About G1G

A generic square placeholder image with rounded corners in a figure.
CEO Zubair Jeewanjee (left) with founder Zain Jeewanjee (middle) and CMO Zeshan Jeewanjee (right).

G1G takes pride in being a family run business since 1985. Our humble beginnings are never forgotten and our company’s mission to make travel safer and easier has been passed on through generations of the Jeewanjee family and remains G1G’s core focus to this day. Our story establishes our guiding principles that hold us accountable to an ethical standard which foster creative innovations that empowers travelers. Our 30+ years of contributions to the travel industry are because of our moral standard and dedicated focus to keep travelers safe when away from home, all while being aware of our social responsibility to our community and our planet. After all, without accountability and conscious travel initiatives, there would be nowhere to travel to. Signature - Zubair Jeewanjee, CEO

The G1G Story

Picture leaving your home to visit another country for the first time with your family, and at a time before the internet made easy access to information on your destination. Now imagine losing your child on that family holiday abroad and being left with $200,000 in medical debt. Although the G1G story begins on this somber note, the result of this tragic experience defined G1G’s mission to help travelers when they need it the most. The G1G story beings over 30 years ago and since then we have brought trust, accountability, and customer advocacy to an industry devoid of those qualities.

Play
Founder Zain Jeewanjee on our commitment to our customers.

In 1983 the innovative and vibrant founder of G1G, Zain Jeewanjee, trekked halfway around the world from the Indian subcontinent to the United States of America. Already having lived in 3 different continents by age 16, his next journey to the America’s was the first overseas trip with his wife and and two children. Unfortunately, the youngest was diagnosed with a rare muscular disease and required immediate medical treatment shortly after arrival in Palo Alto, California, where Mr. Jeewanjee had family whom he was visiting. Months of intense care and efforts from the doctors were unsuccessful and the Jeewanjee family lost their newborn son. In addition to this heavy loss, Zain was mislead to believe that his son’s procedure would be covered under his travel health insurance policy, which was not the case. He found himself with an overwhelming $200,000 in medical debt. He was forced to leave his extended family and entrepreneurial endeavors back home on the Subcontinent and begin anew on the other side of the world, this time not by choice but to pay off his extensive medical debts.

Throughout his childhood, Zain was groomed and mentored for business by his father, who in turn was taught by Zain’s grandfather, Alibhai Mulla Jeevanjee - a politician, merchant, journeymen, and philanthropist who helped develop modern-day Kenya. Inspired by the legacy of his grandfather Zain was determined to follow in his footsteps and make an impact on the world for social good. He was determined to create a company that served customers first.

Using his tragic and life altering experience with travel insurance he created G1G in 1985. With his fundamental understanding of the insurance industry - whose jargon is even challenging for native English speakers - Zain vowed to propel the travel industry forward and ease the burden on global travelers by offering quality travel safety and protection services people could rely on. Since day one, G1G has offered only the best products curated by a multi-point benchmark assurance system. Additionally, he did not cut-corners on costs and provided 24/7/365 service, post-purchase customer care, claims assistance, and honesty throughout the whole travel insurance purchasing process. This allowed G1G to educate customers about the reality of how travel and visitors insurance works, preparing travelers for the unexpected.

Play
Founder Zain Jeewanjee on our commitment to our customers.

Zain was destined to improve an industry that was and still is averse to change, so that no one else would have to endure the suffering that he and his family were put through by the false promises regarding travel insurance. He would make sure every G1G customer is provided the proper tools and information to understand the details and nuances of their policy. He made sure of this by working individually with each G1G employee for decades to ensure the top-notch Customer Service that is the heartbeat of the company.

After these years of hard work and dedication, Zain was happy to see the torch passed to his son Zubair Jeewanjee who was elected CEO by the Board of Directors in late 2013 for his strong leadership and innovative solutions. Just like his father, Zubair carries the same passion and commitment to the core principles of consumer empowerment and travel. Zubair began working with Zain at age 14 and has also lived in 3 different continents over the course of his life. Keeping the G1G legacy alive, he has put together a stellar team of diverse travelers to carry on the family mission of making travel safer and easier for everyone.

Timeline

  • 1985 - G1G is founded by Zain Jeewanjee in San Jose, California
  • 1987 - G1G launches multi-point check system for quality assurance
  • 1989 - G1G invents first visitors health insurance comparison tool
  • 1992 - G1G sets up 24/7 worldwide customer support & concierge
  • 1997 - G1G becomes first online travel insurance comparison site in the world
  • 1999 - G1G begins developing its own products to fill gaps of coverage
  • 2013 - G1G Elects Zubair Jeewanjee as new CEO
  • 2014 - G1G creates first customer portal for enhanced travel insurance support
  • 2015 - G1G enhances claims filing with automated online tool for customers
  • 2018 - G1G implements consumer advocacy team to support customer claims
  • 2019 - G1G launches I.T.I.R.A - first enhanced travel safety system
  • 2025 - First travel insurance company to protect travelers to Mars?

What We Do

G1G is your trusted one stop shop for all your travel insurance needs. Whether that means picking the right plan, finding the best hospital or doctor in your area, or helping you file a claim, we are there for you every step of the way so you may travel worry free. Consumer empowerment has been the core of G1G’s values since its humble beginnings in 1985. In 1997 - in a world before widespread e-commerce - G1G became the world’s first online insurance aggregator, predating top airline and hotel booking websites of today. Knowing that every journey is unique in its own way, G1G is constantly exploring new ways to connect our diverse customer base of world travelers, immigrants, green card holders, international students, foreign nationals and expats, with custom-tailored plans to their specific travel needs.

Since 1985 - Founded and Located in San Jose, California
Since 1985 - Founded and Located in San Jose, California.

This has been the case since 1999, when G1G began working directly with underwriters to design products dictated by specific needs of worldwide travelers. Today we use our 30+ years of technical and professional experience to search hundreds of travel insurance carriers to find a plan that suits the budgetary and medical needs of our customers. We apply cutting-edge machine learning algorithms and predictive analytics to assess the risk of a trip based on features such as cost of medical care at your destination, physical environment (risk of terrorism), environmental and biological conditions etc. This system called ITIRA (Intuitive Travel Insurance Risk Assessment) helps us connect customers around the world to the best travel insurance product for them specifically.

G1G has continuously revolutionized the industry with customer care additives like the G1G Customer Portal and 24/7 Worldwide Support over phone and chat, always placing our customer needs at the center of our business. With G1G’s considerable growth and expansion, we continue to prioritize customer service - more than anyone else in the travel and visitors insurance space, and this can be seen with our G1G Guarantee. We have continued to innovate and disrupt the market by revolutionizing the ways travel insurance can be delivered to our user in ways our competition cannot. Simply put, no one knows the market as well as its creators and no one else shares our values, mission, and dedication to service.

Today - with our abundant history and experience - G1G is far from the start up it once was, yet we consider ourselves something of a re-start up. Built for the modern traveler with our core focus on user experience and customer care, we utilize the latest tools in tech to increase travelers safety. In keeping with our company motto, we want you to travel with G1G, worry free!

Our Crew

  • Crew
    Zain Jeewanjee Founder
  • Crew
    Zubair Jeewanjee Captain
  • Crew
    Talat Imran Technology
  • Crew
    Nikolay Maslov Creative
  • Crew
    Zeshan Jeewanjee Product
  • Crew
    Cathy Lee Human Relations
  • Crew
    Bernard Cooperman Customer Relations