How important is travel insurance?

[bridget]

I've never bought it before, but for a cruise I wouldn't be without it for two reasons.

First and foremost is medical evacuation. If perhaps one of my five children or my husband or I needed to be life-flighted off the ship that with all the associated travel expenses for a family of seven could easily run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and I don't know anyone's health insurance that covers that.

Secondly, no one in your travel party can have any signs of illness for 48 hours before boarding. With five children, the chances of SOMEONE being ill within 48 hours of boarding are very large, I'd say at least 5-10 percent.

The cost of our travel insurance that protects all seven of us from all of this was $79. Pretty good deal if you ask me.

I agree with your two reasons, plus on top of it, if you have to cancel due to someone else in your family (not necessarily in your traveling party), it is covered. My dad got to Cape Canaveral and had a stroke and a heart attack the night before our cruise. My husband took our children on the trip and my mom and I spent the week in Cocoa Beach. The travel insurance covered our week in Cocoa beach, car rental, my parents airfare home (and transportation to the airport). Our cost of the vacation was refunded. Any medical expenses not covered by insurance would have been covered.

Our cost has always been around $80 and I think it is worth it.

We only purchase it for cruises, not for travel in the US.

 

[sayhello]

Another from the UK here and another who would never travel without good insurance ... especially to the States where a 2 day stay in hospital with small operation has just cost a friend of mine upwards of $10,000!!!

Her insurance has covered the whole lot thankfully, but imagine if she didn't have any .. doesn't bear thinking about it for us Brits abroad. For overseas visitors coming to us here in the UK, you'd get that op and hospital stay for free with our wonderful NHS! You may not get 5 star service or gourmet meals, but it's free!

We travel at least 6-7 times every year, abroad and at home and our annual policy covers every trip. This year it cost us £82 .. about $130 .. a whole year with no worries now. It also has to cover cruises for us which is why it's slightly more expensive than standard policies.

I think it's very different if you only holiday in your own country .. as Americans, you probably already have medical insurance, you have home insurance to cover stuff while away and your airlines allow for cancellations .. ours don't!

Forgot to say ... had my IPone pickpocketed while in Gibraltar last July on the DCL Med cruise ... got home, insurance paid for a new one (£500) within 3 days .. great service. Presume you would just have to pay up again if you had no insurance?

I wish our travel insurance here in the US worked like yours, with annual premiums/policies. In the US, you buy a policy for each trip you take. The price can vary based on where you take the trip, the length of the trip, your age, etc. Insurance for one 10-day trip could cost way more than your annual policy costs!

Some policies will cover things like having your phone pickpocketed, some won't. You really have to research to find out.

Really, trip insurance is all about how much you're willing to risk. If you can afford to lose the cost of your vacation, can afford thousands of dollars in medical bills if your insurance isn't accepted out of the country, can afford the cost of a flight from one port to another if you miss the boat, etc, then you don't need trip insurance.

If any of those things leave you worried & cold, then get trip insurance. I've used mine 3 times, and each time, it was totally worth every penny.

Sayhello

 

[Anal Annie]

We've been traveling for YEARS. We average 1 big trip a year and 1 smaller one a year. We've never had anything happen to warrant having trip insurance. Is it really a big deal? Has anyone actually used it?

My old roommate had to use it on her honeymoon! Her new husband had had some surgery on his nose for a deviated septum about 3 weeks before they got married and the air pressure from the flight down to FL made him hemorrage once they set sail. The ships doctors couldn't get it to stop so their ship had to get re-routed to Freeport in the Bahamas which was the closest hospital - they were evacuated and spent several days in the hospital in Freeport & basically missed their entire honeymoon. So yes, they used it!!!

My next door neighbors sister missed their entire winter vacation to the Caribbean due to cancelled flights from snow storms a couple of years ago - so they used it.

Stuff happens. That's why it's called insurance...it is JUST IN CASE!! You have it for your car, your house, your medical coverage...why not for an expensive vacation?!

 

[ernierich]

I bet the tens of thousands of Brits with flights delayed/cancelled due to the ash cloud last year were delighted they had insurance - although, knowing how insurance companies work, they probably have it as an exclusion now!

Ernie.

 

[bbn1122]

I believe for a $8500 cruise last Easter we paid $174 in travel insurance. Why, risk it?

 

[Rogillio]

I believe for a $8500 cruise last Easter we paid $174 in travel insurance. Why, risk it?

And the flip side, is "Why waste $174?". Life is full of risks but most of stuff that people worry about never happens. Obviously for the vast majority of people, it is never needed or the insurance companies would not make money.

I am an optimist and believe if anything can go right, it will. Buying insurance betting on something going wrong just goes against my nature. If something does happen, I will deal with it when it happens but I'm not going to bet my money on something bad happening. If I lose money, oh well, that's just life. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. The next best thing to playing and winning is playing and losing. ;-)

As I posted earlier, it's a value call. Everyone is different and sees things differently and that's ok. There seem to be a few insurance salesmen here with doom and gloom stories about what all can go wrong. I seem to be the lone voice in the wilderness preaching that things can and do go right most of the time.

~Mike

 

[braysmommy]

We had friends who were in an accident on vacation and husband had to have an air ambulance bring him home. They did not have travelers insurance for this and it cost thousands of dollars! They always purchase insurance when traveling out of the country...lesson learned.

 

[Rogillio]

One can insure anything! The comparison to travel insurance to home owner insurance or auto insurance or health insurance misses one point, you don't NEED a vacation! You need a house and you need a car but you don't need to lay on the beach at Castaway Cay. Now, if your health insurance does not cover you if you step out of the country, then maybe you should shop around for better health insurance. But insuring your cruise becuase you might miss your flight or the airlines might lose your luggage is different than health insurance.

While I'm on a rant.....I just got off the treadmill from running 3 miles. Why? Health insurance! I might never need it and it might not make any differance but I feel better doing that than dropping $200 to compensate me if my travel plans go awry.

One can buy insurance for anything and anyone can come up with examples of what could go wrong and why you might need it. What we all have to ask ourselves is, "is the value worth the cost?". You can buy health insurance for your cat or you doggie but most people don't. IF something happens and they get their paw run over by a car, they deal it. Might cost them a fortune to have Fluffy's paw fixed and one might argue that if you had insurance you'd of been better off financially....but you took the risk and you deal with it.

So to the OP, it's a personal decision that only you can make. You have pro and cons.

~Mike

 

[tvguy]

We had friends who were in an accident on vacation and husband had to have an air ambulance bring him home. They did not have travelers insurance for this and it cost thousands of dollars! They always purchase insurance when traveling out of the country...lesson learned.

Another important point here too. However, remember, if you are cruising in the Caribbean, Mexican Riviera, or Alaska, and are a U.S. citizen, you most likely will be airlifted out by the U.S. Coast Guard, which does not charge for the service.

 

[Pooh667]

Another important point here too. However, remember, if you are cruising in the Caribbean, Mexican Riviera, or Alaska, and are a U.S. citizen, you most likely will be airlifted out by the U.S. Coast Guard, which does not charge for the service.

Interesting, TVGuy. I didn't know this.

 

[dursin]

And the flip side, is "Why waste $174?". Life is full of risks but most of stuff that people worry about never happens. Obviously for the vast majority of people, it is never needed or the insurance companies would not make money.

I am an optimist and believe if anything can go right, it will. Buying insurance betting on something going wrong just goes against my nature. If something does happen, I will deal with it when it happens but I'm not going to bet my money on something bad happening. If I lose money, oh well, that's just life. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. The next best thing to playing and winning is playing and losing. ;-)

As I posted earlier, it's a value call. Everyone is different and sees things differently and that's ok. There seem to be a few insurance salesmen here with doom and gloom stories about what all can go wrong. I seem to be the lone voice in the wilderness preaching that things can and do go right most of the time.

~Mike

Your mistaking the people here with common sense for insurance salesmen.

Nobody here who buys insurance is betting on something going wrong, however it's stupid to assume that nothing can go wrong.

 

[allonte]

Your mistaking the people here with common sense for insurance salesmen.

Nobody here who buys insurance is betting on something going wrong, however it's stupid to assume that nothing can go wrong.

While I don't assume nothing can go wrong. I know its rare that something goes wrong. And that's why I have a hard time doing the travel insurance. I'd compare travel insurance more to an extended warranty than regular home or auto insurance. With travel insurance and extended warranties, you're betting that something serious will happen in a very small window of time. The odds that we'd actually need it aren't that great to me. And it doesn't help that I'm an optimist too, lol. I can't help but to think that the 99 people that get TI, are just funding the benefit for that 1 person who actually used it.

 

[dursin]

While I don't assume nothing can go wrong. I know its rare that something goes wrong. And that's why I have a hard time doing the travel insurance. I'd compare travel insurance more to an extended warranty than regular home or auto insurance. With travel insurance and extended warranties, you're betting that something serious will happen in a very small window of time. The odds that we'd actually need it aren't that great to me. And it doesn't help that I'm an optimist too, lol. I can't help but to think that the 99 people that get TI, are just funding the benefit for that 1 person who actually used it.

With auto insurance, homeowners insurance, travel insurance and even extended warranties, you have a larger group of people funding a benefit that a smaller group of people use. That's the way all of those things work. Travel insurance is not that expensive given the number of different things it covers that could possibly go wrong. Again, people who buy insurance OR extended warranties are NOT betting that something serious will go wrong...they're just protecting themselves in case something should go wrong.

It's not that expensive either...I use Travelex Lite and typically pay about $60 to cover myself, another $60 to cover my wife and then the 3 kids are free.

 

[Alexander]

Another important point here too. However, remember, if you are cruising in the Caribbean, Mexican Riviera, or Alaska, and are a U.S. citizen, you most likely will be airlifted out by the U.S. Coast Guard, which does not charge for the service.

That's because if you are a US citizen, you've already paid for it! We call it Federal Taxes!

 

[stephent92]

Back in the day when I was working aboard cruise ships I have seen:
- A air evacuation from the ship
-3 occations where the ship has been either 'turned around' or diverted due to a medical emergency.
- Several guests being admitted to hospital in overseas ports of call.

In each instance the guest has had to pay (in full) all costs. When you think a helicopter evacuation could easily run into $100,000, and if your ship is diverted because of you, you will be liable for extra port fees, fuel and could even be held responsible for compensation for other passengers.

Insurance is one of these things you hope that you won't need, but I would never be without it.

 

[aburns84]

We don't opt for it on a Disney World trip. However on the cruises when we are outside the USA we always opt for it. We definitely opted for it on our September cruise since the hurricane season is ending that time of year. In case there is any unusual weather better safe than sorry.

 

[canadian_mouse]

There's two different situations here:

out of county health insurance - I would never in a million years step out of the county without it. Fortunately I have this insurance through my DH's employer.

trip insurance that reimburses me the cost of the trip if I can't go for some reason - I never bother with it. It would suck big time if I had to eat the cost of the trip but I'd get over it. We've travelled annully for many year and only once had to cancel due to an emergency. Yeah, I lost money on the price of the plane ticket.

Comparing house insurance to trip insurance is a non-starter for me. Losing my house and all it's contents without insurance would devastate me financially for the rest of my life. Losing $5000 because of a cancelled cruise would royally piss me off, but it would be nothing but a blip from a financial sense.

 

[denas]

Back in the day when I was working aboard cruise ships I have seen:
- A air evacuation from the ship
-3 occations where the ship has been either 'turned around' or diverted due to a medical emergency.
- Several guests being admitted to hospital in overseas ports of call.

In each instance the guest has had to pay (in full) all costs. When you think a helicopter evacuation could easily run into $100,000, and if your ship is diverted because of you, you will be liable for extra port fees, fuel and could even be held responsible for compensation for other passengers.

Insurance is one of these things you hope that you won't need, but I would never be without it.

Regarding evacs and coast guard support - I wouldn't count on the coast guard evacing you for free if you are outside of the bahamas or the Alaskan coast. If you are off the coast of Mexico, you will be evaced by local officials/private companies. You will pay for that. The coast guard only provides this service in the areas it patrls which are closer to the US coasts - so probably evaced from the bahamas or a US territory like the Virgin Islands, probably not from the coastal waters off Mexico...

Regarding comparison to auto insurance for premiums - my autoinsurance doesn't cover every possible thing that can happen to my car and it does require me to pay a significant deductible. For example, camera stolen from car - pay $500 deductible then insurance MAY kicks in. Camera stolen on cruise?? Covered.

Insurance with no deductible, 150% repalcement cost for the car, replacement regardless of fault, rental reimbursement, and more than the standard "medical" coverage to include loss of use coverage would be a much fairer comparison to trip insurance. REgardless of your state, I am willing to bet that you would pay a much higher cost-to-car-value ratio for that type of auto insurance than you would trip insurance!!! Heck, eliminating the $500 decductible alone doubles insurance in my area making premiums close to $600 per year on a car valued at $9000. I purchased trip insurance for a party of 8 that covers absolutely everything with pre-existing conditions and 2 people over 70 for around $250 on a $10,000 trip.

Your homeownders insurance policy probably covers you in case someone falls on your property, gets hurt and sues you - not to protect your home but to protect your other assets/investment,etc and avoid you having to pay significant costs. Trip insurance works the same way - it isn't securing an investment in vacation, it is covering you from potentially thousands of additional costs for emergency situations. And on this board alone you have testimonials from lots of people who have had these unexpected emergencies that would have cost them huge amounts of money.

I think people are foolish to try and save $100 bucks and risk hundreds of thousands of additional expenses. A medical emergency on a cruise is totally different than a medical emergency on land in the States and can easily rack up huge transportation expenses that most people cannot afford.

 

[princesses2]

Several years back, a friend planned a trip to Cancun. Days before she and her husband were to leave, her mother had a stroke. I know she didn't buy a separate travel insurance on her own but she may have gotten something through Apple Vacations package. Although she couldn't get her money back on the missed vacation, she was allowed an extra 1 year to take another Apple Vacation. She never did go on that vacation in the following year. Too much going on with her mom's recovery and raising young kids and job. She basically gave away her vacation to someone else take in her place.

I buy travel insurance because of the kids. You just never know what can happen with kids. So I'm looking into buying insurance for March Disney cruise. Can anyone recommend an insurance company/package they have used? Thanks!

 

[tvguy]

Regarding evacs and coast guard support - I wouldn't count on the coast guard evacing you for free if you are outside of the bahamas or the Alaskan coast. If you are off the coast of Mexico, you will be evaced by local officials/private companies. You will pay for that. The coast guard only provides this service in the areas it patrls which are closer to the US coasts - so probably evaced from the bahamas or a US territory like the Virgin Islands, probably not from the coastal waters off Mexico....

A co-worker had his appendix burst just over half way between Honolulu and San Diego on HAL's Amsterdam (about 1,100 miles from San Diego as I recall) I stand corrected, it was the U.S. Air Force, not the Coast Guard that sent 2 helicopters, and a large refueling plane to rescue him. (They later told him they sent 2 helicopters "in case one crashed on the way").
They airlifted him off the Amsterdam, and flew him to Stanford Medical Center in Palo Alto. No charge. So the military will go a long ways to aid a U.S. citizen.

I'll try and find a link to the story, he was a reporter at our station, and his cruise mate videotaped the air lift, our reporter did a story on it (after he recuperated).

Here's a link to his story, and that of a girl too who was evacuated from a cruise ship by the U.S. Military...in her case, on a cruise to Mexico.
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/ChristmasCountdown/story?id=4018440

Here's a link to the story of his rescue in a TV trade publication....sorry, you have to page down 20 times to get to it. http://www.scribd.com/doc/192280/Of...elevision-Academy-SFN-California-Chapter-0506