Insurance Opinions Please

[atigeg]

Hubby and I don't traditionally get travel insurance. Our medical insurance covers us when our of the country (I found that out the hard way!), and we have been very lucky with never having delayed flights or permanently lost luggage.
Recently, I joined a discount program through MyPoints (a points reward program). For the annual fee, you also receive reimbursement of up to $500 for "trip delay" and lost luggage coverage. Has anyone had any experience with these types of policies? We are figuring that the $500 could go towards flying us to meet the ship, and the luggage insurance sounds pretty self-explanatory. Since we don't need the medical insurance, I'm wondering if this will cover most of the other things that a trip policy typically does. The whole program, including the insurance, auto club, restaurant discounts, and other perks, is only $75 a year, so it seems like it will be worth it.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[Michelle]

Well, it's hard to say. We usually DO get travel insurance and the policy we get has unlimited reimbursement for medical evacuation. That's the one thing that is the clincher for us.

For comparison sakes, the policy we just got has coverages of $750 per PERSON travel delay and $250 per PERSON baggage delay. It also includes coverage for trip interruption, cancellation and lost baggage. Other stuff it covers that we didn't necessarily need but are included are medical/dental coverage ($10,000 per person), rental car/collision loss ($25,000) and flight insurance. The total policy cost for the three of was $155.

So I guess the short answer is that a typical trip insurance policy does cover quite a bit more than what is covered in what you described. However whether you need all that or not is up to you guys.

 

[atigeg]

Thanks, Michelle! It really helps to have something for comparison. It sounds like this would be helpful in case of need but would not take the place of a whole trip insurance policy. We figure we will keep it because with the restaurant discounts, it will pay for itself. And if (God forbid!) we ever have a problem, it will offset some of the expenses rather than cover them entirely. I think the program is affiliated with the Entertainment books, so it's really an odd range of benefits...the travel insurance, plus an autoclub, in addition to the half-price restaurants!
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[4nana]

Sorry, we have not have experience w/that type of coverage, but it sounds like a good bonus thru MyPoints. We discovered some CC's offer travel protection also. Our grp will have medical coverage out of country. However, in case of some type of last minute emergency we felt we needed travel ins. We purchased thru 'insuremytrip.com' after comparing several of their companies. We are no experts, but for an avg. of $30-35@ is a small price to pay for a little piece of mind.

It includes:
Trip Cancellation: $ 1,000
Trip Interruption: $ 1,500
Travel Baggage: $ 1,000
Baggage Delay: $ 200
Travel Delay: $ 750
Accidental Death: $ 25,000
Medical: $ 25,000
Dental: Included in Medical
Emergency Evacuation: $50,000

 

[ppiew]

My quote was over $300!! What am I doing wrong? Are you insuring per trip or annually? Is the medical evacuation in the same policy or is it separate?

 

[Michelle]

Per trip, ppiew. We use www.csatravelprotection.com but you can compare the coverage and pricing for several different companies at www.insuremytrip.com . Pricing is age-based with most companies, so you will pay more the older you are, but I have to believe you can find a policy for MUCH less than $300.

The emergency evacuation is included in the policy we have.

 

[my3kids]

We used csa travel protection also. Ours cost $155 for the 5 of us. It is based on the total cost of the trip. Some of the policies we saw on insuremytrip.com did cost a lot more and weren't necessarily better. To insure through Disney or through the travel agent would have been alot more....maybe that is where you got the $300+ quote? Our medical insurance covers us, and this policy is secondary to that. But, our medical will NOT pay for medical evacuation. The insurance also will cover if we have to cancel at the last minute for a covered reason. We debated but I am so glad we purchased the plan.

 

[peg2001]

My opinion on insurance of any kind is to only take it when you can not afford to cover the consequences yourself. So, if your medical insurance does NOT cover you outside of the states, you probably should get travel insurance to cover you as those costs can be very high.

However, I can EASILY cover the cost of my luggage and contents. Why would I need insurance for that? I'm not traveling with any jewelry or anything more expensive than a camera, which will be in a carry-on bag anyway.

If I can afford to pay for my vacation, I can eat the cost if something dire happens and I can't go or if I miss the boat. Will I be bummed, disappointed, saddened, upset? Yes, but I won't be in financial straits.

Peggy

 

[my3kids]

Peg...that is true, if you can afford to pay the claim yourself, then the insurance isn't important. My fear was one of us needing surgery, like an appendicitis. We will NOT have surgery on a little island. The medivac to Miami can easily be at least $50,000, if not more. While a lost suitcase isn't much more than an inconvenience, the evacuation is A LOT of money to most families. Knowing that, as well as what if something happened to one of our parents at the last minute and we had to cancel, losing all our money if not for the insurance, we purchased the plan. I'm glad we have it just in case.

I am glad that it isn't a required part of the Disney package though. It really should be up to each family to make the determination of what risk they are willing or able to assume.

 

[LOVETHATMOUSE]

I have a question. We added the travel insurance through DCL, but was curious and went to CSA to get a quote. When they ask for the cost of the trip, what do you tell them? It will be 2788.31 for our cruise, but then do you add in the cost of airfare, car rental, hotel for the two days before we board? That would bring the cost way up I would think, or are you just getting insurance on the cruise itself?

 

[Michelle]

Lovethatmouse, you can do it either way. We did include the cost of our airfare in our trip, and the cruise, but not our post-hotel stay after the cruise. Whatever you put in as the trip total (or cost per person) will be the amount of coverage for the cancellation part of your policy. Just insure the parts for which you would pay a penalty for cancelling. We have up to five days prior to cancel our hotel so no need to insure that part of the trip.

Oh, and you definitely don't include the cost of the car rental in there.

Hope that helps!

 

[LOVETHATMOUSE]

Thanks Michelle - I will definitely be adding in the airfare! I think with all the non-refundable tickets we buy, that would be very important to cover.

 

[4nana]

LOVETHATMOUSE~
Ditto Michelle's advise. In our case, as we are traveling as a group we considered the large ticket items we would lose if we had a last minute emergency cancellation and could not go. Yes, the higher the dollar you are insuring the more expensive it will be. I suggest you enter some figures on "insuremytrip.com" or
"quotesmith.com" and get some free estimates. They were very helpful answering my questions when I called. I believe on the "CSA" site, they have a list of ways to save on their travel insurance. One that surprised me was if you insure 1 person/per policy at a time....it was $15 savings per person/policy. Another site, like "Travelex" may cost a little more but include children under 15 free. It is a lenghtly process to decide which is best to fit your needs. Lots of people don't want the hassle and use Disney's coverage. We chose comparable coverage for much less.
I for one would not leave home without it.
Good luck

 

[lpursell]

Trip cancelation insurance is the most important feature for us. If one of the 7 of us gets sick or my father (who is not traveling with us) needs me at home for a covered (medical) reason then we might have to cancel and that is a lot of money to lose.

About 5 years ago we took a RC cruise through the Panama Canal. At that time trip insurance would pay if we had to cancel for any reason, for example, work cancels vacation or just a change of heart. Now the travel insurance companies are much more strict about covered reasons for cancellations.

Lovethatmouse: you can insure as much of the trip as you want. If you have a claim you will have to show receipts for your expenses. I noticed that Access America has $500 increments of coverage. So, for example, if I insured one of our travelers for $1,500 and I had a $1,600 loss then I would lose $100 of my money. Or, I can pay the additional premium and have coverage up to the next step of $2,000.

 

[ppiew]

I sure don't question the validity or need to insure - it IS a lot of $$$$ to put in jeopardy! Our party is 4 adults 1 child 1 infant and the amount is about $7000 for two staterooms. I am directing my efforts at obtaining the 'most bang for the buck.' I guess I will be calling a # of companies to see who can give us the most for the least. Man - the decisions!!!!! I need to get started on the shore excursions and all this stuff keeps interfering!! I do appreciate the help from all of you DIS boarders. Keep the advice coming!!!!

 

[inkkognito]

I will toss out one warning, based on my personal experience...even if you DO have insurance, be sure to bring a spare charge card with a good-sized limit on it, because you will be expected to pay for any medical services up front. My "knee incident" was $700, which we had to pay onboard, and we were later reimbursed by our HMO. They give you the proper papers to file with your insurance company. But depending on what type of services you need, that can be a pretty big chunk of money to have to pay up front!
I also needed crutches, which I got on board. I had thought that the cost would be higher, but it was actually about the same as Walgreen's would have been!
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com