travel insurance -Airtran

[123SA]

I just bought one-way tickets to MCO out of Phila for 9/24 -- 5 tickets @ $69 each. I didn't get the return trip -- I am hoping to get a good rate from Southwest. Anyway, I have 24 hrs to add insurance at $14.95 per ticket.

Why should I add the insurance?

or

Why is the insurance not necessary?

I have never had the insurance before mostly because I just didn't know what to do. Thank you for your help.

 

[Jeanne B]

Considering the insurance is more than 20% of the cost of the ticket I say no way. You're better off getting trip insurance on your own, much cheaper.

Go to www.insuremytrip.com and you can compare numerous companies (I use TravelGuard). Considering you're flying to MCO during hurricane season I would suggest buying trip insurance, it's very inexpensive (if you buy it on your own) for peace of mind.

Just remember when you're requesting a quote, enter only the non-refundable amount of our trip (hotels for example can usually be canceled at the last minute so probably no need to include in the cost).

 

[123SA]

I clearly don't know what to do. When I type in the info -- $69 per person, flight only, my quote was $190 -- that is way more than the $75 airtran is charging. I have tried that site for a previous trip and the same -- an outrageous price. I guess I just don't enter the info right. Any suggestions?

 

[NancyIL]

I wouldn't get AirTran's insurance. For one thing - it covers only the one-way tickets, and you'd have to pay another $14.95/ticket when you buy the return tickets. **Oops - just saw you want to return on Southwest. But I still wouldn't buy AirTran's insurance.

As far as getting a price quote from www.insuremytrip.com - you will pay the same premium whether your trip cost is $69/pp up to $500/pp. The cost goes up in $500 increments, so at $501 of coverage/pp - you'll pay a higher premium. I personally have gotten trip insurance only for cruises, because cancelling at the last minute is very expensive.

 

[Jeanne B]

$190 sounds way too high for coverage up to $500. I only paid $166 through Travel Guard for three of us for $6000 in non-refundable expenses for our Caribbean vacation last summer and I paid less than $40 for $1000 in coverage for our 3-day cruise this past November.

 

[NancyIL]

The cost for me (age 50) for $500 in coverage is $44, so multiplied by 5 presumably younger people is ~ $190. Insurance is a better value at higher levels of coverage. For me, $1000 in coverage costs $59, $1500 in coverage costs $76, $2000 in coverage costs $99, etc. I buy Travelex TravelLite policy, which covers kids under 16 for free.

 

[NancyIL]

I have no idea regarding the ages of your family members, but I requested a quote for $500/pp coverage and guessed at family ages of 40, 40, 15, 12, and 10. The quotes range in price from a high of $198 (Travel Guard) to a low of $80 (Travelex). Once you see the price range - compare the coverages of several companies. I keep going back to Travelex because their medical coverage is primary rather than secondary, and as I mentioned - kids under 16 are covered for free. Since you're paying the same price whether you are insured for $69 or $500 - I recommend getting $500/pp coverage.

 

[englishteacha]

I need help with this, too. In my case, I didn't buy the Airtran insurance, then realized after purchasing my tickets that their insurance covers delays due to hurricanes. For only 2 of us, it was $30. Insuremytrip.com has very basic plans for $40 that don't cover weather or cancellation due to illness, etc. Is there anyway for me to buy the insurance through Airtran after purchasing my airfare??

 

[NancyIL]

I need help with this, too. In my case, I didn't buy the Airtran insurance, then realized after purchasing my tickets that their insurance covers delays due to hurricanes. For only 2 of us, it was $30. Insuremytrip.com has very basic plans for $40 that don't cover weather or cancellation due to illness, etc. Is there anyway for me to buy the insurance through Airtran after purchasing my airfare??

This is what the AirTran insurance says:

Coverage may be purchased up to 24 hours following your ticket purchase and is available only to U.S. and Canadian Residents.

It appears AirTran's insurance does cover more than just the cost of the plane tickets. Click on the link to the "Certificate of Insurance" to see what the coverages are, then compare to Insure My Trip.com: http://tickets.airtran.com/Common/html/ptp_detail.html

 

[englishteacha]

So how do I purchase the insurance after purchasing my tickets? I can't find it online. Thanks!

 

[Cheroot]

I just bought one-way tickets to MCO out of Phila for 9/24 -- 5 tickets @ $69 each. I didn't get the return trip -- I am hoping to get a good rate from Southwest. Anyway, I have 24 hrs to add insurance at $14.95 per ticket.

Why should I add the insurance?

or

Why is the insurance not necessary?

I have never had the insurance before mostly because I just didn't know what to do. Thank you for your help.

We usually get complete pkg insurance which covers air AND hotel. There are several out there such as insuremytrip.com and squaremouth.com.
This time I'm paying $110 for 4 of us, 5 nights deluxe hotel and air. They charge according to the price you paid for your trip. One thing to look for is the pre-existing condition exclusion. You must purchase your insurance within a certain time period from the date of your first deposit on your vacation.

 

[CarolMN]

We self insure - FWIW, I would not buy insurance to protect $350 worth of airfare. We fly fairly often and even if we had to eat $350 every so often, we would be better off than paying the insurance on that amount every time.

We are buying trip insurance for an Alaskan cruise - but the cost of that is at least 10 times more than 1 -way airfare to MCO.

JMHO, YMMV.