Trip Insurance - DCL vs. AAA?

[goobylal]

I am in the process of booking a 7 night Western Caribbean cruise for Dec of '09 with AAA but can't decide which insurance to go with. I am booking for a group of 10 people (ages ranging from 5-70 yo) so I really want to make sure I select the best one.

Can anyone tell me the benefits of DCL versus AAA or any experiences you may have with either one?

Thanks so much in advance.

 

[mmouse37]

Since you are from CT I assume you are flying down to Florida, possibly the day before? If you plan on staying a few days before or after your cruise you may want to considering your whole trip from start to finish. If you book DCL insurance you will only be covering your cruise portion....not your flights and pre night hotel (if you are going down early).

I always book my insurance independently at www.insuremytrip.com

This way I am covered from when I leave my house to I get back home.

This time I booked CSA, but I have also used Access America and Travel Ex.

 

[samily]

I don't have any experience with AAA's insurance, but would not recommend DCL's as it does not cover pre existing conditions and tends to be more costly than others. It also does not cover anything else you may book on your own - hotels, flights, etc. insuremytrip.com may be worth checking out - it compares many different policies, so that you can see the differences in coverages and prices and will cover your entire trip...

 

[CGC33A]

a few other points to consider: If not using DCL insurance, and I would not recommend that, if all are not part of the immediate family, you may have to buy policies for each "group", especially if you live in different states. I could not put my DS & DN on my policy & have 1 b/c we live in different states.
Second: Preexisting conditions: Insurance is not refundable if youdecide to cancel the trip before final payment but if anyone is "sickly" in the group, it may be advisable to get insurance within the required # of days from first payment (some are 7 days, 14 days or 21 days). There is 1 company, CSA (maybe others), that cover preexisiting conditons if purchased by final payment (or something like that) but in my case, it was 2x the price of the pan I selected. All told, depends if you need the preexisting coverage. There are at least 2 good fairly recent threads on just this topic, just start scrolling back
third: when you buy your own insurance, age factors into it. I have not priced insurance for the 70 yr. old but when I took my parents (early 70's at tthe time), it was actually cheaper to get the cruiseline insurance than for me to buy on the outside (where it was much cheaper for me). It wasn't on DCL. BUT apparently DCL insurance does not cover preexisting conditions and as another poster pointed out, DCL insurance will not cover a precruise trip, only the cruise portion.
Fourth: you are comparing DCL with AAA. Most agents sell only 1 type whether that is the best one for you or not. You can compare insurances (likely AAA's also) on insuremytrip.com & there are other sites also (see some of the prexisiting conditions threads for great info. After a bit of research, the AAA policy might be best for you.

 

[mmouse37]

a few other points to consider: If not using DCL insurance, and I would not recommend that, if all are not part of the immediate family, you may have to buy policies for each "group", especially if you live in different states. I could not put my DS & DN on my policy & have 1 b/c we live in different states.
Second: Preexisting conditions: Insurance is not refundable if youdecide to cancel the trip before final payment but if anyone is "sickly" in the group, it may be advisable to get insurance within the required # of days from first payment (some are 7 days, 14 days or 21 days). There is 1 company, CSA (maybe others), that cover preexisiting conditons if purchased by final payment (or something like that) but in my case, it was 2x the price of the pan I selected. All told, depends if you need the preexisting coverage. There are at least 2 good fairly recent threads on just this topic, just start scrolling back
third: when you buy your own insurance, age factors into it. I have not priced insurance for the 70 yr. old but when I took my parents (early 70's at tthe time), it was actually cheaper to get the cruiseline insurance than for me to buy on the outside (where it was much cheaper for me). It wasn't on DCL. BUT apparently DCL insurance does not cover preexisting conditions and as another poster pointed out, DCL insurance will not cover a precruise trip, only the cruise portion.
Fourth: you are comparing DCL with AAA. Most agents sell only 1 type whether that is the best one for you or not. You can compare insurances (likely AAA's also) on insuremytrip.com & there are other sites also (see some of the prexisiting conditions threads for great info. After a bit of research, the AAA policy might be best for you.

Great points!!!

 

[gr8leg8]

Hello,

We booked our land and sea thru AAA here in California.
I chose AAA Trip Assist (insurance) because we didn't have to pay the insurance for DD(6).
It came out cheaper that way.
DCL was $207 = $69 x 3 people
AAA was $90 = $45 for 2 adults

Personally I would have to be abducted by aliens to miss this trip,
but it made DH feel more comfortable.

here is the web listed on the brochure
www.accessamerica.com/csaa
There is a sliding scale for age of traveler and trip cost per person.
We are in the 18-40 age group (just barely made that one)
and we are staying in the cheapest cabin GTE 12.

Sounds like you are going to have a great time!

 

[JungleJim]

We went with AAA. Cheaper and great coverage.