Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Tanglin R oad (
&
65/6473-9333
); A us-
tralian High Commission, 25 N apier Rd.
(
&
65/6836-4100
).
EMERGENCIES
F or
police,
dial
&
999.
For
medical
or
fire
emergencies, call
&
995.
HOLIDAYS
See “H olidays” in chapter
3, p. 34.
HOSPITALS
If you require hospitaliza-
tion, the centrally located
Mount E liza-
beth Hospital
is near O rchard Road at 3
Mount Elizabeth (
&
65/6737-2666
); for
accidents and emergencies, call (
&
65/
6731-2218
). You can also tr y
Singapore
General Hospital,
Outram Road (
&
65/
6222-3322
); for accidents and emergen-
cies, call (
&
65/6321-4311
).
INSURANCE
Medical Insurance
F or
travel o verseas, most U.S. health plans
(including M edicare and M edicaid) do
not provide coverage, and the ones that do
often r equire y ou to pay for ser vices up
front and r eimburse y ou only after y ou
return home.
As a safety net, y ou may want to buy
travel medical insurance, par ticularly if
you're trav eling to a r emote or high-risk
area where emergency evacuation might be
necessary. If you require additional medical
insurance, try
MEDEX Assistance
(
&
410/
453-6300; www.medexassist.com) or
Travel
Assistance I nternational
(
&
800/821-
2828;
www .travelassistance.com; for gen-
eral information on ser vices, call the
company's
Worldwide Assistance Services,
Inc.
, at
&
800/777-8710
).
Canadians
should check with their
provincial health plan offices or call
Health
Canada
(
&
866/225-0709;
www.hc-sc.
gc.ca) to find out the extent of their cover-
age and what documentation and r eceipts
they must take home in case they ar
medical tr eatment abr oad (
&
0845 606
2030;
www .ehic.org.uk). N ote, ho wever,
that the EHIC covers only “necessary medi-
cal treatment,” and for repatriation costs, lost
money, baggage, or cancellation, travel insur-
ance fr om a r eputable company should
always be sought (www .travelinsuranceweb.
com).
Travel I nsurance
The cost of trav el
insurance varies widely, depending on the
destination, the cost and length of y our
trip, your age and health, and the type of
trip y ou're taking, but expect to pay
291
between 5% and 8% of the vacation itself.
You can get estimates from various provid-
ers thr ough
InsureMyTrip.com.
E nter
your trip cost and dates, y our age, and
other information, for prices fr om mor e
than a dozen companies.
U.K. citiz ens and their families who
make more than one trip abr oad per y ear
may find an annual travel insurance policy
works out cheaper . Check
www.money
supermarket.com
, which compares prices
across a wide range of providers for single-
and multitrip policies.
Most big trav el agents offer their o wn
insurance and will probably try to sell you
their package when y ou book a holiday .
Think before you sign.
Britain's Consum-
ers' A ssociation
r ecommends that y ou
insist on seeing the policy and r eading the
fine print befor e buying trav el insurance.
The A ssociation of B ritish I nsurers
(
&
020/7600-3333;
www.abi.org.uk)
gives advice by phone and publishes Holi-
day Insurance, a free guide to policy provi-
sions and prices. You might also shop around
for better deals: Try
Columbus D irect
(
&
0870/033-9988
;
www.columbusdirect.
net).
Trip C ancellation I nsurance
T rip-can-
cellation insurance will help r etrieve your
money if you have to back out of a trip or
depart early, or if your travel supplier goes
bankrupt. Trip cancellation traditionally
covers such ev ents as sickness, natural
A
e
treated overseas.
Travelers fr om the U.K. should carr y
their E uropean H ealth I nsurance Car d
(EHIC), which replaced the E111 form as
proof of entitlement to fr ee/reduced cost
