Trip insurance - through ABD or external?

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Just booked our first ABD trip, the S. CA 5 night for Sep 2023 (Labor Day week!). Got an extra discount through Dream Unlimited, wohoo!

I'm super excited but it's dawning on me that with the inflexible reschedule/change policy, we should probably get trip insurance in case something happens, COVID or otherwise. Do folks here recommend the policy offered through ABD? Or going through a different insurer? I've actually never insured a trip before so it's all rather new, but the thought of losing our deposit if we had to reschedule is scary!

 

[seitz]

I've gone with the insurance offered by ABD. I like that they offer a "cancel for any reason" option. I also am hopeful that there will be less issues working with Disney's "official" trip insurance.

 

[sayhello]

Just booked our first ABD trip, the S. CA 5 night for Sep 2023 (Labor Day week!). Got an extra discount through Dream Unlimited, wohoo!

I'm super excited but it's dawning on me that with the inflexible reschedule/change policy, we should probably get trip insurance in case something happens, COVID or otherwise. Do folks here recommend the policy offered through ABD? Or going through a different insurer? I've actually never insured a trip before so it's all rather new, but the thought of losing our deposit if we had to reschedule is scary!

Are you doing any pre-days or post-days not through ABD? The ABD insurance will not cover any of that if you do. Also, if you aren't flying directly to the starting location of the ABD and home from the ending location of the ABD, it's possible your flight won't be covered, either, unless you book that through ABD. I would definitely talk to ABD to find out exactly what the current policy does and does not cover. If you purchase insurance through an outside insurer, your entire trip from leaving your door back home to your door is covered.

Some policies these days also have "policy extensions" (or a similar name) that will extend your coverage by say, 7 or 10 days, in case you end up stuck (like in quarantine) past the end of your trip. It's included in some policies or an extra charge for others. To my knowledge, ABD's insurance does not cover that.

Plus, if you need a pre-existing condition waiver, you have to purchase the policy within 14 days of your first deposit, plus your entire trip per person cannot exceed $15,000.

Also note, the ABD policy changed as of May 18, 2022. I'm not sure what all the differences are, but they have you download a different document if you purchased the policy before or on/after May 18.

Sayhello

 

[KathyTN]

Just booked our first ABD trip, the S. CA 5 night for Sep 2023 (Labor Day week!). Got an extra discount through Dream Unlimited, wohoo!

I'm super excited but it's dawning on me that with the inflexible reschedule/change policy, we should probably get trip insurance in case something happens, COVID or otherwise. Do folks here recommend the policy offered through ABD? Or going through a different insurer? I've actually never insured a trip before so it's all rather new, but the thought of losing our deposit if we had to reschedule is scary!

I'm looking at insurance details pretty carefully right now for 3 ABDs were have coming up, plus other travel. I don't work in insurance but this is what I've found out. ABD doesn't offer Travel Insurance, it's Trip Protection. There's a difference. I'm sorry I'm not up on what those differences are. (This is because, right now, I'm not interested in the Disney coverage offered.) With Disney TP or regular TI there are time limits that affect benefit eligibility. Cancel For Any Reason CFAR and Pre-existing Condition Waivers are 2 types of insurance that can ONLY be booked within days/weeks of an initial deposit, and it's usually 14 or 21 days. A disadvantage to getting CFAR is that it typically only covers 75%. A big benefit of CFAR is that it typically covers level 4 countries. Right now, I'm having a very difficult time finding anyone to cover a level 4 country outside of a CFAR policy. I imagine you want covid coverage (for getting covid prior to your trip and needing to cancel, or during your trip and needing medical care or needing to get accommodations because you need to quarantine and cannot return home), so checking out their covid coverage will be important. Also, note that CFAR, is a bit of a misnomer, because even with this there can be some exclusions. Honestly, I'm finding all of it to be ridiculously complicated. Forbes has a very good overview of Travel Insurance, plans, carriers, and policies. But first - you are talking about not wanting to lose your deposit for your trip next year. Since your trip is so far off, I think you may be a good position with that. Check your travel agreement. Mine all say that the deposit is refundable if the agreement is canceled before 14 days OR (and this is very important) until the travel agreement is signed and returned. And after that, there is a generous policy regarding getting a credit. Credit - not refund. For example, we are going on an ABD in March 2023, and I think we have until November to get 100% of our deposit credited to another trip. I think you can only do this once per trip. But your agent w DU can guide you on the particulars. Again, I'm not an insurance expert, and companies can be very different and their policies can be very different, and things are constantly changing.......that Forbes article really helped me. Good luck.

 

[sayhello]

I'm looking at insurance details pretty carefully right now for 3 ABDs were have coming up, plus other travel. I don't work in insurance but this is what I've found out. ABD doesn't offer Travel Insurance, it's Trip Protection. There's a difference. I'm sorry I'm not up on what those differences are. (This is because, right now, I'm not interested in the Disney coverage offered.)

I think they call it their Vacation Protection Plan because they aren't insurance brokers. The policy is "sold" by them but administered by someone else (currently Aon Affinity) and underwritten by an actual insurance company (currently Arch Insurance Company). Also, previously, the Cancel for Any Reason coverage was *not* a part of the insurance policy (but was a part of the Vacation Protection Plan). It was paid by Disney if the insurance policy denied your claim. And thirdly, they only cover stuff that they are supplying (your airfare is included only under certain circumstances). Anything else you arrange yourself is not covered. So it's my opinion that for all those reasons, they call it "The Vacation Protection Plan" vs "Trip Insurance". I think it's just semantics to manage expectations. But, in reality, except for the old Cancel for Any Reason policy, it *is* Trip Insurance. (The current CFAR coverage appears to be a part of the new policy, and it's now called the "CancelFlex" option, which costs extra. And there are more conditions on the CancelFlex option than there was for the old CFAR coverage).

Honestly, ABD's coverage is generally more expensive and does not cover as much as what you can purchase from an outside insurance company.

Sayhello

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

I'm looking at insurance details pretty carefully right now for 3 ABDs were have coming up, plus other travel. I don't work in insurance but this is what I've found out. ABD doesn't offer Travel Insurance, it's Trip Protection. There's a difference. I'm sorry I'm not up on what those differences are. (This is because, right now, I'm not interested in the Disney coverage offered.) With Disney TP or regular TI there are time limits that affect benefit eligibility. Cancel For Any Reason CFAR and Pre-existing Condition Waivers are 2 types of insurance that can ONLY be booked within days/weeks of an initial deposit, and it's usually 14 or 21 days. A disadvantage to getting CFAR is that it typically only covers 75%. A big benefit of CFAR is that it typically covers level 4 countries. Right now, I'm having a very difficult time finding anyone to cover a level 4 country outside of a CFAR policy. I imagine you want covid coverage (for getting covid prior to your trip and needing to cancel, or during your trip and needing medical care or needing to get accommodations because you need to quarantine and cannot return home), so checking out their covid coverage will be important. Also, note that CFAR, is a bit of a misnomer, because even with this there can be some exclusions. Honestly, I'm finding all of it to be ridiculously complicated. Forbes has a very good overview of Travel Insurance, plans, carriers, and policies. But first - you are talking about not wanting to lose your deposit for your trip next year. Since your trip is so far off, I think you may be a good position with that. Check your travel agreement. Mine all say that the deposit is refundable if the agreement is canceled before 14 days OR (and this is very important) until the travel agreement is signed and returned. And after that, there is a generous policy regarding getting a credit. Credit - not refund. For example, we are going on an ABD in March 2023, and I think we have until November to get 100% of our deposit credited to another trip. I think you can only do this once per trip. But your agent w DU can guide you on the particulars. Again, I'm not an insurance expert, and companies can be very different and their policies can be very different, and things are constantly changing.......that Forbes article really helped me. Good luck.

Thanks for this. We've decided that getting a credit would be fine if we need to change our dates or something. We'd definitely still want to take the trip at some point anyway. So we're okay with just not getting any protection for right now.