Travel insurance paid for my COVID recovery abroad
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- As we are all traveling more, travel insurance is still worth considering.
- Getting COVID-19 while traveling was stressful, but my travel insurance covered my unexpected costs.
- Be sure to note if your travel insurance requires receipts or a doctor’s note.
After not traveling in over two years due to COVID-19, I was ready to do some “revenge travel.”
So when I found tickets to Lima, Peru for less than $300, I bought the tickets without a second thought, and got them. travel insurance for the purslane. My partner is from Peru and has family there. We started dating six months before the pandemic hit, and by the time things got serious and we moved in together, I still hadn’t met his family in person. This was our chance to change that. In addition, I crossed off some bucket list items like going to Machu Picchu.
After flying from Los Angeles to Miami to Lima, we arrived late at night and drove to my partner’s family’s house. It was my first time in Peru and I was excited to explore and see where my partner grew up and meet the rest of his family.
For the first few days of the trip, I did the rounds with his family, doing my best to keep up with his Spanish. We explored Lima, ate Peruvian ceviche, and went to the ancient ruins of Pachacamac. After a few days in Lima, we went to Cuzco to explore the historic city and venture to Machu Picchu.
We thought it was altitude sickness – but it was COVID
Before our trip to Peru, I was really worried about getting altitude sickness. I had gotten sick in Denver years before and felt like dying, and Cuzco was twice as high. In an ironic twist, I felt fine when we got to Cuzco, but my partner didn’t.
We thought he was sleeping, but on the second day in Cuzco, he rested in bed all day. He felt fatigue, headache and general malaise.
On the third day we went to the lower altitude Machu Picchu. There, he found some relief. We were able to explore the majestic site, both a bit exhausted, but in awe of what lay ahead.
When we got back to Cusco and rested, my partner started to feel bad again. I was still fine, so we thought it was just altitude sickness. But the next day, I woke up at 4 am feeling very hot and runny nose. I knew something wasn’t right.
So in the wee hours of the morning, I took a rapid antigen test, and that dreaded second streak showed up almost immediately.
I was terrified. We were supposed to go back to Lima, and it looked like all our plans were going to change. We only had one COVID-19 test, and now I suspect that not only did my partner have altitude sickness, but he may have COVID as well.
We hid and went to a 24-hour clinic and saw a doctor. I let my partner lead the way, because I was very worried, and my level of Spanish was not sufficient for this kind of conversation. After two more tests it was official – we both had COVID for the first time and we definitely weren’t traveling that day.
We had to extend our hotel stay in Cuzco with the loss of the non-refundable accommodation we had booked in Lima. We had to change our flight and opt for room service everyday while we were in isolation. Costs added up quickly.
Pay me travel insurance
After a period of isolation and recovery, we finally got home and I complained to Allianz travel insurancewhich I had reluctantly added when purchasing my flights.
Before doing this, I arranged all my worksheets. I had the following documents:
- All of our doctor’s notes indicate that we have positive COVID-19 tests
- Doctor’s letters advising us to isolate
- Receipts for added hotel nights in Cuzco and missed nights in Lima
- Room service bills
- Medicine receipts
I was able to easily file a claim online and upload scanned documents. It was so good that we went to the clinic, as I re-read COVID travel insurance document about the need for an official medical diagnosis.
After sharing details of what happened and our supporting documents, I submitted the claim. Within about 10 days our claim was approved and my bank account hit. I spent $54.26 on travel insurance and earned $555.03, which covered most of our additional expenses from COVID isolation.
Getting COVID for the first time abroad was stressful enough. But not having to worry about extra expenses and getting a 10x return on my investment thanks to our travel insurance policy made dealing with this issue a lot easier.