Travel Insurance who does who doesn't?

[dianaore]

Just wondered. I've never taken out travel insurance but wonder if this is the trip to do it.

Diana

 

[jemilah]

I have not needed it but if you have any medical conditions then it may be a good idea..........my old bad experience was booking a Disney trip on Expedia and then my dad got ill.......he was about to die and expedia refused to change the date on my Disney ticket vouchers....i got a refund on the hotel which i was surprised to get but I only needed the tickets changed a few weeks later and they refused.
We were told Disney or AAA would have changed them no problem so from now on thats how I will book my trips.

 

[lulubelle]

I have never purchased insurance for a trip and have never needed it. Knock on wood, I guess.

 

[abby]

I used to travel without insurance but not anymore for the following reasons:

1. Now I travel with a kid (she is 5) and you just never know what can happen, in terms of ear infections et al...)
2. My parents are getting older with health problems, and well you never know when another crisis will develop and I'll have to cancel.
3. I'm just not as young as I use to be.......
4. my trips are more expensive then before so more to lose.....

(In reading over this it looks like I'm getting old..... )

 

[samkj]

We always get insurance. I've had to cancel before for medical reasons, so I don't want to take chances.

 

[albianne]

I tend to buy medical insurance most of the time especially if the tickets were expensive. I did have to make a claim once and although I had a valid reason with my doctors signature I was surprised at some of the questions on the form as I filled it out. I think one of the questions for the doctor was "have you treated this patient for this condition in the past year", evidently if you have a pre-existing condition or something you have been treated for in the past they can refuse to pay out. For myself I had a bad attack of diverticulitis which made it impossible to fly but thankfully had not had an attack for a few years. I would be very careful to read the small print if I had conditions like diabetes, heart problems etc.

 

[stampinshauna]

I don't get travel insurance for trips to DL or WDW, but I do for cruises.

 

[Amberle3]

I ALWAYS get travel insurance for my trips, and always recommend that my clients do too. In fact if they don't then I make them sign a waiver to absolve me of any associated liability in case something happens that would have been covered by insurance.

Remember that your trip insurance covers delay and interruption, not just cancellation. My honeymoon last year was a mess thanks to NW - we travelled before they filed and our flights to Orlando (DCL) were late, we ended up spending the night in Detriot. They lost our luggage and didn't get it to us until day 2 of the cruise. On the way back again one of our flights was cancelled entirely. Now the hotel in Detroit is charging us for the one night because NW is no longer honouring their hotel voucher. Travel insurance takes care of all those things.

Remember that the insurance is to cover you for those things you don't expect to happen, like your flights being cancelled or having to cut your trip short.

 

[NancyIL]

I voted yes, but actually buy insurance only for trips that have been prepaid, and with large cancellation penalties....like a cruise. If I'm just going to WDW, and my hotel and airfare have been booked a la carte, I don't buy the insurance.

I recommend shopping for travel insurance at www.insuremytrip.com - rather than buying it from the travel supplier.

 

[NancyIL]

Sorry - double post

 

[mickey-mania]

We purchased it for the first time last year - we had a trip booked for October 2005 and my husband ended up in the hospital with kidney stones so they refunded us. We rescheduled for February 2006 and then my mother had a massive stroke on December 1st and we did not know if we would be able to go on our tip - called the insurance company and they said if we cancelled it would be refunded 100%. My mom passed away on January 2nd so we have decided to go ahead and go, but what a relief to know we would be covered if we needed to be. We will never be without it anymore