Trip insurance---do you really need it?

[WisconsinDisneyGirl]

Just got info in the mail today about trip insurance. It would cost us about $150 for our family through AAA. Is it really needed? Has anyone ever had to use it???

 

[TheWog]

It is good to have. It's like any other insurance, you don't need it until something happens. You need to determine your risk tolerance.

Check around, you should be able to get it much cheaper than that. A lot of them, children are free. Try travelex.com as well as other sites, I think travelsafe, Global Care, many other sites. Do some checking.

 

[outahere]

I would buy it for no other reason than it usually includes medical evacuation coverage. I wouldn't like losing the cost of a cruise, but I could afford that. Having to pay up to $30,000 for a medical evacuation is another story.

 

[Greysword]

I had a nice post written up as to why it is good to get Travel insurance, but I hate retyping something I just lost

There is a great review on Travel Insurance at: http://www.cruisereviews.com/Insurance.htm

It is important as it may have solved the issues of changing of cruise dates (as in the October change by DCL), missing of connections (just like smjj and their Princess Cruise fiasco). If you get hurt while abroad, your current health insurance probably does nto cover it, and if you need to get medivac from the ship, it will be expensive.

1) Trip cancellation, changes, lost luggage, missed connections are covered.

2) Medical or dental coverage for accidents ont he boat and during excursions, including pre-existing conditions. Unplanned surgeries, etc are covered.

3) Terrorist activity at a desitnation or even robbery of your house before the cruise can be covered should you no long want to go due to these unforseen events.

These are a couple reasons why Travel Insurance from a 3rd party vendor is great.

As for the insurance itself, I went with Travel Insured and am paying $175 for myself and fiance. It may sound high, but for the price of an excursion, we are with a solid company that has an excellent reputation for claims. Piece of mind is worth the extra for me, and it is not worth skimping (smjj had Travel Insurance through Princess I think).

Anyway, these are just my thoughts.

 

[Scrappy520]

I've opted to purchase the travel ins., even though my medical plan does cover us.

However, my question is - how do other insurances compare to the plan Disney offers?

Thanks!

 

[TheWog]

Some may be cheaper and have higher coverages. You would have to compare and research. I have heard stories about it being hard to recoup from the cruise company if it they issue it, more of a hassle.

 

[jgalecpa]

If you think of all the money you spend, the $150 is just a tiny percentage.

Given all that can go wrong (illness, injury, etc) it is a small cost.

If you have four people on a seven day cruise it only works out to $5.36 per day per person. Not bad for true piece of mind.

My Two Cents

Jim

 

[figment52]

If you pull a search on it you will find a couple reports on this board about the value of having it. One of them was not too long ago either. It doesn't amount to much and save a ton of money if you need it. Being at sea or in a foreign location and needing medical attention is not the same as being in FL at WDW and needing medical attention.

I would much rather pay $150 for the insurance and not need it than not pay it and have a $10,000+ bill to pay. Just my opinion though...

 

[prymsu]

Out of ten cruises, only once did I nout buy the insurance, and it was the one time i really needed it!

 

[ForeverYoung]

As someone who was married the week of 9/11/01. I thank god I had trip insurance covering our two week honeymoon to Hawaii that wasn't. Unable to fly out of Logan they refunded %100 of our money due to "an act of war".

I will never travel again without travel insurance.

 

[3 things]

Unless you have an extra $50,000 for things like evacuation mentioned in the web site mentioned in Greysword post above... You should have the insurance...

Reading the cost of an evacuation that the passengers didn't even want, has convinced me forever to buy the insurance. Replacing the cost of the vacation dwarfs in comparison to the possible moneys owed if you needed to be evacuated off the ship...

 

[Rock'n Robin]

We didn't get it last summer and it really worried me. This year we did, since my parents are 72 and 74 and we needed to make sure just in case...hate to say it but anything can happen before the trip, let alone during! And if something happens to them, no one will go!
Robin M.

 

[nuke]

I think it is so important to have especially for cruises. Most Cruise ships are registered in a country other than the US. Therefore as soon as you leave port you are in a foreign country. Most US insurance carriers will not cover you in a country other than the US or if they do, the hospital in foreign countries do not accept US insurance as payment. You have to come up with the money and then file a claim.
I don't have extra 10's of thousands of dollars lying around for when one of my family gets sick on vacation. I would rather have the peace of mind and buy the insurance. It is usually just a small portion of your total cruise cost.

Did you know it can cost between 20 and 40 thousand dollars to get you home in an emergency from a ship at sea?

 

[ReneeQ]

We didn't get it when we cruised in Oct. 2001 and were fine, we didn't need it. I then had a totally freak accident in March 2003 where I fell and broke my femur (thigh bone) in three places. That accident and four months of rehab was the worst experience of my life! I kept thinking over and over, what if this had happened on the cruise? How would I have gotten to a hospital for surgery? What hospital would I have ended up in for weeks? Would my insurance have covered it?

We are cruising again in Oct 2005 and I have already purchased the insurance!

 

[ivanova]

I wouldn't think of NOT having travel insurance, there's too many things that can go wrong The only thing travel insurance won't cover for us is our airfare, because we're flying with an airline currently in bankruptcy.

 

[WisconsinDisneyGirl]

Is there better travel insurance that others???

 

[Greysword]

There is a difference. The two main categories are: 1) Cruise Line Insurance and 2) Third Party Insurance

Third Party is the best of the two, since the cruise lines have their best interest in mind. smjj has a post floating around here where his family were to go on a Princess Cruise. They had insurance with Princess, and they missed the ship due to airline connection problems. Princess not only decided not to cover them, but kept the airline ticket refund smjj managed to get from US Air (they purchased the air/sea package).

Even Disney falls prey to the wiles of business. Another thread on here is about the charter of an October 3-day cruise, and everyone who has reservations were switched to another sailing. Although Disney made it right with them, having 3rd party insurance to cover airline ticket change fees and hotel deposits would have given me a better state of mind (more backup, the better).

3rd Party Insurance also covers you from a cruise line's and airline's bankruptcy. A cruise line won't pay their insurance claims untilt he other creditors are paid.

You get the idea.

In addition to this decision, you will want an insuance company that willactually pay and has as many perks as possible should the need arise. Just like car insurance, you can go with Mom & Pop Insurance locally and pay less, but should a claim arise, the possibility exists they will pay slower. Especially if a lot of people file claims (like cancellation due to Norwalk, terrorism, etc).

The larger companies have customer service reps ready in case you need them for insurance and non-insurance items (such as restaurant reccomendations in a region). Insurers like Travel Guard and Travel Insured boast the ability to get money advanced to a hospital, so they may begin making you feel better. They also sometimes pay for a return flight home from that island/country and/or fly a loved one to you (or dependents home).

Basically, I would suggest going with a 3rd party vendor that has good claims history and as many perks as you can find. Price is important, but should not be the ruling factor.

 

[Scrappy520]

Greysword - do you mind sharing the name of the 3rd party ins. company you've used? Or maybe the phone # if you don't want to publicize the name?

Thanks!

 

[Greysword]

Others may be able to add their favorite company to the list, but the two best that I have found are:

http://www.travelinsured.com/

http://www.travelguard.com/

My TA sells Travel Guard, and I asked her to do independent research on Travel Insured. They are pretty close, so I went with Travel Insured, as they were a little bot less expensive.

This is the site that began my research: http://www.cruisereviews.com/Insurance.htm

There is a thread about Travel Guard on this board at:
Has Anyone Ever Used Travel Guard Insurance
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?threadid=557367

All of my knowledge is book smarts on the topic, as I have never had to file any claims before while traveling.