Non-existent International Support for Business Customers?

I have a 64 GB Apple iPhone 5s. I am a business customer on a corproate AT&T account. I am traveling internationally in Asia. My phone sustained apparent water damage. I have purchased Apple Care Plus. When i speak to AT&T they tell me i have to basically talk to Apple for support because that is how their deal is strucutured and because Apple Care is something Apple essentially manages.

So, i call Apple. Here is what i am told. The ONLY option they offer is for me to ship my phone to a "buddy" in the US who must carry it into a store, get the situation fixed and mail it back to me. I told Apple, this whole process would take almost 7 business days and that is catastropic for me. i would be willing to pay for a new phone if they could ship to me AT MY COST and then when i returned after my business trip i would turn the old instrument in and they could refund me the difference between the Apple Care warranty price of $79 and the full price.

I am being told that Apple is not set up to do this. Is this true? Because if it is, then i have to say, that NO ONE who travels on business internationally should even think of carrying an iPhone product. Is this Apple's version of support for business customers?