Do we need travel insurance?

I have never had travel insurance. Do we need it?

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If you don't have travel insurance, what is your plan for covering costs related to illness requiring hospitalization in a foreign country with/without transfer back to the US in the event of severe illness?

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If you don't have travel insurance, what is your plan for covering costs related to illness requiring hospitalization in a foreign country with/without transfer back to the US in the event of severe illness?

 

 

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I assumed my regular health insurance covered that. First time cruiser remember...feeling like maybe I shouldn't be asking questions because I keep getting scolded.

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Sorry- don't mean to sound scolding. You had mentioned early on that you do a lot of research before traveling. And, though you will get some very valuable time-saving help here, you've probably already recognized some contradictory suggestions by self-proclaimed (either intentionally or not) "experts."

When you want the right answers, go to the primary sources (I.e., the US State Dept., the cruise line, your health insurance company, etc.)

You will enjoy yourself and it will be easier the next time around.

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I assumed my regular health insurance covered that. First time cruiser remember...feeling like maybe I shouldn't be asking questions because I keep getting scolded.

 

 

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Keep asking questions and ignore the people who are less than kind.

If you do some research on CC there is a lot of info about travel insurance.

There are a lot of people who never buy this coverage and only can hope they will never be sorry.

But you need to understand the risks of traveling without protection. First most important your medical insurance will absolutely NOT cover anything that happens on the ship (or expense in the ships medical clinic) or on land. That coverage is only for within the confines of the US.

If something happens before your trip and you are unable to travel (to sick, death in the family, the flu) you will lose your cruise, all the $$ paid for the cruise. And no the cruise line will not give you your money back or allow you to "Reschedule" your cruise to a different date.

Those are just a couple of examples as to why you get travel insurance.

Please just Google "why travel insurance".

You are going to have a great time and it's a good thing that you have found Cruise critic... Just start reading different subjects on these boards and you will learn so much!

Flatbush Flyer has given excellent advice, call the experts. The posters on this board can only raise Red Flags that tell you to look closer into the issues and ask the experts!

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Your regular health insurance may or may not pay for treatment on a cruise ship or overseas. Mine will, but only through a preferred provider. Typical travel insurance covers trip cancellation for covered reasons, trip delay for covered reasons, lost luggage, medical care, and medical evacuation. www.insuremytrip.com is a good place to shop policies side by side. Many policies will waive pre-existing conditions if you purchase the insurance within a certain period of time following initial payment (usually 14 days or so). I booked our upcoming cruise 15 months before the cruise and my policy cost roughly $30 per person. By purchasing the insurance when I booked my carrier not only waived pre-existing conditions but is primary for medical so I don't have to go through my health insurance first. If I purchased the same policy today it would cost twice as much and have neither of those benefits.

Be sure to read and fully understand the pre existing conditiin clauses.

Travel insurance policies cover more than just health related issues. Depending on which policy you choose, you can also get coverage for lost, stolen or damaged personal property, such as your luggage and it's contents. If you fly to and from the port of departure, you can also include flight insurance. If your flight is delayed or canceled, and you miss the departure of your cruise, can you afford to throw all of that money away? Go to insuremytrip.com. You can do side by side comparisons of several different policies and determine which insurance company and policy best suits your needs. To some, buying insurance is an unnecessary expense. My thinking is, it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.;)

I will definitely be checking into this today. I would never have realized I needed this insurance if I hadn't ask the question so thank you for taking the time to answer!

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If you don't have travel insurance, what is your plan for covering costs related to illness requiring hospitalization in a foreign country with/without transfer back to the US in the event of severe illness?

I assumed my regular health insurance covered that. First time cruiser remember...feeling like maybe I shouldn't be asking questions because I keep getting scolded.

With all due respect, you might want to see a doctor for thicker skin, as Flatbush Flyer's reply, in my opinion, merely lays out a simple scenario to help highlight a need for travel insurance. I see no accusatory, derogatory, or condescending tone in there whatsoever.

Rather than not asking questions, you might want to ask lots of questions because you're getting schooled here, not scolded.

Having spend most of my adult life in the Medical Insurance business we think the OP asks a great question. And the answer is actually pretty simple. It depends! You need to think of travel insurance as 3 types of insurance, trip interruption/cancellation; travel medical insurance; and trip evacuation. Many folks already have the medical insurance (you need to check the details of your current policy and may even have trip evacuation.

Those of us who are on Medicare have no coverage outside the USA (although some have supplemental policies that might grant some coverage). We often recommend here on these boards that travelers need to be very careful to have good medical and trip evacuation coverage. Your liability for these items is virtually unlimited and its just not a risk anyone should reasonably take. But cancellation/interruption coverage is a known liability and generally limited to the cost of your trip. So many folks might want to assume the risk of this liability, given that the cost of decent cancellation insurance is pretty steep given the coverage amounts.

Ironically, the trip insurance sold by many cruise lines is woefully inadequate when it comes to medical coverage. We have long held the belief that $100,000 of medical coverage is a bare minimum for anyone...and $250,000+ is ideal. As to Trip Evacuation, $50,000 will normally cover any kind of evacuation..but insurance companies have fun with this since they will often give you $500,000 of evacuation coverage with the knowledge that they seldom to ever pay out anything over $50,000 (and its usually less then half this amount).

So my advice is look at your own situation, read the fine print of your own medical insurance policy (or call the insurer with questions) and make your decision according to what is best for you. You can shop for various policies on insuremytrip.com or squaremouth.com and make an informed decision.

One other point for frequent travelers (that would be moi). DW and I purchase an annual travel medical policy that costs us about $350 per year (and this is the cost to insure both of us). This policy covers all trips we take throughout an entire year (up to 70 days per trip) with $250,000 of medical insurance and $500,000 of evacuation coverage. We choose to self-insure cancellation since that type coverage would cost us a lot of money to cover all our trips. Bottom line is that travel medical policies are relatively cheap. But once you start to insure cancellation (especially for any reason) you are going to pay relatively large premiums.

Hank

Hank

You didn't mention if you had already booked. Some policies require payment within a certain time frame after booking. Almost none will sell you a policy after you make final payment.

For example, if you decide not to buy travel insurance, then a storm develops that may cancel flights or alter the ship's schedule, you won't be sold a policy. If you miss the ship due to weather you be out 100% of your fare. In the Cunard forum we had somebody who booked transatlantic but airports across the entire US east coast were closed with the approach of storm Sandy. He tried to get insurance two days before sailing and of course it was way too late. He could not fly into NY and lost his entire fare.

You have to decide if the expense versus risk is worth it to you.

With all due respect, you might want to see a doctor for thicker skin, as Flatbush Flyer's reply, in my opinion, merely lays out a simple scenario to help highlight a need for travel insurance. I see no accusatory, derogatory, or condescending tone in there whatsoever.

 

Rather than not asking questions, you might want to ask lots of questions because you're getting schooled here, not scolded.

When you combine with with FF's responses to him in other threads, it really does come across as scolding. FF has now said they didn't mean to come across that way, but there's no reason to pile on the OP for that either.

Something else that has come up on these insurance threads is that Canadians have a completely different set of rules with their health coverage. You don't have a location set, so just in case.

Depends on how much you like to gamble.

With all due respect, you might want to see a doctor for thicker skin, as Flatbush Flyer's reply, in my opinion, merely lays out a simple scenario to help highlight a need for travel insurance. I see no accusatory, derogatory, or condescending tone in there whatsoever.

 

Rather than not asking questions, you might want to ask lots of questions because you're getting schooled here, not scolded.

Wow...so welcoming! I had posted several questions last night and Flatbush commented on most of them and yes it is hard to read tone but they definitely seemed condescending. So although maybe not on this thread definitely so on others.

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Ok so I am definitely going to research trip insurance today. I have already booked and paid in full. Booked 2 days ago. Had to pay in full because trip is in June. I am in US. Again thank you for those that took the time to answer. Greatly appreciated!

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It would be really helpful if you would adjust your profile to at least put where you are from. I am pretty sure due to something you said on another thread that you are from the US. But if you are Canadian then we have given you a boatload of Bad bad advice!

Also being a bit more accurate about your location (Boston, Dallas, etc) allows us to help you in the future when you have issues with travel or airlines.

JMHO (just my humble opinion )

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Ok so I am definitely going to research trip insurance today. I have already booked and paid in full. Booked 2 days ago. Had to pay in full because trip is in June. I am in US. Again thank you for those that took the time to answer. Greatly appreciated!

 

 

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Thank goodness you are in the window to "protect" your cruise! Remember 14 days is the window for coverage. Third party coverage is usually the best and most cost effective. Good place to start is at "insuremytrip.com" sadly in bad at posting links but I think another poster has posted this link. I second this recommendation, call and talk to them!

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It would be really helpful if you would adjust your profile to at least put where you are from. I am pretty sure due to something you said on another thread that you are from the US. But if you are Canadian then we have given you a boatload of Bad bad advice!

Also being a bit more accurate about your location (Boston, Dallas, etc) allows us to help you in the future when you have issues with travel or airlines.

 

JMHO (just my humble opinion )

 

 

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OK, drug out the laptop and figured out how to do that. You now know where I am and how many days until my cruise. :)

Thank goodness you are in the window to "protect" your cruise! Remember 14 days is the window for coverage. Third party coverage is usually the best and most cost effective. Good place to start is at "insuremytrip.com" sadly in bad at posting links but I think another poster has posted this link. I second this recommendation, call and talk to them!

 

 

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Yay! Glad I can still do it. This is dh's 50th birthday present and today is his birthday so may be tomorrow before I can get that done. All I have done so far is book the cruise and that was only 2 days ago. We have a daughter that is a majorette and I had to know her summer schedule first. Thanks again for taking time to post...greatly appreciated!!!

I assumed my regular health insurance covered that. First time cruiser remember...feeling like maybe I shouldn't be asking questions because I keep getting scolded.

 

 

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Read your health insurance policy to check coverage but the majority do not cover out of USA occurrences.

So, even if you choose not to have trip cancellation coverage make sure you get medical and medical evacuation coverage.

InsureMyTrip.com or SquareMouth.com are good sites for comparing policies.

seriously, don't leave home (your country) without it.

Research on line or go to any reputable travel agent to buy travel insurance.

Look carefully (or let a professional explain) what is / is not included.

You may safe a few buck by removing gimmicky extras, such as hijacking and terrorism coverage.

Just as example: I bought an annual worldwide travel insurance, including winter sports coverage (always more expensive) and "adventure sports" coverage (that one varies greatly between companies) for less than USD 500.-.

I busted my knee skiing in Austria. Sports clinic, 300 km taxi transport to the airport, surgery at home etc, etc. Medical bill of over USD 35000.-.

Covered and paid in full.

:)

I have never had travel insurance. Do we need it?

 

 

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You don't need it. Just like you don't need any insurance. You don't need health insurance, car insurance, life insurance, etc.

To determine if you should have insurance figure the risk of something that you are insuring for happening and weigh the cost of self insuring with the cost of paying for insurance.

Insurance is intended to cover costs you CANNOT cover. Generally you should self-insure for risks which you can afford to cover. Think about the deductible on your auto collusion insurance. Most of us have either a $500 or $1,000 deductible because we can afford to pay that and if we go a few years without a claim, we will actually come out ahead if once we do have to cover the deductible.

Travel medical insurance is something I cannot do without - no way would I want to risk having to pay perhaps $50,000 for medical evacuation - or to pay for medical care overseas, where my medical insurance - like that of most others would not provide ANY coverage. Because we travel a fair amount, the most economic coverage is permanent - we pay every month regardless of whether we travel, but the coverage is there whenever we are more than 500 miles from home.

Trip cancellation insurance is something we long ago decided we would not buy. So far the decision was sound - thirty-plus trips, if insured, would have cost us more in coverage than the cost we would incur for a last minute cancellation. That is an example of self- insurance. I can afford not taking a cruise and not getting my money back, while I could not afford overseas medical care uninsured, or medical evacuation - so that is the risk against which I buy insurance.