Globalrescue.com Reviews 7

If there is a negative star rating, This so call “Global” Rescue will get it. I have subscribed to GR for some year now hoping that they will help me when I need it. A few days ago I was at cam 3 of Ama Dablam in Nepal and suffered from Acute High Altitude Sickness. I called them for rescue. After the lady asked too many questions, they only asked me to walk down myself to the lower camps. It would be a 7-10 hours walk. My conditions turned badly quickly and my guide told them the only way to keep me alive was to arrange helicopter lift to a lower altitude. After almost 4 hours of more questions, they insisted that I should walk down. By then I was almost unconscious. My guide, seeing me dying, took the bold step to call for helicopter rescue. I was airlifted to a hospital in Katmandu. I recovered when I got back to a lower altitude. The helicopter lift was costly, but I thanked my guide that I am still alive. GS would left me to die up there and do nothing except asking questions. Would you trust your live to Global Rescue? You make up your mind!

Their process is totally impractical. In an emergency, there is often no good way to encourage your rescuers to contact them in the event that you cannot. And they will not cover any expenses that they did not directly coordinate. I'm left with the 7000$ emergency helicopter bill.

I’m not sure whether or not their service works because I’ve never had to use it. I was a longtime customer while traveling a lot with my family. At one point I got sick and canceled my policy. When I came back, they made me purchase for a full year for all four of us. When I am applied for my visa, they told me the only way to get me an extra month of coverage was to sign up for another year and then told me that the fine print said that if I canceled my policy, I received no refund. Find a company that is in a fine print vampire.

I purchased a Global Rescue Medical Evacuation plan. On my member details it states '1 Year 45 Days Abroad Per Trip Medical Only' I was then later informed by their staff it did not include any medical cover whatsoever, and only covers transport to a medical facility.

The wording of the policy is ambiguous and states 'Company shall not be obligated under any circumstances to reimburse a member or pay any third-party service provider for any transport costs which have been arranged by the member'

This is understandable, however nowhere does it mention that this would extend to all medical treatment related to an accident, even if Global Rescue were contacted to deal with an emergency, which was expressed by their staff.

I was then required to purchase an additional travel insurance policy for $112.

Very disappointing and I would not renew my membership again.

We had a policy with Global Rescue for two years before we needed to use it. My partner was hospitalized in Ireland. The hospital doctor wrote a detailed letter acknowledging we were from the United States, and my partner was having an extreme afib attack that needed immediate and long-term attention. In the letter, the doctor recommended we return home immediately for my partner to engage with a cardiolodist and continue care in the US. I naively thought, "No problem, we have Global Rescue. They'll get us home in a timely fashion."

Initially, things seemed promising. The Global Rescue representative was friendly and professional. I explained the situation, forwarded them the detailed letter from the doctor, and waited for them to call to tell me what flight they were putting us on. Despite a letter that said EVERYTHING necessary to justify getting my partner home, the Global Rescue representative insisted that before they could set up arrangements to get us home, they would need to speak to the doctor personally to make sure it was OK for my partner to fly.

Of course, a busy hospital doctor is not going to take nor return calls to reiterate what he already clearly stated in a letter. The fact that the doctor didn't return their phone call is the reason Global Rescue used to deny getting my partner, who was developing heart failure because his heart was racing at 160 beats per minute, to a US hospital. I repeat: the letter stated his current condition, and the Irish doctor said BECAUSE of that condition, he needed to get back to the US and be seen by a cardiologist who could implement a long-term strategy. Global Rescue said BECAUSE of that condition, they needed to talk to the doctor directly to make sure it wasn't too risky to take the flight. Nobody at Global Rescue seemed at all concerned with the risk of delaying my partner's medical treatment while we waited three days for them to try to reach the doctor.

We ended up paying for our own flight. My sister met us at the US airport and took us directly to the US hospital emergency room, where my partner was admitted immediately. As the Irish doctor predicted, it took several weeks and two cardiac procedures to fully resolve the problem, but it was resolved, and fortunately, my partner is now in good health. No thanks to Global Rescue. Like all insurance companies, they seem to have two jobs: collect premiums and find reasons to deny claims.

We have been subscribers to Global Rescue for several years. We have never had an issue....because we never needed to use their service!

We are a very active and travel savvy family of four that takes adventuresome vacations around the globe. My wife starting paying for a Global Rescue subscription when the vacations got more remote and further from organized civilization.

Unfortunately, my wife was injured during one of these adventures and needed to be transported out of the mountains by guides and snowmobiles. It was a very stressful situation but after 2 hours we managed to get her to a local clinic for temporary treatment and stabilizing the injury. At the clinic, I called Global Rescue to ask about how to get her home, what I needed to do to follow GR's protocols, and what was considered covered by the product we bought from GR. The Global Rescue representative was clear, concise, and gave me good instructions how to proceed...which receipts and paperwork to keep track of, special travel arrangements (flight home) and he was concerned about my wife's well-being.

Fast forward to getting back home and submitting the data and information requested by GR. I followed the instructions and called the rep who had handled our case. A week or two after submission, I received a call from my representative who said he had made mistakes during our conversations and that GR was not going to pay for any of my wife's extrication or special travel needs back to the USA. After this surprise, later that day, a "management" person reached out and explained that GR is not an insurance company and does not pay claims. Secondly, I would have needed to call them at the time of the injury and they would arrange the means, timing, and methods of extrication.

Interesting concept and business plan from GR. Advertise assistance and extrication for a price...but only if you have the communication links and time to wait for their services to get to you. I mentioned this to GR during the conversation with management. The response from GR was..."the guides and emergency personnel need to call us during the rescue process and we will negotiate with them"

I actually laughed at the manager. I wonder if they have a Nepalese translator there waiting for my satellite phone call?
I wonder if they know how chaotic things get under duress and stress of injured people in very remote areas.

Bottom line...they had no intention of paying anything, admitted their emergency rep. committed to extrication and transport to the clinic that they will not cover, and expects me to call them in the middle of an emergency to direct the process.

Global Rescue offered us a free year of membership for the unfortunate incident.

I declined.

Careful with this company. They tried to sell me travel medical insurance even though I wasn’t eligible. It’s good I read through their terms and conditions.