ladysoleil
<font color=purple>my booty is a big fan of Cotton
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2003
- Messages
- 769
I got into a bit of an offtopic discussion about trip insurance on the dining thread, so I thought I'd move it here so we could all compare notes and not be offtopic. 
I generally get my travel insurance through www.insuremytrip.com
They are an insurance consolidator site that lets you get multiple quotes from various vendors. Rates vary depending on things like age, number in party, what kind of trip you're taking, what coverage you need, etc. I found that for our trip, it was cheaper to get my insurance through them than to accept what Disney was offering. My coverage will reimburse me for the full cost of airfare and the hotel room. I don't actually know if my tickets are covered- I think they're probably not, but since we have non-expiring hoppers, I'm not too stressed about it.
More to the point, I wanted to be able to review the policy fully before I bought it. I'm sure the folks at reservations can walk you through the policy on the phone, but I'd really like time to look over what's covered so I can make a decision as to whether I need it or not, and I didn't want to feel pressured into making a quick decision, so I declined and shopped around on my own.
However, since I had my own tickets, the good question to ask is whether the travel insurance offered by Disney covers the tickets- that could make a difference if you have expiring tickets and something comes up that's covered by the insurance. For a short trip with the tickets we're holding, I wasn't concerned. Someone with a longer stay might have reason to think about that.
Insurance allows you to be reimbursed up to the value of the trip if you need to cancel or alter your trip due to covered circumstances- illness, death in the family, weather cancellations, jury duty, military service, illness of spouse or child also on the trip, etc, depending on the policy. Mine also covers carrier bankruptcy, so if JetBlue went belly up, they'd reimburse me for the ticket.
Many policies also give you some coverage for lost or damaged luggage as well as some health/medical coverage. Most of the policies I've bought also provide some level of traveler's aid- the one I just bought offers services such as translation, legal aid, and a companion airfare in case of medical emergency- if I got hurt and was in the hospital, my policy would pay for them to fly a relative in to take care of me, or if I had dependent children, the policy would pay to fly them home with a chaperone if needed.
In this case, I think the main thing we need to look at is whether delays/cancellations caused by weather are covered- that's probably the number one thing you want in a policy for a September trip to Orlando, I'd bet!
What you buy really depends on what you need, so read all the fine print and disclosures carefully. I could have paid a few dollars more for a policy that would have given me collision coverage on a rental car, but I don't drive so I don't need that. I could have paid a bit more for more baggage loss coverage, but with just two of us, I don't think we needed it- we probably won't have $2,000 worth of stuff with us, so why insure for that much?
Medical varies- a lot of the plans on insuremytrip.com offer it as part of the package. For the $40 we paid, it seems worth it. Remember that even if you have insurance already, the secondary insurance will cover what your primary insurance does not, which might help if you have a high copay or something happens where you need a lot of care. My plan is pretty solid and is valid in Orlando, so I'm not too worried, but then again, I paid $40 and my hospitalization copay is $300. I'd think it was worth the $40 if I got that covered by the insurance, without doubt.
Trip interruption depends on your policy, but basically, if there's a significant disruption in your trip or you become ill or injured enough, they'll reimburse a pro-rated portion of what you paid to cover it.
You do get some time to review the policy, I think the amount of time varies depending on what state you're in, but I got 10 days money back guarantee on mine.
I'm not saying the policies Disney offers are bad or good- without reviewing their policy, I couldn't tell you. I can tell you that I got a policy that serves my coverage needs at a lower price than they quoted me, so it's probably worth looking into.
I generally get my travel insurance through www.insuremytrip.com
They are an insurance consolidator site that lets you get multiple quotes from various vendors. Rates vary depending on things like age, number in party, what kind of trip you're taking, what coverage you need, etc. I found that for our trip, it was cheaper to get my insurance through them than to accept what Disney was offering. My coverage will reimburse me for the full cost of airfare and the hotel room. I don't actually know if my tickets are covered- I think they're probably not, but since we have non-expiring hoppers, I'm not too stressed about it.
More to the point, I wanted to be able to review the policy fully before I bought it. I'm sure the folks at reservations can walk you through the policy on the phone, but I'd really like time to look over what's covered so I can make a decision as to whether I need it or not, and I didn't want to feel pressured into making a quick decision, so I declined and shopped around on my own.
However, since I had my own tickets, the good question to ask is whether the travel insurance offered by Disney covers the tickets- that could make a difference if you have expiring tickets and something comes up that's covered by the insurance. For a short trip with the tickets we're holding, I wasn't concerned. Someone with a longer stay might have reason to think about that.
Insurance allows you to be reimbursed up to the value of the trip if you need to cancel or alter your trip due to covered circumstances- illness, death in the family, weather cancellations, jury duty, military service, illness of spouse or child also on the trip, etc, depending on the policy. Mine also covers carrier bankruptcy, so if JetBlue went belly up, they'd reimburse me for the ticket.
Many policies also give you some coverage for lost or damaged luggage as well as some health/medical coverage. Most of the policies I've bought also provide some level of traveler's aid- the one I just bought offers services such as translation, legal aid, and a companion airfare in case of medical emergency- if I got hurt and was in the hospital, my policy would pay for them to fly a relative in to take care of me, or if I had dependent children, the policy would pay to fly them home with a chaperone if needed.
In this case, I think the main thing we need to look at is whether delays/cancellations caused by weather are covered- that's probably the number one thing you want in a policy for a September trip to Orlando, I'd bet!
What you buy really depends on what you need, so read all the fine print and disclosures carefully. I could have paid a few dollars more for a policy that would have given me collision coverage on a rental car, but I don't drive so I don't need that. I could have paid a bit more for more baggage loss coverage, but with just two of us, I don't think we needed it- we probably won't have $2,000 worth of stuff with us, so why insure for that much?
Medical varies- a lot of the plans on insuremytrip.com offer it as part of the package. For the $40 we paid, it seems worth it. Remember that even if you have insurance already, the secondary insurance will cover what your primary insurance does not, which might help if you have a high copay or something happens where you need a lot of care. My plan is pretty solid and is valid in Orlando, so I'm not too worried, but then again, I paid $40 and my hospitalization copay is $300. I'd think it was worth the $40 if I got that covered by the insurance, without doubt.
Trip interruption depends on your policy, but basically, if there's a significant disruption in your trip or you become ill or injured enough, they'll reimburse a pro-rated portion of what you paid to cover it.
You do get some time to review the policy, I think the amount of time varies depending on what state you're in, but I got 10 days money back guarantee on mine.
I'm not saying the policies Disney offers are bad or good- without reviewing their policy, I couldn't tell you. I can tell you that I got a policy that serves my coverage needs at a lower price than they quoted me, so it's probably worth looking into.
