Insurance
Trekking insurance for Nepal: altitude, helicopter, bank cards
Mountain rescue in Nepal is paid for: helicopters only take off once someone guarantees payment. What to check in a policy before you go, and what bank card insurance is really worth. Checked in October 2026, with no sponsored links or commission.
Why it is essential
- Rescue is paid for: according to the French foreign ministry, all mountain rescue in Nepal is charged for and helicopters only take off if payment is guaranteed. Without insurance that guarantees it, you may not be rescued, or you may have to pay yourself. The UK government's advice says the same: make sure your insurance covers mountain rescue and helicopter costs.
- The price of a flight: a helicopter chartered for an evacuation costs around 4,000 USD (≈ €3,570) (Kathmandu Post investigation, March 2026). Add a private hospital in Kathmandu and, if needed, repatriation home.
- Distance: on most treks the nearest hospital is several days' walk away. Above 3,000 m, altitude oedema means descending without delay, and a bad fall can leave you unable to walk: evacuation is then often by helicopter (see Altitude and safety).
- Public health cover is not enough: national schemes (the French Sécurité sociale, for example) reimburse urgent care outside Europe only afterwards and at home-country rates, and never pay for the helicopter or repatriation.
What to check in the policy
| What to check | What you need |
|---|---|
| Maximum altitude | At least the highest point of your trek; 6,000 m covers every trek on this site (5,416 m at the Thorong La, 5,645 m at Kala Patthar). Mainstream policies often stop between 3,000 and 4,500 m, sometimes not on the first page. |
| Trekking as a covered activity | The policy must name hiking or high-altitude trekking, without requiring an "organised" trip if you go with an independent guide. Mountaineering (ropes, crampons, ice axe) is almost always excluded or sold as an add-on. |
| Search, rescue and helicopter evacuation | Explicit cover for mountain search and rescue and for the helicopter flight to hospital, with a limit well above the price of a flight (actual costs ideally). It is often a separate line with its own limit. |
| Illness, not just accidents | Altitude sickness is an illness: some cover only applies to accidents (a fall, an injury). |
| Medical costs and repatriation | Medical costs abroad with a high limit (around 150,000 € or more) and medical repatriation home at actual cost. |
| Payment up front | The assistance company must be able to pay the helicopter and hospital directly (payment guarantee), not just reimburse you afterwards. |
| Duration and excess | The whole length of your stay (many policies stop at 90 days); the excess per claim, and which cover it applies to. |
What about bank card insurance?
Premium cards (in France: Visa Premier, Mastercard Gold and similar) include travel assistance that is useful, but rarely enough for a trek in Nepal. Example of a 2026 Visa Premier notice from a French bank (assistance by Europ Assistance): medical costs abroad up to 155,000 € (50 € excess), but mountain search and rescue and "primary transport" to hospital are excluded from assistance, and only the first 90 days of a trip are covered.
The same card's "snow and mountain" cover reimburses up to 5,000 € of rescue costs, but only after an injury caused by an accident (not altitude sickness), claimed afterwards, and excluding mountaineering. The French foreign ministry points out that this cover cannot pay rescue costs up front in Nepal. Standard cards generally have lower limits.
Terms change from one bank and one year to the next: read the notice for your card (exclusions and mountain sections) or call the assistance company before you leave. If the helicopter is not in it, you need additional insurance.
Policies often mentioned
The options most often mentioned by trekkers and on forums, plus the mountaineering federations' own cover, checked against their official documents on 18 October 2026. This is neither a ranking nor a recommendation: no sponsored links, no commission. Cover changes every year: read the current document and get the altitude and helicopter cover confirmed in writing before you buy.
French Alpine Club membership
FFCAM, "World including the Himalaya" extension
- Price
- Club membership + 25 € (personal cover) + 287 € (Himalaya extension)
- Altitude
- No limit: hiking and mountaineering covered
- Rescue
- 30,000 € per event, helicopter included
- Medical costs
- 350,000 € abroad (30 € excess)
- Altitude sickness
- Treated as an accident: rescue, repatriation and medical costs covered. Other illnesses are not.
- Duration
- Season from 1 October to 31 October of the following year
- Source
- FFCAM insurance page (2026-2027 notice, in French)
Travel insurance (EEA, UK)
True Traveller, Traveller or Traveller Plus + Extreme Pack
- Price
- Price on quote
- Altitude
- Above 4,600 m with the Extreme Pack (up to 4,600 m: Adventure Pack); "Trekking in Nepal" endorsement required
- Rescue
- 60,000 € (Traveller) or 120,000 € (Traveller Plus) on the EU policy; none on True Value
- Helicopter
- Covered if medically necessary and approved by their assistance team; 600 € extra excess in Nepal
- Medical costs
- 10 million euros, illness included (90 € or 45 € excess)
- Source
- 2026 EU policy (valid from 1 March 2026)
Travel insurance (European site)
World Nomads, Explorer plan
- Price
- Extra premium depending on altitude
- Altitude
- Up to 6,000 m on recognised routes, chosen when you buy (otherwise 3,000 m)
- Rescue
- Search and rescue excluded
- Helicopter
- Evacuation covered if medically necessary; operator paid directly once their assistance team approves
- To check
- That your country of residence is offered in the quote
- Source
- European help pages (hiking) and Nepal and helicopters
Shop membership card (France)
Au Vieux Campeur club card
- Price
- Price on the shop's website
- Altitude
- No written limit; hiking covered
- Rescue
- 35,000 € in the Himalaya, evacuation included, for "accident victims"
- Medical costs
- Only 35,000 € abroad (30 € excess): top it up
- Altitude sickness
- Treated as an accident for the personal accident cover only: get rescue cover confirmed
- Duration
- 90 consecutive days abroad
- Source
- General terms in force since 1 October 2023 (in French)
Long-stay travel insurance
ACS, Globe Traveller
- Altitude
- No limit for hiking without ropes, crampons or ice axe (beyond that it is mountaineering, excluded without the "risk sports" option)
- Rescue
- Search costs 5,000 €; medical transport and repatriation at actual cost. Helicopter from the trail is not written: get it confirmed.
- Medical costs
- 150,000, 300,000 or 500,000 € depending on the plan, illness included
- Duration
- Up to 12 months
- Source
- Notice version 7 of 27 July 2026 (in French)
French hiking federation membership
FFRandonnée, overseas assistance extension
- Altitude
- Not specified
- Rescue
- 20,000 €; the federation recommends it for countries where helicopters require a payment guarantee
- Medical costs
- 1,000,000 €, accident or illness
- Duration
- 3 months maximum per trip
- Source
- 2025-2026 form (contract no. 8710, in French): that season ended in August, check the 2026-2027 version
Short-stay travel insurance
AVA, Tourist Card
- Price
- 6.5% of the trip price, per person and per 30 days (80 € minimum): 130 € for 3 weeks on a 2,000 € trip. Rescue option extra. Ask what counts as the "trip price" if you organise everything yourself.
- Altitude
- Not specified
- Rescue
- 4,000 € as standard (the same page also says 5,000 €); 25,000 € with the "search costs and extreme sports" option, intended for high-mountain trekking
- Medical costs
- 500,000 €
- Source
- Official page (in French)
Is it compulsory?
- To enter Nepal: no, no insurance is required for the visa. The French foreign ministry nevertheless calls it "imperative" (advice of 15 September 2026).
- For the trek: the TIMS card is issued by a licensed agency, together with the guide (except in the Everest region, where the Khumbu fee replaces it: see Permits). The form usually asks for your insurer's details (policy number, assistance phone number), and most agencies and guides ask for proof of insurance before you set off. We found no official text setting a minimum amount.
- Agency blogs announcing a new requirement with set minimums contradict each other on dates and amounts: we have found no official trace of it so far.
On the trail: good habits
- The assistance number and your policy number: written on paper, in your phone and in your pack, and given to your guide and agency. The French foreign ministry advises sharing them so rescue can be arranged faster.
- A copy of the policy or a certificate in English, with the "search and rescue" and "helicopter evacuation" cover visible: that is what agencies and helicopter companies ask for.
- Call the assistance company yourself before any evacuation (except in a life-threatening emergency) and describe your symptoms yourself: costs incurred without its approval may never be reimbursed.
- A way to reach them: there is no signal on much of the trail; the French foreign ministry recommends a satellite phone for the trekker or the guide.
- Leave time between the end of the trek and your flight home: weather often grounds mountain flights.
What about the visa? A two-week trek plus a few days in Kathmandu and Pokhara quickly adds up to more than 15 days: get the 30-day visa. The calculator on our sister site Visa Nepal shows the cheapest length.
Which visa length?Comments
A question, recent news from the trail, your own experience? Share it here.
Loading comments…