Trip insurance ? Is it worth it?

[mickey12810]

We are going 9/29-10/3. Would you suggest trip insurance? How many of you buy the insurance? Can I add it on to my reservation now? TIA

 

[krbq]

YES!! Our trip in 2003 ended up being spent at the Celebration Hospital while our points were spent on an unused 1 BR at BWV -- we didn't have trip insurance so we lost not only the points, but had to pay a penalty on airfare when DH wasn't released from the hospital in time to catch our flight. Fortunately, our health insurance covered the hospital bill (over $20,000), but the doctors at the hospital considered flying DH home on a chartered medical plane. I doubt our private insurance would have covered that, but Travelguard would. Since then, we NEVER travel without insurance.

BTW, the many CM's we dealt with during that trip were incredibly helpful and went way out of their way to assist us.

 

[aubriee]

I had almost decided not to buy travel insurance, but due to the hurricane season decided to do so. We'll be there Sept 17th-24th. I checked through Insuremytrip.com and had decided on CSA Travel Protection, but noticed they had several different policies, so called CSA directly. I wanted to make sure delays or cancellations due to hurricanes would be covered. The agent was very helpful and told me the more expensive policy really didn't have the best coverage. She recommended the Freestyle Plan because it is based on the length of your stay, in addition to the cost of the trip. She said they came up with the plan after customers were upset when they found they were paying the same if they were gone just for a weekend, as the customers who were gone a month. If that makes sense.

Anyway I paid $100.51 for four adults for the seven nights and it's supposed to cover anything from family illness, lost luggage, airline delays of greater than four hours, hospitalizations, hurricanes, identity fraud, injuries, deaths, etc.

I felt it was worth it for the peace of mind. CSA's phone number is 1-866-816-2068, if you're interested. Their website is csatravelprotection.com. Once you buy the policy you have ten days to change your mind and get your money back.

I won't be buying it for my Dec trip, but felt it was necessary for Sept. I had spoken to a CM at WDW who said that Disney was very good about the travel delays, cancellation, and issuing extra park tickets last year during the hurricanes, but said she didn't think Disney knew how much money it was going to cost them, so didn't figure they would even attempt to do the same this year, since people now knew what to expect with hurricane season.

 

[ducklite]

It depends on what your comfortable level of risk is.

We never bought it for trips to WDW, as we were comfortable with the risk of losing our DVC points/airfare for that trip. On the other hand we'd never cruise without it.

Our health insurance covers us in Canada as well--we have to pay out of pocket then get reimbursed, but it doesn't cover us in other countries or for medical evac.

Anne

 

[DreaminDisney]

We always get trip insurance. I know if you booked directly through disney you can add insurance as long as trip is not paid for in full already otherwise I'm sure you can add it on but it'll cost more.

 

[Hincher]

We got it last year for our trip and were so glad. We were scheduled to leave for Disney on the day that Hurricaine Ivan went through my hometown and were delayed a day. And on the day we were to come home, the Orlando airport shut down because of a hurricaine there. I had bought the insurance that they offer when you book through Disney.

And when I made my claim and listed out everything that I wanted reimbursed for or felt we were entitled to and the total came to about $250. That included the extra night at the Contemporary (they gave me a special rate because I was stuck) and all our meals that we ate on the extra day and the cab ride even though I didn't have a receipt. It took a while to get the check, but when it came it was a lot more than what I claimed. They looked at all our documentation and realized I had not added in the price of the park tickets for the day we were supposed to leave because they are good until midnight. I hadn't claimed it because we hadn't planned on using it because we were going home that day. So they even paid me more than I expected. I'll never go without it, especially in hurricaine season.

 

[Disneynutbsv]

I usually never purchase trip insurance, but did this time. With the hurricanes from last year and who knows if anything will happen this year (I hope not!). I just felt it was safer that way.

 

[mainewmn]

Never purchased it for any of our vacation, the hotel I’m always able to cancel up to the night of arrival, the same for car and the airline needs to accommodate me if they choose not to fly.

 

[stschaefer]

I got travel insurance this year. I have the Magic Your Way plus dining and didn't want to miss out on our trip. We paid $46 for 2 adults and one child and our whole trip will be paid back if we miss one day of the trip due to a list of reasons - hurricanes and terrorists included. We used Travel Guard instead of Disney for insurance and saved money.

 

[NancyIL]

I would buy trip insurance for a cruise or if I had a hotel package. For regular trips to WDW, I don't.

 

[tallpkb]

We are going 9/29-10/3. Would you suggest trip insurance? How many of you buy the insurance? Can I add it on to my reservation now? TIA

If you do get it, don't do it through WDW. Their coverage was significantly more, and had less benefits. We went through Insuremytrip.com and were very pleased. DH 48, me 47, DD 10, DD8. Cost us $79 for seven days at WDW, INCLUDING the air. That's a small price to pay since we're flying from CA and will be there during hurricane season. We got Travelex's Travel Plus plan.

 

[dbenlee]

Trip insurance is like many other insurances, its not worth it until its needed. We ALWAYS buy trip insurance. We've never needed it, but with hurricanes, illness and accidents, we always feel its better to be prepared.

 

[Julia M]

If you do get it, don't do it through WDW. Their coverage was significantly more, and had less benefits. We went through Insuremytrip.com and were very pleased. DH 48, me 47, DD 10, DD8. Cost us $79 for seven days at WDW, INCLUDING the air. That's a small price to pay since we're flying from CA and will be there during hurricane season. We got Travelex's Travel Plus plan.

That's interesting.....I comparison shopped and found that Disney's plan was the most reasonable (i checked out 5 others). I wonder if it is because my kids were older????

I have NEVER ued trip insurance before, but our December trip is running us about 7K.....more than we have ever spent before, and it's more than I can afford to lose.

Julia