You may be ready for the ultimate Bermuda beach vacation now that post-arrival Covid tests and quarantines for visitors are no longer required. With the pink-sand shores of this North Atlantic island nation beckoning, you can plan a Bermuda trip with catamaran sailing, golfing, snorkeling, cliff jumping and excursions to explore crystal caves.
Before you start packing your beachwear, consider buying a travel insurance plan to protect your trip investment, your health and your belongings.
“For a trip to Bermuda, as with virtually any international destination, I would recommend getting a travel insurance product that includes coverage for trip cancellation, trip interruption, trip delay, travel medical expense, medical evacuation and baggage,” says Scott Adamski, a spokesperson with AIG Travel.
When you reserve your hotel, tours, sporting activities and other adventures, a travel insurance plan can safeguard these nonrefundable, prepaid expenses for your Bermuda trip.
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Entry Requirements for Bermuda
Bermuda’s revised Covid travel protocols that went into effect on March 7, 2022, make the process easier for vaccinated visitors. Still, there are requirements you must meet.
Visitors ages 18 and older must be fully vaccinated and provide proof of vaccination and a negative PCR test taken no more than four days before arrival, or two days for an antigen test. Visitors age 2 and over, regardless of vaccination status, must also have a negative pre-arrival test.
You’ll need to purchase a Travel Authorization Application for each visitor age 2 and up, at least one day before your departure, and upload your test and vaccine documentation to the form.
It’s also a smart move to buy a travel insurance plan that covers Covid-related medical expenses and cancellations.
Related: Best Covid-19 Travel Insurance Plans
Trip Cancellation Insurance for the Bermuda Triangle
Sometimes the best-laid travel plans crumble when the unexpected happens. Emergency situations can arise that cause you to cancel your Bermuda getaway with little notice. If that happens, a travel insurance plan with trip cancellation insurance can reimburse you for prepaid, nonrefundable flights, hotel accommodations, tours and other activities.
Acceptable reasons for canceling vary by insurance company but generally include:
- Illness or injury to you, a travel partner or a close family member
- Family emergency like the death of an immediate relative
- Severe weather
- Unexpected job loss
- Travel supplier going bankrupt
- Acts of terrorism
Suppose four days before your trip your spouse loses their job and you decide it’s best to shelve your Bermuda trip. You can submit documentation to your travel insurance company and be compensated under your trip cancellation benefits if it covers unexpected job loss.
Keep in mind that not all reasons for scuttling a trip will be reimbursed under trip cancellation insurance. It doesn’t cover instances when you change your mind or foreseeable events. You would not be covered if, for instance, you decide to cancel your trip because you’ve started taking medication that makes you sensitive to the sun and Bermuda no longer sounds fun.
For greater flexibility, consider adding “cancel for any reason” coverage to a travel insurance plan. This upgrade will increase your travel insurance price by an average of 50% but will provide you the latitude to cancel your trip for any reason you wish and receive some reimbursement, provided you cancel at least 48 hours before you are scheduled to leave. “Cancel for any reason” generally reimburses 50% or 75% of your trip cost, depending on the plan.
Note that if you want to buy a “cancel for any reason” upgrade, you usually must buy it within about 15 days of making your first trip deposits.
Travel Delay Insurance: Waiting to Bebop in Your Flip-flops
The anticipation of a sunset cocktail cruise on a 50-foot catamaran on your first evening in Bermuda may have you dreaming of rum swizzles, the island’s adult beverage of choice. But if a hiccup in your itinerary causes your initial plans to fizzle out, travel delay insurance can help you recoup expenses for necessities you need to buy during a layover or for missed portions of your trip.
For instance, if your connecting flight is canceled and you have to spend the night waiting for the next flight to Bermuda, you can turn to travel delay benefits. This coverage can compensate you for a hotel stay, meals and personal items, up to the limits in your travel insurance plan. Be sure to keep your receipts, which must be submitted if you file a claim.
If you arrive late and can’t participate in nonrefundable excursions you paid for in advance, your travel delay insurance can also help. That means if you have to skip that sunset cruise and the guided tour of the Crystal Caves you booked for the first day of your trip, you can file a travel delay claim.
Bear in mind that most travel delay insurance benefits have a waiting period before benefits go into effect, which could be three, six or 12 hours. Check your travel insurance plan for waiting times.
Trip Interruption Travel Insurance: Bye-Bye Bermy
“Bermy” is the shortened version of Bermuda in island slang. But there’s no globally recognized phrase or cute nickname for a shortened Bermuda trip and the resulting heartache. There is, however, travel insurance that can help ease the financial pain.
Although Bermuda isn’t very far from the U.S., an unexpected call from family notifying you of an emergency could mean you have to cut your trip short. Trip interruption insurance can help pay for a last-minute flight home.
Trip interruption benefits can also reimburse you for nonrefundable activities and accommodations you can’t use. If your early departure means you will miss a guided, walking food tour of Hamilton and a stay at a boutique beachfront cottage, you can file a claim to recover these expenses.
Not all reasons for cutting a trip short are covered by trip interruption insurance. If you’re caught in a rainy spell in Bermuda and want to return home two days earlier, you can’t rely on your travel interruption insurance to help.
For the freedom to go home whenever you want, consider adding an “interruption for any reason” coverage upgrade to your policy, if it’s available. You typically must buy this within two weeks of making your first trip deposits, and it generally reimburses you for 75% of your trip costs. It will add about 3% to 10% to your travel insurance cost. “Interruption for any reason” benefits usually kick in after the first 48 hours of your trip.
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Travel Medical Insurance for Island Injury and Illness
You may not realize that your health insurance may not be accepted outside the country. It’s prudent to call your health insurance company to see if any global benefits are offered. Additionally, senior travelers should know that Medicare isn’t accepted outside the U.S.
“It’s for this reason that travel insurance plans with medical expense coverage can be so valuable,” says Adamski. Travel medical insurance pays for doctor and hospital bills, medicine, X-rays and lab work if you are injured or become ill on your trip.
If you twist your ankle while traversing the wilds of Walsingham Nature Reserve, known as Tom Moore’s Jungle, or exploring the caves at nearby Blue Hole Park, you can file a claim to recoup your associated medical expenses, up to the limits in your policy.
You can find travel insurance plans that provide $500,000 per person for emergency medical expenses, while other decent plans have coverage of $250,000, $100,000 or less per person.
Medical Evacuation Insurance for Moped Mishaps and More
Sometimes a severe injury or illness requires more than a bandage and a prescription.
“Bermuda has very good hospitals and medical care, but in the case of a serious injury or other condition requiring a specialist, a patient may need to be transported to the nearest facility that can meet their needs. Given the extremely remote setting of Bermuda, this other medical facility could be 1,000 miles away,” says Adamski at AIG Travel.
If you need to be airlifted to a treatment center, emergency medical evacuation insurance can compensate you for the cost, up to your evacuation limits.
For instance, mopeds and scooters are popular and readily accessible modes of transportation in Bermuda. “And because visiting drivers might be unfamiliar with local signage, unaccustomed to driving on the left-hand side of the road, or simply not used to the mechanics of the rental vehicle, motoring accidents can happen,” cautions Adamski.
Medical evacuations can be extremely expensive, so be sure your policy has adequate evacuation coverage. The most generous travel plans provide emergency medical evacuation benefits of $1 million per person, but you can find lower coverage limits if you feel less would suffice.
Baggage Insurance and Coverage for Your Belongings
If you arrive in Bermuda, but your baggage doesn’t, you can take solace in more than a Dark and Stormy, the popular rum and ginger beer cocktail.
If your luggage is lost, baggage insurance can compensate you for the depreciated value of your possessions—not what it would cost to buy new replacements—up to the limits specified in your policy. Baggage insurance benefits usually come with per-item and overall caps on coverage, so check your policy for details.
There are usually exclusions for high-value possessions, such as jewelry and electronics, so read your policy carefully to understand what is covered and what isn’t. Be sure to get a report from your airline to document your lost luggage so you can include it when you file your claim.
If your luggage is delayed, your baggage delay insurance can reimburse you for necessities you buy to tide you over until you’re reunited with your suitcases. Per-day and maximum benefit amounts apply.
Your baggage loss travel insurance also protects your personal belongings if lost, damaged or stolen while traveling in Bermuda. Although considered a safe and friendly island, pickpocketing and petty crime still occur.
If your purse gets swiped from the hotel bar, you can file a claim. Remember to file a report with local authorities or your hotel manager so you have the necessary paperwork when you file a claim. Also, keep in mind that cash is not reimbursed under your personal effects benefits.
Upgrades for the Sporty Life on Your Bermuda Trip
Bermuda boasts activities like deep-sea scuba diving and cliff diving that fall under the broad category of “adventure sports.” Standard travel insurance policies generally exclude “extreme sports” activities from coverage. If you plan to do more than sunbathe, consider buying an adventure upgrade or a travel insurance plan customized for adventure activities.
For example, AIG Travel offers an optional sporting and adventure upgrade to its Travel Guard Deluxe plan that covers extreme activities that are excluded from the standard policy. World Nomads travel insurance plans cover about 200 adventure and extreme sports activities.
Travel Insurance for Storms Barreling Through Bermuda
Severe weather can also be a factor when traveling to Bermuda, particularly during peak season. “While Bermuda is not part of the Caribbean Islands, the archipelago can still find itself facing down a hurricane or tropical storm with some regularity between June and November,” says Adamski.
As the departure date for your summer or autumn trip to Bermuda gets closer, a tropical storm might suddenly be forecast for your arrival airport on the date of your trip.
To address potential weather issues affecting departures or late returns, consider travel insurance plans with coverage extensions. For example, some of AIG Travel Guard’s plans include “extension of coverage” under its Trip Saver Benefit.
The Trip Saver Benefit in the AIG Travel Preferred Plan and Travel Deluxe Plan provides $2,500 to cover additional costs incurred when you change your departure to an earlier date due to inclement weather. Adamski says three days has been the typical time-frame for the early-departure benefit though it’s possible it could be up to five days earlier than originally scheduled.
“With our extension of coverage, should the airline move your travel dates to avoid the storm, your policy can automatically adjust to begin earlier, or remain active up to seven days after the date the trip was scheduled to be completed,” says Adamski.
All coverage, except trip cancellation, would commence with these date changes, allowing travelers to retain coverage during their Bermuda trip, he says.
“As always, it’s important that customers review the language of their plans (including benefits like this one) as allowances, limits and exclusions can vary by product,” says Adamski.
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