anybody else. All nationalities are accepted and options for people over 75 are also available.
If you would like to read direct comparisons between Global Rescue and other insurance companies, check out the articles we’ve written below:
Conclusion
Global Rescue stands out as the most expansive global travel protection option, offering unparalleled coverage with minimal restrictions compared to other medical insurance plans.
Specifically tailored for adventure travelers embarking on independent or organized trips to remote locations, this medical-only protection covers individuals of all nationalities and offers options for individuals aged 75 and above.
It’s a medical-only insurance, so trip cancellation/interruption and lost/damaged baggage are not cover. However, if you would like to add those, Global Rescue offers a travel insurance option provided by IMG Signature Travel Insurance that complements their membership.
Other Travel Insurance Reviews
If you would like to read more about other insurance companies for adventure travelers, you can check out our other reviews below:
If you would like to read more about insurance options for other type of adventure trips, you can check out our other reviews below:
- Skiing & Snowboarding
- Hiking Trips
- Mountaineering & High Altitude Trekking
- Mountain Biking, Bike-touring & Bike-packing
- Rock Climbing, Ice Climbing & Bouldering
- Kayaking, White Water Rafting & Paddle Boarding
- Fishing & Spearfishing
- Diving Liveaboards & Freediving
- Sailing, Kite Surfing & Surfing
- Adventure Cruises
- Adventure Motorcycling
Global Rescue Reviews Online
When doing your research, you might want to read what other publications have to say about the Global Rescue membership.
Here are some of the most popular reviews from the web.
Global Rescue Insurance Review – Is their coverage right for you? – by haydenrue.com
Global Rescue Travel Insurance Review – by nerdwallet.com
About the Author
Antonio was born and raised in Southern Spain, and quit his job in 2013 to travel the world full-time with his wife Amanda for 10 years straight. Their passion for adventure took them to visit 150+ countries.
They cycled 25,000km + from California to Patagonia, sailed over 10,000NM around the Caribbean & Sea of Cortez, rode their motorbikes 30,000 kms+ across West Africa (Spain to South Africa) and visited Antarctica, among many other adventure expeditions. Today, they’re still traveling, currently around the USA with an RV.
Traveling to so many places, remote destinations and by different means taught them a lot about travel insurance, which policies to hold depending on the area and the type of adventure they were doing. Antonio now publishes regular content to help other travelers choose the best travel insurance for adventure trips.
Together, they also run the travel community Summit, the RV site Hitched Up, the boutique accommodation blog Unique Places and the popular newsletter Adventure Fix, where they share their knowledge about the places they’ve visited and the ones still remaining on their list.
Antonio Cala
Co-Founder of Adventure Fix