Trip insurance 101

[TammyC]

Ok - I need a lesson here. I have been trying to learn all about trip insurance, but just can't get to the fine print. I notice that the price of insurance is based on the price of the non-refundable costs. So do I include airfare? We will buy non-refundable tickets, which are actually able to be changed and used later for a $100 fee.

Also regarding coverage, when it says you must buy insurance within so many days of booking your trip, do the pre-existing conditions apply to the people travelling or relatives at home or both?

How much coverage is needed? How much does a medical evacuation cost?

Yikes - this is harder than convincing DH to even go, choosing a date, a cruise length and a room category!

Seriously though, thanks to anyone who can offer some insight here.

Tammy

 

[thiscloud]

i am in the same boat (ooh, bad pun!) as you are. i've been trying to make heads or tails out of this whole insurance business. i do think i've settled on using travelex for my insurance company, based on the fact that it has the cheapest quote through http://www.insuremytrip.com/. we're actually going with their plus plan rather than their lite plan.

looking on their website, http://www.travelex-insurance.com/ i found a little more detail on their plus plan on this page including links to their document of coverage and travel evidence of coverage (both documents require acrobat reader to view).

maybe you can make more sense out of it, but for the sake of not going insane, i'm going to make it all moot (at least for me and my family) by purchasing the insurance within 21 days of my first deposit so that pre-existing condition exclusions are completely waived.

 

[MrsPete]

No advice here, but I think you're doing something right: you're doing your homework before buying insurance. I think so many people just grab some insurance because they're afraid of something terrible happening. They don't bother to read the fine print, and they don't really know what it covers. Of course, this doesn't end up mattering much because the great majority of them won't need to use the insurance.

Did you know, for example, that most insurance won't pay if you're injured as a result of war or a terrorist attack? Or if you decide not to go on your cruise because of a recent terrorist attack, they won't pay? Then there's the tangled web that surrounds pre-existing conditions.

Personally, when we looked into the insurance we decided that we didn't really need it. We went on a short cruise in an inexpensive cabin. They money wasn't significant to us. We verified that our health insurance was adequate for a potential emergency.

Homework is good.

 

[Christine]

I've been wondering about this too--especially the part about buying insurance within a few days of booking. I am insuring both the cruise and the airfare. We've paid the deposit on the cruise about 3 weeks ago. We still have not purchased the airfare. So, am I screwed now? I felt that I shouldn't buy the insurance until I had reserved all parts of my trip, but maybe I messed up!!

 

[thiscloud]

great points, mrspete. you have to read the fine print of the insurance. the travelex plus insurance does cover "A terrorist incident in your departure city or city of destination within 30 days following the terrorist incident." but it does not cover wars.

christine, i think the insurance that i've been looking at "covers" airfare without being flight insurance specifically. issues that would cause you to miss a flight or to need a refund of your airfare back are usually part of the trip cancellation / interruption / delay coverage. so if you miss a flight due to a reason covered by the cruise insurance, they would reimburse your airfare.

you can get additional flight insurance, which is usually to cover you if something happens to you on the flight (accidents and injuries).

 

[Mjasp]

Originally posted by MrsPete
Personally, when we looked into the insurance we decided that we didn't really need it. We went on a short cruise in an inexpensive cabin. They money wasn't significant to us. We verified that our health insurance was adequate for a potential emergency.

Mrs Pete, Our insurance covers our medical BUT my big thing is "what if...We have to be airlifted off the cruise. My big thing is the medical evacuation, anyone know what that costs?

So I bought my insurance accordingly.

 

[SandraLee]

Well, I have not gotten my insurance, yet. I still have a few days.

Here are my thoughts.

The insurance will cover you if you have a problem with your flights and miss the ship. Can you imagine what would happen if you were stuck and couldn't get to Orlando in time to meet the ship?

The insurance will cover you if you have to be airlifted out of someplace. My DH's Uncle broke his hip on a cruise and needed to get back home. He did not purchase insurance, so they ended up paying the whole cost out of pocket. What a mess.

 

[ksumom]

What is the cost of air lifting? Does anyone know?

 

[DonnaDavid]

Just a word about the medical coverage. I don't think that Medicare will cover you if you become sick or are injured in a foreign country. Also, a lot of private insurances won't cover you outside of the US. You can totally ignore missing your flight or losing your bags and still decide that insurance is worth it for the peace of mind of knowing that you won't have to pay thousands of dollars in medical bills if someone gets sick or injured.

 

[lbgraves]

From what I was told this past week while getting insurance for us & my inlaws, a preexisting condition is for the anything in the entire family. If she were to die from the colon cancer we would not be covered if we didn't go on our trip since it is a preexisting condition & we put our deposit down in December. We were only considering our immediate family. I did find out that many companies do not cover cancer even if you do purchase it within the preexisting condition period unless it is in remission. I am very upset with Accessamerica because & spoke to 2 agents over 3 days before purchasing the insurance policy for my inlaws & had discussed her cancer before & during the application process. It wasn't until she had entered & was waiting for the confirmation number that she told me that she "may have misunderstood me" but cancer isn't covered. When I told her that I had no use for it then, she told me that I should keep it anyway. She cancelled it but it still charged me the application fee. A small amount, but I felt that their uninformed agents shouldn't be the reason I was charged. I did find that Travelguard does cover cancer as preexisting as long as the doctor says that at the time the insurance is purchased. I called the doctor's office & confirmed that this is currently the case & asked them to note it in her file.

 

[thiscloud]

ksumom, the cost can vary depending on situation. read this article which uses medical evacuation in an example.

http://www.cruisereviews.com/Insurance.htm

 

[thiscloud]

here's something about buying insurance before purchasing airfare, from insuremytrip.com:

http://insuremytrip.com/p/gen?pid=1000&rid=206467&page=faqs

Q.

I booked part of my vacation, but not the flight. I would like to purchase travel insurance within the pre-existing condition exclusion waiver period. Do I have to wait until the flight is booked?

A.

You can certainly purchase the travel insurance right away. You will probably want to include the cost of your airline tickets in the trip cost. If you can find out what the price of the tickets will be before purchasing them, you can include that amount in the total trip cost. If not, an estimate will have to do. Otherwise, buy the policy now with the costs expended to date and contact us at service@insuremytrip.com when you make your other arrangements and we will have the policy corrected to reflect the change. If there is any additional premium as a result of the change, it will be charged at that time. Be sure you do this within the 7 - 15 day purchase requirement (depends on company) in order to comply with the pre-existing condition waiver requirements.