Trip Insurance

[vicarrieous]

On our next trip, I would like to purchase trip insurance for a few reasons. We will be flying out of a small regional airport in WI in January and will have a lay over either in Minneapolis or Chicago. I am nervous that our first leg could be cancelled due to weather. It recently happened to my sister and Delta only comped her $16 and she had to find a way to make the second leg of her trip.

My other concern is health of a family member. Last winter my dad surprisingly had open heart surgery postponing a planned trip (thankfully we hadn't purchased airfare yet) and I worry about sicknesses with two little kids.

Can anyone suggest a travel insurance company that would reimburse in these scenarios? Also, I can purchase this after I purchase all of my travel parts (room, tickets, airfare etc) correct? It would be for two adults and two kids.

 

[DisMom829]

Try "insure my trip". Without the spaces between words in quotes

 

[nacho113]

If you travel occasionally, insurance can be purchased at the time of booking each individual item or grouped together and purchased through a third party (such as insure my trip, travelinsurancecenter or other similar companies)
If you are booking through a Travel Agent, they can typically give you several options/companies with varying rates and coverages.
If you are a member of certain organizations such as AAA, AARP etc you can usually get special packages/rates through these organizations.
Depending on the cost of the prepaid vacation components and how comprehensive you want the coverage to be you could be looking at a couple to several hundred dollars for $3000-$5000 of comprehensive coverage.

If you travel frequently, a Premium Credit Card could be a possible solution also.
Many premium credit cards offer trip cancellation insurance, trip interruption, lost luggage, hotel burglary coverage, rental car coverage to name a few, plus a whole host of other travel benefits and perks such as free checked bags, priority checkin/boarding, Lounge access etc.
Just charge the cost of all travel items to the card and you're covered.
Typically there is a yearly fee, but if you travel frequently, the travel insurance alone can be worth significantly more than the yearly fee.

 

[rwdavis2]

Travelguard pretty much lets you build the insurance you need by adding options. Give that a try. Sound like you may need "cancel for any reason" coverage. That is expensive if you can get it.

 

[vicarrieous]

Thanks for all of your suggestions!

 

[Unas]

Travelguard pretty much lets you build the insurance you need by adding options. Give that a try. Sound like you may need "cancel for any reason" coverage. That is expensive if you can get it.

Almost all cancel for any reason policies require you to purchase insurance shortly after reserving your trip.

 

[Whitey1]

Does anyone know what the cancellation policy is for trips booked through AAA. I am helping a friend through an issue where they needed to cancel at short notice due to a sick child. It took them 36 hours frantically trying to get hold of their agent despite multiple calls and emails. They were supposed to book in on a Thursday and first initiated contact with their agent on Tuesday night via email. They followed up with a call and left a VM at 9:00 am on Wednesday morning saying they needed to cancel . They then Called Disney directly mid morning on Wednesday and were told that the HAD to cancel through AAA. All the calls to their Agents office were getting diverted to another office where no one could help them. They had insurance, but just in case they run into any problems they want to know if AAA has any culpability. They are still working through the child's Illness and have t been able to pore over the contract yet