I just spent the last 3 hours on the phone with various travel clinics in Minnesota trying to put together pricing for our immunizations, what a nightmare. It boggles the mind how much bureaucratic nonsense a person has to wade through to get basic information about international travel health care.

Unsurprisingly the places that were most difficult to extract pricing from were the most expensive.

I was very surprised at the wild fluctuations in pricing, reasonable clinics were charging around $30 for the polio vaccinations while others were charging in excess of $150. Unsurprisingly the places that were most difficult to extract pricing from were the most expensive. Ridiculous consultation fees costing hundreds of dollars seem to be the norm and apparently cannot be consolidated even if two people are getting the same shots at the same time for the same trip.

I was about to throw in the towel and then I called Passport Health USA. A very friendly woman answered the phone and immediately knew pricing faster than I could write it down. Their prices were some of the most competitive of all the clinics I contacted and I didn't have to argue for 20 minutes to explain that I knew what vaccinations I needed. When I made the appointment (with the same person, no endless transfers!) she took down my first and last name and didn't ask for my entire life story on the phone.

If you are looking for a clinic to get vaccinations I cannot recommend them enough. If you don't know what vaccinations you need I feel certain that they can help you quickly and easily over the phone without trying to charge you hundreds of dollars.

Next Tuesday we go in for the first of three visits, as excited as I am to have this detail handled I am not excited to get stuck with a bunch of needles. Oh well, it will be worth it :)