Picture this: you’re in a remote corner of the world, maybe trekking through the Himalayas or exploring a far-flung island in the Philippines. It’s everything you imagined—until it’s not. Maybe you had a car accident, or caught something more sinister than jet lag. Suddenly, youre far from home, in need of serious medical help, and the idea of navigating local healthcare in a crisis? It’s terrifying. This is exactly why I’m a Medjet member.

　　Medjet isn’t insurance, and it’s not going to reimburse you if your bags are lost or if your flight gets delayed. Medjet is different. Think of it as a “worst-case scenario” membership, your lifeline when things go catastrophically sideways. Medjet’s job is simple but life-changing: if you’re hospitalized 150 miles or more from home and want to be transferred to a hospital at home , they’ll get you there. Just one phone call, and provided that you have medical clearance to travel, they’ll arrange everything.

　　Table of Contents

　　Toggle How Medjet Is Different from Travel InsuranceShould You Still Get Travel Insurance?Real-Life Scenarios: When Medjet Came to the RescueIs Medjet Worth It? How Medjet Is Different from Travel Insurance

　　When you buy travel insurance, you’re mostly covering trip cancellations, lost luggage, or those occasional doctors and hospital bills. Travel insurance might cover some medical evacuation costs, but often only to the nearest “appropriate” facility, which probably means the closest hospital to you in that moment. But what if that facility isn’t where you want to be? What if you’re taken to a local hospital where the equipment is outdated, you don’t speak the language, and you may have a long road to recovery?

　　Ill be honest with you there are many times over the past 12 years Ive opted not to get travel insurance. Once, I tried to fall back on Chase credit card insurance when my son got sick in Indonesia, only to find that they didnt actually cover anything medical, and their trip cancellation wouldnt cover any hotels or flights so basically it was pointless.

　　Should You Still Get Travel Insurance?

　　Hiking in Peru a great place to travel though Id rather recover at home from a hiking incident.There have been sad stories that came from abroad when travelers had travel insurance, but not adequate coverage for lengthy hospital stays or evacuation to a hospital at home. It may seem like travel insurance will cover everything, but if your policy only covers up to $25k, for example, and you have a serious enough condition that requires a month or longer in the hospital, its possible you could get stuck with less than ideal care and a huge bill.

　　Travel insurance and Medjet go hand in hand. Travel insurance can help take care of the rest of the trip that you miss by being in the hospital and heading home early, can take care of the local medical bills which can be staggeringly high, provided you get a policy with adequate coverage, and Medjet can then help you get home so that youre able to recover near family and in your own language, and are additionally able to start using your home insurance rather than running out of travel insurance.

　　Its always important to fully read your policy, but weve had good experience with Faye and Safetywing travel insurance.

　　You can sign up for a full year or a trip by trip basis. As long as you are in a hospital and have medical clearance to fly, if you become hospitalized 150 miles or more from your primary residence, Medjet will arrange medical transportation to a home-country hospital of your choice for inpatient care. No scrambling, no begging your insurance to pay for it. In fact, you will never see a bill, nor need to fill out any claim forms, just peace of mind that when everything goes wrong, you’ve got a team ready to pull you out. Even the $99 short term membership pays for 100% of the cost, bedside to bedside.

　　Real-Life Scenarios: When Medjet Came to the Rescue

　　When you hear the stories of people who’ve used Medjet, you understand why so many swear by it. Here are a few examples of Medjet’s lifesaving work:

　　The Skiing Mishap

　　A woman was skiing in Utah when she suffered an accident. Her membership was the difference between weeks of lonely recovery and the comfort of being in a hospital at home, where friends and family could visit.. A Slip on Vacation

　　Another traveler, pro sports player Todd Jones used Medjet when he slipped on vacation. His injury needed surgery and weeks of rehab, and thanks to Medjet, he was able to be operated on at home, and recover  with doctors he knew and trusted.  A Hip Fracture in Egypt

　　A woman fell while exploring the Pyramids in Egypt and was transported to the nearest hospital in Giza which was full of feral cats. Medjet sent a jet with an RN and paramedics from Florida to fly her back home. These aren’t rare stories. Medjet members are often avid travelers, exploring far-off places, and with that comes a degree of risk. Having Medjet means you can take that risk, knowing you’ve got someone who’s committed to getting you home.

　　Is Medjet Worth It?If you’re someone who rarely ventures beyond well-connected cities, Medjet might seem like an extra expense, but even places that seem familiar and like they would have excellent medical care can still fall short, and be very expensive for long stays. If you’re out exploring wild landscapes, diving off distant shores, or even just traveling with young kids, there’s a comfort in knowing you won’t be alone in an emergency. For me, especially with a little one in tow, it’s worth it for that peace of mind, and is the reason why I started taking medical evacuation insurance more seriously.

　　As for solo travelers, the MedjetHorizon membership, with its security and crisis response benefits, would make the most sense. In addition to the medical transport benefits, this membership adds 24/7 security and crisis response benefits, providing expert advice, and in-country security extraction if warranted, for a wide range of safety threats including disappearance, kidnapping, natural disaster, political threat and more.

　　It’s true that Medjet membership can feel like paying for something you hope you’ll never need. But there’s a quiet relief in knowing that, should you ever find yourself alone in a hospital, thousands of miles from home, all it takes is one call to get you where you want to be.