Travel Protection Insurance

[nemofans]

When taking tour group vacations, whether it's with ABD or another company, do you usually purchase the protection plan offered from that company or purchase your own somewhere else?
We are booking our first tour with another company and their plan is with Transamerica Casualty Ins Co for $220/person (2 Ad & 2 kids). We don't know where to look for comparison. Any advice/suggestions would be great!

 

[nemofans]

When searching this board for info, I found another poster who recommended Travelex. They also use Transamerica Casualty and charge the same price per person with one big exception. They don't charge for kids. That gives us coverage for half the price.
Have others here used Travelex and had good experiences with them?
Thanks!

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

I never use the travel insurance offered through tour operators for the reason that I like to choose the type of insurance I want (I don't want a "one size fits all" policy).

I have used insure my trip dot com for years. I have filed one claim and they paid quickly in full without any issues.

The things I look for now are:

• medical expense coverage (at least $500,000.00 per person coverage including emergency evacuation)
• lost baggage (at least $1,500 or the highest possible coverage per person {so if 2 people are sharing a bag they each have this amount of coverage} -- I had a bag stolen and trust me, you will be thankful you obtained the highest possible limit)
• number of hours before trip delay kicks in (the shorter the better)

Hope that helps!

 

[adisneyaunt]

Insure my trip dot com is who we have used. Good choices, prices and when it came to a claim, no issue.
My best advice... look at EXclusions, if it's not there, it's covered.
It's pretty straight forward.. choose the coverage u want and if questions u can easily call and ask.
Enjoy ur trip

 

[TeeKo]

Hi Nemofan,
You must be booking through Tauck. Unfortunately, I just had the 1st time experience of canceling a trip. We bought the trip protection through Tauck for 2 adults, 2 kids--same price and company you quoted. Just cancelled Saturday March 11th for a trip scheduled to leave March 12th. I can update you to how smooth or painful the process is as I go through it. I didn't shop around for policies. Just went with what seemed easy when I was booking.

 

[nemofans]

Thanks for the tips and recommendation!

Teeko, yes we are booking with Tauck and I would like to hear about your experience canceling.

 

[sayhello]

You really do have to do some comparisons. Unfortunately, the older you get, trip insurance gets exponentially more expensive. I bought through ABD several times because their plan just had the best price for the coverage. They've changed their coverage a whole bunch though, and it's no longer the great deal it used to be, so I buy through outside providers now. I've gotten Travelex multiple times, good coverage for a decent price. I've had to make claims with them twice, and they've been very easy to work with.

Sayhello

 

[nemofans]

Great to hear about filing claims with Travelex. That's who I have been leaning towards.

 

[Calfan]

I have always bought trip insurance and also typically go thru Insure My Trip. Luckily, I haven't had to make a claim to date. Just wanted to point out, also, that if you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve card and pay any portion of your trip balance with that card, they have pretty decent insurance coverage that might allow you to reduce the coverage you purchase elsewhere or even forego separate insurance for a trip under $10k or so.

 

[sayhello]

I have always bought trip insurance and also typically go thru Insure My Trip. Luckily, I haven't had to make a claim to date. Just wanted to point out, also, that if you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve card and pay any portion of your trip balance with that card, they have pretty decent insurance coverage that might allow you to reduce the coverage you purchase elsewhere or even forego separate insurance for a trip under $10k or so.

The only caveat to that is that the Sapphire Reserve Card insurance does not have a pre-existing condition waiver, if that's something that's important to a person.

Sayhello

 

[OhanaCuz]

The only caveat to that is that the Sapphire Reserve Card insurance does not have a pre-existing condition waiver, if that's something that's important to a person.

Sayhello

That is something that really impresses me about the insurance you can get through ABD. You have to buy it within a certain timeframe but having the option of having pre-existing conditions covered is interesting.

 

[sayhello]

That is something that really impresses me about the insurance you can get through ABD. You have to buy it within a certain timeframe but having the option of having pre-existing conditions covered is interesting.

Lots of insurance policies have that. You just have to look. But it is great that ABD's policy includes that.

Sayhello

 

[TeeKo]

An update on my trip cancellation claim:
Tauck immediately (3 to 4 business days) refunded the tour/trip fee, no questions asked. The trip was cancelled, money sent back to my CC.
I've only had to complete paper work for the airfare portion.
I'm happy with how smooth the process has been to date. But sounds like I should do my homework and check Travelex in the future. We've always just bought through the tour company be it ABD or Tauck.

Disboarders have been so helpful! Thanks!

 

[sayhello]

An update on my trip cancellation claim:
Tauck immediately (3 to 4 business days) refunded the tour/trip fee, no questions asked. The trip was cancelled, money sent back to my CC.
I've only had to complete paper work for the airfare portion.
I'm happy with how smooth the process has been to date. But sounds like I should do my homework and check Travelex in the future. We've always just bought through the tour company be it ABD or Tauck.

Disboarders have been so helpful! Thanks!

Can I ask why you canceled? The experience might be different depending on why someone cancelled.

Thanks,
Sayhello

 

[TeeKo]

My FIL had an unexpected illness. My Inlaws live nearby and my MIL doesn't drive. DH took his father to the ER about 4 hours before we would have needed to leave to catch our plane. FIL was admitted into the ICU and ultimately had a 5 day hospital stay.

 

[sayhello]

My FIL had an unexpected illness. My Inlaws live nearby and my MIL doesn't drive. DH took his father to the ER about 4 hours before we would have needed to leave to catch our plane. FIL was admitted into the ICU and ultimately had a 5 day hospital stay.

That does sound like good coverage.

Sayhello