Do I really need travel insurance?

[wnissen]

I assume you have health insurance that kicks in our side of the US? Most don’t.

Depends on where you are going. The US is almost unique among developed countries in that you can easily bankrupt yourself with a few weeks in the hospital. Mexico, for instance, has much cheaper prices for care but you have to pay in advance, in that case getting medical insurance is probably a good idea.

And never, ever buy the cruise line or tour operator's coverage. Almost always the worst coverage for the most amount of money. The slight convenience gained when working with the on-ship doctor is minor.

 

[Steelers0854]

Unless you are independently wealthy and can self-insure for potentially over $100,000, then yes, you absolutely need travel insurance. My brother was recently on a trip with his in laws. One of them fell ill and was in the infirmary for 2 days on their way back to port. The bill was about $50,000, which they had to pay immediately and then get reimbursed through their travel insurance once they were home. Even if you are in perfect health, you never know when an accident will happen and evacuations can be tens of thousands of dollars. Im not rolling the dice on going bankrupt for $300, given how expensive these cruises are it’s basically a rounding error anyway lol.

 

[Cfabar1]

For us, the only part of the insurance that is necessary is the medical. I can self-insure against the loss of a 3 night cruise. I will be annoyed and said, but I'd rather have the $$s...

We will look into the BCBS medical for the future. I can't self insure presently against a majorly expensive airlift and international medical care. Thanks for the link!

 

[foolish-mortal]

It's the only vacation I do buy travel insurance for 100% of the time. It's not worth the potential risk of having a medical issue at sea or at a port. Very much worth it.

 

[VGCgroupie]

We've gotten good deals from GeoBlue (now called Blue Cross Blue Shield Global Solutions.) They only sell medical (and evac) insurance and it's only valid for services outside of the United States. Pricing is based on traveler age and length of trip. High limits, no network restrictions; requires that you have medical coverage in the U.S. even if that coverage doesn't apply abroad. We've only had one small claim (which they paid promptly.)

So I was just reading the terms of the BCBS Global insurance and the terms say they will not cover evacuation from a ship or maritime vessel. I thought it would be perfect choice for our cruise. Below is what it says. Maybe I am reading the legalese wrong, but if you are using it for cruising I would get them to clarify.

General Limitations/ Exclusions for Emergency Medical Evacuation and Repatriation after an Emergency Medical Evacuation Benefits
Medical Evacuations from a marine vessel, ship, or watercraft of any kind.

 

[princesscinderella]

I highly recommend an annual trip insurance policy if you travel regularly throughout the year. I have one through Allianz and it covers 6 of us for $1450 total for the year. I just renewed it and I have the premium plan with the highest $15k trip cancellation coverage. https://www.allianztravelinsurance.com/find-a-plan/alltrips-premier.htm

 

[Doingitagain]

I highly recommend an annual trip insurance policy if you travel regularly throughout the year. I have one through Allianz and it covers 6 of us for $1450 total for the year. I just renewed it and I have the premium plan with the highest $15k trip cancellation coverage. https://www.allianztravelinsurance.com/find-a-plan/alltrips-premier.htm

Agree and we also bought the Allianz annual policy, after a couple years of buying individual policies for trips.

 

[John VN]

I highly recommend an annual trip insurance policy if you travel regularly throughout the year. I have one through Allianz and it covers 6 of us for $1450 total for the year. I just renewed it and I have the premium plan with the highest $15k trip cancellation coverage. https://www.allianztravelinsurance.com/find-a-plan/alltrips-premier.htm

Agree and we also bought the Allianz annual policy, after a couple years of buying individual policies for trips.

DW just did our Annual Renewal that we've had for years. Cruise approaching shortly, DW has a Girl's Trip soon, I have an Alaskan Fishing trip after our 53rd Anniversary cruise mid-year and will be booking a couple of 2027 cruises while on the upcoming cruise. Allianz is our go-to insurance.

 

[anricat]

We have an annual plan with Allianz. We have, unfortunately, had to use it more than once. We've had at least two cancelled ports (in one of those the tour operator refused a refund, even though the ship couldn't actually physically dock) and once my DH had food poisoning (or bad case of Noro? not sure) after getting off our med cruise in 2018. He was in NO WAY fit for air travel and we had to completely rebook all our flights and stay two extra days in Europe at considerable expense. I was so glad we had trip insurance. The only hiccup we had was that they didn't want to pay out on the medical bills (my DH did end up seeing a doc while there) until AFTER our health insurance denied the claim. Our health insurance wouldn't deny the claim because they didn't have the proper coding on them, but they didn't have proper coding because they don't use those codes in Europe. It was a whole thing. I finally got it sorted out and got UHC to deny everything and then the trip insurance was able to pay out. So while you may sometimes have to jump through hoops, it's worth it and I will never ever ever travel without it. (Same goes for a passport - I don't care if it's closed loop and needs a birth certificate. No way, no how.)

 

[bakerworld]

We never use to get insurance and ended up in a 'situation' that required us to cancel our cruise. I don't know what pixie dust we accidentally feel into but our TA said if we could reschedule we'd not lose anything. After that, since even the TA didn't know why we got that lucky, we get insurance each time we cruise.

 

[MikeOhio]

General travel insurance is a huge profit center for the insurance companies. Self insuring is the way to go (or use a credit card with an insurance perk).

Travel medical insurance only is actually worth it and much cheaper.

 

[condorthb]

Booked for 1st ever cruise in January. Do I really need travel insurance? Who here has not bought it. Will be coming in two days early staying at SSR and already booked through Disney to take me to Port and then back to SSR when cruise is done.

I'm curious if they got the insurance or if this is a troll post.

 

[Chemist]

General travel insurance is a huge profit center for the insurance companies. Self insuring is the way to go (or use a credit card with an insurance perk).

Travel medical insurance only is actually worth it and much cheaper.

Said by the man who didn't eat thousands of dollars of a trip. (that's what self-insurance means, its saying that you are willing to cancel a trip without any refunds).

(We were very, very lucky that my kid got well in time for a trip a few years ago.)

 

[MikeOhio]

Said by the man who didn't eat thousands of dollars of a trip. (that's what self-insurance means, its saying that you are willing to cancel a trip without any refunds).

(We were very, very lucky that my kid got well in time for a trip a few years ago.)

Yes, that's the point. Over the long term, travel insurance is virtually certain to cost you money over having to occasionally cancel a trip and eat the cost. Again, this excludes medical coverage which is actually valuable because the costs can be catastrophic.