Do you buy Disney's Travel Insurance?

[biggroofy]

I used to purchase insurance via CAA. This time I am booking my trip directly via Disney (WDW and Cruise).

I am wondering if you guys purchase the add-on insurance offered by Disney, or any other suggestions.

I knew that some are protected by the credit card company, but I am specifically interested in the following (in bold):

Vacation Insurance
(Information on Specific Coverage and Terms)
Vacation Insurance protects you against covered unexpected events. Our vacation insurance policy continues to offer great benefits covering many emergency and unexpected situations prior to and during your vacation. The policy includes the following coverage and benefits, subject to certain exclusions and limitations:

* Trip Cancellation/Interruption (up to the total cost of your trip)
* Travel Delay ($500)
* Baggage Coverage ($3,000)
* Baggage Delay ($500)
* Emergency Medical Transportation ($30,000)
* Emergency Medical/Dental ($10,000)
* 24-Hour Assistance via Access America Hotline Center

Vacation Insurance has been automatically included in your vacation package. If you do not want to purchase this insurance, please select "Decline to Purchase Vacation Insurance" below. The premium is based on the number of adults and children in your party. Vacation Insurance is refundable within 10 days of purchasing the program, provided you have not already departed on your trip or filed a claim.

I think Emergency Medical is different from Medical coverage? E.g. A fever, or a flu is not covered?

 

[OntFamily]

You are correct. Emergency medical is vastly different than Medical coverage. However, in my experience if you are a Canadian travelling in the US, any doctor visit can been seen as an emergency (why else would you vist the Dr.?). However, the definition of emrgency is pretty wide -- I've visited the Dr for a sinus infection ($120, plus prescription costs for the office visit). This Dr visit was covered by my emergency medical coverage (this was the exciting trip to WDW where I visited a Dr., my son visited a Dr,. and my spouse has to be transported via ambulance to Celebration hospital for emergency treatment....... We used our medical insurance lots that trip.)


If you need to buy medical insurance (you may not need suplementary out of country coverage, if you or your spouse have a health plan. Many health plans include out of country medical as part of the basic coverage), one thing to watch is the amount of coverage -- if you need surgery, the cost can go well over $30,000). Also, if you buy supplemental coverage, check for exclusions (I have a former co-worker who got billed over $90,000 for open heart surgery in the USA. His insurance coverage denied his claim, as they said the problem was pre-existing -- he was taking heart medication).


For your cruise, seriously consider trip cancellation insurance. DCL has much more restrictive cancellation policies than WDTC.

 

[Lollipop's Mom]

I did buy it because its much cheaper than if you go to insuremytrip.com - the price is much better. I don't have any coverage via work or extended benefits, and this was cheaper than anywhere else. I figure it a good investment to pay $59 for my $3500 vacation. It also now covers your airfare too, which is nice. Peace of mind for me!
ps. Emergency medical covers whatever might happen there - if you get a bad flu and NEED to see a doctor while on vacation that is covered.
The trip cancellation is what covers you if you have a flu and can't go on the vacation at all.

 

[biggroofy]

Thank you OntFamily and Lollipop's Mom!

Do you think if I take the Disney Vacation Insurance, I would not need any extra travel insurance for medical? All I have is OHIP

Does it covers the airfare even if I book flights from Air Canada? That would be great to have. Last time, the CAA Travel Insurance does not cover anything caused by mother nature.

The Trip cancellation policy is something I might need for peace of mind too.

 

[minnie56]

You pay a lot for your trip. Be VERY careful when purchasing any Cruiseline Insurance. They often have clauses that cover US Residents and NOT Canadian! Go with a recognized Canadian Insurance provider. Protect your entire vacation from the moment you leave until the moment you return!
DO NOT take chances!
Please.

 

[trivial]

I've heard that Disney's insurance is more expensive than local options, such as RBC and President's Choice. I personally went with PC and paid a very reasonable price for both interruption/cancellation and medical insurance. I would definitely purchase robust medical insurance... you do NOT want to end up a casualty of the U.S. healthcare system.

Going a bit off topic, may I ask why you're choosing to book WDW and your cruise through Disney? If I may, I would recommend transfering those reservations to a travel agency (there are some good, reputable Disney-centric agencies mentioned frequently around these parts). You're bound to save money on both aspects of the trip.

 

[biggroofy]

I've heard that Disney's insurance is more expensive than local options, such as RBC and President's Choice. I personally went with PC and paid a very reasonable price for both interruption/cancellation and medical insurance. I would definitely purchase robust medical insurance... you do NOT want to end up a casualty of the U.S. healthcare system.

Going a bit off topic, may I ask why you're choosing to book WDW and your cruise through Disney? If I may, I would recommend transfering those reservations to a travel agency (there are some good, reputable Disney-centric agencies mentioned frequently around these parts). You're bound to save money on both aspects of the trip.

Hey, looks like PC also offers a good deal! Can I pay my trip with another Credit Card (e.g. AMEX) while buying travel insurance from PC? I guess it doesn't matters, right?

I used to book via local TA and also CAA. I found that it is less flexible and ended up with lots of inconvenience. Please aware that I had very good and helpful TAs - this is just a matter of fact that booking via Disney makes my life easier, just my opinions -
1). If you book via TA, you have to make all your resort requests via your TA. WDW will not talk to you on any of the issues prior to your arrival.
2). During my last trips, I booked vacation packages offered by CAA and Nolitours. I tried to add one day park day at the resort, and ended up spending over 2 hours at the front desk. They just have to called the TA head office and faxing back and forth, verifying information etc.

 

[tmli]

Even if you decide to book your vacation on your own, CAA can still sell you Vacation package insurance....there are some timing issues but it can be done.

Disneys insurance (and other US based companies) is very limited, the maximums are low and it really isn't designed with Canadian needs in mind.

 

[trivial]

Hey, looks like PC also offers a good deal! Can I pay my trip with another Credit Card (e.g. AMEX) while buying travel insurance from PC? I guess it doesn't matters, right?

I used to book via local TA and also CAA. I found that it is less flexible and ended up with lots of inconvenience.

I would imagine you could pay for PC's insurance via whatever method you like. That's ridiculous that you had to wait 2 hours at the front desk at CAA to make such a trivial change.

I've dealt with a Disney-centric TA mentioned frequently on these boards, and I had a terrific experience with them. It's true that you have to deal with them rather than Disney, but then Disney won't automatically apply new discount codes that come along, give you booking bonuses, make your dinner reservations for you, etc. While I chose to book the WDW portion of our vacation on my own (I could do things cheaper without a package and we wanted to rent DVC points for our resort), our TA was great for booking the cruise. A simple e-mail would get something taken care of; no front desk to stand at for hours while they monkey around.

 

[OntFamily]

Thank you OntFamily and Lollipop's Mom!

Do you think if I take the Disney Vacation Insurance, I would not need any extra travel insurance for medical? All I have is OHIP

If you only have OHIP coverage, I strongly recommend you purchase out of country emergency medical insurance. OHIP payments for out of country / province treatment is ridicously small (roughly $100 per day). My spouse spent 5 hours in the Celebration Hospital Emergency Room a few years ago - the cost was $3600 USD. This covered talking to the Drs, a few tests, and some pills.

 

[Calgary DISHeads]

Okay - so here I am - full medical no worries - but cancellation - our Chrismas package is almost 10K, without cancellation insurance we are out this amount? Please let me know what could work for us - no worries on airline - on points - thanks, yes Canadian.

 

[drag n' fly]

Okay - so here I am - full medical no worries - but cancellation - our Chrismas package is almost 10K, without cancellation insurance we are out this amount? Please let me know what could work for us - no worries on airline - on points - thanks, yes Canadian.

Check your credit card for coverage. We JUST realized very recently between dh's work international travel policy coverage and our credit card we are completely covered. I have really heard alot of negative things about Disney insurance. It apparently has lots of loopholes and is very hard to claim against. We always use to use rbc for travel insurance.

 

[minnie56]

If you only have OHIP coverage, I strongly recommend you purchase out of country emergency medical insurance. OHIP payments for out of country / province treatment is ridicously small (roughly $100 per day). My spouse spent 5 hours in the Celebration Hospital Emergency Room a few years ago - the cost was $3600 USD. This covered talking to the Drs, a few tests, and some pills.

That much? I think not...
My DH had an 'incident' on a Disney Bus on NYE 2000. He spent 17 hrs at Celebration Hospital. The bill? More than $17,000
OHIP reimbursed? $32
HA
Good laugh!

 

[trivial]

Maybe I'm just goofy (little 'g'), but I can't believe anyone would spend as much money as they do on a Disney vacation and leave out either kind of insurance... it's just begging for a world of hurt.

 

[OntFamily]

The key with insurance is not the cost of the trip, but the cost you'd have to incur if you cancelled.

For example, we usually fly JetBlue out of Buffalo (cancellation fee $35 per person). Booking a room only rate at WDW means at most we'd be out is one nights room cost - approx $225 (and if we cancel one day before we are due to arrive, we get all money back).

So, for our family, the most we'd be out if we cancel our trip at the last moment would be about $320. Balance that with the cost of cancellation insurance -- about $150. So, we'd pay $150 to insure us against a $320 loss. Not a good financial move.

 

[CanadianGuy]

And remember if you cancel a vacation package at one of the resorts PRIOR to arrival, 6 days or less, your loss is limited to 200$.

Now, after you check-in, if you end up having to cut your vacation short, that may be a different ball of wax and you might be on the hook for the whole schmeel.

Knox

 

[tmli]

Part of cancellation insurance is also Interruption. Read this part of any policy you are considering as well. It refers to things that happen after the trip begins. Emergency at home that you need to get home for, etc.

 

[Calgary DISHeads]

And remember if you cancel a vacation package at one of the resorts PRIOR to arrival, 6 days or less, your loss is limited to 200$.

Now, after you check-in, if you end up having to cut your vacation short, that may be a different ball of wax and you might be on the hook for the whole schmeel.

Knox

I'm sorry, I'm sure if I actually read the policy the answer is in there - but you said 6 days or less $200 - so you mean right up until you check in? Thanks for your help and patience
Because mine is split in two, that mitigates the loss even more. Also, I have to check with the credit card company also for coverage.
So much to do!! So little time. I'd rather be reading the boards than worrying about stuff like this!!

 

[drag n' fly]

Okay - so here I am - full medical no worries - but cancellation - our Chrismas package is almost 10K, without cancellation insurance we are out this amount? Please let me know what could work for us - no worries on airline - on points - thanks, yes Canadian.

10K If you have 10K to drop on a single trip you ceratinly better have full insurance coverage~! WE spent 8500 in Feb and will never do that again! Have you thought about DVC? We are buying at DL in 12 days.
You can buy in at AKL or SSR for 15 grand. If you are consistently doing Disney at least once a year or more you might want to consider this.

 

[Calgary DISHeads]

10K If you have 10K to drop on a single trip you ceratinly better have full insurance coverage~! WE spent 8500 in Feb and will never do that again! Have you thought about DVC? We are buying at DL in 12 days.
You can buy in at AKL or SSR for 15 grand. If you are consistently doing Disney at least once a year or more you might want to consider this.

10K is an exaggeration, sorry, I meant the entire cost of trip - spending money etc - we are at 8K for rooms, dd etc which is still a crazy amount of money. We will get insurance, just looking for the cheapest best option. We usually do Disney every 3 years or so, did look into DVC a couple of years ago but I sure don't remember it being 15K. Thanks for mentioning that, we will look again as I know you can use it other places - although we bought a lot on Gull Lake a few months ago so that will eat up the money. I kind of slipped this trip by DH last week (very sudden decision to go) by the fact we had enough for free flights, didn't realize how much it would cost for the rest of the trip but by that time we had told the kids etc - so what the heck- we are going! (isn't that what credit cards are for?)