Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
New Year's Eve.
Watching the Syd-
ney Harbour Bridge light up with
fireworks is a treat. The main show
is at 9pm, not midnight, so young
kids don't miss out. Pack a picnic
and snag a Harbour-side spot by
4pm, or even earlier at the best van-
tage point—Mrs. Macquarie's Chair
in the Royal Botanic Gardens.
6 Travel Insurance
Check your existing insurance policies
and credit-card coverage before you
buy travel insurance. You may already
be covered for lost luggage, canceled
tickets or medical expenses. The cost
of travel insurance varies widely,
depending on the cost and length of
your trip, your age, health, and the
type of trip you're taking.
TRIP-CANCELLATION INSUR-
ANCE
Trip-cancellation insurance
helps you get your money back if you
have to back out of a trip, if you have
to go home early, or if your travel sup-
plier goes bankrupt. Allowed reasons
for cancellation can range from sick-
ness to natural disasters to the State
Department declaring your destina-
tion unsafe for travel. (Insurers usually
won't cover vague fears, though, as
many travelers discovered who tried to
cancel their trips in October 2001
because they were wary of flying.) In
this unstable world, trip-cancellation
insurance is a good buy if you're get-
ting tickets well in advance—who
knows what the state of the world, or
of your airline, will be in 9 months?
Insurance policy details vary, so read
the fine print—and especially make
sure that your airline or cruise line is
on the list of carriers covered in case of
bankruptcy. For information, contact
one of the following insurers:
Access
America
(
&
866/807-3982; www.
accessamerica.com);
Travel Guard
International
(
&
800/826-4919;
www.travelguard.com);
Travel In-
sured International
(
&
800/243-
3174; www.travelinsured.com); and
Travelex Insurance Services
(
&
888/
457-4602; www.travelex-insurance.
com).
MEDICAL INSURANCE
Most
health insurance policies cover you if
you get sick away from home—but
check, particularly if you're insured by
an HMO. With the exception of cer-
tain HMOs and Medicare/Medicaid,
your medical insurance should cover
medical treatment—even hospital
care—overseas. However, most out-
of-country hospitals make you pay
your bills up front, and send you a
refund after you've returned home and
filed the necessary paperwork. And in
a worst-case scenario, there's the high
cost of emergency evacuation. In Aus-
tralia, hygiene standards are high, hos-
pitals are modern, and doctors and
dentists are well qualified, but the
continent's immense distances mean
you can sometimes be a long way from
a hospital or a doctor. Make sure your
policy covers medical evacuation by
helicopter or Australia's Royal Flying
Doctor Service airlift. (You might well
need this if you become sick or injured
in the Outback.)
One of the most potentially finan-
cially ruinous situations arising from
getting sick in Australia is evacuation
to your home country. Your policy
should cover the cost to fly you back
home in a stretcher, along with a
nurse, should that be necessary. A
stretcher takes up three coach-class
seats, plus you may need extra seats for
a nurse and medical equipment.
Australia has a reciprocal medical-
care agreement with Great Britain and
a limited agreement with Ireland and
New Zealand in which travelers are
covered for medical expenses for
immediately necessary treatment in a
public hospital (but not evacuation to
