View Full Version : travel insurance with marriott points award
taxjam
February 12th, 2005, 10:21 PM
We used Marriott points to book a cruise this summer on the Westerdam. Has anyone used Marriott points and independently purchased travel insurance? If so, what advice?
gizmo
February 13th, 2005, 07:17 AM
This is a good question. I never thought about how to insure a cruise that was booked using points. I do know that the insurance companies do not insure air tickets booked through points. I think you can purchase medical coverage, but I am not so sure about cancellation. Check out http://www.insuremytrip.com/ .
This site lists all the major trip insurance companies and some good information.
VaCruzers
February 13th, 2005, 07:52 AM
This is a question I'm interested in as well since we are in the same situation. I've planned to call my usual travel insurer, but just haven't gotten around to it. Hope OP doesn't mind if I tag along on the thread for answers.
jhannah
February 13th, 2005, 09:32 AM
This is an interesting question. When a cruise is paid for in dollars, the insurance company has a hard figure to underwrite. But what would they do if the trip was with points? How would they arrive at the value of the loss? Not full brochure price of the cruise (since very few people ever pay that, and no insurance company is ever going to go for the highest common denominator.) Cruises are sold at so many prices for the same cabin category and sailing. Maybe the answer will be the same as for airline tix obtained with frequent flyer miles or points ... there's no way to assign a hard value to it; therefore it's not insurable for loss.
travelingmcmahans
February 13th, 2005, 09:56 AM
Wow! Do you mind telling us how many Marriott stays you had to accumulate for anentire cruise? That's wonderful! I'm thrilled to have free airfare to Europe from our Amx miles and 3 nights at Hilton Vienna from Hampton stays on our upcoming trip... A free cruise is incredible!:)
taxjam
February 13th, 2005, 12:34 PM
Wow! Do you mind telling us how many Marriott stays you had to accumulate for anentire cruise? That's wonderful! I'm thrilled to have free airfare to Europe from our Amx miles and 3 nights at Hilton Vienna from Hampton stays on our upcoming trip... A free cruise is incredible!:)
360,000 points - but then my wife spent a few $s (about $700) to upgrade to a veranda; with the points you get a maindeck room with a porthole + we needed to pay the taxes and port charges (about $600)