H1N1 Swine Flu worries should I insure travel

[HELPDESKGUY]

Total Prepaid Cost of our trip for 4 Adults and 4 Children is $6000. This includes House rental, Disney Tickets, and Airfare.

Travelex Lite insurance is $176.

Question: Is it worth it? Has anyone out there used Travelex lite before?

all opinions welcomed.

 

[Lewisc]

Normally I don't bother insuring a trip to WDW but hotels have modest cancellation penalties and might even waive them. You're renting a vacation home, pre-paying and probably have substantial penalties.

I'd purchase travel insurance if I booked your vacation. I'd check a site like insuremytrip.com You can drop them an email or call them up.

 

[bgohre]

If it gives you piece of mind its a small price to pay for a $6000 trip.

The H1N1 issue is one I wouldn't worry about. It's actually less deadly than the normal flu we have every year. Just a lot more hype. If it were me and I spent that much on my vacation, I would buy the insurance. I'm sure your airfare is probably non refundable.

 

[Lewisc]

If it gives you piece of mind its a small price to pay for a $6000 trip.

The H1N1 issue is one I wouldn't worry about. It's actually less deadly than the normal flu we have every year. Just a lot more hype. If it were me and I spent that much on my vacation, I would buy the insurance. I'm sure your airfare is probably non refundable.

The question isn't if someone in the family will die from HIN1, the question is if someone might be sick enough to require delaying or cancelling the trip.

I'd buy insurance, I wouldn't expect a vacation home owner would be flexible if you need to change or cancel your vacation.

 

[bleeps]

We do opt for travel insurance for our WDW trips because it's a lot of money that we're investing and the insurance is relatively cheap. Worth it for the peace of mind.

 

[scard192]

We opted for the insurance for our recent trip in case one of us came down with H1N1 just before our trip. It was worth the $$ for the peace of mind. Not sure I would have gotten it if not for the situation with the flu.

 

[Lewisc]

We do opt for travel insurance for our WDW trips because it's a lot of money that we're investing and the insurance is relatively cheap. Worth it for the peace of mind.

It's not the cost of your trip but rather the money you'll lose. SW passengers get a full credit for airfare. There are generally no cancellation penalties if you need to cancel a car rental or car service. Tickets can be used for a future trip, if purchased in advance. Hotels, including Disney, generally have reasonable cancellation penalties and are likely to work with you if you have a documented medical issue.

I don't buy travel insurance for a WDW vacation.

The OP booked a vacation home and would probably lose the entire cost of the rental. Other airlines have substantial change penalties. Airlines are unlikely to waive those penalties. Guests in that category should consider travel insurance.

 

[HELPDESKGUY]

Travelex will not cover trip cancellation due to swine flu!

http://www.insuremytrip.com/blog/influenza-h1n1-swine-flu-information

and use the tool to find insurance companies that cover h1n1

BIG BUSINESS STICKING IT TO THE LITTLE GUY AGAIN! FUNNY THING IS THEY TOLD ME ON THE PHONE THEY COVER ALL FLU EXCEPT H1N1

Access America will cover H1N1 until December 31st.

Best of luck to all.

 

[Lewisc]

Travel insurance is relatively inexpensive. Coverage applies to specific covered conditions and has specific dollar benefits.

It's important to carefully review the policy. Make sure it covers what you think it covers. Many policies don't provide coverage if a vendor (airline) goes out of business. Policies don't generally pay for airline tickets on another airline if your flight is cancelled. The policy will generally provide a specific dollar benefit (daily max/policy max) to help pay for hotels and meals.

According to the link you provided travelex will cover H1N1

Quarantine coverage is included under Trip Cancellation/Interruption and Trip Delay benefits in the event a physician quarantines the traveler/insured for any illness which prevents traveling.

What's not covered is a traveler who wants to cancel a trip if WDW has an outbreak of H1N1 and the insured doesn't want to take the risk of being infected.

Access America has a similar exclusion

All claims involving fear, quarantine of healthy travelers, or other government prohibition are excluded

BTW the terms are until December 31, 2010

What's important to note is some plans require your doctor has to quarantine you and/or says your not allowed to travel. It doesn't matter how sick you think you are if your docotor says you can travel you don't have coverage.

Insurance companies won't allow insureds to use the fear of swine flu, or a self-diagnosed case of H1N1, to re-write a policy to one which provides cancellation coverage for any cause.

edited to add a few carriers have a big "loophole".

NOTE: If this swine flu outbreak is officially declared to be an epidemic or pandemic, then coverage from that time forward will not provide benefits as there is a specific exclusion for epidemics and pandemics in Global Alert policies.

Avoid those carriers

Travelex will not cover trip cancellation due to swine flu!

http://www.insuremytrip.com/blog/influenza-h1n1-swine-flu-information

and use the tool to find insurance companies that cover h1n1

BIG BUSINESS STICKING IT TO THE LITTLE GUY AGAIN! FUNNY THING IS THEY TOLD ME ON THE PHONE THEY COVER ALL FLU EXCEPT H1N1

Access America will cover H1N1 until December 31st.

Best of luck to all.

 

[HELPDESKGUY]

Lewis,

Thank you for all your great input!

I would like to add that H1N1 has already been stated to be a pandemic by World Health Organization. Also i'd like to note that after doing some research regarding Travel Insurance Reviews i've switched from Access America to TruTravel which is underwritten by Nationwide.

I did call Travelex directly and they stated that they would only cover if quarantined. TruTravel on the other hand along with a handful of others will cover wheather quarantined or not. I was told I would need a statement from a physcian stating that I would not be fit for travel. This would carry over to our trip interruption.

Honestly they are all crooks and i don't feel good about any of them...any suggestions for a better plan I have 10 days to cancel with TruTravel.

Travel insurance is relatively inexpensive. Coverage applies to specific covered conditions and has specific dollar benefits.

It's important to carefully review the policy. Make sure it covers what you think it covers. Many policies don't provide coverage if a vendor (airline) goes out of business. Policies don't generally pay for airline tickets on another airline if your flight is cancelled. The policy will generally provide a specific dollar benefit (daily max/policy max) to help pay for hotels and meals.

According to the link you provided travelex will cover H1N1
What's not covered is a traveler who wants to cancel a trip if WDW has an outbreak of H1N1 and the insured doesn't want to take the risk of being infected.

Access America has a similar exclusion BTW the terms are until December 31, 2010

What's important to note is some plans require your doctor has to quarantine you and/or says your not allowed to travel. It doesn't matter how sick you think you are if your docotor says you can travel you don't have coverage.

Insurance companies won't allow insureds to use the fear of swine flu, or a self-diagnosed case of H1N1, to re-write a policy to one which provides cancellation coverage for any cause.

edited to add a few carriers have a big "loophole".


Avoid those carriers