Let's talk trip insurance...

[kwitcherkicken99]

Who do you get it from? With our trip a year out, DH wants to have it "just in case" (he gets laid off...) I know I can get some from Disney, but has anyone used an outside, reputable company?

TIA!

 

[TimandTanya]

Is it really worth it? I am one of those that tends to think that we are overinsured. If you book your trip through Disney, they give back all money up to the 45 day mark. From the 45 day to 6 day mark, the will charge a $100 cancellation fee, and from the 5 day mark to 24 hour of date of arrival, they charge a $200 cancellation fee, if you cannot make your vacation. How much is trip Insurance and is it really worth the paying the premium for the insurance plan, if all you will recoup is the $200 - the cost of the insurance? HHHHMMMM Food for thought.

 

[rotlex]

Is it really worth it? I am one of those that tends to think that we are overinsured. If you book your trip through Disney, they give back all money up to the 45 day mark. From the 45 day to 6 day mark, the will charge a $100 cancellation fee, and from the 5 day mark to 24 hour of date of arrival, they charge a $200 cancellation fee, if you cannot make your vacation. How much is trip Insurance and is it really worth the paying the premium for the insurance plan, if all you will recoup is the $200 - the cost of the insurance? HHHHMMMM Food for thought.

The reasons you state above are why we never buy it. Unless the insurance is going to cover airfare as well, I just don't see how it is worth it. (We drive, so no worries there either).

If you don't use it, you just basically burned the money. If you need it, and don't have it, your going to lose a maximum $200, even if you cancel the day you are supposed to arrive. Just doesn't make any sense to us.

 

[TimandTanya]

I just got 3 quotes from some companies online. These companies have excellent reps. from Tripadvisor.com, and I've never been steared wrong when going off of reviews from that site.

The lowest quote I got was $72.01 for the basic insurance plan and $95.31 for their deluxe plan. We have never had to cancel our trips in the past, and the cost vs. recoup amount is negligible.

I can think of quite a few things to spend $72 on in WDW.

Let's see, Turkey Leg $6, Dole Whip $5.99, that big Mickey rice krispie treat..........................

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

I appreciate everyone's feedback so far. DH wants me to look into it as our town has all but died in the recession. No matter how much I remind him that I'm pretty much paying for our trip using "my" money and other creative ways (recycling cans, garage sales, etc) AND it's not going to affect our primary income, he's been really worried about his job as he hired in 7 days past the "safety" zone. GM just bought his company back and he's getting nervous.

I'm a homework-doer... I'll gather tons of info before I make a decision. That's why I turn to you guys!

 

[ogreenlee]

We have bought travel insurance four times and have used it three. None were for Disney.

I didn't buy it for Disney because if we need to cancel, I'll pay the $200 and be done with it. I will buy insurance for flights.

We always buy it for flights. It's relatively cheap. I did have to spend $100 for 2 RT to Frankfurt, Germany. I got every bit, minus $100, when I had to cancel due to my mom's illness. That was $1500. We could have paid $150 to rebook, but for each ticket.

 

[Resseda]

There are a lot of factors to look at. We recently flew down at, technically, the peak of hurricane season. For us, the $100 or whatever we paid was well worth it. If the 4 of us had needed a hotel room for even one night, and say a couple meals, it would have been well over $100. But, a big part of that was because we flew, in early September. I've never bought trip insurance when driving.

Like any other type of insurance, if you don't need it, it's money wasted. if you do need it, it's worth every penny.

Ress

 

[snykymom]

Before you buy anyone's insurance, read the fine print VERY carefully. There are a lot of restrictions on trip insurance, and only certain reasons for cancelling trigger the insurance payout. Job loss may not be one of them.

Make sure you know exactly what you're buying before you buy it!

 

[rwdavis2]

In 2008 we bought insurance for the first time as it was offered for $63 through our house rental. My wife became ill and spent 3 days in Celebration Hospital. Our out of pocket expenses after health insurance was $2100 plus extra air fare and hotel.

I sent copies of all the receipts and detailed explanations and got fully reimbursed with no questions asked. We always buy it now. The company was AIG TravelGuard (I think that's correct). It is related to the AIG that got bailed out last fall but since travel insurance is regulated by the states so there are no issues about them not paying up.
BD

 

[rwdavis2]

In 2008 we bought insurance for the first time as it was offered for $63 through our house rental. My wife became ill and spent 3 days in Celebration Hospital. Our out of pocket expenses after health insurance was $2100 plus extra air fare and hotel.

I sent copies of all the receipts and detailed explanations and got fully reimbursed with no questions asked. We always buy it now. The company was AIG TravelGuard (I think that's correct). It is related to the AIG that got bailed out last fall but since travel insurance is regulated by the states so there are no issues about them not paying up.
BD

 

[a*lil*bit*goofy]

I purchased the insurance via Disney. I purchased it at my 46 day mark, and it coverd my airfare, and my medical. The $66 total is worth it if we have to see a Dr. for even a fast visit. I will never cross into the US without medical insurnace. I can not afford to pay a Dr bill without it. Also it covers for my airfare if we had to cancel. I saved an extra $54 with the new 4/3 promo out (from my room discount which was better than free dining) on what was already a great deal, and so I just look at it as me paying $12 to have coverage. Worth it.!!!

 

[Brian_WDW74]

I've moved this thread to the Transportation board.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Domestic travel (even including air) is rarely a financially destructive event if its cancelled. If you have any sort of decent medical insurance your worst case scenario out of pocket is neglible and would easily by offset by a few years of insurance.

 

[HELPDESKGUY]

We paid $99 for our Trip Insurance to cover the possibility of having to cancel due to flu or sickness. We are renting a home and don't have th luxury of hotel cancellation policy.

 

[ToyStory]

I usually don't purchase it, but did this trip. I went through Travel-Ex and got the basic policy. I am worried about one of us getting sick with the flu. The policy cost of $76.00, but it covers our air and WDW. Our air cost us over 1K for our trip.

We have the unfortunate luck of someone in our house getting very sick during the holidays the last few years. We are going to be at Disney for Thanksgiving so hopefully that trend won't continue.

 

[starstruck93]

The reasons you state above are why we never buy it. Unless the insurance is going to cover airfare as well, I just don't see how it is worth it. (We drive, so no worries there either).

If you don't use it, you just basically burned the money. If you need it, and don't have it, your going to lose a maximum $200, even if you cancel the day you are supposed to arrive. Just doesn't make any sense to us.

Well, My DH is in the guard (he flys for the congressman and senators) so he never knows when he may have to cancel something and leave. The travel insurance in our case does cover everything, including tickets to the Christmas party and airfare as long as DH presents his orders. We called and verified all of this before purchasing anything. In our particular case, the insurance was very beneficial. It really depends on the individual. Thanks! April

 

[heatherj]

Its truly funny that I stumbled across this as I literally just purchased trip insurance on-line right before reading this.

We did decide for the first time to purchase trip insurance. Mainly due to the increase in the flu season, etc. With 6 in our family (4 kids) we were a little more worried that something could happen and we wouldn't be able to go. We are renting a DVC villa from someone so we really don't have the peace of mind that would have come from going directly through Disney and canceling. Our flights alone are $1200. Factor in some other things like the MVMCP tickets, etc and we decided for peace of mind alone that we would get it.

Now if some of our factors would have been different we probably wouldn't have purchased it.

Just wanted to share some of our thoughts on why we purchased it this time.

Heather

 

[HELPDESKGUY]

I usually don't purchase it, but did this trip. I went through Travel-Ex and got the basic policy. I am worried about one of us getting sick with the flu. The policy cost of $76.00, but it covers our air and WDW. Our air cost us over 1K for our trip.

We have the unfortunate luck of someone in our house getting very sick during the holidays the last few years. We are going to be at Disney for Thanksgiving so hopefully that trend won't continue.

Caution: Travelex will not cover H1N1. It will only cover it if you have to be qurantined. In other words If you contract h1n1 and just feel plain lousy you are not covered! I called and spoke with a travelex agent directly.

We ended up getting a policy from TruTravel which is underwritten by Nationwide and will cover H1N1 with no stipulations other than can not be pre exsisting. $99 for a 3K policy.

 

[MerryFlora]

We bought the TravelGuard (AIG) with our Disney Pkg. I ended up in the ER at Celebration and racked up over $4000 in medical bills. The hospital billed TG directly and the all the bills were paid promptly. I was never questioned or hassled about the reasons, pre-existing etc. TG sent me stmts and kept me informed of their payments and I did not pay a penny. They also have a great on-line system to track the status of claims. Every rep I spoke with was nice and competant. I will never skip ins now.

 

[rwdavis2]

We bought the TravelGuard (AIG) with our Disney Pkg. I ended up in the ER at Celebration and racked up over $4000 in medical bills. The hospital billed TG directly and the all the bills were paid promptly. I was never questioned or hassled about the reasons, pre-existing etc. TG sent me stmts and kept me informed of their payments and I did not pay a penny. They also have a great on-line system to track the status of claims. Every rep I spoke with was nice and competant. I will never skip ins now.

As I mentioned in a prior post, we had the exact same experience with TravelGuard. No problems whatsoever.
BD