Insurance
Check your existing insurance policies and credit card coverage before you buy travel insurance. You may already be covered for lost luggage, canceled tickets, or medical expenses.
The cost of travel insurance varies widely, depending on the cost and length of your trip, your age and health, and the type of trip you're taking, but expect to pay between 5% and 8% of the vacation itself. If you buy your tickets through a travel agent, be sure to ask about insurance, but also ask if you can purchase it at a later date if you need to. Then you have the flexibility to get estimates from various providers through websites such as InsureMyTrip.com. Enter your trip cost and dates, your age, and other information for prices from more than a dozen companies. If you're over 65, obtaining insurance is a bit trickier. Medicare does not cover you outside of the U.S. In this case, your travel agent may be able to get the only deal for you, but at a higher premium.
Trip-Cancellation Insurance -- Trip-cancellation insurance will help retrieve your money if you have to back out of a trip or depart early, or if your travel supplier goes bankrupt. Permissible reasons for trip cancellation can range from sickness to natural disasters to the State Department declaring a destination unsafe for travel. (Insurers usually won't cover vague fears, though, as many travelers discovered when they tried to cancel their trips in Oct 2001.) In this unstable world, trip-cancellation insurance is a good buy if you're purchasing tickets well in advance. One never knows what the state of the world, or of your airline, will be 9 months in the future. Insurance policy details vary, so read the fine print to make sure that your airline or cruise line is on the list of carriers covered in case of bankruptcy. A good resource is "Travel Guard Alerts," a list of companies considered high-risk by Travel Guard International. Protect yourself further by paying for the insurance with a credit card. The law provides for consumers to get their money back on goods and services not received if they report the loss within 60 days after the charge is listed on their credit card statement.
Note: Many tour operators, particularly those offering trips to remote or high-risk areas, include insurance in the total trip cost or can arrange insurance policies through a partnering provider, which is a convenient and often cost-effective way for the traveler to obtain insurance. Make sure the tour company is a reputable one, however, and be aware that some experts suggest you avoid buying insurance from the tour or cruise company you're traveling with. They contend it's more secure to buy from a third party than to put all your money in one place.
For more information, contact one of the following recommended insurers: Access America (tel. 800/284-8300; www.accessamerica.com); Travel Guard International (tel. 800/826-4919; www.travelguard.com); Travel Insured International (tel. 800/826-4919; www.travelinsured.com); and Travelex Insurance Services (tel. 800/228-9792; www.travelex-insurance.com).
Medical Insurance -- For travel overseas, most health plans (including Medicare and Medicaid) do not provide coverage, and those that do often require you to pay for services upfront and only reimburse you after you return home. Even if your plan does cover overseas treatment, most out-of-country hospitals make you pay your bills upfront, and send you a refund only after you've returned home and filed the necessary paperwork with your insurance company. As a safety net, you may want to buy travel medical insurance, particularly if you're traveling to a remote or high-risk area where emergency evacuation is a possible scenario. If you require additional medical insurance, try MEDEX Assistance (tel. 800/732-5309; www.medexassist.com) or Travel Assistance International (tel. 800/821-2828; www.travelassistance.com) for general information on services.
Lost-Luggage Insurance -- On domestic flights, checked baggage is covered for up to $2,500 per ticketed passenger. On international flights (including U.S. portions of international trips), baggage coverage is limited to approximately $9.07 per pound, up to approximately $635 per checked bag. If you plan to check items more valuable than what's covered by the standard liability, see if your homeowner's policy covers your valuables, get baggage insurance as part of your comprehensive travel-insurance package, or buy Travel Guard's "BagTrak" product. Don't buy insurance at the airport, where it's usually overpriced. Be sure to take any valuables or irreplaceable items with you in your carry-on luggage, because many valuables (including books, money, and electronics) aren't covered by airline policies.
If your luggage is lost, immediately file a lost-luggage claim at the airport, detailing the luggage contents. Photographing the contents with a digital camera will expedite claims. Most airlines require that you report delayed, damaged, or lost baggage within 4 hours of arrival. The airlines are required to deliver luggage, once found, directly to your house or destination free of charge.
Staying Healthy
No shots or inoculations are required for entry to Hungary. To be on the safe side, bring enough of any prescription or other medication you may need. It is also good practice to bring along a copy of all prescriptions in their generic form in case you run out of any medications, but you will need a Hungarian doctor to write a prescription for the pharmacy to dispense it. Sunscreen and other toiletries are readily available.
General Availability of Healthcare -- Emergency medical treatment is available in Hungary, but with new laws, you will have to pay a fee for service, but not anywhere as much as a visit in the U.S. You'll have to pay for prescription medications and for nonemergency care. In some cases, your existing health plan will provide the coverage you need, but double-check; you may want to buy travel medical insurance instead. Your insurance at home may not accept forms in Hungarian and the forms will not be provided in English here unless you go to a private clinic. Bring your insurance ID card with you when you travel.
Contact the International Association for Medical Assistance to Travelers (IAMAT; tel. 716/754-4883 or, in Canada, 519/836-0102; www.iamat.org) for tips on travel and health concerns in the countries you're visiting, and for lists of local, English-speaking doctors. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (tel. 800/311-3435; www.cdc.gov) provides up-to-date information on health hazards by region or country and offers tips on food safety. The website www.tripprep.com, sponsored by a consortium of travel medicine practitioners, may also offer helpful advice on traveling abroad. You can find listings of reliable clinics overseas on the International Society of Travel Medicine website (www.istm.org).
What to Do If You Get Sick Away form Home -- Any foreign consulate can provide a list of doctors in the area who speak English. If you get sick, consider asking your hotel concierge to recommend a local doctor or clinic. In Budapest, there are a couple of clinics where English is the primary language. You can also try the emergency room at a local hospital.
If you suffer from a chronic illness, consult your doctor before your departure. For conditions like epilepsy, diabetes, or heart problems, wear a MedicAlert identification tag (tel. 888/633-4298; www.medicalert.org), which will immediately alert doctors to your condition and give them access to your records through MedicAlert's 24-hour hot line.
Pack prescription medications in your carry-on luggage in their original containers, with pharmacy labels -- otherwise they won't make it through airport security. Also carry copies of your prescriptions in case you lose your pills or run out. Don't forget an extra pair of contact lenses or prescription glasses. Carry the generic name of prescription medicines, in case a local doctor is unfamiliar with the brand name; they are different from country to country.
For domestic trips, most reliable healthcare plans provide coverage if you get sick away from home. For travel abroad, you may have to pay all medical costs upfront and be reimbursed later.
Staying Safe
Budapest is a safe city, and violent street crime is almost nonexistent. There were political upheavals in 2006 and 2007, but staying away from the action will keep you safe. However, you should always be on the lookout for pickpockets, especially on crowded buses, trains, and trams. Pickpockets generally work in teams, with one or more creating a distraction (bumping into people, falling down, staging a fake argument, and so on), while a partner takes advantage of the distracted victim. Protect yourself by always carrying valuables in an inside pocket or a money belt. There is no shortage of rowdy drunks at night in Budapest, but they don't pose danger to others. Many of them are other travelers who are here to party thanks to cheap flights and they get rowdy. Budapest is a city filled with underpasses. Be careful at night; you can sometimes cross a street above ground if an underpass appears deserted and traffic allows it.
