???Do you buy travel insurance

[Boardwalk Tigger]

i have never purchased travel insurance but I am thinking about it for our Christmas week 2008 trip . Have an older dog and an older parent and I just dont know if one of them could become sick which would necessitate my staying home. I heard that it doesnt cover everything anyway but would love your opinions about purchasing it. I have a Feb Use Year so if I cancelled last minute I would only have Jan to travel. I just went down in Jan for 5 days and booked in Dec. Could barely find a room it is so booked....

 

[kimberh]

I do buy Travel Insurance for Cruises, we lost our older dog to cancer in 2006. We could not have traveled for months. We had her for 12 years. If, I were that close in my UY, I would consider it. You may be able to rent the reservation if something happened. Of couse, I have not even covered parents. I cancelled a cruise 2 weeks ago at the last minute, we can go in 2 months because of travel insurance. My mother had surgery and she still needs me. Good luck with your decision.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We have bought it once for our "whole family" DVC vacation and we intend to do so for upcoming ones.. We have always bought cruise insurance and we've used it once.

Bobbi

 

[Boardwalk Tigger]

Are there a lot of exclusions? Thank you!

 

[bobbiwoz]

I don't know, I hope someone can answer for you. We had bought the cruise insurance from the same company that sells the insurance for points. The reason DS/DDiL didn't go on the cruise was because her mother got ill. Her mother wasn't even going on the cruise, her mother was in the hospital due for a heart procedure. She got better We had no problem collecting the money for the cruise. Because of that, and DDiL's parents and we aren't getting any younger, we buy the insurance for whole family trips.

Bobbi

 

[toocherie]

But what would travel insurance cover if you buy it in connection with a DVC stay? does it compensate you for the loss of points (i.e., the dollar value of what you would have to spend to replace the trip?)

I just booked my first trip "home" (SSR-Nov 1-8) so haven't seen the info they send with the confirmation yet.

 

[bobbiwoz]

But what would travel insurance cover if you buy it in connection with a DVC stay? does it compensate you for the loss of points (i.e., the dollar value of what you would have to spend to replace the trip?)

I just booked my first trip "home" (SSR-Nov 1-8) so haven't seen the info they send with the confirmation yet.

Oh...well, it doesn't give you much...I think it's only $5 a point, which doesn't cover maintenance now. So...I know lots of people will say it's not worth it, but in case of medical emergencies, it's something. I like things closed...over..behind me.

Bobbi

 

[eva]

This year is the first time that we bought the trip insurance for the points. On cruises we just called Access America and took out the medical and flight insurance. I wasn't as concerned about the points. But this year DH and I are going on the Viva Italia trip through ABD. Since the cost is 764 points, we just decided that it might be wise. We also added the medical insurance. If you must cancel, you receive $5 a point. I also added flight insurance for this trip. The cost of the airline tickets were over $2,600. I think that you have to look at the trip and decide first, if you can afford to lose the money and/or points for the trip. On all of our previous trips we were willing to take a chance. If something happens to cancel this trip, I would like at least get something to help pay for another trip. The insurance seems to cover emergencies to the insured, the immediate family, a traveling companion, or business partner. Sorry no animals. The illness or injury must be disabling enough to reasonably cause the trip to be delayed or canceled. It also covers disasters that cause delay or that cause destruction to your home (fire, storms, etc.). It also covers jury duty. There are a number of other things it covers. I 'm looking at the policy right now. If you want to ask about something it might cover, let me know.

WARNING: The cancellation for ABD tours is completely different than other trades like the cruise. If we had to cancel just minutes after making the reservation, we would have lost 54 points per person. So the insurance was even that much more important.

 

[JimC]

The insurance can help defray your losses, but it will not make you whole. The program is designed for the DVC point system.

We tend to buy coverage if we travel is outside of the US. The medical coverage and medical evacuation provisions can be quite useful if needed. Go to Insure My Trip.com for information and access to a broad range of policies.

 

[Boardwalk Tigger]

Thank you for your advice everyone. I appreciate it greatly

 

[jekjones1558]

We do not buy insurance for our points. We do buy airfare insurance. We are at the age where anything can happen and we also have elderly relatives and an older dog.
P.S. I am pleased to read on this thread that we are not the only ones who would change travel plans for our dog.