Evacuation membership vs travel insurance and which one your trek needs

Travel insurance pays your medical bills; an evacuation membership arranges and pays for getting you to a hospital, and usually pays nothing towards treatment. For a Nepal trek you need the first, and the second is an optional extra. The detail that decides whether either works on a trek is altitude. Everest Base Camp sits at 5,364 metres and the Thorong La pass on the Annapurna Circuit at 5,416 metres, while common policy and membership limits sit at 3,000 or 4,600 metres. Buy cover whose number is higher than the highest point you will walk to.

What each one actually pays for

Insurance reimburses costs, including treatment; a membership is a service that transports you and, in the membership’s own words, is not insurance. Global Rescue, one of the best-known field-rescue memberships, says on its own site that it “is not an insurance company” and cannot reimburse members for treatment or trip costs.

The examples show a type, not a recommendation, and none is linked from this page. The hospital-transfer model is the one people misunderstand. Medjet describes its service as “hospital-to-hospital, bedside-to-bedside”: if you are admitted to a hospital 150 miles or more from home, it arranges transfer to a hospital of your choice in your home country. It does not come up the valley to fetch you.

Why altitude decides everything on a trek

Every policy and membership has an altitude ceiling, and most standard Nepal treks go higher than the cheapest tier. The ceiling is usually written as a single number, and the trek’s highest point is what counts.

Those two limits are real, published tiers. True Traveller covers trekking to 3,000 metres as standard, to 4,600 metres with its Adventure Pack, and above 4,600 metres with its Extreme Adventure Pack. Global Rescue’s standard membership stops at 15,000 feet (4,600 metres); above that you need its High-Altitude Evacuation Package, listed at $495 for an individual and $995 for a family, for members aged 16 and over.

Global Rescue’s terms contain the trap every trekker should look for in any contract. If you go above 4,600 metres at any time during the trip, field rescue is not included in a standard membership — even if you are hurt later, lower down. On an Everest Base Camp trek, that means a twisted knee in Namche on the way down is outside the standard membership. The add-on has to be bought before you fall ill or get hurt.

How to read a policy’s altitude and evacuation clause

Find four things in the wording: the altitude number, how the activity is defined, who must approve a rescue, and where they will take you. The marketing page is not the contract; the policy wording is.

1. The altitude number. Look for a figure in metres or feet next to “trekking” or “hiking”. If the policy gives none, ask the insurer in writing for one before you buy.
2. The activity definition. Trekking and mountaineering are usually priced differently. A trekking peak with ropes, crampons or an ice axe may fall under mountaineering.
3. Who approves the rescue. True Traveller, for example, covers helicopter rescue when it is medically necessary and authorised by its emergency medical assistance service. Save that number in your phone and give it to your guide.
4. Where they take you. Evacuation normally means the nearest suitable hospital; repatriation means home. They are separate clauses with separate conditions.

Two further checks come straight from the UK government. GOV.UK says to declare pre-existing conditions, because failing to may invalidate the policy, and to make sure the policy covers every activity you plan, since some need specialist cover or an add-on. For Nepal specifically, the FCDO tells travellers to make sure their insurance includes mountain rescue services and helicopter costs.

Where a credit card fits

Card travel insurance is a bonus, not a trekking policy, and on a high trek it rarely replaces either option above. Check the card’s own terms for an altitude limit, an activity exclusion and an evacuation clause before you count on it. Our guide to the gap in card travel insurance that a trek walks into goes through those clauses, and what card travel insurance actually covers sets out the general picture.

Which one you actually need

Almost every trekker needs travel insurance with trekking cover above their high point; a field-rescue membership is worth adding if you want the rescue run by a dedicated team or your policy’s rescue terms are weak. The right answer depends on who you are, not on which company is best.

• Annapurna Base Camp, or anything under 4,600 metres: a policy with a 4,600-metre tier is enough. A membership is optional.
• Everest Base Camp, the Annapurna Circuit or higher: you need cover above 4,600 metres. If you add a membership, add its high-altitude option too.
• You want to be flown to your own hospital: either membership type does that; check your insurance’s repatriation clause first, because you may already have it.
• You have a pre-existing condition: declare it to the insurer, and read the membership’s exclusions. Global Rescue, for example, lists exclusions including certain infectious diseases and pregnancy beyond the second trimester.

The unprofitable truth: for most people on a standard trek, a membership on top of good insurance buys peace of mind more than new cover. Spend first on the policy tier that covers your altitude.

Keep reading

Sources: Global Rescue, travel services page and High-Altitude Evacuation Package FAQs, for what the membership does and does not pay, its 15,000 ft (4,600 m) threshold, add-on prices and exclusions; Medjet, FAQ, for its hospital-to-hospital transfer model; True Traveller, trekking insurance page, for its 3,000 m, 4,600 m and above-4,600 m tiers and rescue authorisation; GOV.UK, “Foreign travel insurance”, and FCDO Nepal travel advice, safety and security; all read on 27 September 2026. Trek high points from our own published itineraries. No provider named here is linked from this page, and none was chosen for commission. This is general information, not financial advice; read your own policy wording before you travel.

Photos via Pexels: Bijay Chaurasia (cover), Sherine, Clinton Weaver.