Always buy the insurance!

[LAS2AMS]

Standalone travel insurance is nearly always a bad idea. Most airlines, hotels and car rental agencies offer some level of protection/compensation for when things go wrong and they're responsible & standalone travel insurance rarely goes beyond their offerings. When it's "an act of God" ... good luck getting anything. Many years ago, I purchased "premium" travel insurance for a trip to Cancun... and midway into the trip, Hurricane Wilma (the worst on record for the region) destroyed Cancun, forcing us to evacuate... and of course, our $400 policy excluded hurricanes - and pretty much anything else that would've triggered a refund.

 

[mjkacmom]

Or very specifically exclude things like pandemics. But IMHO no legitimate company is NOT going to refund your money.
My mom had a cruise booked on HAL in 2012 and had a stroke 2 months before. No travel insurance. We booked through a travel agent. She said it shouldn't be an issue to get a refund. HAL and Alaska airlines had no problem issuing a full refund under the circumstances. As the travel agent put it, it would be a horrible business practice not to do than given how many HAL cruises my mom had taken, and how many my travel agent had booked with HAL.

The vast majority of folks would not receive a refund from the cruiseline. People have to cancel cruises all of the time do to unexpected circumstances like illness, death, job loss- that’s why people pay for insurance. I hear folks mean about the big bad cruiselines being heartless, but you actually have to deny insurance when booking, it’s always offered. Airlines are different, it’s a seat that can probably be rebooked.

 

[tvguy]

The vast majority of folks would not receive a refund from the cruiseline. People have to cancel cruises all of the time do to unexpected circumstances like illness, death, job loss- that’s why people pay for insurance. I hear folks mean about the big bad cruiselines being heartless, but you actually have to deny insurance when booking, it’s always offered. Airlines are different, it’s a seat that can probably be rebooked.

Well, like I posted that has not been my experience. And in this DIS, Facebook, Twitter, Social Media world, the cost of bad publicity from an unhappy customers would cost the cruiseline thousands more than the refund. it would be a horrible business decision. I don't know about you, but I hear almost immediately from a business if I post something negative about an experience with them on social media.
But, full disclosure, my travel agent no longer sells travel insurance, and makes clients sign an acknowledgement that the agency makes no recommendation either way on whether clients should buy it. My agency got caught in a lawsuit when they sold a client travel insurance. I have posted this here in the past. Client's boss canceled his vacation two days before the cruise. Travel insurance paid up no questions asked. But their contract with the client allowed them to seek compensation from the party responsible for causing them to have to make the payout. They did, sued and won full payment plus all their attorney costs. That employer turned around and sued the Travel Agent trying to recover that money from the agency. That suit got tossed out, but it cost the agency thousands to defend themselves.
There is a reason travel insurance is the most profitable product insurance companies sell. Claims are rare, and rarely exceed the premium paid.

 

[Heather07438]

That's a disgrace! Can you guys try to fight this? How can this be?

Our group travel agent is trying but says nobody (hotels, venues, etc) is answering phones when they call for a refund.

I find that hard to believe but I'm at the point where we've accepted our losses. Any bit of money that finds its way back will be a bonus. It's crazy though, our group paid over $500k for this trip. It's not cheap to travel with a whole marching band worth of instruments over seas.

 

[Deploraboo]

most trip insurance won’t (or doesn’t) cover a pandemic generally. Learned this the hard way.

 

[mjkacmom]

Well, like I posted that has not been my experience. And in this DIS, Facebook, Twitter, Social Media world, the cost of bad publicity from an unhappy customers would cost the cruiseline thousands more than the refund. it would be a horrible business decision. I don't know about you, but I hear almost immediately from a business if I post something negative about an experience with them on social media.
But, full disclosure, my travel agent no longer sells travel insurance, and makes clients sign an acknowledgement that the agency makes no recommendation either way on whether clients should buy it. My agency got caught in a lawsuit when they sold a client travel insurance. I have posted this here in the past. Client's boss canceled his vacation two days before the cruise. Travel insurance paid up no questions asked. But their contract with the client allowed them to seek compensation from the party responsible for causing them to have to make the payout. They did, sued and won full payment plus all their attorney costs. That employer turned around and sued the Travel Agent trying to recover that money from the agency. That suit got tossed out, but it cost the agency thousands to defend themselves.
There is a reason travel insurance is the most profitable product insurance companies sell. Claims are rare, and rarely exceed the premium paid.

I’ve seen many uninsured post on cruise critic upset that they’re cruise wasn’t refunded or even postponed do to all kinds of sad reasons. Everyone seems to agree that they should’ve ponied up. We always buy it, never needed it.

 

[MillauFr]

People are starting to realize how sleazy the travel insurance companies can be.

 

[zoo2tycoon]

People are starting to realize how sleazy the travel insurance companies can be.

Not to defend the insurance companies but part of it is people not reading all the things the insurance covers/doesn’t cover. During these weird times most places will probably work with customers as long as customers are polite and reasonable in their expectations. Yelling and being demanding after being on hold for a long time probably won’t get you anywhere. Also if trip a few weeks out wait- let those with imminent plans call first.

People need to take responsibility for what they buy and read before purchase. I’ve dealt with Priceline, Southwest , United, Lufthansa, MSC Cruises and have had no issues except an unexplainable fee from Lufthansa that I’m waiting to call about (about $100).

 

[tvguy]

I’ve seen many uninsured post on cruise critic upset that they’re cruise wasn’t refunded or even postponed do to all kinds of sad reasons. Everyone seems to agree that they should’ve ponied up. We always buy it, never needed it.

I've purchased it twice in 40 years of cruising.
1) For our Disney cruise because it was 3 times more expensive that other cruises we have taken, and because we were traveling the day after Christmas and returning 2 days after New Years Day when travel was heavy and weather was bad.
2) Our Celebrity cruise last October, because it was only $25 because of an off season promotion they were running.

Bottom line, it is the most profitable product insurance companies sell because claims are rare, and as people are finding, they are written to exclude coverage for things like pandemics.
Sort of like why I don't buy extended warranties on cars. I have purchased them 3 times and all three times the component that failed was not covered.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

I am very happy two things from our march disney trip. 1. i bought directly from Disney and 2. The hotel for the rest of the hotel was direct to the hotel.
I did not have trip insurance from Disney because we could not afford it... Disney was awesome in giving credits etc. And i did not have to deal with 3rd parties. We travel on a budget and normally i booked with priceline...etc
I always take pricelines insurance because i know how they are.

 

[tzeitel]

I’ve seen many uninsured post on cruise critic upset that they’re cruise wasn’t refunded or even postponed do to all kinds of sad reasons. Everyone seems to agree that they should’ve ponied up. We always buy it, never needed it.

Same here, we always buy it for cruises but never needed it. Hotels usually have pretty good cancellation policies, one of the reasons we fly SW almost exclusively is their cancellation policy. With this pandemic the only one giving us grief is Cirque du Soleil. We had a non refundable Priceline Express deal and they processed my refund in 2 days. Cirque is (so far) refusing a refund. Told us to call in a few weeks.

I have never read (on CC) a good story about someone w/o insurance getting a refund for a cancelled cruise - and I've read plenty of really bad situations that deserved a refund. HAL must be the exception or the poster's mom got incredibly lucky to get the refund.

 

[tvguy]

Same here, we always buy it for cruises but never needed it. Hotels usually have pretty good cancellation policies, one of the reasons we fly SW almost exclusively is their cancellation policy. With this pandemic the only one giving us grief is Cirque du Soleil. We had a non refundable Priceline Express deal and they processed my refund in 2 days. Cirque is (so far) refusing a refund. Told us to call in a few weeks.

I have never read (on CC) a good story about someone w/o insurance getting a refund for a cancelled cruise - and I've read plenty of really bad situations that deserved a refund. HAL must be the exception or the poster's mom got incredibly lucky to get the refund.

Not sure lucky was a factor. Good businesses take care of loyal customers. My mom, and her travel agent were good customers of HAL. At least that is how the travel agent put it.

 

[Darcy03231]

I know it's pricey, but I buy the cancel for any reason insurance. DH has a heart condition so for us it's worth it.

 

[MillauFr]

Not sure lucky was a factor. Good businesses take care of loyal customers. My mom, and her travel agent were good customers of HAL. At least that is how the travel agent put it.

That is the way it should work. It is much easier for a company to keep a loyal customer than to generate a new one.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Or pay with a credit card that offers insurance.

 

[zoo2tycoon]

Or pay with a credit card that offers insurance.

Majority of insurance including credit card insurance does NOT cover epidemic and pandemic.

 

[mjkacmom]

Not sure lucky was a factor. Good businesses take care of loyal customers. My mom, and her travel agent were good customers of HAL. At least that is how the travel agent put it.

But most mass market cruise lines don’t work like that, I’ve seen so many complaints from “loyal customers “ regarding this.

 

[tvguy]

But most mass market cruise lines don’t work like that, I’ve seen so many complaints from “loyal customers “ regarding this.

Just followed my Travel Agents advice. She was right.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

I have read our travel policy with AIG 3 times and had a friend read it as well. It does not exclude either a pandemic or epidemic. I bet they will change the wording after this.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Or pay with a credit card that offers insurance.

I used to think that, then I started doing my research and CC travel insurance covers very little. It's fine for me domestically but I won't travel abroad relying on it again (I did last year, I did not know better, I got lucky and didn't need it). They do not offer cancel anytime insurance. Missed a connection for an uninsured reason? Not covered. If you get stuck quarantined having to pay for hotel and food for weeks on end, won't cover that. Want to get home early because a quarantine is about to hit tomorrow but the airline won't move your flight? Won't cover that. Pandemic really showed just how big the holes are in cc travel insurance for me. Chase came out and literally said the only COVID related thing their cc insurance will cover are costs associated with you being in the hospital with COVID.

There is lots of 3rd party insurance doesn't cover what I list above, so as many others here have said you've got to do detailed research.