trip insurance considerations these days.

[nycdisneygal]

I checked on insuremytrip and didnt find much info. Anyone look into insurance considerations in case someone tests positive and cannot do their trip/ or perhaps numbers start rising where you are going. I am thinking of booking a june 2022 Tokyo trip this summer but who knows what will happen! ALso thinking of booking a trip to Iceland this fall. Since my younger DD is 5 I am not sure when she will be vaccinated.

 

[barkley]

i have to imagine it would be a huge consideration with planning anything that isn't cancelable and fully refundable within a fairly short window of travel time. i also imagine it's going to be very important to look to the small print on travel insurance even more closely now and in the future to see how they are/will be handling covid related issues. i suspect it will get kind of wonky if the country you are traveling from does some kind of shut down on travel TO the destination but the destination country is still allowing tourism, or if a single member of the travel group isn't diagnosed with covid but (like a child who at this point can't be vaccinated) is exposed such that they don't meet an airline/cruise line/hotel's travel criteria necessitating the entire family to cancel (i could see exclusions being written into policies to rule out those in quarantine status).

 

[Dashzap]

Vacations are pricey so some coverage can be nice.

You'll need to research each policy to see what is covered. Ask to be linked to documents, because sometimes booking agents don't know the details.

Also ask what the policies are on the reservation if you don't have insurance.

In addition, ask:

1. When can I add insurance? (For example, with WDW you can add insurance at any time up until the point you are paid in full.)
2. Can I remove insurance after I add it? (For example, with WDW you have 14 days after adding insurance to review it and take it off and get your premium refunded. After 14 days, you never get the insurance premium back.)
3. What happens with insurance if I change the date of my reservation? (For example, with WDW if you change your date when are within 30 days of arrival, your insurance stayed on the original dates and you had to buy new insurance if you wanted it for new dates.) *They had temporarily allowed last minute changes during 2020 due to the pandemic, but no longer do so.
4. What happens with insurance if I add another person to my reservation? (For example, with WDW if you add another person on your reservation, you are required to buy insurance for that person.)

 

[barkley]

with little kids especially-look to what the preexisting conditions clause is and plan any normal doctor's appointments for them accordingly. i say this b/c i recall taking a trip when my two were little-one came down with a nasty ear infection that entailed several hundreds of dollars for urgent care diagnosis/meds (our health insurance at the time did not cover out of network providers or pharmacies except for 'emergent care'). we had travel insurance and when we submitted the claim they tried to deny it based on my kid having been seen by her pediatrician the week before we traveled, saying it was 'preexisting'. um, nope-appointment was for a totally unrelated issue, doctor's notes show nothing mentioned about ear pain (or that ears were even discussed or examined). taught me to always schedule any of our appointments at least a week BEFORE the preexisting condition clause clock started ticking.

 

[allison443]

I purchased trip insurance for a 2020 trip to Europe which ended up being cancelled due to the pandemic. I would be very careful with reading what the policy covers. I think some may be excluding pandemics. My policy included “cancel for any reason” coverage, however based on your name you may be in NY. I learned that cancel for any reason coverage is not available to NY residents.

 

[nycdisneygal]

I purchased trip insurance for a 2020 trip to Europe which ended up being cancelled due to the pandemic. I would be very careful with reading what the policy covers. I think some may be excluding pandemics. My policy included “cancel for any reason” coverage, however based on your name you may be in NY. I learned that cancel for any reason coverage is not available to NY residents.

interesting to hear that it depends on where you live. We actually have left NYC but I will look into that for our new state.

 

[aamove]

We usually buy trip insurance and we try for a multi trip policy

 

[Darcy03231]

I use Steve Dasseos of Trip Insurance Store. He's really knowledgeable and I'm sure he can find a policy that meets your needs.

 

[Monykalyn]

Squaremouth is the easiest broker and let’s you filter what coverage you want (covid, primary medical, CFAR) etc. Also the cheapest rates I’ve found, but the companies are all highly rated.

 

[dvcgirl67]

I purchased trip insurance for a 2020 trip to Europe which ended up being cancelled due to the pandemic. I would be very careful with reading what the policy covers. I think some may be excluding pandemics. My policy included “cancel for any reason” coverage, however based on your name you may be in NY. I learned that cancel for any reason coverage is not available to NY residents.

We had it as well...for a big trip to South Africa...flights and land portion....and it had a pandemic clause, so we got nada back through the insurer. We did manage to get the international flights back through AMEX, but are still working on the land portion with the travel agent...whether to rebook or see what they'll offer as a refund. They offered to allow us to reschedule, but now that they do seem to be booking some travel in South Africa the agent seems to think that the hotels and other vendors for this trip might be willing to offer a refund because what they'll need to provide us now is more expensive than it would have been in May of 2020. Pandemics and travel do not mix...that's for sure.

 

[MrsPete]

Three thoughts:

- Talk to whatever company handles your car and homeowner's insurance. They insure ANYTHING, and if you're already a customer, they may offer you a better price. It's worth a phone call.
- Before you commit to the need for insurance, look into what you would lose if you backed out at the last minute. If you'd lose a package, yeah, insurance might be worthwhile. On the other hand, if you would just lose the first night of your hotel cost, it might be better to eat that cost.
- I think we've all become more aware of the possibility of cancellation over the last year and a half. My parents cancelled a cruise because of the pandemic AND my stepfather's health -- they would've received nothing back because of the pandemic, but with a doctor's note (and the health problems were very real) they received a refund.

 

[dvcgirl67]

Just an update on my story with respect to having travel insurance that didn't help during COVID for our trip to South Africa. Our particular insurance policy had a pandemic clause in it. We paid the final amount for this bucket-list two week trip to South Africa on February 1st...90 days before our trip. We wired the money, which is something we felt comfortable with because we'd done that two times before that. Once with a company named IC Bellagio (a virtuoso partner) for an amazing trip to Italy, and a second time with another virtuoso partner for a trip to Paris and Normandy. Had no issues...no problem. Used another virtuoso partner to book this trip, and the terms were if you were within 90 days of arrival....no refund. So, initially we rebooked the trip from May 1st of 2020 to August of 2021. Our agent has been great throughout this whole process. And she and I became friendly through emails during the pandemic....unrelated to our trip, just checking in on each other to see how things were going for her in Cape Town, and us here in the States.

Anyway, we weren't comfortable going in August of this year....it's still a bit iffy for us. Our agent reached out to both of the safari lodge properties....and they both offered an 88% refund. Why 88%....I have no idea. But 88% it was. Our agent then started calling the rest of the vendors, armed with the information that these two higher end lodges were offering 88% refund and that they should do the same. Well...she did it. We were honestly shocked. We ended up getting $23,000 back...a huge relief. We did lose nearly $4,000 in this ordeal (including the $1,200 Berkshire Hathaway insurance policy), but in our minds, that money was gone....we never thought we'd see it again. So it speaks to the benefits of having a great travel advisor who will go to bat for you. I think her company had some pull in all of this too. We took care of the agent with a nice tip....because she did three times the work to get very little commission.

Thankfully we got the airfare back as well....and we did that by disputing the charge with AMEX...and we won that because South African Airlines never even responded to AMEX about the matter. I guess the lesson is to preserve in these matters....you never know.

 

[Eastern]

interesting to hear that it depends on where you live. We actually have left NYC but I will look into that for our new state.

I am familiar with insure my trip website and when you view the policy/terms and conditions they will have a list of exceptions by state for various parts of the policy. It's all spelled out as long as you read your policy.

 

[Disneygrl71]

Sorry wrong thread

 

[MillauFr]

I just use the travel insurance that is provided for free when I charge the trip on the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card.

 

[Twohsieh]

We always pay for our trip with our Chase Sapphire Reserve card as well. It provides trip cancellation/interruption, auto rental theft and collision waiver damage (primary coverage), lost luggage reimbursement, trip delay reimbursement and emergency evacuation & transportation.