Travel Insurance

[nails62040]

Just got back from the Magic 1/30/10 - 2/6/10 and had a great time. We always purchase travel insurance. When spending that kind of money on a vacation and knowing at any time something could happen, you're silly not to protect your investment.

But I wanted to mention - please read the fine print on your travel insurance. My husband and I volunteered to give up our seat at the airport and the airline put us up in a hotel. There were numerous people who were held up due to the winter storm in the east. One lady purchased travel insurance from Disney to cover her trip, but since she didn't purchase her airline travel from Disney, the insurance didn't help her out while she was "stuck" in Orlando. I heard her say - "I should have read the fine print".

This is exactly why we don't buy insurance from the cruise line. We have never purchased our airfare via the cruise lines so if something happened regarding our flight, we would not have been covered. There are various travel insurance companies out there that will cover your travel - airfare, cruise, hotel prior to trip, car rental...etc. Please do yourself a favor and check these out - don't just take for granted that the cruise line travel insurance is going to cover it all. And 9 times out of 10 - the insurance is less expensive with a lot better coverage. I felt so bad for all those who couldn't get home due to weather. And not having insurance to cover incidentals only adds insult to injury.

I would be more than happy to let you know who we purchased our insurance from. If you're interested, please let me know and I'll email you the information. I was thankful someone posted this information several months ago which made me re-think my cruise insurance - and I'm glad I did.

 

[all4myboyngirl]

Yes, please tell us where you purchased your insurance from. We are taking our first cruise later this year and declined currently the insurance from Disney as it seemed so expensive.

 

[nails62040]

My email address is maverikmarketing@sbcglobal.net. If you want to email me, I'll send you the information.

I don't know if its ok to put this information out on the board as if I was trying to promote one company over another.

Thanks!
Karen

 

[allears]

Just got back from the Magic 1/30/10 - 2/6/10 and had a great time. We always purchase travel insurance. When spending that kind of money on a vacation and knowing at any time something could happen, you're silly not to protect your investment.

But I wanted to mention - please read the fine print on your travel insurance. My husband and I volunteered to give up our seat at the airport and the airline put us up in a hotel. There were numerous people who were held up due to the winter storm in the east. One lady purchased travel insurance from Disney to cover her trip, but since she didn't purchase her airline travel from Disney, the insurance didn't help her out while she was "stuck" in Orlando. I heard her say - "I should have read the fine print".

This is exactly why we don't buy insurance from the cruise line. We have never purchased our airfare via the cruise lines so if something happened regarding our flight, we would not have been covered. There are various travel insurance companies out there that will cover your travel - airfare, cruise, hotel prior to trip, car rental...etc. Please do yourself a favor and check these out - don't just take for granted that the cruise line travel insurance is going to cover it all. And 9 times out of 10 - the insurance is less expensive with a lot better coverage. I felt so bad for all those who couldn't get home due to weather. And not having insurance to cover incidentals only adds insult to injury.

I would be more than happy to let you know who we purchased our insurance from. If you're interested, please let me know and I'll email you the information. I was thankful someone posted this information several months ago which made me re-think my cruise insurance - and I'm glad I did.

Not covering the air fare portion of the cruise when you purchase air seperately is not a fine print issue, it's a simple issue of you cover what you pay for. Why would anyone think if they purchased insurace for the cruise but didn't buy your plane tickets along with the cruise that the insurance should cover the planes.

We were on the same cruise, but purchased our air fare seperately. We bought insurance for the cruise and also purchased insurance from the air carrier for the flights. Our flight Saturday was cancelled and we decided to rent a car and drive home yesterday. We'll be submitting a claim to this carrier.

We had a similar experience in 05 when we couldn't get home. The insurance covered our extra expenses.

We highly recommend travel insurance, but have some common sense about it and what it covers.

 

[croppincolburn]

all4myboyngirl, you can compare insurance easily at www.insuremytrip.com

 

[kcashner]

In the original example, the lady was just silly. Why would she even think that DCL's insurance would cover air that she purchased elsewhere?

On the other side, unless you are quite elderly, DCL's insurance is overpriced. Many companies do a child policy free with an adult policy, and most are far cheaper than DCL coverage. In addition, you can cover everything with one policy regardless of vendor (air, cruise, rental car, etc. all covered based on amount of coverage you purchased.) You don't have to give flight info at time of purchase of insurance--just list the trip as to the....Bahamas, Caribbean, or whatever with sufficient coverage for the air as well.

insuremytrip.com is an excellent place to compare coverage from different companies and different policies within a company.

Before you decide whether or not to buy insurance, find out whether your medical coverage is good outside of the US--mine isn't. Each policy is different--don't assume "I have Anthem BC/CS so I'm good" (you may be in the same situation I am). I could "eat" the cost of a vacation if I had to, but a serious medical situation could be a disaster!

 

[tvguy]

You buy a lot of comfort with travel insurance. If that's important to you great. In 8 cruises, we only purchased travel insurance for our Disney cruise. There were three reasons that influenced that decision.
1) We were flying cross country in the winter.
2) We were flying cross country during the holidays, on the day after Christmas, and January 3rd.
3) Our Disney cruise was three times the cost of any other 7 day cruise we have taken.

If it had been one of the $2,000 cruises, I would not have purchased the insurance. I would not be happy to be out the money, but for the same reason I don't carry collision insurance on a $2,000 car, it just doesn't make sense.
Medical insurance was not an issue for us. Our el cheapo health plan....the one that doesn't pay for pap smears....does cover all medical care overseas and emergency medical evacuation.

 

[nails62040]

That's also a really great subject - regarding health insurance while out of the states. They always mention that you should check with your health insurance provider to see if you have coverage while outside of the U.S. If you don't, then I would say to definitely purchase trip insurance. From what I understand, it can cost you plenty to be airlifted off the ship.

When checking for travel insurance, one thing that was mentioned to me was to go with "primary" instead of "secondary". Secondary coverage is less expensive, but it kicks in only after your insurance has paid. With primary, it doesn't wait for any other insurance to pay out before they pay on a claim.

We went through www.insuremytrip.com It allowed for us to compare all the different travel insurers. The one we chose also covered children traveling with an adult at no additional charge. The company was great to answer any questions I had and helped me to decide on which plan based on my travel needs. They were great to follow up with us after we purchased the insurance with regular mail and email. I plan on using them again for my next trip.

 

[kcashner]

Of course if your medical insurance provides no coverage out of the US, it doesn't really matter whether the travel insurance is primary or secondary coverage. It becomes a paperwork issue--if the travel insurance is secondary, you will need to submit to your health insurer and get a rejection from them, then resubmit to the travel insurance. They MIGHT accept the statement from the policy that says you have no coverage, but in most cases require a rejection EOB.

 

[nails62040]

Not covering the air fare portion of the cruise when you purchase air seperately is not a fine print issue, it's a simple issue of you cover what you pay for. Why would anyone think if they purchased insurace for the cruise but didn't buy your plane tickets along with the cruise that the insurance should cover the planes.

We were on the same cruise, but purchased our air fare seperately. We bought insurance for the cruise and also purchased insurance from the air carrier for the flights. Our flight Saturday was cancelled and we decided to rent a car and drive home yesterday. We'll be submitting a claim to this carrier.

We had a similar experience in 05 when we couldn't get home. The insurance covered our extra expenses.

We highly recommend travel insurance, but have some common sense about it and what it covers.

I agree - I think you need common sense when it comes to travel insurance. Unfortunately - there are a lot of people who are just unaware and inexperienced when it comes to travel - so always know what you're purchasing and if you don't understand something - ask. I asked our travel agent to email me Disney's travel insurance plan and I had a chance to read over it before I made my decision whether or not to purchase or go through someone else.

I usually travel Southwest, but have flown with AirTran and AirTran is the only airline that offered travel insurance with their flight. Does Southwest offer this - does anyone know?

 

[Husurdady]

.

Kcashner , while we are on the insurance subject,I have a question. lets say you book a b2b cruise w/ insurance, shoudn't there be a discount in the insur. rate cause the insurances over lap in the middle of the 2 cruises,[ the end of one & the begining of the other] looks like you are paying twice for the same time frame.... yes or no?

 

[kcashner]

Kcashner , while we are on the insurance subject,I have a question. lets say you book a b2b cruise w/ insurance, shoudn't there be a discount in the insur. rate cause the insurances over lap in the middle of the 2 cruises,[ the end of one & the begining of the other] looks like you are paying twice for the same time frame.... yes or no?

When you purchase insurance privately, you list the dates involved. I always list one day before and one after the cruise as part of the coverage period because I make my travel arrangements after my cruise plans; thus have the extra days covered "just in case." When I did my B2B, I listed the total 7 day period + one additional day on each side--total 9 days. For the amount of coverage, I listed the total cruise cost per person (leg one + leg 2), + airfare. Thus, I had the whole vacation covered. This is not being deceptive in any way--they didn't ask if I was going on one cruise or two; only where and when I was going.

If you are booking thru DCL, there will be no discount for B2B; however I am aware that insurance for longer cruises purchased thru DCL costs more than for shorter cruises. Not sure how a 3 +4 compares with a 7, but I'd guess it's more! We can debate all day what "should" be...but with DCL, it's a matter of what profits most.

 

[DISJen]

We learned the lesson that "you get what you pay for". My husband got seriously injured half way through our 7-day cruise and spent the second half in bed hooked up to an I.V. and being watched very closely by the doctors who were trying to decide if he should be evacuated off ship, and I was caring for him, talking to the doctors....etc. Our trip was ruined. We had trip insurance and filed a claim when we got back. We were reimbursed for our medical expenses but were denied any compensation for "interrupted trip" because the travel insurance company would only pay out if he were evacuated off the ship, otherwise they said that he remained on board and thus our trip was not "interrupted". I was told that the Disney plan does compensate people who become ill and/or are limited/confined to their room for illness/injury. I really wish I had spent a few extra bucks and got the better plan.

 

[nails62040]

We learned the lesson that "you get what you pay for". My husband got seriously injured half way through our 7-day cruise and spent the second half in bed hooked up to an I.V. and being watched very closely by the doctors who were trying to decide if he should be evacuated off ship, and I was caring for him, talking to the doctors....etc. Our trip was ruined. We had trip insurance and filed a claim when we got back. We were reimbursed for our medical expenses but were denied any compensation for "interrupted trip" because the travel insurance company would only pay out if he were evacuated off the ship, otherwise they said that he remained on board and thus our trip was not "interrupted". I was told that the Disney plan does compensate people who become ill and/or are limited/confined to their room for illness/injury. I really wish I had spent a few extra bucks and got the better plan.

Thanks for pointing that out! I just really want to emphasize to those who are reading this thread and I hope those who have never purchased travel insurance really consider doing so after reading all these replies. We (or should I say "I") spend a great deal of time planning our vacations, making sure that my family has a great time, trying to avoid glitches here and there, etc. To not take the extra time and scope all avenues of travel insurance pertaining to your investment is nonsense. Please do yourself (and your family) a favor and take the extra time and effort to make sure that if your trip is ruined or interrupted in any way, at least you'll have the funds from the insurance to make it up to yourself and family to put it towards another vacation!
(ok...stepping down off my soapbox now)

 

[mammacaryn]

We have always booked our insurance with Disney since we book everything else with them. What exactly are you all paying that makes disney so expensive? I have never looked at other prices myself, but never felt we were being ripped off either.

 

[NancyIL]

We learned the lesson that "you get what you pay for". My husband got seriously injured half way through our 7-day cruise and spent the second half in bed hooked up to an I.V. and being watched very closely by the doctors who were trying to decide if he should be evacuated off ship, and I was caring for him, talking to the doctors....etc. Our trip was ruined. We had trip insurance and filed a claim when we got back. We were reimbursed for our medical expenses but were denied any compensation for "interrupted trip" because the travel insurance company would only pay out if he were evacuated off the ship, otherwise they said that he remained on board and thus our trip was not "interrupted". I was told that the Disney plan does compensate people who become ill and/or are limited/confined to their room for illness/injury. I really wish I had spent a few extra bucks and got the better plan.

If you check Disney's plan coverages, it is usually NOT the better plan. It doesn't have a waiver of pre-existing conditions, no mater when it is purchased, and only the baggage coverage is higher than most other policies. It is true that "trip interruption" doesn't cover being confined to a cruise ship cabin in many if not most policies. While the trip was ruined for you, you were STILL cruising.

 

[clawmachine]

We have always booked our insurance with Disney since we book everything else with them. What exactly are you all paying that makes disney so expensive? I have never looked at other prices myself, but never felt we were being ripped off either.

We are just one example, but I just priced out USAA's travel insurance policy (we already have auto ins. with them), and I can get more coverage for less than half the cost of the Disney plan for 2 adults and 3 kids. The Disney plan was going to be $395 and the USAA plan is about $175. The USAA plan will also cover our air travel and hotel stay the night before the cruise, which the Disney plan would not. hth.

 

[HooKooDooKu]

Am I the only one that sees the specific example sighted by the OP as really being a non-issue?

I see the primary purpose to buying travel insurance is to make sure your $$$$ investment isn't a complete loss when the unexpected happens and you miss your trip.

To complain that you didn't read the travel insurance fine print and got upset that is didn't cover the $$ unexpected expense of an extra night in a hotel is about like paying for car insurance and complaining when the insurance doesn't cover the cost of your spilled cup of coffee that you dropped in a car accident.

I guess my point is that everyone needs to keep in mind the real purpose for insurance is to transfer a risk that you can not affort to take. Most people booking a DCL vacation can not afford to spend the $$$$ it would cost to rebook a cruise that was missed due to unforseen circumstances. But pretty much anyone spending the $$$$ for a DCL trip should be able to risk the loss of $$ to cover some a minor unexpected travel expense.



On the other hand, the very valid point that was made was than when you book airfare seperate from your cruise, and then purchase the optional insurance offered by DCL, your air-fare isn't included. So if something goes terribly wrong and you are unable to complete your trip, you're at the mercy of the airline and what ever their policy is regarding non-refundable tickets.

 

[sayhello]

Am I the only one that sees the specific example sighted by the OP as really being a non-issue?

I see the primary purpose to buying travel insurance is to make sure your $$$$ investment isn't a complete loss when the unexpected happens and you miss your trip.

To complain that you didn't read the travel insurance fine print and got upset that is didn't cover the $$ unexpected expense of an extra night in a hotel is about like paying for car insurance and complaining when the insurance doesn't cover the cost of your spilled cup of coffee that you dropped in a car accident.

I guess my point is that everyone needs to keep in mind the real purpose for insurance is to transfer a risk that you can not affort to take. Most people booking a DCL vacation can not afford to spend the $$$$ it would cost to rebook a cruise that was missed due to unforseen circumstances. But pretty much anyone spending the $$$$ for a DCL trip should be able to risk the loss of $$ to cover some a minor unexpected travel expense.



On the other hand, the very valid point that was made was than when you book airfare seperate from your cruise, and then purchase the optional insurance offered by DCL, your air-fare isn't included. So if something goes terribly wrong and you are unable to complete your trip, you're at the mercy of the airline and what ever their policy is regarding non-refundable tickets.

Actually, I don't agree with you. Everyone buys trip insurance for different reasons. Some only buy it to get their money back on the actual cruise investment. But some people buy it to cover any sort of unexpected travel expense. I'd be pretty pissed if I bought car insurance, was in an accident, and was told the insurance didn't cover the windshield. Even though most people buy car insurance to cover major expenses, you expect the entirety of the car to be covered. I agree the person the OP overheard should have asked what the insurance covers, but saying she shouldn't have expected the hotel expense to be covered, or CARED if it was covered, is ridiculous. *ESPECIALLY* since, if she'd bought the insurance independently, rather than through DCL, it WOULD have been covered.

For MANY people, the real purpose of trip insurance is to protect you from unexpected expenses beyond your control. No matter whether it's before or during the trip.

Sayhello

 

[nails62040]

We have always booked our insurance with Disney since we book everything else with them. What exactly are you all paying that makes disney so expensive? I have never looked at other prices myself, but never felt we were being ripped off either.

I know that travel insurance is based on the amount that you pay for your trip. When I compared Disney to the other insurance company, my husband and I saved about $80.00 and had almost twice the coverage.