Throughout the year, tour operators organize many group tours, while travel consultants plan various group travel arrangements. There could be many different types of international group travel arrangements made by both tour operators and travel consultants, these are just some examples:
- Group of travelers touring different countries, such as Schengen countries, USA, Russia or Australia
- Group of travelers taking a cruise in the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Alaska or Mediterranean Sea
- Study abroad group tour
- An employer sending a group of travelers to a conference or business meetings
- Adventures sports tour (such as hiking) to the Himalayas
Why Consider Group Travel Insurance?
Many tour operators and travel consultants are experts in their business and have been doing it for many years. Some of them include travel insurance for group tours, while others don’t. Some tour operators argue that many travelers simply don’t have any idea about different types of travel insurance or what is included, and are only looking at the total cost of the tour. Therefore, some of the tour operators and travel consultants include the cheapest travel insurance possible. They fear that by offering better travel insurance plans, their group tour prices would not be competitive and they would lose potential customers to their competitor.
The problem is that offering cheap travel insurance only works out until one of travelers becomes sick or is injured while on a foreign trip and not able to receive proper treatment. What is worse for business? Receiving multiple bad customer reviews or increasing prices just a little to provide better quality travel insurance?
It is highly recommended to purchase group travel insurance from a reputed company to protect your clients and ensure they have an enjoyable trip even when the unexpected occurs.
Why Purchase Group Travel Insurance?
Group travel insurance products generally provide the same coverages as the individual travel insurance products, but are easier to administer as there would be only one application for the entire group of people, as opposed to a separate application for every individual person or family. Group travel insurance products are typically cheaper by 10%; for larger groups of 25 persons or more, it may be cheaper by 15% or higher.
Group travel insurance can be purchased for a group of 5 or more people. Group travel insurance is practical only when it is a group of travelers traveling to the same destination, for the same duration. Sometimes, different dates for different people may be allowed; however, group members can’t independently extend or cancel their coverage as they are part of a group and the policy is really issued to the group and not to individual members. There are additional limitations that may apply. Although group members are under the same policy, going to the same destination, and quite likely for the exact same dates, individual insurance ID cards are issued to each group member.
Group travel insurance would generally cover new medical conditions, sickness, injuries or accidents, that occur after the effective date of the policy. Additionally, they would also cover trip interruption, loss of checked luggage, emergency medical evacuation, repatriation of remains, emergency reunion, and many other travel related benefits.
Popular Group Travel Insurance Plans
While there are many group travel insurance plans, the following are the most popular.
- Atlas Group Travel Insurance
It is available for groups of 5 travelers or more. The prices are lower for groups of 25 or more travelers.
Atlas America Group Insurance is for persons traveling outside their home country when travel includes the U.S. On the other hand, Atlas International Group Insurance is for persons traveling outside their home country when travel excludes the U.S.
Atlas Group travel insurance can be purchased for a minimum of 5 days and a maximum of 12 months. You can choose various deductibles ranging from $0 to $5,000. The policy maximum can range from $50,000 to $2,000,000; however, for 70-79 age group the maximum available is $150,000, and for the 80-99 age group the only policy maximum available is $10,000. - Patriot Group Travel Insurance
For groups of 5 persons or more, Patriot Group Travel Insurance is an excellent option. Patriot America Lite Group Travel Insurance can be purchased when travel includes the U.S., while Patriot International Lite Group Travel Insurance can be purchased when travel excludes the U.S.
Patriot Group Travel Insurance can be purchased for a minimum duration of 5 days and a maximum duration of up to 1 year. It is also extendable and renewable for up to 2 years.
You can choose from deductibles ranging from $0 to $2,500 and policy maximums ranging from $50,000 to $1,000,000. However, for the age group 70-79 years, the maximum is $50,000 and for 80+, the policy maximum is $10,000. - Patriot America Plus Group Travel Insurance
Patriot America Plus Group is very similar to Patriot America Group Travel insurance, the big differences are that this plan is only for people traveling to the U.S. and that it covers acute onset of pre-existing conditions. - Patriot Platinum Group Travel Insurance
Patriot Platinum Group is similar to Patriot Group Travel Insurance. For persons under the age of 70 years, the policy maximum is $2,000,000.
