Trip Insurance thru Costco -- chose the land or the cruise option?

[micheleq]

Hi DISers,

I'm pricing out my trip insurance thru Costco (I booked our April 2014 cruise thru them) and there are two options -- a general trip option and one for cruises. The cruise option comes out twice as much as the basic option. I don't see any differences in the fine print. What am I missing? When I go to the Travel Guard main website, there's no cruise only option?

Last two cruises my TA handled the trip insurance with Travel Guard, so this is my first time buying it solo.

Any advice? I'm factoring in the cost of flights plus cruise, and I know my DDs should be free under the Travel Guard Gold Plan.

TIA!
Michele

 

[madelyn]

Following your thread since we have a Disney Cruise booked for Dec 2013 and also booked through Costco. Seems that Travel Guard Gold through their website is a great deal for my family of 5 (3 kids). The quote I am getting for our 4 day cruise is only $113 total. We are leaving from Galveston (we live in Texas) so I don't see the need for any of their insurance options.

 

[Lisa Lisa]

Hi DISers,

I'm pricing out my trip insurance thru Costco (I booked our April 2014 cruise thru them) and there are two options -- a general trip option and one for cruises. The cruise option comes out twice as much as the basic option. I don't see any differences in the fine print. What am I missing? When I go to the Travel Guard main website, there's no cruise only option?

Last two cruises my TA handled the trip insurance with Travel Guard, so this is my first time buying it solo.

Any advice? I'm factoring in the cost of flights plus cruise, and I know my DDs should be free under the Travel Guard Gold Plan.

TIA!
Michele

Can you call them and ask them to explain the differences? We booked our April 2014 cruise through Costco and are planning to purchase insurance through them when we get closer to travel time, so I don't have any direct experience yet. I'll be curious to learn what you find out!

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

Can you call them and ask them to explain the differences? We booked our April 2014 cruise through Costco and are planning to purchase insurance through them when we get closer to travel time, so I don't have any direct experience yet. I'll be curious to learn what you find out!

Like Lisa, I was going to suggest you call and ask as it's a great question. I do know while booking the insurance through Costco/Travel Guard the airlines (if applicable) are covered "free of charge" so that's a nice bonus too. If you purchase the insurance within 24 hours of paying off in full, you are also covered for pre-existing conditions.

Keep us posted
Heather

 

[micheleq]

Thanks everyone. I think I will call this week. The price difference is significant -- $400 for "cruise" travel insurance vs $128 for "land" insurance and the details look exactly the same! No mention of cruise-specific policies. Then I priced out the Gold Plan ( which is what we've gotten twice before) on the TravelGuard website and it came out to $263. We're on a 7 day Fantasy cruise & I'm bundling in the cost of airfare in the insurance.

I'll call this week & report back!

 

[sayhello]

Looking at what IBelieveInTheMagic posted, it looks like the airfare is "free". So maybe when you do the cruise option, you need to only put in the cost of the cruise? So it thinks the cost of your "cruise only" is what you are entering as the total of your cruise and airfare? This is only a guess; I have never booked through Costco.

I agree, best to call them & ask.

Sayhello

 

[bigtony777]

I don't remember being offered a choice when selecting the insurance through Costco. I would be interested in knowing what you find out. I do know that it is a great deal to book the insurance through Costco.

 

[micheleq]

Hi everyone,

I finally called TravelGuard's Costco desk and here's what I was told:

Costco has a special product thru TravelGuard so pricing is different for land and cruise. Airfare is included in the cruise plan, and the coverage is expanded in at least two areas -- 100k per person for medical expenses and 200k per person for emergency evacuation (as compared to the Gold Plan which is 25k in medical, 100k for evac). And when purchasing thru Coscto, you have to pay for each person regardless of age, with the Gold Plan you pay only for adults over 17. Children are "free". But, Costco does have the pre-exsisitng condition waiver so that would be a benefit to many. It does not apply to my family.

My coverage thru TG/Costco would be $360 ($125 per adult, $55 per child based on cruise fare per person). I can buy the Gold Plan directly thru TG for $263 (I increased my amount to include flights, but children are free). I think the Gold Plan coverage would suffice in the event of a medical emergency.

A friend of mine here in MI had to use her travel insurance for a medical emergency, so that's the primary reason I purchase the insurance. We also travel during peak times (this cruise it will be Easter week) so I know there are chances of missed flights/connections that could delay us.

I hope this is helpful to some of you! It looks like if you have a pre-exsisting condition or no children traveling with you, the Costco plan is a good deal. If my children were "free" as in the TG Gold Plan I'd save $110 and have the increased coverage.

HTH
Michele

 

[Lisa Lisa]

Hi everyone,

I finally called TravelGuard's Costco desk and here's what I was told:

Costco has a special product thru TravelGuard so pricing is different for land and cruise. Airfare is included in the cruise plan, and the coverage is expanded in at least two areas -- 100k per person for medical expenses and 200k per person for emergency evacuation (as compared to the Gold Plan which is 25k in medical, 100k for evac). And when purchasing thru Coscto, you have to pay for each person regardless of age, with the Gold Plan you pay only for adults over 17. Children are "free". But, Costco does have the pre-exsisitng condition waiver so that would be a benefit to many. It does not apply to my family.

My coverage thru TG/Costco would be $360 ($125 per adult, $55 per child based on cruise fare per person). I can buy the Gold Plan directly thru TG for $263 (I increased my amount to include flights, but children are free). I think the Gold Plan coverage would suffice in the event of a medical emergency.

A friend of mine here in MI had to use her travel insurance for a medical emergency, so that's the primary reason I purchase the insurance. We also travel during peak times (this cruise it will be Easter week) so I know there are chances of missed flights/connections that could delay us.

I hope this is helpful to some of you! It looks like if you have a pre-exsisting condition or no children traveling with you, the Costco plan is a good deal. If my children were "free" as in the TG Gold Plan I'd save $110 and have the increased coverage.

Thanks so much for reporting back, Michele! This is helpful information. Do you know whether it's possible to purchase the "land" policy through Costco Travel for a cruise and just add coverage for the air portion of the trip? I like the fact that the Costco policy includes a PEC waiver as long as it's purchased within 24 hours of paying in full, but it's unfortunate that kids are not free and that the "cruise" coverage is probably more than most people would need. We have a couple of older family members that are not in the greatest health, so the PEC waiver is a factor for us. I would have bought directly through TG right away, but I assumed (based on what I had read) that the cost would be the same or cheaper with Costco. Debating what to do now...

 

[micheleq]

Hi Lisa,

I think because you have to have booked the cruise with them for the policy they would require the cruise option. The rep couldn't quote me a land price for that reason. But, it's always worth asking! I called the number on the Costco website -- it was direct to a TravelGuard desk for Costco only. I should add our cruise fare was on the high average side since we are in a Cat V for Easter. So the higher the price, the more costly the insurance.

Good luck!!
Michele