You and your team are planning a global trip for your team of 17. You want the trip to go smoothly and for them to be safe. You could get travel medical insurance for each individual. But that would be an administrative nightmare. Allow us at GNI find the best group travel medical insurance for you and your team. Good Neighbor Insurance has helped organizations, like yours, since 1997 find the best short term team travel insurance so that you and your team can invest your energies to your global team travels. Over our 25 years serving organizations, like yourself, we have answered many group travel medical insurance questions from our guests, you, our clients. We have included some of these questions and answers shown below for your viewing.
Recipe for a perfect short term team trip
Are you ready to plan your group volunteer trip and do some good in the world? Here at Good Neighbor Insurance, https://www.gninsurance.com, we’re passionate about protecting you so you can do good wherever you go throughout the world.
We know you and your team may be going overseas for projects like education, conservation, community building and construction, sustainability and agriculture, disaster relief, or medical volunteer work. We want to help you plan for your best short term team trip possible. Here are our top tips to planning a successful social-good team travel experience:
Research your destination. The most important first step is to gather all of the information you will need to organize your trip. This research can include geographic information about which airports to fly into, and how best to get around the area, as well as any official information such as travel restrictions or visa requirements to visit and volunteer in the area. Once you’ve set your destination and dates of travel, you can begin the more in-depth planning. Decide how best to spend your time. While some group trips include sightseeing and other tourist activities, most of the time spent on your trip will likely be spent working for your cause.
You can plan to volunteer with a specific organization that may have resources for your team, or by planning your own independent trip. Create a clear itinerary. When traveling with a group, it can be difficult to get everyone on the same page. A printed, or shared itinerary can help clear up any confusion about schedules or group activities. Be sure to include transportation instructions, clear call times, and addresses of where each activity is happening. Make the most of the short windows of spare time you may have by planning short activities near to your volunteer or work site.
Create a contact list. Make sure everyone traveling with you can be quickly and easily contacted by multiple different people in the group. Delegate roles and tasks. As a trip organizer, it can be tough to get every detail planned. It can be very helpful to coordinate different people in different roles. For instance, one person can be assigned to organize all of the hospitality needs, while another could be responsible for scheduling transportation or catering. This can lighten the load on the organizer and help others feel more engaged in creating their own experience.
Create a clear budget. Budgeting and fundraising is often the most difficult part of the trip to plan and organize. We recommend researching the best ways to fundraise in your area or for the type of project you want to work with. You may find organizations willing to donate, or ways to reach out to the local community to help support your trip. When budgeting, it’s important to include some flexibility. Sometimes it’s impossible to predict transportation costs, or extra fees that may come up.
Book your transportation all together. When everything is booked at once it’s much easier to control all of the potential variables, and handle any surprises before they become a problem. Book your travel insurance at least 30 days in advance. In order to get the best group coverage at the lowest rate, it’s important to begin getting quotes for your group travel insurance at least 30 days before you travel. You can see the best plans, and get a customized quote now at gninsurance.com/group-travel. All of our group travel insurance options provide the very important emergency medical evacuation benefits. This is especially important for remote areas that may not have nearby healthcare.
You never know what might happen while volunteering overseas, and emergency evacuation alone could cost each participant over $25,000 USD at a minimum and we at GNI have seen as high as $100,000 USD and over. It’s always worth it to have peace of mind when traveling with a group.
Register with the state department before you go. It can be helpful to let your local embassy know you will be in the area in the event of an emergency. This way you’ll be notified of disasters or danger in the area, and the embassy will typically try to account for you and your group. Make sure everyone’s cell phones are unlocked for international use, and have International SIM cards or plans while overseas. If cell phones are locked, or even if unlocked, it would be good to add an international calling / SMS (texting) app on your smart phones such as the WhatsApp (WA) app or Skype app. This way you all can communicate with each other, especially when there are only Wi-Fi signals and no phone service. It can also be helpful to have participants notify their financial institutions that they will be traveling, to prevent any interruptions in their service.
When packing, make sure to include basic supplies like first aid kits and over the counter medicines such as allergy pills or cough drops. Additionally, it’s important to make sure all of your participants pack appropriately for your trip. We always recommend creating a packing list that includes information like the terrain and climate of your destination, as well as details on the accommodations so you team knows what they’ll need, and what they won’t. Double Check your Documents. Make sure you have a copy or have verified every group participant’s travel documents including tickets, boarding passes, identification, and any other pre-travel requirements. Make sure your group travel insurance documentation is easy to access and you’ve saved any important numbers you may need to make use of your plan. Sometimes, it’s even easier to create a document database where you and any other organizers have access to everything on the go. Staying organized is key to a smooth and successful group trip. Take the extra few moments to make checklists or to-do lists to make sure you stay on track in both planning and while you’re abroad.
We hope these tips have given you some insight on how to create the best short term team trip experience. Remember, Good Neighbor Insurance, https://www.gninsurance.com, specializes in social-good and volunteer global trips, whether you’re traveling with a group, your family, or alone.
We are proud to offer group travel insurance plans that cost as little as 71 cents per day while protecting you overseas. If you want to learn more about your travel insurance options, visit our website at gninsurance.com/group-travel, or check out the links in the description below.
We wish you happy, healthy, and inspiring travels!
Change is always in the air! So please check our web page at https://www.gninsurance.com/group-travel for the most up-to-date information on your group travel medical insurance –
- or call us at 480-813-9100 here in Gilbert, Arizona, USA
- or email us at info@gninsurance.com
Your GNI team here in Gilbert, Arizona, wish you all safe and awe-inspiring group team travels!