Travel Insurance

Thank you very much for the opportunity to make your fishing holiday reservation.

The attached travel insurance application is important and merits your review. The Fly Shop is not in the insurance business, but we offer this coverage as a service with a desire to see your best interests protected. It is impossible to know when an unfortunate situation (loss of luggage, fly rods, illness in the family, or an accident) may occur. However, such things can and do happen, and this insurance can provide a means of recourse against non-refundable financial losses.

With over 25 years experience sending anglers to worldwide destinations, we believe trip cancellation coverage is very important for some travelers. Most of the destinations we represent require a substantial deposit and prepayment well before departure. In most cases payments are transferred to the operators, lodge owners, or outfitters on the day they are received. Many of these destinations have a short season with a limited capacity resulting in tough cancellation penalties, regardless of the circumstances, unless a replacement is found.

The travel insurance we are offering is a means of protecting your investment if an unforeseen situation arises and results in trip cancellation. The benefits detailed in the brochure offer the best value.

IMPORTANT: In order to qualify for many of the significant benefits offered (pre-existing medical conditions, unforeseen bankruptcy or financial default of travel providers) it is critical that you enroll within 15 days* of making the initial trip deposit.

Please read and review the brochure carefully. If you have any questions concerning the Sportsman’s Travel Insurance Plan, please feel free to call their customer service number at 1.866.877.3241.

For a different type of coverage, we are also enclosing information for membership in Global Rescue. Look over their information and call their toll free number 1-800 381 9754 if you have any questions.

* Day one is the date the trip deposit is made

• Sportsman Travel Protection Plan is NOT available to Washington state residents. Washington residents who would like to purchase trip insurance should contact Travelex Insurance at 1-800-228-9792.
  
• Oregon and New York residents should contact Travel Guard direct at 1.866.877.3241 and purchase Sportsman Travel Protection Plan Product Number 008112-DM 9/06 (129676 - The Fly Shop, Inc.)

The differences between Global Rescue and trip insurance…
…and why you might need both.

At The Fly Shop, nothing is more important than our guests’ health, well being, and happiness. That is why it is key that you consider the following protections when traveling with us: a Global Rescue membership.

Most trips booked with The Fly Shop are non-refundable, per the outfitters policy, and trip insurance provides you with critical financial protection in the event you have to cancel your trip with us for almost any reason. Many trip insurance programs offer additional benefits, such as paying for expenses due to an interrupted trip or replacing lost luggage. We believe strongly in the benefits of trip insurance and urge you to purchase a policy to protect your trip investment in the event you are forced to cancel.

Trip insurance has its limits, however. Although many trip insurance programs offer a “medical evacuation and repatriation” service, we’ve found these solutions are inadequate for our guests. These benefits are written with extensive limitations which make it almost impossible to get the care you need in emergencies. They typically include fine print language such as “medical necessity for transport” and, if they do transport you, will only bring you to the “closest appropriate hospital”. This means that if you are ill or injured while traveling, the insurance company decides whether or not you are transported and where to transport you, often a third location that is just as far from home as you were to begin with. More to the point, they require you to be in a hospital to access their services. Many of the remote fisheries that The Fly Shop represents are hundreds of miles away from the nearest hospital.

That’s why The Fly Shop recommends you to take a serious look at the benefits of Global Rescue. Global Rescue is not an insurance company. They are a worldwide crisis response organization that will evacuate you any time there is an illness or injury requiring hospitalization and you are more than 160 miles from home, and they will transport you back to the hospital of YOUR choice. Unlike insurance companies or travel assistance services, Global Rescue will evacuate you from the point of illness or injury, rather than requiring you to get to a hospital on your own for initial diagnosis. We know that having an evacuation program with field rescue capability is critical, and Global Rescue is the only service with these resources.

In addition, Global Rescue’s operations center is staffed around the clock with paramedics who have instant access to the world-class physicians at Johns Hopkins Medicine, providing you with the finest medical advice possible when traveling. Global Rescue’s deployable operations teams are comprised of experienced civilian paramedics and military special operations veterans, meaning there is no place in the world they can’t get to. In fact, Global Rescue memberships are also available to provide evacuations for security reasons in the event of war, civil unrest, or natural disaster. Global Rescue memberships are available in short term, single-trip options or annual plans protecting all of your travels, domestic and abroad for a full year. In our opinion, there is simply no better protection for travelers concerned about their health and safety.

Protect yourself and your investment by purchasing a Global Rescue membership.