Travel insurance - which to get and how much to pay

[CruizinTigers]

Has anyone used http://www.squaremouth.com/? They appear to be another aggregator like insuremytrip.com, but they seem to have more policy options from many of the same providers such as Travelex and Travel Guard.

 

[Chee Chick]

Has anyone used http://www.squaremouth.com/? They appear to be another aggregator like insuremytrip.com, but they seem to have more policy options from many of the same providers such as Travelex and Travel Guard.

I used them for my Thanksgiving 2012 cruise. They were slightly cheaper than insuremytrip. I had no issues. Even when I moved cruises. I did not have to make any claims, though. My plan was actually through TravelGuard. I plan to use them again after I book tomorrow for 2014.

 

[sayhello]

I'm almost positive that it's the date the initial deposit was made back in August. So anyone wanting to purchase TravelGuard Gold with the pre-existing waiver who is booking a dummy cruise would need to purchase the insurance within 15 days of making the deposit, which would mean shortly after they return. When you later move the cruise date, you'd call TravelGuard and have them modify the policy to reflect the new date, but you'd keep your pre-existing waiver.

That's my understanding, also. It's the date of *first* deposit.

You can move the date of the policy to a later date as long as you do it before the original start date - I specifically asked them this when I was planning to take a Spring cruise in either March or April, but wasn't sure of which date and actually booked both cruises with the intent to cancel one. I purchased the TravelGuard policy for the earlier date only and would have moved it to the later date if needed, but ended up cancelling the later cruise. Another wrinkle to this is that I ended up re-shopping the March cruise while on board, and rebooked it at a lower price. I checked with TravelGuard to be sure that my original policy still applied since my confirmation number ended up changing because I had to cancel the original March cruise and keep the one booked on-board, and they said that it did. Basically, it's still the same trip even though the confirmation number changed. Think of it as purchasing Trip Insurance for some future trip, and when you change the paramaters (date, location, price) of that trip, you just let TravelGuard know and they'll modify the policy.

TravelGuard has been great about making changes to my policies as needed, and I've needed several! Their customer service has been great, so hopefully they'd be just as good if I actually had to make a claim, but I actually hope to never find out.

Just noting for others that not all insurance companies work this way. Some will only allow you to make one or two changes to a policy. Folks need to make sure they know how the specific policy they buy works. But that's great to know about Travel Guard!

I used them for my Thanksgiving 2012 cruise. They were slightly cheaper than insuremytrip. I had no issues. Even when I moved cruises. I did not have to make any claims, though. My plan was actually through TravelGuard. I plan to use them again after I book tomorrow for 2014.

Although you buy the insurance through the websites like www.squaremouth.com and www.insuremytrip.com, you do not make the claims through them. They're a broker only. You need to make any claims directly through the insurance company.

Sayhello

 

[manateesmom]

I prefer squaremouth, I think their explanations of policy terms are more "plain English."

My understanding, in re: pre-existing conditions, is that you must book within a certain number of days (varies by the policy) after a NON-REFUNDABLE payment is made on your vacation. You also need the dates of travel, so don't see how you could insure a dummy booking (for unspecified future sail date). My situation was that I booked with a TA that had a no-deposit deal going, so I wasn't actually out of pocket anything except the TA's processing fee (which was less than $25). I asked CS at squaremouth if this counted, and they said yes and no. Basically, I could buy insurance at that time, since the fee was non-refundable, but there was definitely an argument that I hadn't made a payment for the cruise specifically until I paid the deferred deposit amount, so I should still be covered by pre-existing conditions waiver if I waited to buy insurance until I'd made a payment specifically toward the cruise. When in doubt, you should ask - I think both squaremouth and insuremytrip have live chat options.

 

[sayhello]

I prefer squaremouth, I think their explanations of policy terms are more "plain English."

My understanding, in re: pre-existing conditions, is that you must book within a certain number of days (varies by the policy) after a NON-REFUNDABLE payment is made on your vacation. You also need the dates of travel, so don't see how you could insure a dummy booking (for unspecified future sail date). My situation was that I booked with a TA that had a no-deposit deal going, so I wasn't actually out of pocket anything except the TA's processing fee (which was less than $25). I asked CS at squaremouth if this counted, and they said yes and no. Basically, I could buy insurance at that time, since the fee was non-refundable, but there was definitely an argument that I hadn't made a payment for the cruise specifically until I paid the deferred deposit amount, so I should still be covered by pre-existing conditions waiver if I waited to buy insurance until I'd made a payment specifically toward the cruise. When in doubt, you should ask - I think both squaremouth and insuremytrip have live chat options.

The payment does not have to be non-refundable. You need to purchase the insurance within 14 - 21 days (in most cases) of the *first* deposit. So if you book a dummy cruise (I believe you have to give DCL a date to book a dummy cruise, even if you know that's not the cruise you're going to actually take) you have to pay the deposit at that point. And that is when you start the counting to buy for the pre-existing condition waiver. If you wait until your deposit is non-refundable (generally, the Paid in Full date) you will be too late to get a PEC waiver for most insurance. Perhaps your situation was different because it was a TA fee, and not a deposit.

But I totally agree with you -- when in doubt, ASK!

Sayhello

 

[Green Tea]

If you use Costco travel, their policy includes a pre existing condition waiver up when purchased as late as within 24 hours of final payment. So if you transfer the reservation not only will you save a good deal of money on the cruise, you can get travel insurance at the 11th hour and still have a PEC Waiver

 

[momto2redheadgirls]

thanks guys!

 

[CruizinTigers]

Ditto!!

Thank you for all the great feedback and advice.

 

[stacecakes]

this is our first cruise as a family and way more expensive an investment than the cheapie carnival ones we'd taken back in our college days. Is getting trip insurance the usual practice? Do most people do it? What kinds of things doesit take care of?

 

[MillauFr]

this is our first cruise as a family and way more expensive an investment than the cheapie carnival ones we'd taken back in our college days. Is getting trip insurance the usual practice? Do most people do it? What kinds of things doesit take care of?

I didn't buy the travel insurance on my cruises to Alaska. I prefer to self insure. However if I was taking a cruise in the carribean I would probably buy the medical evacuation insurance. I wouldn't want to spend a night in the hospital in a 3rd world country.

 

[CruizinTigers]

this is our first cruise as a family and way more expensive an investment than the cheapie carnival ones we'd taken back in our college days. Is getting trip insurance the usual practice? Do most people do it? What kinds of things doesit take care of?

We always purchase insurance on our cruise. Medical is one reason. Trip cancellation or delay are another. Read the insurance carefully. If you read this post, you'll see that we had canceled our recent Disney cruise early last month due to Hurricane Sandy. Our insurance denied our claim because our house was not "uninhabitable" according to them. Fortunately for us, we insured through DCL so even though insurance denied our claim, Disney is giving us a credit for the full amount paid for a future sailing. Problem with insuring through DCL is that it is expensive. 8% of your cruise cost. Which is why we're considering alternatives right now.

After experiencing what we just did, I can't imagine going on a cruise without insuring ourselves. If our rescheduled cruise cost were lower (hence the DCL insurance cost) I have no doubt I would go with them again. But this is not the case...

 

[scubadiver]

this is our first cruise as a family and way more expensive an investment than the cheapie carnival ones we'd taken back in our college days. Is getting trip insurance the usual practice? Do most people do it? What kinds of things doesit take care of?

We have taken DCL to Alaska, Panama Canal, Western Caribbean, Hawaii and Bahaman cruises. We have never bought insurance. This summer we have a Mediterranean Cruise and I am thinking insurance would be a possibility.

My question is buying insurance for air fare and cruise cost is pretty straight forward. We are staying at a different time share the week before the Mediterranean Cruise. This time share is just like DVC and uses points. How do you get insurance these accommodations?

 

[HANDYMOM]

Out of pocket cost I believe

 

[suffieldhockeymom]

Try insuremytrip.com
I used avoya/american express and the kids were free

 

[CruizinTigers]

I also found http://www.squaremouth.com/. Similar to insuremytrip.com. They sell many of the same insurance products from the same companies, at the same prices. Only difference I can see is that their website seems a little friendlier and they seem to offer a few more options on their insurance products. I've used neither before, but think I'm going with squaremouth.com.

 

[DeCostaClan]

If you use Costco travel, their policy includes a pre existing condition waiver up when purchased as late as within 24 hours of final payment. So if you transfer the reservation not only will you save a good deal of money on the cruise, you can get travel insurance at the 11th hour and still have a PEC Waiver

We booked our cruise on 12/7/12 for 5/4/14 through costco travel and yes...that is exactly what they told us. we do not need to purchase the insurance until we make the final payment. and pre-existing waiver is included. In fact they would not even let us purchase it now.

 

[Green Tea]

We booked our cruise on 12/7/12 for 5/4/14 through costco travel and yes...that is exactly what they told us. we do not need to purchase the insurance until we make the final payment. and pre-existing waiver is included. In fact they would not even let us purchase it now.

It actually makes a lot of sense. Then if a trip is cancelled in advance, you are not out the money for trip insurance.

 

[babynala]

Sorry to hijack but I was hoping that someone could help me with a question about cancelling a Disney cruise. According to the DCL website it seems that if you make any changes to your cruise date or names on the reservation you need to pay a cancellation fee. Depending on when you cancel the minimum you loose would be your deposit. It seems they updated the policy on May 15, 2012.

My question is - if you need to change your dates, do you loose your deposit or can you apply it to a future cruise?

TIA

From the Disney website:

CANCELLATIONS/REFUNDS: Cancellations may be made by telephone or in writing. Changes to the vacation commencement date or changes of Guest names are subject to cancellation fees, stateroom and occupancy availability and prevailing rates at the time of the change. For cancellations, amounts paid, minus cancellation fees and other amounts owed, will be promptly refunded. The cancellation fees will be assessed regardless of resale of stateroom or hotel room.

Cruises Less Than 10 days where Embark or Debark is U.S. Port
Days prior to Vacation Commencement Date Fee Amount
45 days or more Deposit per Guest for Suites/Concierge staterooms
74-45 days Deposit per Guest for Non-Suites/Concierge rooms
44-30 days 50% of vacation price per Guest
29 to 15 days 75% of vacation price per Guest
14 days or less No refund

For reservations made prior to May 15, 2012, the cancellation fees assessed will be based on the cancellation fees listed on the original confirmation unless the sailing date or vacation package is modified.

 

[zstyles]

True story, our inlaws booked a cruise puchased the insurance and had to cancel, they are in the process of getting the insurance claim settled right now but would have been out a major amount.

 

[sayhello]

We have taken DCL to Alaska, Panama Canal, Western Caribbean, Hawaii and Bahaman cruises. We have never bought insurance. This summer we have a Mediterranean Cruise and I am thinking insurance would be a possibility.

My question is buying insurance for air fare and cruise cost is pretty straight forward. We are staying at a different time share the week before the Mediterranean Cruise. This time share is just like DVC and uses points. How do you get insurance these accommodations?

Most insurance will not cover the "cost" of points you may lose. They will cover things like a re-depositing fee. If you want to actually cover the cost of your points, you need to get insurance specific to time shares. When I rented a friend's timeshare through Trading Places, Trading Places offered a really reasonable policy that covered the cost of the 2 weeks, plus everything else you'd expect from Trip Insurance (medical, trip cancellation, etc.) I'd check with the company you have the timeshare through (or that administrates the timeshare).

Sayhello