For those that bought the insurance or plan on doing so, can you explain why you think it’s worth it / necessary. I just booked our first ABD trip and haven’t made a decision on the insurance. I usually decline such things as my impression is that these types of policies never cover the situations you need need them to cover. But maybe ABD is different?
Well, first and foremost, most US health insurance will NOT cover you outside of the US. So if you get sick or injured while on your trip, you're probably going to wish you at least had medical coverage. The norm is for foreign countries to ask for cash payment up front if you don't have travel insurance, because they know your personal insurance won't cover it. I've used the medical coverage on my trip insurance coverage twice. Once I got a corneal abrasion while on a cruise, and it reimbursed me for 100% of the exorbitant cash fee I had to pay the ship's doctor to diagnose and treat me. I also slipped on wooden deck stairs that I was walking up at the B&B I was staying at post-Alaska ABD, and sliced my head open. I missed my flight home and had to go to the emergency room, get a CAT scan of my head, and be stapled back together. Insurance talked directly to the ER billing folks, and I never even saw the bill until after it was all paid. They also arranged for me to get the last seat on the same (supposedly sold out) flight I missed, for the next day, and paid for the change fees, got me a hotel for the night right at the airport, paid for that, and my extra meals at the hotel. So I've always felt it was worth it.
I also developed a torn rotator cuff a week before a hiking trip with another company, and the insurance paid me for the non-refundable trip and took care of my airfare. Again, totally worth it.
Whether ABD's policy is worth it or not over other policies you can buy yourself directly from insurance companies is something you'd have to research based on your age & circumstances. ABD does (for the next couple of weeks) offer "Cancel for any Reason" coverage over & above the insurance policy that will give you a future travel credit worth 75% of your non-refundable trip value if the insurance company denies your claim. They currently offer a pre-existing condition waiver also, if you buy like within the next two weeks. The policy is changing then, and we're not sure to what.
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