what would you do travel/insurance

[Dznypal]

DH has always wanted to go to Germany. So for his birthday last year I surprised him and booked a cruise that has a stop in Germany (the cruise is for this year).

We have travel insurance with the CC but last time we needed to use it there was one airline that was a pain to work with and kept extending the expiration date to use the credit. The insurance doesnt pay the refund until the ticket goes unused.
This was in 2020 and I had cancelled just before covid really hit. SO I thought I would be under the rules that were in place when I cancelled which was one year to use a credit.
But as it turned out I had to follow what they kept changing it to.. Anyways it took 3 years and a lot of emails and phone calls to get the refund with the insurance since the expiration date was changed.

So now I noticed the airline Im looking into for a little more money has a refundable fare and also the hotel the night before also has this

I always try to get the cheapest rates for anything that fits our needs like for air I dont even think economy and Im looking into premium economy just for the perks

But on the other hand if I go with the refundable rates Im like double insuraned since the CC has travel insurance and Im paying a bit higher rate for refundable

so question is what would you do--I think it would be easier if we would have to cancel to just have it booked with the airlines or hotel just to be done but hen on the other hand Id keep thinking gee the CC would cover this
Hope this makes sense

 

[Praying Colonel]

DH has always wanted to go to Germany. So for his birthday last year I surprised him and booked a cruise that has a stop in Germany (the cruise is for this year).

We have travel insurance with the CC but last time we needed to use it there was one airline that was a pain to work with and kept extending the expiration date to use the credit. The insurance doesnt pay the refund until the ticket goes unused.
This was in 2020 and I had cancelled just before covid really hit. SO I thought I would be under the rules that were in place when I cancelled which was one year to use a credit.
But as it turned out I had to follow what they kept changing it to.. Anyways it took 3 years and a lot of emails and phone calls to get the refund with the insurance since the expiration date was changed.

So now I noticed the airline Im looking into for a little more money has a refundable fare and also the hotel the night before also has this

I always try to get the cheapest rates for anything that fits our needs like for air I dont even think economy and Im looking into premium economy just for the perks

But on the other hand if I go with the refundable rates Im like double insuraned since the CC has travel insurance and Im paying a bit higher rate for refundable

so question is what would you do--I think it would be easier if we would have to cancel to just have it booked with the airlines or hotel just to be done but hen on the other hand Id keep thinking gee the CC would cover this
Hope this makes sense

My default approach on international travel is (a) book the cheapest shortest flight and (b) buy travel insurance. Previous situation notwithstanding, I don't see anything in your scenario that would cause me to vary from that. Hope you have a wonderful trip!

 

[gottalovepluto]

Read your cc guide to benefits. When it comes to intentional travel it often isn’t robust enough for me, you might need to be looking at 3rd party insurance. Also, there could time constraints as certain things could have a caveat that they are only refundable if booked X number of days within buying the insurance and/or booking the main portion of the trip.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

When traveling internationally, I'd recommend travel insurance not only for the transportation part, but only for the medical side - we find that to be way more important since most US health insurers won't cover you in Europe and certainly won't pay if you need to be flown back for medical reasons. Many of these would not be that terribly expensive, and offer (at least for us) peace of mind should a problem arise.

 

[LuvOrlando]

For me it would depend on the expense of the trip and the insurance and whether or not I could tolerate absorbing the cost of lsong the trip or the expense of the insurance. International feels like more could go wrong since either side could throw up an obstacle and international is likely on the $$$ side so because of those reasons I'd probably double up on the insurance.

 

[kdonnel]

Price out travel insurance here:
https://www.insuremytrip.com/

To me the most important part is medical evacuation. That can cost 10's of thousands of dollars, way more than the cost of the trip.

 

[Mommb]

Insurance will cover cancellations for only the specific reasons listed in the policy.
A refundable fare will be refundable for any reason — pet sitter cancels, favorite team is competing in national championship, etc.
if you do not think you would cancel for anything other than a covered reason, then insurance may be sufficient. If you want to allow for other possibilities, pay for the refundable fare.

 

[MillauFr]

Price out travel insurance here:
https://www.insuremytrip.com/

To me the most important part is medical evacuation. That can cost 10's of thousands of dollars, way more than the cost of the trip.

Excellent advice. Insurance should be for things that will cause you severe financial hardship. Not soothing your feelings if you cancel the cruise and lose your cruise fare.

 

[Frwinkley]

I'm in a similar situation, flying internationally for the first time in over 30 years.

I'm thinking non-refundable airfare because even with travel insurance, only certain criteria for cancellation will be covered. I'm thinking of the travel insurance more as a way to cover medical expenses, evacuation, etc. once we are there.

Hotels can always be cancelled usually within less than a week of departure.

 

[tvguy]

You absolutely need to do your homework. Covid has changed Travel Insurance. It has gotten expensive because covid changed the risk of a claim.....which used to be low and very profitable for insurance companies.....to now only higher, but no longer for a minor medical treatments, but to whole trips at the last minute.
My travel agent actually stopped selling travel insurance and started making clients sign an acknowledgement that the travel agency had NO recommendation on whether clients bought or did not buy insurance. That came after a very ugly legal situation. Insurance companies reserve the right to try and recover what they pay out if they believe the claim could have been avoided. Client's employer canceled his vacation the day before a cruise. Insurance paid the claim promptly, and turned around and sued the clients employer and the travel agency to recover the money. Travel agent got dropped from the suit early on, but it still cost them a lot of money for lawyers. I can't imagine an employer canceling a vacation knowing the financial hardship it could create.....and even more unimaginable is working for someone who did that, ended up with a huge legal bill, and had to reimburse the insurance company for the payout.

 

[barkley]

I think if the consideration is strictly the cost of airfare/hotel I would go with the up-cost of a refundable ticket/reservation which can be canceled. with both it's just a single call to either the airline or the hotel. if health insurance is a consideration unless you know your own coverage will absolutely cover you wherever you are going (and all the space inbetween there and back) then I would opt for travel insurance and still plan on dealing with allot of back and forth with the travel insurance company b/c they can and do ask for existing medical records to ensure that you have nothing that will give them an out via pre-existing condition or maybe within that pre-trip exclusion period you went in for something to your doctor and just in passing the part of your body that you've filed a claim on was mentioned (we dealt with this when kids had to get treated out of state ear related and the records travel insurance got from their pediatrician mentioned that their ears were checked during a routine physical-deemed in find condition-and insurance tried to deny claim ).

I only ever had to file a claim related to air travel once-airline 'misplaced' my luggage. I called American Express (I booked with their card). they were great-transferred me to the appropriate department who took the info and created a claim, asked if there were any urgent needed medical devices missing or medications I needed assistance with (nope) then told me to go out and buy clothing, shoes, swimwear, cosmetics, personal items....I needed for the next 72 hours and to call them immediatly if the airline had not DELIVERED the missing luggage by hour 48 in which case they would have authorized more purchases/begun having me assemble a list of the missing items. was'nt a requirement to do so but if I was willing to use American Express for the initial and any further authorized replacement shopping trips then they would just do an internal adjustment on the card.

very easy process-got my luggage within the 48 hours, called Amex and advised them, they confirmed the purchases I had made that they could see on my card, then promptly cleared out the charges.

 

[midnightbast]

Oh man, I totally get where you're coming from with that airline credit nightmare. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt and the migraine. Personally, after that kind of hassle, I'd probably just go for the refundable fare for the peace of mind. It's like, yeah, you're "double insured," but sometimes avoiding the headache is worth a few extra bucks, ya know? Just imagine, no more fighting for your refund.

 

[clh2]

Ugh…the cost of travel insurance is crazy. But, absolutely did it for an upcoming trip (Disney cruise and a couple of days at the parks). A huge consideration for us was my husband is now on Medicare. And, we will be out of the country, where if my husband needed medical care, would not be covered by Medicare.

If I was just doing a trip that was in the US, and only doing hotels, as opposed to a trip, I would not bother. Ie we are going out to Denver later this month. Tickets are through Southwest, so can be cancelled for a credit up to 10 minutes before departure time and hotels are cancellable up to a couple of days before the trip. I’m willing to take this risk and not insure the trip. (Also doing carryon luggage, so no worries about lost baggage).

 

[Magical2017]

We go with Allianz. There are different types of insurance. Even though CC covers some things, there are other things to consider, such as medical evacuation, etc. It's really going to differ for each person. Always read the fine print so you know what is covered with whatever insurance you have.

 

[sam_gordon]

The question is "what do you want covered"?

Regarding hotel, I generally won't book anything that doesn't have a 72 hour cancellation policy, and prefer 24 (times from checkin, not booking).

Airfare is what it is. If I can get it covered from whatever Trip Insurance I get, great, otherwise I don't bother. What's the price difference to make it a refundable fare? Is that price difference bigger than paying for it to be covered under trip insurance?

I do think for "ease" of cancellation, refundable is better, but what are the odds of cancellation and the cost of the insurance?

 

[redrosesix]

DH has always wanted to go to Germany. So for his birthday last year I surprised him and booked a cruise that has a stop in Germany (the cruise is for this year).

We have travel insurance with the CC but last time we needed to use it there was one airline that was a pain to work with and kept extending the expiration date to use the credit. The insurance doesnt pay the refund until the ticket goes unused.
This was in 2020 and I had cancelled just before covid really hit. SO I thought I would be under the rules that were in place when I cancelled which was one year to use a credit.
But as it turned out I had to follow what they kept changing it to.. Anyways it took 3 years and a lot of emails and phone calls to get the refund with the insurance since the expiration date was changed.

So now I noticed the airline Im looking into for a little more money has a refundable fare and also the hotel the night before also has this

I always try to get the cheapest rates for anything that fits our needs like for air I dont even think economy and Im looking into premium economy just for the perks

But on the other hand if I go with the refundable rates Im like double insuraned since the CC has travel insurance and Im paying a bit higher rate for refundable

so question is what would you do--I think it would be easier if we would have to cancel to just have it booked with the airlines or hotel just to be done but hen on the other hand Id keep thinking gee the CC would cover this
Hope this makes sense

we always buy trip insurance, regardless of whether any or all of the trip is refundable. We've never actually had to cancel a trip, but that's an option if someone is unable to travel. We use it more for the medical coverage and for trip interruption eg. your second flight going to or from is cancelled and you're stranded at your connecting airport. They will also cover your hotel and food if your departing flight is postponed or cancelled, or you can't come back on that flight.

we use Nomad now, not the insurance that comes with a credit card although we do have that too. We're no longer travelling to the US and Nomad will take you almost anywhere in the world. My brother's wife had to have her appendix out in Paris and the whole family was covered to stay in Paris until 2 days after she was released from hospital ie. when the doctor said she was safe to fly. Sure her hospital stay was cheap, but even that was covered.

It's a couple hundred dollars...I can't imagine travelling without it and I'm as frugal as they come.

 

[barkley]

Ugh…the cost of travel insurance is crazy. But, absolutely did it for an upcoming trip (Disney cruise and a couple of days at the parks). A huge consideration for us was my husband is now on Medicare. And, we will be out of the country, where if my husband needed medical care, would not be covered by Medicare.

If I was just doing a trip that was in the US, and only doing hotels, as opposed to a trip, I would not bother. Ie we are going out to Denver later this month. Tickets are through Southwest, so can be cancelled for a credit up to 10 minutes before departure time and hotels are cancellable up to a couple of days before the trip. I’m willing to take this risk and not insure the trip. (Also doing carryon luggage, so no worries about lost baggage).

good on you knowing the limitations on medicare coverage. it's so important with medicare or any insurance for that matter to know your coverage limitations. we've had traditional insurance that had limited to no coverage outside a fairly small distance from where we lived, others that covered 'emergency' issues but their idea of an emergency can be crazy limited. I'm thankful my medicare plan covers out of state with slightly higher share of cost but I noticed several plans in the avalanche of solicitations we get yearly that have strictly limited defined service areas.