Trip Insurance--too late?

[iamporch]

So I know I shouldn't have waited this long so no need to lecture. With Christmas and everything else my cruise planning was kind of forgotten about after the initial booking which was only this past Sept. I cruise 1/29 of 2018 so only a month out. Am I out of luck to get a plan with coverage to get reimbursement if one of us gets sick with say the flu or stomach bug that would make us unable to cruise?

 

[Minnie - Not the Mouse]

You may not need it, check the credit card you booked with. I specifically book with my AMEX because it has cancellation insurance as part of its perks.

 

[iamporch]

You may not need it, check the credit card you booked with. I specifically book with my AMEX because it has cancellation insurance as part of its perks.

I just use my bank debit card.

 

[wanderlust7]

You can still buy travel insurance, up to the day before you leave or day of (depends on plan). As long as the condition you would file a claim under has not happened yet (i.e. can't buy the policy AFTER you're already sick).

https://tripinsurancestore.com/travel-insurance-frequently-asked-questions/#c

 

[iamporch]

You can still buy travel insurance, up to the day before you leave or day of (depends on plan). As long as the condition you would file a claim under has not happened yet (i.e. can't buy the policy AFTER you're already sick).

https://tripinsurancestore.com/travel-insurance-frequently-asked-questions/#c

So what wording do I look for in the plan? I couldn't find any for this circumstance other than the medical leave I think it was called and for those it said the insurance had to be purchased prior to the final vacation payment.

 

[wanderlust7]

So what wording do I look for in the plan? I couldn't find any for this circumstance other than the medical leave I think it was called and for those it said the insurance had to be purchased prior to the final vacation payment.

I've seen the purchase prior to final payment to cover preexisting conditions (though most plans it's within a certain number of days of first payment). I'm not sure if that's what you saw.

Insure My Trip is another good site. They have a chat function, the agents come online quickly and I find them helpful. For specific questions, they've cut/paste the exact section of the policy so I know where to look.

 

[Mommb]

So what wording do I look for in the plan? I couldn't find any for this circumstance other than the medical leave I think it was called and for those it said the insurance had to be purchased prior to the final vacation payment.

You just need a plan that covers medical treatment during the cruise. The only situation in which when you purchased the insurance would make a difference if if you are seeking coverage for something that happened (or that you knew would be happening) before you bought the insurance. For example, if you see a news report of a named hurricane, you can’t buy insurance to cover it. If you are diagnosed with diabetes after your initial cruise payment but before you buy insurance, the insurance might not cover any diabetic complications during the cruise.

If you need insurance to cover only unforeseen events (such as coming down with flu or another condition that you do not currently have and have no reason to expect), you should be fine buying insurance just a month before the cruise.

Keep in mind that to cover possible changes to airfare, hotels, and so on. You will need to buy insurance that covers the whole trip, not just the time you are on the cruise.

 

[Shanti]

It's not too late to buy insurance. I never cruise without it.

 

[bumbershoot]

If you need insurance to cover only unforeseen events (such as coming down with flu or another condition that you do not currently have and have no reason to expect), you should be fine buying insurance just a month before the cruise.

Yes.

As long as everyone’s health is good. But if someone has asthma and a case of influenza causes a flare that causes you to miss the cruise, then that wouldn’t be covered with insurance you could buy now. For that to be covered you would have needed the pre existing condition waiver.

And that could apply to me. I have asthma on my medical records, and I do have to baby my lungs, so if I got some nasty bronchitis that smacked me down more than a normal person, I’d be in trouble with regular travel
insurance medical coverage. But if DH or DS got hit hard with it, it would cover them, as they have no pre existing lung conditions.

Make sense?

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

We use an online trip insurance search site. When I type in the name we use, this site stared it out.
You can live chat with them; just look for the little tab to do this, I clicked on this several times while trying to chose our plan. They respond very fast to your questions while your online. As others have mentioned; if someone in your party is already sick and it can carry into your vacation dates you most likely will not be covered. It will only cover anything that comes up after you pay for your plan.

Hope this helps, have a great trip.

 

[iamporch]

Thanks everyone. I did try chatting prior to posting but all the person said was to call them to ask questions and at the time I didn't have time for a phone call.

All of us are currently healthy with no medical conditions. My only concern healthwise was coming down with a fever, stomach bug or something with us being from IA and traveling in the middle of flu season. Either way I was planning on purchasing travel insurance for all the other obvious reasons.

 

[daedelus]

We always use TravelGuard Gold. Kids are free and it's the best coverage for the money. Covers all the things you worry about, especially illness or a last minute cancellation. Note that "cancel for any reason" is the only thing that's not available after 30 days from initial booking.