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Travel Insurance


Espi
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TA is quoting us $1860.00 for me and my wife ($930 per person).

 

We're flying out of Tampa to LA then LA to Fiji for the Aug 30th 12-day PG cruise. We're going to stay 3 nights at the Sofitel in Fiji prior to embarkation.

 

 

Do you think it's worth paying $1900.00 for travel insurance?

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TA is quoting us $1860.00 for me and my wife ($930 per person).

 

We're flying out of Tampa to LA then LA to Fiji for the Aug 30th 12-day PG cruise. We're going to stay 3 nights at the Sofitel in Fiji prior to embarkation.

 

 

Do you think it's worth paying $1900.00 for travel insurance?

 

Depends on what you're paying for the vacation.

 

If you are staying in a suite and the vacation is costing you $16K, then this is not unreasonable. If you are staying in an inside cabin and the trip is $6K, then it's too much.

 

Go to any trip insurance website and enter your details and see what other quotes you get. You can do this without entering personal information or a credit card.

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So here is a thought, You can buy a very good annual Travel Medical policy for about $350 per year (total cost per couple) that will cover medical costs (up to $250,000) on every trip you take during an entire year (as long as the trip does not exceed 70 days in length). So why are you going to pay $1860 for a policy that probably does not even have very good medical coverage? Because you would be insuring the cost of trip cancellation. So, is it worth $1500 to you to insure that cost? That is the question. Some frequent travelers (including moi) do not buy Trip Policies because they are very expensive and we are willing to self-insure (or take the risk) of the cost related to trip cancellation or delay. In our case we are ahead of the game by over $200,000 because of all the Trip Insurance we have NOT purchased for our many trips. But some folks do not want to take this gamble, and others have certain risks (like a sick family member) that makes the cost of Trip Insurance a reasonable purchase.

 

There is no right or wrong (although everyone should have medical insurance) to this issue but rather a simple calculation of how much risk you are willing to assume vs spending the big bucks.

 

Hank

Edited by Hlitner
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I too use an annual policy that is available here in Canada that covers both medical and trip cancellation. The medical coverage is great. Sometimes the trip coverage maximum does not cover my total cost. Depending on the difference between the coverage and the trip cost I either choose to self insure, ie take the risk, on the difference or I contact them, pay an additional premium for that specifc trip and am fully insured. Far cheaper than trip by trip travel insurance. My coverage is for a maximum of 31 days out of country at a time as many times a year as I want to use it. Again for an additional premium I can get it extended if required and have in the past.

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Thanks for the replies so far.

 

We've budgeted our trip so far at about $35K. I personally think we'll be pushing 40k by the time we're done (excursions, etc.)

 

The insurance company that the TA is recommending is Allianz and I've read reviews about them on this site and so far I'm not very impressed.

 

Any companies out there besides Allianz that people like/can recommend?

Edited by Espi
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That sounds really high, but cost does depend upon the price of the trip and the kind of coverage, also on your age. For our recent 17 day cruise, our insurance was about $300. We're late sixties. Our total trip cost was probably around $4000 though.

 

I always use an insurance compare site so that I can get the policy I need--for instance, I need a policy that covers existing conditions for family members. I also try to find one with very high medical coverage for things such as medical evacuation.

 

We can, if necessary, eat the cost of the trip itself, but if one of us had serious medical problems that is where the big bucks come in. We have had to use our trip insurance 3 times, twice for health crisis for elderly parents, once during the SARS epidemic for a trip to China.

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TA is quoting us $1860.00 for me and my wife ($930 per person).

 

We're flying out of Tampa to LA then LA to Fiji for the Aug 30th 12-day PG cruise. We're going to stay 3 nights at the Sofitel in Fiji prior to embarkation.

 

 

Do you think it's worth paying $1900.00 for travel insurance?

 

The bulk of the insurance cost is probably trip cancellation . Also are you 60+ then most medical insurance plans skyrocket. For example I'm over 60 my insurance for travel is double of what my DW pays . I have checked a number of insurance sites and yes insurance is expensive.

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I've been thinking of getting annual insurance for my sister and I. We cruise 3 or 4 times a year and also spend a month at the beach in the summer.

 

$250,000 medical sounds okay, but what about medical evacuation? Is that also included in an annual policy? I usually want about $500,000 for evac.

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For those asking for the sites to compare, try: http://www.insuremytrip.com I think I've heard others talk about insurance store, or something like that.

 

To me, the quote you were given seems high. The nice thing about insuremytrip, is you can select what level of insurance you want / require.

 

Personally, I always get trip insurance for trips I take out of the country. I tend to take 1 trip a year, so for me, buying insurance on a trip by trip basis makes more sense than an annual policy.

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For those asking for the sites to compare, try: http://www.insuremytrip.com I think I've heard others talk about insurance store, or something like that.

 

To me, the quote you were given seems high. The nice thing about insuremytrip, is you can select what level of insurance you want / require.

 

Personally, I always get trip insurance for trips I take out of the country. I tend to take 1 trip a year, so for me, buying insurance on a trip by trip basis makes more sense than an annual policy.

 

We use insuremytrip as well. To the OP: I would check insuremytrip. Input your trip parameters and compare the premiums and coverage. Pay particular attention to the medi-vac coverage.

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FYI I'll be 43 in FEB and wife will be 59 in March.

 

per email from my TA:

 

"It covers everything from trip cancellation/interruption to emergency medical evacuation and services.

 

It is through Allianz Global Assistance. We always include the quote and travel insurance policy information in every invoice we send to our guests. It is completely optional but recommended.

 

There is no deductible but in some cases, such as having the visit the ship’s doctor, you would have to pay for that service out of pocket immediately. You would be later reimbursed for it once you have filed a claim and it is approved."

Edited by Espi
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We use insuremytrip as well. To the OP: I would check insuremytrip. Input your trip parameters and compare the premiums and coverage. Pay particular attention to the medi-vac coverage.

 

Thank you.

 

I appreciate all replies so far. Please keep 'em coming.

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Look at the policies and see what you need/want. Do you need trip insurance or just medical?

 

Some medical only policies have some trip included.

 

For DD (studying abroad) we build her a policy thru Travel Guard. She doesn't need as much travel as she does medical.

Edited by SadieN
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Travel insurance is usually based on the cost of the trip.

 

Today I had to cancel our upcoming trip. My wife has been diagnosed with cancer and will be having surgery and chemo in the coming months. The cruise was for March 2, so we get nothing except taxes and port charges from the cruise line. It was a 30 day b2b costing over $10K.

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Lately, I have been using Travel Guard, but do check competitive prices for each trip. I particularly like Travel Guard's "build your own" product that allows us to define our needs based on the individual trip. I've never made a claim (knock on wood) but they have been nice on the phone.

 

Some important concerns to me....

coverage for pre-existing conditions

reasonable medical evac coverage based on itinerary

"hospital of choice" for medical evac

reasonable medical coverage based on itinerary

primary or secondary medical coverage is based on itinerary

policy exclusions

deductibles

 

Some concerns not so important to me anymore since I'm more willing to self-insure...

trip cancellation

baggage

accidental death

 

You may want to check out the Cruise/Travel Insurance forum at:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=635

 

I learned a lot going through that forum when I first started cruising.

.

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I've been thinking of getting annual insurance for my sister and I. We cruise 3 or 4 times a year and also spend a month at the beach in the summer.

 

$250,000 medical sounds okay, but what about medical evacuation? Is that also included in an annual policy? I usually want about $500,000 for evac.

 

Our Annual Med does also toss in $500,000 of medical evacuation insurance. It used to be underwritten by HTH but recently has been turned over to GlobalBlue which part of the Blue Cross/Blue Shield Network. What is cool it that it is an annual policy so it covers us for our approximate half a dozen trips per year (3 of which are for about 2 months per trip). AMEX also has a similar policy (it used to only cover each trip up to 60 days) for its card holders.

 

Trip Evac does have its own problems since its use is generally controlled by the insurance company and physicians. For those who want the Rolls Royce of Trip Evac there is a policy available from Medjetassist. The liability from the cost of cancelling a trip is limited to the cost of the trip and that is something we can afford to self-insure since we are going to pay for the trip. But Medical liability is essentially unlimited and we do not know anyone who can (or should) gamble on that type of risk.

 

Hank

Edited by Hlitner
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check on Google for Columbus Direct travel insurance.

We use them for ears with renewed annual travel insurance with a 15 MILLION GBP medical expenses, inclusion for cruise insurance (which apparently does not seem a common inclusion), etc etc for less than 150 GBP for a couple.

Pretty much everything except "extreme sports" is included.

We needed to visit a clinic in Spain to get treatment for a bad tummy bug and after finding out our insurance cover, the doctors wanted to give my wife a heads-to-toe checkup, including ECG and brain scans.... :-)

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check on Google for Columbus Direct travel insurance.

We use them for ears with renewed annual travel insurance with a 15 MILLION GBP medical expenses, inclusion for cruise insurance (which apparently does not seem a common inclusion), etc etc for less than 150 GBP for a couple.

Pretty much everything except "extreme sports" is included.

We needed to visit a clinic in Spain to get treatment for a bad tummy bug and after finding out our insurance cover, the doctors wanted to give my wife a heads-to-toe checkup, including ECG and brain scans.... :-)

 

The OP is from the USA, so UK Insurance is no good to them.

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Travel insurance is usually based on the cost of the trip.

 

Today I had to cancel our upcoming trip. My wife has been diagnosed with cancer and will be having surgery and chemo in the coming months. The cruise was for March 2, so we get nothing except taxes and port charges from the cruise line. It was a 30 day b2b costing over $10K.

 

I don't know you Paul. but I have read many posts from you. I just want to say sorry to hear about your wife, and I will be praying for all to go well with her.

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I bought a CSA policy that meets our needs for our upcoming PG cruise. I don't need cancel for any reason, we are going unless something that would be covered anyhow happens. It was under $500 for the two of us and provides $250K in emergency evacuation (enough to get us back to LA) and $50K in medical. My regular health insurance would pick up some of those costs as well, plus I have additional benefits trough AmEx.

 

 

Autocorrect responsible for most typos...

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