What does trip insurance cover and how much is it?

[fairytalelover]

We have never bought trip insurance but we will be going on our next cruise in October which is still in hurricane season so we wanted to know what trip insurance covers and how much it costs? Is it worth it? Do most people buy it?

 

[RedSox68]

We never travel without it and for good reason.

I always use the site www.insuremytrip.com. You can compare up to 5 policies at a time and pick what works best for you. You can also just buy policies for luggage, air, etc. I always get one that includes trip cancellation, air evac, medical for pre-existing, lost/damaged luggage and trip delays. And now many offer trip cancellation for work reasons, such as layoff, work won't let me go, etc. -- which nowadays is a pretty good idea.

Keep in mind that the best rates are if you book within 10 days of putting your deposit on the trip. Also, that is the window allowed for buying for anyone with pre-existing conditions.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We have never bought trip insurance but we will be going on our next cruise in October which is still in hurricane season so we wanted to know what trip insurance covers and how much it costs? Is it worth it? Do most people buy it?

Insurance can cover whatever expenses you wish. Trip Cancellation(for health, for work, for any reason, etc)/Trip Delay/Lost Luggage/Health Care/Medical Evacuation are several of the options.

The cost depends what you want to cover and how much (money-wise) you want to cover.

We also use www.insuremytrip.comas a comparison site for selecting our coverage.

 

[fairytalelover]

does it cover for weather i.e hurricanes? And how much does it cost? What is covered if there is a hurricane?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

does it cover for weather i.e hurricanes? And how much does it cost? What is covered if there is a hurricane?

All policies are different. Both in what they cover and how much it costs.

You'll have to use someplace like www.insuremytrip.com or http://www.squaremouth.com/ (among others) to do comparisons.

 

[fairytalelover]

All policies are different. Both in what they cover and how much it costs.

You'll have to use someplace like www.insuremytrip.com or http://www.squaremouth.com/ (among others) to do comparisons.

I would really love to just get feedback here on the boards from those who have bought insurance as to how much they paid for the ones they chose and the details of their policy. At this point, I really don't want to go do research and compare insurance sites.

 

[Jennifer in MI]

I would really love to just get feedback here on the boards from those who have bought insurance as to how much they paid for the ones they chose and the details of their policy. At this point, I really don't want to go do research and compare insurance sites.

I can tell you what we bought and what it covered. But, you will have to decide what you want to cover and find a policy for that. Insuremytrip is EASY and they have agents to answer questions on line for you right away.

We bought a policy to cover a $12,000 trip in 2010. We paid $180 for the poliicy. At the time, the biggest thing I wanted covered was emergency evacuation. I figured that my health insurance would cover the rest. And, of course, i wanted to be reimbursed if we had to cancel due to health of one of my family members.

We ended up having to leave the Disney cruise on day 4 of 7 when my son needed his appendix removed. The insurance company covered ALL of his medical costs (including his food and food for my husband at the hospital). They covered the rest of our family to stay in Mexico in a resort near the hospital. It covered my taxi costs back and forth between the resort and the hospital. They made the arrangements for us to get back to the US. They covered our visa fees, flights, taxi ride back to our house, and all the doctor bills from the cruise doctors. They also reimbursed us for 3/7 of the cost of the cruise plus a few other small things. Overall, they paid out over $48,000.

Things they did NOT cover - food for the rest of us while staying in Mexico while ds recovered. And, our phone bills back and forth from my husband to me. I tried to argue that they were to arrange transportation, but they didn't have it.

When we were with the doctors, the Disney staff was wonderful and they told us that very few insurance policies will cover the entire family to get off the ship. Usually they will cover the sick child and one parent. Can you imagine leaving your child in a foreign country while you continue on vacation? Anyway, we were lucky as ours did cover us (up to a certain dollar amount - I think it was 1.5x the cost of our trip - so they would have covered $18,000 for everything but the medical portion - that was separate).

I would write down the things you think you might need. Ask the questions of the agent and pick the right policy. It really should only take you about 20 minutes or so.

 

[fairytalelover]

I can tell you what we bought and what it covered. But, you will have to decide what you want to cover and find a policy for that. Insuremytrip is EASY and they have agents to answer questions on line for you right away.

We bought a policy to cover a $12,000 trip in 2010. We paid $180 for the poliicy. At the time, the biggest thing I wanted covered was emergency evacuation. I figured that my health insurance would cover the rest. And, of course, i wanted to be reimbursed if we had to cancel due to health of one of my family members.

We ended up having to leave the Disney cruise on day 4 of 7 when my son needed his appendix removed. The insurance company covered ALL of his medical costs (including his food and food for my husband at the hospital). They covered the rest of our family to stay in Mexico in a resort near the hospital. It covered my taxi costs back and forth between the resort and the hospital. They made the arrangements for us to get back to the US. They covered our visa fees, flights, taxi ride back to our house, and all the doctor bills from the cruise doctors. They also reimbursed us for 3/7 of the cost of the cruise plus a few other small things. Overall, they paid out over $48,000.

Things they did NOT cover - food for the rest of us while staying in Mexico while ds recovered. And, our phone bills back and forth from my husband to me. I tried to argue that they were to arrange transportation, but they didn't have it.

When we were with the doctors, the Disney staff was wonderful and they told us that very few insurance policies will cover the entire family to get off the ship. Usually they will cover the sick child and one parent. Can you imagine leaving your child in a foreign country while you continue on vacation? Anyway, we were lucky as ours did cover us (up to a certain dollar amount - I think it was 1.5x the cost of our trip - so they would have covered $18,000 for everything but the medical portion - that was separate).

I would write down the things you think you might need. Ask the questions of the agent and pick the right policy. It really should only take you about 20 minutes or so.

Wow. That's awesome that they took care of all of that for you. You can never tell when something unexpected will happen like what happened to your child. Thanks for the details.

 

[Ravenne]

What are the reasons for choosing a 3rd party insurer over the insurance offered by Disney?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

What are the reasons for choosing a 3rd party insurer over the insurance offered by Disney?

It's usually cheaper, covers more and takes effect as soon as you buy it.

One note here, many health plans (here in the US) do not cover you out of country. And you are considered "out of country" once you board the ship. Medical expenses/evacuation can be very expensive if you need it, so it's a good idea to make sure your medical is covered for trips.

 

[disny_luvr]

We also went through www.insuremytrip.com. I called the 1-800 number on the site and the representative I spoke with was very helpful. I told her everything I wanted covered and she found a plan that worked for us. I paid $153 for me, DH and two sons. That is covering about $7,000. We went with this insurance over Disney because it was cheaper and covered more. If you don't want to spend the time doing the research on different insurance policies, write down want you want covered and call Insure My Trip. They can help find a policy that is right for you with little to no effort on your part.

 

[Ravenne]

What if you haven't purchased airfare yet? Can you still get coverage that will cover that?

Does the cost of the insurance go up the closer to your travel date?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

What if you haven't purchased airfare yet? Can you still get coverage that will cover that?

Does the cost of the insurance go up the closer to your travel date?

You can buy insurance based on estimated airfare. Or just buy what you want now, and add the airfare insurance later. We had insurance on our WBTA cruise (airfare was part of the DCL cost), later we added the Med cruise making it a B2B. We just called up insuremytrip and added the other cruise to our original plan.

Don't know the answer to the last question.

 

[sayhello]

What if you haven't purchased airfare yet? Can you still get coverage that will cover that?

Does the cost of the insurance go up the closer to your travel date?

As far as I know, "closeness to the travel date" does not affect the cost of the insurance.

What it dose affect is the fact that:
a) if you wait longer than 14 - 21 days after putting down your first deposit, you will not get pre-existing conditions waived. Pre-existing conditions include any condition for which you have or reasonably should have gotten treatment within a "look back period" prior to purchasing the insurance. It varies from policy to policy, but it might be something like "60 days prior to buying the insurance". It also includes chronic conditions for which the treatment or your condition has changed during that lookback period. This applies to whoever it is that would cause you to cancel or cut short your trip (for example, if you had to leave because grandma became critically ill, it would be her pre-existing condition that would be waived or not).
b) if you wait too long, and they are predicting a hurricane to hit 2 weeks from now during your cruise, your insurance won't cover you, because the weather event is already "known" at the time you purchased the policy.
c) you have to be "able to travel" to buy trip insurance. So if you wait, and then you become ill and can't travel at the point that you want to buy the insurance (even if you think you'll be better by the time the cruise comes around) you won't be covered.

I agree with those who say call the toll-free number for www.insuremytrip.com. They will compare all the options for you based on what you tell them you want, and your situation, cost of vacation, etc, and help you purchase exactly what you want. They are extremely helpful! Couldn't be easier. What others paid is sort of irrelevant, as there are so many variables involved: Number of people, ages of people, cost of trip, where the trip goes, where you live, what's covered, etc.

Sayhello

 

[Ravenne]

Awesome info, thank you guys! As usual, you guys rock!

 

[SuzanneSLO]

You can buy insurance based on estimated airfare. Or just buy what you want now, and add the airfare insurance later. We had insurance on our WBTA cruise (airfare was part of the DCL cost), later we added the Med cruise making it a B2B. We just called up insuremytrip and added the other cruise to our original plan.

Don't know the answer to the last question.

For many policies, if you want the pre-existing coverage exclusion waived, you MUST cover all non-refundable expenses. As a result, you will have to make sure you have sufficient coverage within a couple of weeks of buying your airfare or increase your coverage if you don't. So as PrincessShmoo says, you can add higher limits later, but DON'T FORGET! -- Suzanne

 

[Ravenne]

First of all, thank you all who referred InsureMyTrip.com. I gave them a call and got a quote, so now we're evaluating it.

Second, I could've sworn I read some where, likely here, that said something along the lines of it costing more the closer you get to your departure date. After talking to a rep at InsureMyTrip.com, I figured out why. A large portion of it has to do with the whole pre-existing conditions waiver. With most policies, if you purchase your policy within 14 days of your initial trip payment, you get the waiver. Outside of that window, you don't qualify, or if you do, it's a HUGE increase to premiums. What the waiver does is it prevents the insurance company from looking into your medical history to look for a reason to deny your claim. If it comes to that, it can turn into a HUGE nightmarish headache as it's subjective to interpretation and you'll have to fight the insurance company on it. Then there's the job related cancellation clause. You can only purchase that if you get your insurance within 21 days of initial payment. There are a lot of things to consider. I had the rep give me a price quote for a policy that provides the pre-existing condition waiver and the premium was 246% more than without. It's a huge difference. Just something to think about. But to throw this into perspective, I don't believe Disney's policies provide pre-existing condition and job related cancellation coverage anyway, regardless of when you purchase the policy.

Another thing to consider is default coverage...for when the service provider goes out of business. I don't foresee that being an issue with DCL, but if you're booking your own excursions, that's something that'll need to be considered. They don't offer that coverage after a certain amount of time either.

With that said, those who went through InsureMyTrip.com what company ended up providing the policy with your trip? I know Disney uses Allianz and IMT also provided quotes through them, so that gives me a small sense of security but I found other companies are giving a better rate with better coverages.

 

[Mystery Fan]

I was told by my travel agent when purchasing trip insurance that Disney wouldn't cancel the cruise for a hurricane. I find this hard to believe. However, a trip delay is a real possibility if flying in.

 

[jimsubry]

Hmmm, HAS anyone here ever purchased insurance through Disney and has had to use it? I just went with that one since it was just really easy to check it off through their website with everything else, airfare, cruise, etc., LOL. I think that's what they hope for, don't they, people like me that don't want to think too much! Anyway, the policy seems to provide pretty good coverage but what do I know, I've never bought travel insurance before!

 

[Mommb]

I purchased trip insurance from Disney for a Med cruise in 2011. I intended to find another company before I made the final payment, but didn't get around to it. I ended up being very happy I'd added Disney insurance at initial booking "just in case," because a month after final payment I had a serious and unforeseen medical issue that led to my doctor saying I should not travel.

The insurance company provided a complete refund of the cruise fare for me, my husband, and my kids (minus the cost of the insurance, of course). I just needed to send paperwork completed by my doctor showing that it was not a pre-existing condition, and receipts showing that I had paid for the cruise. It took maybe a month from the time I sent the documentation until I received a check.

Note that unless you book airfare through Disney, the Disney insurance will not reimburse for airline tickets if you need to cancel your trip. We had to work separately with the airline to get a refund.

I still think it would be better to book through a company that covers all travel expenses, not just the cruise, and id less expensive than the coverage booked through Disney, but if you do need to use the "Disney" policy for covered expenses, it should work.