Travel insurance for treks in Nepal:
Almost all trekking companies in Nepal and your home country will REQUIRE proof of travel insurance for a trek in Nepal, and they should. While trekking is generally a safe activity, as with all outdoor activities, there is some risk. Most importantly, your insurance should include coverage for emergency medical and repatriation including helicopter evacuation. Crystal Mountain Treks strongly encourages you to call your insurance company and check specifics before you arrive in Nepal. Do check that trekking and hiking in Nepal is covered, and to what elevation. Also, if your trek involves a climb of a peak, with ropes and crampons, make sure that such climbing is covered. We have worked with Travelex Insurance and found them to be responsive with claims. Unfortunately, Travelex Insurance will only insure American nationals.
Rescue scams:
Sadly, over the past decade, there has been a rise in insurance scams in Nepal. Essentially, some less-scrupulous trekking companies have been working together with helicopter companies to book unnecessary helicopter rescues, share the exorbitant helicopter fees, and thus defraud insurance companies.
They do this by offering cut-rate budget treks, and then use various tricks to ensure that the trekkers must be evacuated. In some cases, the trekking companies create itineraries that climb too high, too fast, all but ensuring altitude sickness. In others, they immediately demand that trekkers take a helicopter down at the slightest hint of headache or nausea, instead of simply descending and waiting, which is the normal procedure for light cases of altitude sickness. Sometimes the trekkers themselves are complicit in the scam; they’re offered a free helicopter ride and other complimentary services and even cash to claim illness.
Here are some articles on the subject:
New York Times: Nepal Everest Rescue Fraud
The Guardian: Nepal cracks down on lucrative helicopter fraud
The Independent: Nepal helicopter rescue scams…
Sadly, this has been a huge issue for legitimate trekking companies, like Crystal Mountain Treks, who must deal with the backlash of these scams. Insurance premiums are up, many insurance companies simply will not insure trekking trips to Nepal, and most now require that all evacuations be pre-approved. This is time consuming and can be dangerous in emergency situations. Additionally many of these companies offer trips at budget prices that are attractive to potential trekkers, but offering those prices means they must make money in other ways.
How to avoid scams:
If you want to help keep trekking a safe experience for everyone, it’s important that you help shut down these scams, and protect yourself from them when trekking in Nepal. Here’s some things you can do:
1) Make sure your trek itinerary allows for enough time to acclimatize.
If your trek involves several days of ascent of more than 300 meters (1,000 feet) without a few acclimatization days included in the program, that is probably too much. Remember, unless you plan to fly out on a helicopter from Gorakshep to Lukla/Kathmandu, there is NO way you can complete the Everest Base Camp trek in under 12 days without severely risking altitude sickness. If your guide or trekking company insists you can, they are putting your health at risk, and you should reconsider trekking with them.
2) If your trip price is too cheap to be true, it probably is.
On the Everest trek, the Lukla – Kathmandu – Lukla airfare is around US$ 420. Daily lodging and meals cost around US$ 40 – US$ 50. Permits cost US$50. Add to these the guide and porter wages, ground transfers, hotels, sightseeing etc. If anyone offers you an ALL INCLUSIVE TREK 15-day trekking package to Everest Base Camp for under US$ 1,500, again, you should reconsider trekking with them. They will need to make that money back somehow, and it’s likely through such a scam..
3) You are your best judge.
A slight headache is common. And so are slight stomach ailments, coughing and sore throat. These probably don’t warrant a helicopter evacuation. While for most first-time trekkers it would be difficult to judge the severity of altitude sickness, you can still tell when your guide is being pushy and insistent on a helicopter evacuation. In most cases of moderate altitude sickness, taking an extra acclimatization day or descending on foot is normal, and should be the first course of action, not an expensive helicopter ride. You should insist on a helicopter evacuation only if you have a combination of symptoms listed in our article on altitude sickness.
List of insurance companies:
Most travel insurance companies will only insure travelers from a particular country. See list of insurance companies that will provide travel insurance for a trek in Nepal below:
US-Canada citizens (Some of these will only cover US residents/citizens):
Canadian citizens
TuGo – travel insurance for trekking and mountaineering
UK citizens
UK companies will only cover residents of UK-Ireland.
New Zealand and Australia citizens
Worldwide
A special note about Travelex Insurance:
For our American travelers, we highly recommend Travelex Insurance, voted best Overall Travel Insurance company of 2025 by US News & World Report. We’ve used them for many years and they are consistently the most responsive to our travelers’ claims and concerns.
Crystal Mountain Treks requires emergency medical evacuation coverage (at least $500,000), and medical coverage (your personal health insurance would likely not cover the costs of a Nepali hospital). If you would like trip cancellation and interruption coverage, you will also insure your pre-paid, non-refundable trip expenses (generally airfare and trek cost).
Pam Perry lives in the Seattle area and works as an agent for Travelex and can help you make sense of the confusing world of travel insurance. Pam and I worked together at a US travel company for about 10 years, and I highly recommend her for your insurance needs. Best to text/WhatsApp her at 206-617-0102 to set a time to connect regarding your needs.
Some key things
- If you have pre-existing conditions that could cause trip cancellation, you must purchase your insurance within 21 days of making your deposit AND you must insure the whole cost of your trip. A pre-existing condition is considered anything that you’ve seen a doctor for in the previous 90 days. Additionally, you must choose Travelex’s Ultimate policy.
- Travelex insurance will cover Covid just like it would cover any other sickness only if you include Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption coverage. So if you get sick before traveling and cannot travel, insurance kicks in. Or, conversely if you are mid-trek and get Covid and need to quarantine it will pay for hotel and other expenses. It will also reimburse you for any unused portion of your journey. (Pam can explain this to you!)
- Insurance will cover medical expenses for foreign hospitals and clinics.
- It will cover lost or stolen luggage and personal items.
- It will also cover repatriation – that is getting you back home if something catastrophic should happen while traveling (think broken leg or even death)..
- Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption coverage is a good choice if you foresee a situation in which you might need to change your travel plans because of aging parents, sick kids, injury or even weather.
- Not including Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption coverage still provides our required evacuation/repatriation and medical coverage, and the cost of the insurance goes down pretty dramatically, but will not refund any trip or flight expenses. To get that coverage enter $1 as your trip cost.
To purchase your insurance through Pam, text her directly (206-617-0102) and she’ll set up a time to speak with you about your personal needs. Or use this TRAVELEX LINK to explore the coverages on your own.
We highly recommend Travelex’s Ultimate policy as it has the best coverage for the kind of trip that you will be embarking on. If your trip includes roping up and or more extreme activities please add the Adventure Travel option for a nominal fee (often less than $20). You will see this upgrade option after clicking “purchase”.
If you decide to cancel your trek a month or more prior to the start of your journey, Crystal Mountain Treks will credit your deposit to a future trek. Your payment will not be refunded. But it can be applied to a future booking within one year of cancellation. If there is another lock-down, we will honor your payment for whenever you decide to book a trek in the future. But, if you experience a critical situation with your family (kids or parents), you get sick, or injure yourself and need to cancel your trip, we are unable to extend that offer so including your trip cost can be very valuable for some travelers.
Pam is based in the Seattle area and available to help make sense of travel insurance for our clients. Text or WhatsApp works best to set an appointment time with her. (206)-617-0102. You can also email pamsbigadventure@gmail.com and include “travel insurance” in the subject line.
Written by Jwalant Gurung on July 27, 2022
World Nomads DOES insure folks 65+ as I just took out a policy with them for my trip to Nepal in October 2022.
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