Trip Insurance

[luvdisney00]

I usually always purchase 3rd party trip insurance for my August trips, so I have been comparing plans. I was looking for recommendations from someone who has actually had a claim as I have purchased in the past but never used the coverage. I was also wondering if Disney would refund any part of the trip if there was an emergency and we cancelled at the last minute OR if the trip was interrupted. My main concern is that both my mother and DH's mother are under total care (one in a nursing home and the other at home) and we never know what might happen. Both are stable right now. So if something were to happen right before the trip the trip and we had to cancel would Disney give me a refund or credit? What if I was already there and had to leave?
Some of the policies I'm comparing ask how much of the trip is totally unrefundable which I've never been asked before. I will ask me TA for her official answer, but I was just wondering if anyone had any experience or recommendations. TIA!

 

[My3Princez]

We have had to put in a claim on trip insurance twice. Once was for a Disney trip. In that case, one of the travelers had a health issue come up 24 hours before we were scheduled to get on the plane to Disney. Since it was BEFORE our trip, Disney (not the insurance) refunded our trip cost except for $200. The airfare portion and the $200 were claimed on the insurance and refunded. It would have been very different if we were already traveling when the health issue arose.
There are trip insurance plans for every conceivable scenario up to and including "I just changed my mind and don't want to go" so you need to get one that will cover your areas of concern. If you are primarily concerned with health issues of non-travelers, you will want to make sure you get a policy that will cover preexisting conditions of non-traveling relatives. That is likely not the standard cookie-cutter policies, but there is a policy available that will cover it.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

You can compare a variety of plans at insuremytrip.com. You will have to read the details of coverage and chose the one which will cover your situation. I usually use Travelguard.

 

[Iowajes]

We have put a claim on our trip insurance. We bought insurance through USAA, and the trip was a cruise package with celebrity. Due to flight cancellations, we missed the first day of the package. We were able to get a refund for 1 night of hotel, and the value of the tour and meals we missed. It took a bit of bugging Celebrity to get value of the things we missed, since it was all part of a package.

If you want cancellation for preexisting health conditions covered, be very sure you get the right policy. You generally have to purchase within a certain number of days of booking the packages.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I recently had a Guest who was staying at Pop Century come to me. I work at the Pop merchandise store and am in an ECV. He explained his problem about having to leave due to a family emergency. I had him go to the Front Desk and ask to speak to a manager and explain the situation.

He came back to me a while later and said they were refunding three nights of prepaid room and also giving him three unused 3-day park hoppers as that was what was remaining for him and the people traveling with him. They also waived the under-24-hour dining cancellation fees and gave him a phone number to contact, after he got home, to get reimbursed for his unused dining credits.

I have worked for Disney almost ten years and they will go out of their way to assist people with emergencies. More than likely if you have an emergency while at WDW the only thing you may end up out of pocket is the change fees the airline may charge for reticketing, and that also may be waived.

So basically I would not worry about buying trip insurance. The only time I ever look into it is if I am traveling internationally (and last year I had nine round-trip air flights to four different states).

 

[luvdisney00]

I recently had a Guest who was staying at Pop Century come to me. I work at the Pop merchandise store and am in an ECV. He explained his problem about having to leave due to a family emergency. I had him go to the Front Desk and ask to speak to a manager and explain the situation.

He came back to me a while later and said they were refunding three nights of prepaid room and also giving him three unused 3-day park hoppers as that was what was remaining for him and the people traveling with him. They also waived the under-24-hour dining cancellation fees and gave him a phone number to contact, after he got home, to get reimbursed for his unused dining credits.

I have worked for Disney almost ten years and they will go out of their way to assist people with emergencies. More than likely if you have an emergency while at WDW the only thing you may end up out of pocket is the change fees the airline may charge for reticketing, and that also may be waived.

So basically I would not worry about buying trip insurance. The only time I ever look into it is if I am traveling internationally (and last year I had nine round-trip air flights to four different states).

Thank you very much! That is what I was wondering about.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I recently had a Guest who was staying at Pop Century come to me. I work at the Pop merchandise store and am in an ECV. He explained his problem about having to leave due to a family emergency. I had him go to the Front Desk and ask to speak to a manager and explain the situation.

He came back to me a while later and said they were refunding three nights of prepaid room and also giving him three unused 3-day park hoppers as that was what was remaining for him and the people traveling with him. They also waived the under-24-hour dining cancellation fees and gave him a phone number to contact, after he got home, to get reimbursed for his unused dining credits.

I have worked for Disney almost ten years and they will go out of their way to assist people with emergencies. More than likely if you have an emergency while at WDW the only thing you may end up out of pocket is the change fees the airline may charge for reticketing, and that also may be waived.

So basically I would not worry about buying trip insurance. The only time I ever look into it is if I am traveling internationally (and last year I had nine round-trip air flights to four different states).

That's great this worked out for this family, but it would be crazy for anyone to count on this happening! What if you have a medical emergency? What if your flight is cancelled or delayed, your luggage is lost, you have an accident with your rental car, etc? Do you think Disney will cover your out of pocket expenses? Airlines will waive change fees for very specific issues; don't count on this happening.

 

[Dznypal]

we have the chase freedom card (along with the disney card of course) anyways we just got a notice from them that we get trip protection with the card

IM not sure about family members health but it does cover the travels health and luggage but it did say emergencies but a major health issues with a family member at home would count as an emgerency I would think--its worth checking into--and theres no annual fee for the card