Travel Insurance

[bdpa]

Hello, This may not be the correct place. If not, feel free to move it to the correct one. But, most of the threads talking about Travel Insurance are on DVC Points or cruises. We are going to Disney in September staying at a Valve Resort. Looks like we might have a very active hurricane season. Should we purchase insurance? If so, who do we go with and what should we make sure it covers? We are mainly concerned about our flights, trip (rooms, tickets & food). But, also will the insurance cover if we get delayed and have to stay longer in Orlando? We have been multiple times and have never purchased insurance so we are really in the dark on this! Thank you for any help!!

 

[LynnTH]

I always use insure my trip .com for my insurance. Never used for Disney but used many times for Cruising and International trips. Here you can compare lots of options. The Total for the trip should be anything that you would not be able to cancel and get refunded. You can call them also - their Reps are very helpful.

 

[dioxide45]

You really want to use the "free look" period of any policy to really read it over. You usually have up to 21 days after buying a policy to decide to cancel for a refund or keep it. WIth hurricanes there can be a lot of provisions that will prevent them from paying out. Sometimes it must be a named storm. Others indicate your destination must be in an evacuation area in order to be covered.

In many cases airlines will work with you to rebook flights if you have a cancellation or delay.

You may want to look at the cancellation policies of everything you booked. Is your airfare just non refundable but you can use the funds from a cancelled flight on a future trip? The same would be true of park tickets. How much are you really insuring in this type of situation?

In many cases a storm will probably only wipe out a day in the parks while you may be confined to your resort. It can get messier if it impacts your travel days.

 

[_19disnA]

We have never purchased trip insurance and don't really see the need. In the event Disney closes for something like an approaching hurricane, most likely they will let you change your travel plans without any extra charge and airlines often waive change fees. Be sure to read the fine print on any type of travel insurance, since they don't cover everything and probably have various exceptions. Companies who sell those policies expect to collect more in premiums then they payout in claims. How many times in the past have you been unable to travel compared to all the times when there were no issues?

A number of years ago when we had to cancel a vacation due to storm damage to our home, I called the airline and they were very agreeable to moving our tickets to a future date without any extra charge. I suspect many do that but don't publicly advertise those policies.

 

[dreamer17555]

Allianz has been very easy to work with and are fairly priced. I would look into them.

List any non refundable expenses (Tickets, lodging, flights) and look at what it covers for trip delays and such

 

[lanejudy]

I suggest using an online comparison tool -- there are a couple of big/good ones if you Google they pop to the top of the list. Narrow down your options, and then CALL the insurance company to discuss the coverage and your specific concerns.

WDW has some fairly lenient policies when it comes to hurricanes. They will work with you, whether the storm is in your home area or in the Orlando area. One thing to be aware of since you mentioned possibility of needing to extend your trip because of a storm -- if coastal areas of FL are evacuated many of those people head to WDW; so it's not always a simple case of extending your stay but finding accommodations (be that at Disney or elsewhere). However you also want to know the airline policies and when the airlines waive cancellation and rescheduling fees. Often it becomes a game of "who blinked first" -- you'll be charged fees if you feel you need to make a change before the airline announces they are waiving fees. So you may need your hotel covered, your flights covered, your ground transportation covered, and something known as "trip interruption" which will cover expenses (accommodations and food) in the event you have to extend your stay. Tickets are a bit of a gray area -- Disney often works with individuals to extend expiration dates (if they close) or maybe a refund; if the tickets go completely unused they retain credit value and may not be covered by insurance (so that's something to ask).

 

[tvguy]

I suggest you check what, if any, insurance you already have. If you paid for your entire trip on the same credit card, many credit card companies offer some sort of travel insurance for free.
Really is a personal choice beyond that. How much risk are you willing to take? Travel insurance used to be relatively reasonable, covid changed all that. My last cruise on Celebrity in October 2019, they offer a choice of booking incentives, like unlimited alcohol, tips, or their best Travel Insurance for $25 a person for a 7 day cruise last cost a total of $2,000. We took that option. In 2003 we took at Disney cruise , a $9,000 trip[, and their best travel insurance was $125 total. I am looking at a Princess cruise next year with a week land vacation included, no air fair price yet, but so far looks like trip will price out at $12,000 and the best Travel insurance is $625 a person!
Bottom line, insurance companies would go bankrupt if they didn't know that the premium they charge will be more than they will ever have to pay out. So odds are in your favor if you skip travel insurance, you just have to decide if you are willing to take the risk.

 

[kylenne]

We are doing a land and sea trip in September (parks and then a cruise on the Wish) and opted for travel insurance. With due respect to PP I would never travel to hurricane central during the peak of hurricane season without it, especially not in climate supercharged 2024. A robust travel credit card will cover a lot of what you need, and I have a couple, but I want the extra protection, period.

Flights were booked on my Delta Amex card so are covered with that, but I'm a USAA member and get discounted rates through Travel Insured, which is a popular company among cruisers; we paid around $300 total for the two of us for a comprehensive policy that's better than the coverage I get through Chase. If you are service connected or have family who is (my mom is a veteran) it's definitely worth checking out.

 

[toodycat]

I always use travel insurance and am so glad I do. We usually buy from Allianz. We have had to use it when I got food poisoning in Mexico and had to get back to the US early. Allianz reimbursed me for medical bills, flight change fees and the cost of unused lodging. When our flight from Dallas was canceled last year, travel insurance covered the last minute hotel and meals we needed when we had to unexpectedly sleep over at DFW. One time, our flight from MCO was canceled after a large family WDW trip and insurance covered four rooms and breakfast at the MCO Airport Hyatt. In 2019, we were forced to cancel a portion of a European trip when there was a massive heat wave in France and, with extensive documentation, were able to get the cost of the French portion of our trip back. In 2022, our flight from MCO was canceled as we were leaving AKL for the airport. Insurance covered one night at POR and dinner and breakfast. As for hurricanes, read the fine print, but if your flights are canceled or delayed because of extreme weather, the policy should cover the related expenses as long as you purchased the insurance before that particular hurricane was named.

 

[LuvOrlando]

We never got it before but after all the horror stories from 2020 I added it for our last trip in 2023 and it was a huge relief that removed a ton of worries.

Years ago I just bought tickets the day I arrived but these days the way you need to buy ahead to plan all the rides makes it impossible to just step away and skip the expense in case of an emergency.

 

[Willows909]

I suggest using an online comparison tool -- there are a couple of big/good ones if you Google they pop to the top of the list. Narrow down your options, and then CALL the insurance company to discuss the coverage and your specific concerns.

WDW has some fairly lenient policies when it comes to hurricanes. They will work with you, whether the storm is in your home area or in the Orlando area. One thing to be aware of since you mentioned possibility of needing to extend your trip because of a storm -- if coastal areas of FL are evacuated many of those people head to WDW; so it's not always a simple case of extending your stay but finding accommodations (be that at Disney or elsewhere). However you also want to know the airline policies and when the airlines waive cancellation and rescheduling fees. Often it becomes a game of "who blinked first" -- you'll be charged fees if you feel you need to make a change before the airline announces they are waiving fees. So you may need your hotel covered, your flights covered, your ground transportation covered, and something known as "trip interruption" which will cover expenses (accommodations and food) in the event you have to extend your stay. Tickets are a bit of a gray area -- Disney often works with individuals to extend expiration dates (if they close) or maybe a refund; if the tickets go completely unused they retain credit value and may not be covered by insurance (so that's something to ask).

If WDW works with you in the case of, oh, I don't know, (LOL) a hurricane, is that with or without their WDW travel company insurance in place?

 

[lanejudy]

If WDW works with you in the case of, oh, I don't know, (LOL) a hurricane, is that with or without their WDW travel company insurance in place?

No insurance necessary, though it doesn't look like Helene is going to have much impact on the Orlando area. But if your flight is impacted WDW will adjust your reservation without fees.

Here is a link to their page tracking the weather impact and it includes a link to several FAQs as well: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/experience-updates/weather-updates/

 

[Willows909]

No insurance necessary, though it doesn't look like Helene is going to have much impact on the Orlando area. But if your flight is impacted WDW will adjust your reservation without fees.

Here is a link to their page tracking the weather impact and it includes a link to several FAQs as well: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/experience-updates/weather-updates/

I should have been more specific, our trip is not until mid/late month October

 

[lanejudy]

I should have been more specific, our trip is not until mid/late month October

OK, but basically the same. If there is a storm that impacts your arrival or departure, contact WDW as soon as you know of the delay/change. The FAQs at that link are generic and not specific to Helene.

 

[Willows909]

OK, but basically the same. If there is a storm that impacts your arrival or departure, contact WDW as soon as you know of the delay/change. The FAQs at that link are generic and not specific to Helene.

thank you.

 

[kathy884]

Hurricane season is one of those times when it is better to buy a round trip ticket vs. individual legs and to have the kind of ticket that has some flexibility. I learned this the hard way. Our trip to Orlando one year was canceled due to a hurricane and we had the option to get a full refund or change dates for the flight out. We opted for the full refund. Our return trip, however, was on another airline and we could not change or cancel those flights (hurricane had passed) and lost our money (wish we had booked with Southwest like we usually do with their great change policy).

Many of the US airlines have better policies than when we had this experience (changes since Covid). But it's still buyer beware.

 

[sallysue66]

we always get travel insurance. have purchased through insuremytrip, squaremouth, and directly from insurers. because of elderly MIL and my dads health, weather, etc, we never know when a trip will have to be cancelled or cut short. we had one claim when delta really messed up our flights and we missed the trip entirely. delta did reimburse us and gave us enough points for a domestic flight but the insurance covered our vrbo rental. even if disney and the airline work with you it's not always easy to just reschedule for another time, especially with adult children and everyones schedule is so busy. i'd much rather be covered and not have to worry about it. i'll re-plan on my own terms.