Health & Insurance

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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, your health, and the type of trip you're taking.

Trip-Cancellation Insurance -- 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 supplier goes bankrupt. Allowed reasons for cancellation can range from sickness to natural disasters to the State Department declaring your destination unsafe for travel. (Insurers usually won't cover vague fears, though, as many travelers discovered who tried to cancel their trips in Oct 2001 because they were wary of flying.) In this unstable world, trip-cancellation insurance is a good buy if you're getting 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 (tel. 866/807-3982; www.accessamerica.com); Travel Guard International (tel. 800/826-4919; www.travelguard.com); Travel Insured International (tel. 800/243-3174; www.travelinsured.com); or Travelex Insurance Services (tel. 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. If you require additional medical insurance, try MEDEX International (tel. 800/527-0218 or 410/453-6300; www.medexassist.com) or Travel Assistance International (tel. 800/821-2828; www.travelassistance.com; for general information on services, call the company's Worldwide Assistance Services Inc. at tel. 800/777-8710).

Lose-Luggage Insurance -- On domestic flights, checked baggage is covered up to $2,500 per ticketed passenger. If you plan to check items more valuable than the standard liability, see if your valuables are covered by your homeowner's policy, get baggage insurance as part of your comprehensive travel-insurance package, or buy Travel Guard's BagTrak product. Don't buy insurance at the airport, as it's usually overpriced. Be sure to take any valuables or irreplaceable items with you in your carry-on luggage, as many valuables (including books, money, and electronics) aren't covered by airline policies.

If your luggage is lost, immediately file a lost-luggage claim at the airport, detailing the luggage contents. For most airlines, you must report delayed, damaged, or lost baggage within 4 hours of arrival. The airlines are required to deliver luggage, once found, directly to your house or destination free of charge.

The Healthy Traveler

It can be hard to find a doctor you can trust when you're in an unfamiliar place. Try to take proper precautions the week before you depart to avoid falling ill while you're away from home. Amid the last-minute frenzy that often precedes a vacation, make an extra effort to eat and sleep well -- especially if you feel an illness coming on. It's a drag to be sick on vacation, and a head cold can make a plane flight intolerable.

Limit your exposure to the sun, especially during the first few days of your trip, and from 11am to 2pm every day. Use a sunscreen with a high protection factor and apply it liberally all day, every day, even during the winter. The desert sun can be brutal. Remember that children need more protection than adults do.

What To Do If You Get Sick Away From Home
-- In most cases, your existing health plan will provide the coverage you need. But double-check; you may want to buy travel medical insurance instead. (See the section on insurance, above.) Bring your insurance ID card with you when you travel.

If you suffer from a chronic illness, consult your doctor before your departure. For conditions like epilepsy, diabetes, or heart problems, wear a Medic Alert Identification Tag (tel. 866/633-4298; www.medicalert.org), which will immediately alert doctors to your condition and give them access to your records through Medic Alert's 24-hour hot line.

Pack prescription medications in your carry-on luggage, and carry prescription medications in their original containers, with pharmacy labels -- otherwise, they won't make it through airport security. Also bring along copies of your prescriptions in case you lose your pills or run out. Don't forget an extra pair of contact lenses or prescription glasses.

If you do get sick, ask the concierge at your hotel to recommend a local doctor, even his or her own. For physician referrals, call Desert Springs Hospital (tel. 702/388-4888) Monday to Friday from 8am to 8pm and Saturday from 9am to 3pm except holidays, or 24 hours a day online at www.desertspringshospital.net.

Is There a Doctor in the House?--The Imperial Palace hotel has a well-appointed 24-hour urgent-care clinic, which is open to the public. Given its location, right in the middle of the action, it's well worth knowing about.

Staying Safe
-- CSI, one of the nation's top-rated TV shows, may turn up new corpses each week, but the crime rate in real-life Vegas isn't higher than any other major metropolis of its size. Predictably, with all that cash floating around town, pickpockets and thieves are active, so keep an eye on your belongings and store valuables in your in-room safe or a hotel safety-deposit box. And don't flash your cash; it might attract the wrong kind of attention and your big bucks will go bye-bye.

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