Do you purchase trip insurance when booking your Disney vacation?

[MommyBryn]

The subject says it all, but feel free to explain why/why not! Thanks!

 

[korg]

I have in the past but now, since the change to Magic you way tickets I stay off property. Personally i think the new ticket plan is a "rip off" compaired to the previous ticket plan and gives no incentive to stay in a Disney hotel. That said I stay in an off site condo and purchase tickets just before leaving. Since the condo is a time share trade I can cancel fairly close to the vacation date and i don't buy tickets until just before we leave. So there's no need for vacation insurance. ............ Oh and we locked into a very cheap air fair which we CAN'T cancel so we use it or lose it. ...... So no vacation insurance for us. ......... PLUS unless we die we're going!!!

 

[zeusywoo]

Hello, I never use to purchase the insurance when I went with a friend who has DVC. But, traveling now and staying in a moderate resort with all the luggage lost in our airport & others I find it a wise choice.

 

[bubba]

We haven't purchased insurance in the past but did on our last trip (May 2008). My grandmother was in rather poor health and we weren't sure what would happen so we decided to play it safe and get the insurance. Luckily, we didn't have to make use of it, but it was a load off our minds knowing we had it just in case.

 

[The McCombies :)]

I purchase Insurance because my daughter has epilepsy. My husband and I would be taking a very big risk if we didn't purchase insurance.

 

[DisneyDadNY]

I have never purchased trip insurance before but I think the events of this week will have me doing so next time!

Long story short: Trip planned for 10/22 - 10/29. Everything purchased and packed in suitcases in the bedroom.

Left for work at 7:00am

Call from neighbor at 3:00pm and by the time I got home at 4:00pm fire had taken half my house and ruined just about everything in the other half.

No one was home and no one was hurt (which is all that really matters) and while my home and possessions are covered my trip was not. It will be next time!

Now in my case I decided that after telling my girls that pretty much everything they own is gone the last thing I was going to tell them was that the trip was gone also.

If I had insurance I may (or may not) have considered changing the dates I at least would have had more options. On a side note when I called Disney to discuss my options they offered right away to rebook my trip (no fee) and would honor my discount code.

I would definitely recommend strongly considering trip insurance for anyone planning a trip that costs as much as these Disney vacations cost!

Also - Everyone please check that the batteries in your smoke detectors are working! You just never know......

 

[karen l]

I've always purchased it. It's an expensive trip & you never know what might happen.

 

[powellrj]

It depends. We buy it when we fly and book a package, but if we are driving and have a room only reservation, we never buy it.

I look at the cost to cancel. If I can cancel the trip for less than the cost of insurance, I don't buy it, but if it will cost me more to cancel the trip than the cost of the insurance I buy it.

 

[ILuvCrush]

I never buy it when I initially purchase my trip. However, I always save $100 to pay off at the last minute. I evaluate if I feel I may need the insurance at that time or not. If I decide I need it.... Grandma been sick or whatnot, I'll add it last minute then pay off the trip. Since the insurance is non-refundable, I don't like to add it til I'm paying off the trip. I often do add the insurance if I'm taking the family, but if I'm travelling alone, I usually don't.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I agree with looking at what it will cost to cancel/modify your plans at the last minute. We have never purchased travel insurance.

 

[MommytoaSweetie]

We haven't purchased it in the past, but definitely did for this trip. I'm pregnant (and am fine for travel now but of course that could change), and we have a toddler (who could easily get sick or break a bone or something as she's quite a typical toddler)... I think trip insurance this time is just a relief to know that if something happens, we didn't lose much money. We're planning to purchase it in the future, too. When it was just DH and myself, there was much less chance of something happening to our trip, but adding kids into the mix adds a LOT more uncertainty, and insurance is worth it to us.

 

[steven_&_daniel]

Since the Disney cancellation fees are comparable or lower than the price of insurance (depending on coverage), I didn't see much point to it for our Disney trip. For other vacations such as cruises, we always get it.

 

[MommytoaSweetie]

Since the Disney cancellation fees are comparable or lower than the price of insurance (depending on coverage), I didn't see much point to it for our Disney trip. For other vacations such as cruises, we always get it.

That's interesting, I hadn't thought about that the larger our family gets, the more expensive the insurance will be! Right now we love having a "free" toddler. The Disney insurance does cover flights, though, and I'm sure that's less than the cost of a nonrefundable air ticket, so that's a positive for it.

 

[steven_&_daniel]

That's interesting, I hadn't thought about that the larger our family gets, the more expensive the insurance will be! Right now we love having a "free" toddler. The Disney insurance does cover flights, though, and I'm sure that's less than the cost of a nonrefundable air ticket, so that's a positive for it.

We use frequent flier miles (acquired as a VISA benefit) to cover airfare for most of our vacations. So that aspect doesn't really apply for us. Many people don't even bother checking on cancellation fees to see if it's cheaper to skip the insurance. If you don't get it and don't have any problems, you come out ahead. Every situation will be different, just consider all options before making a decision.

 

[annie1995]

Absolutely!!! It saved our butts 2 years ago when we had to fly home 2 days early due to sick kids. It also replaced my camera tripod that I somehow lost on the plane

 

[banderboo]

I really don't have any choice but to purchase insurance. I have a medical condition that could cause me to have to cancel at a moments notice.

 

[tink0283]

I purchased it for my upcoming trip this December. This year has been crazy so far with unexpected medical problems in my family, my bf just had to have an unexpected surgery and a lot of other plans this year have had to be postponed...so with all that already happening this year, i was def. going to purchase it just in case anything else were to happen.
My family purchased it in 2006 and our car ended up braking down on the way to disney and we almost had to use it. I think it is worth it...you just never know!

 

[tinkerlisa]

I have never purchased trip insurance before. However, for my next trip, I did. I am getting married at WDW and felt that it would be a good buy mainly for my dress! I would hate for that to get lost!

 

[aliceinwdr]

My husband and I always say it is a rip off - so we didn't take it.

And Hurricane IKE came right as we were leaving - we had to leave a day early on the last flight out of Houston. I know Disney has hurricane insurance that is free and I could have cancelled - but it was a family reunion and half of them were on their way - and we had free dining and would have lost it if we re-booked.

Because one of my kids were staying with my parents who weren't there yet - we had to check into the Por Riverside at 2:00 AM at $169 just for one night with no free dining - etc...check out the next day - luggage transfers - etc.

I took the bounceback next year and definitely will keep the insurance - because I won't do it again - even at Disney it was very stressful trying to have fun while a hurricane is hitting your home. And it would have paid for the extra nights room and paid for itself.

BTW - all is well at home - little roof and water damage.

 

[justtobeme2]

We purchased airline insurance for 24.00 for 2 people. Disney trip insurance was going to be about 130.00 (for 2 people) to cover the whole trip...From what I understand if you cancel at the ressie at the last minute the most they do is keep your 200.00. I couldn't see spending 130.00 to save 70.00 'IF' we have to cancel. So basically if we have to cancel we'll lose 70.00 but if we don't we won't be out the 130.00 for the insurance.

On a side note when I got my credit card bill for the airfare my cc included FREE airfare ins...so technically we are double covered but I didn't know that..but now I do. No more airfare ins when charged on Discover card.

I would say non refundable air tickets if you have older parents or sickness in your family are a good idea. I don't think Disney vacation ressie ins is worth it.