Has anyone had experience with Disney travel insurance?

[DVC Grandpa]

With our DVC conformation, we received a reminder to consider trip coverage insurance. Has anyone have experience in using this insurance? I called the carrier but they have no written information they can send, but if I had a specific question they would answer it. The problem is that I don’t know what the problem might be come January, i.e. driving conditions, health, etc. If you have any insight please let me know.

 

[Carl]

I had the Travel Insurance in 2000 when I made a trip to WDW. I had to come back 2 days early, because my mother was ill. Disney was very good to me and refunded the 2 days resort cost, and Continental Airlines did not charge anything for me to change flights. So, the only thing I needed the travel insurance to pay for was the unused admissions to the parks for those two days. (I had bought an all inclusive package.) The travel insurance would have owed me $90 + for that loss. They refused to do so unless I could prove that my mother had been to the doctor and received treatment. She did not go, because by the time I got home, she was feeling much better. (She was 83 at the time.) So, my feeling is that you will have a lot of difficulty getting anything out of the travel insurance. Disney, WITHOUT the insurance, though, will do all they can to reduce your losses. I actually called Walt Disney Travel after this transpired and asked them if they would have been just as helpful if I had NOT had the insurance, and they said that they always try to do all they can for their guests. I do not purchase the insurance anymore.

 

[DebbieB]

One thing you have to be careful with travel insurance - many exclude pre-existing conditions. So if you have health problems when you bought the insurance and have to cancel because of the same problem, they may not pay. Some will waive the pre-existing clause if you buy it when you make your initial deposit (I've never had experience with the DVC type insurance).

 

[DVC Grandpa]

Sounds like travel insurance would not work for me. Thanks for the info.

 

[caverill]

For our Feb '01 trip, we purchased the travel insurance.

Our flight out of Duluth to Chicago was delay due to "air traffic controller", which is a fancy term to too many planes in the air.

Anyway, we missed our connecting flight in Chicago, had to stay the night in a hotel, and catch an early morning plane the next day.

The travel insurance paid us for the cost of the hotel and our meal. We lost the points at BWV for a Friday night.

The travel insurance company want documentation to the delay, which I did get from American Airlines, but other then that it was pretty easy.

One thing to mention, we were only received the insurance because we were delay more then 12 hours (we actually were delay 12 hours 5 minutes), otherwise we would not of gotten anything.

I tried to get the value of the points paid also, but they wouldn't.

For our future trips, I don't believe we will do travel insurance. The limitations are too great for us.

Hope this helps...

 

[DebbieB]

On the last brochure I got, the payout is $5 per DVC point if you have to cancel. So if your stay is 100 points, you would get $500.

 

[jmminarik]

Gramps, we have no specific information about the insurance other than what you should have gotten in the reservation. I had thought that there was a brochure explaning the basics, but nothing too terribly detailed. All I recall specifically was they do pay $5.00 per point 'lost', and the cost was 5% of that total. In Debbie's example, you'd pay $25.00 in insurance.

I do not know what they constitute as 'valid' reasons for not making your reservation(s). One would assume they'd want some kind of documentation relating to work, weather, illness or (these days) a call to active duty or other types of unforeseen situations.

The insurance didn't refer to anything other than the DVC points. This is where it differs from 'traditional' travel insurance.

My philosophy on insurance for DVC is as follows: If I can cancel the ressies and still have enough time to make a trip within the current use year, I'd not bother with insurance. If I had to make ressies in August with our Sept. use year, I'd be buying insurance.

Hopefully someone who was unlucky enough to have had to cancel a DVC trip last minute but was fortunate enough to have had this insurance can give some first hand experience.

Hope this helps,
Joe