travel insurance over 1 year in advance

I usually try to buy my travel insurance right after booking my cruise so I qualify for cancel-for-any-reason insurance. I just booked our honeymoon cruise for Sept. 2017, and I started researching travel insurance options... all of them say it's not valid more than 1 year prior to the trip. Does anyone know what to do? I can't imagine that people who book cruises over a year in advance don't qualify for any trip insurance! FWIW, we don't want to buy insurance through the cruise line because we are booking our flights, excursions, and pre- and post-cruise hotels on our own and want to make sure everything is covered by the insurance.

The simple answer is not to commit to any expenses more than a year before your cruise. ;)

Yes, I appreciate that because it's a honeymoon (congrats, BTW :)) you want to start planning early but committing to flights, hotels & such that far out isn't the norm.

Even for cruises that can be booked that far ahead, neither you nor the cruise line are committed.

I can't think of any commitments you'd need to make further out than a year - and I suspect most sellers also wouldn't want to commit to their prices & terms more than a year out. For instance I just checked a random couple of airlines, AA & Delta - they only offer flights up to December 2016.

So hold your horses & try to be patient, the day will come :)

JB :)

I always buy trip insurance right after booking my cruises in order to have pre-existing conditions covered. I usually book anywhere from a year to a year and a half ahead.

Most insurance can be purchased when final payment is due. If you are using a TA discuss it with them for confirmation. If booking direct, discuss it with the cruise line.

We can't book flights more than a year out and if you book a hotel with a good cancellation policy there is no reason to rush in to buying insurance for a Sept /17 trip. Since you are preparing for a wedding, I would however put the money aside for it so you have it when you need to purchase it. :)

The reason for purchasing the insurance right away is because most policies include a pre-existing condition waiver if the insurance is purchased within the specified time period of booking the trip, so if the OP waited she could lose out on that.

OP, go to www.insuremytrip.com and look there. I've never had trouble purchasing a policy and we book a year or more before the trip. [edited to add that purchasing the policy now may result in significant savings on the policy also. I bought a policy for our trip on the Gem when I booked it and then looked at the price when we were a couple of months before sailing and the price had doubled.]

I usually try to buy my travel insurance right after booking my cruise so I qualify for cancel-for-any-reason insurance. I just booked our honeymoon cruise for Sept. 2017, and I started researching travel insurance options... all of them say it's not valid more than 1 year prior to the trip. Does anyone know what to do? I can't imagine that people who book cruises over a year in advance don't qualify for any trip insurance! FWIW, we don't want to buy insurance through the cruise line because we are booking our flights, excursions, and pre- and post-cruise hotels on our own and want to make sure everything is covered by the insurance.

You should get clarification directly from the insurance company. My understanding of your statement is that you are insured for covered issue that happen within one year prior to your start of travel (e.g., cancellation). The only relevance of when you purchase the insurance relates to waivers of preexisting conditions (another woefully misunderstood item).

Consider a Travelex Select Traveler comprehensive policy or at least use it's provisions as the standard by which to measure other companies' offerings.

Yes, you want to insure pre-existing conditions, so book the insurance right away. Book the insurance only with the cost of the cruise as your base. Later when you add flights and a hotel, call the insurance with your new base cost, and then pay the additional premium.

BTW, the one time we had a cruise booked that far in advance, a Baltic cruise for our 30th anniversary, that is what we did.

I see the pre-existing medical condition clause reason but Sept 2017 is a long way away and if you pay for the insurance coverage for that date and your plans change, then what? Would the OP lose her money? Would the travel insurance be transferable? If you are only insured for any medical condition occurring 1 year or closer to your trip start date then purchasing it before does not seem worth it at all.

Yes, you want to insure pre-existing conditions, so book the insurance right away. Book the insurance only with the cost of the cruise as your base. Later when you add flights and a hotel, call the insurance with your new base cost, and then pay the additional premium.

 

 

 

BTW, the one time we had a cruise booked that far in advance, a Baltic cruise for our 30th anniversary, that is what we did.

OR... Use a travel savvy credit card (e.g., United Airlines Explorer Visa) to purchase your airfare, excursions, pre/post cruise hotels) and you'll have protection for those items separately (up to whatever max [e.g., $10K total]) without adding cost beyond the cruise itself to your travel policy.

Thanks for all of your replies! We will be sailing on a very small ship with limited cabins in the category we want, so we don't want to wait until 1 year before the cruise and risk losing the cabin of our choice. My credit card does not provide the kind of trip insurance I would want (I just read the details... they only cover me if I die on the trip :/)

I always buy insurance with the help of insuremytrip.com, and that is actually where I found this info about them not covering me over 12 months out. That is an interested suggestion that the plan only covers if you try to cancel within 12 months of the trip, since if I cancel over 12 months from the cruise I would do that directly through the cruise line and get a refund of my deposit. I am just not sure that that is what it really means. This is the phrase that I am concerned about:

"Your Scheduled Departure Date must be no more than 12 months beyond Your Effective Date."

According to insuremytrip,com, for comprehensive travel insurance:

These plans offer all inclusive coverage, from trip cancellation to medical evacuation. Because of this, the effective date of the plan will be one minute after midnight the day after you bought the plan. If you purchased your travel insurance on April 26th at 4:13pm, your plan will go into effect on April 27th at 12:01am. This will allow you to utilize your trip cancellation coverage if needed.

That reads to me like the effective date is the day I buy the insurance, and that isn't valid over 12 months before the cruise. I will probably just call the insurance companies and ask them what I should do.

I purchased insurance through trip insurance store (google it). I booked my trip well over a year and a half out and also bought the insurance right away. I also found the same or similar coverage less expensive that another company mentioned earlier in this thread.

I agree with trying Trip Insurance Store. Give them a call. They will give you the correct info and explain your options when booking this far out.

Thanks for all of your replies! We will be sailing on a very small ship with limited cabins in the category we want, so we don't want to wait until 1 year before the cruise and risk losing the cabin of our choice. My credit card does not provide the kind of trip insurance I would want (I just read the details... they only cover me if I die on the trip :/)

 

I always buy insurance with the help of insuremytrip.com, and that is actually where I found this info about them not covering me over 12 months out. That is an interested suggestion that the plan only covers if you try to cancel within 12 months of the trip, since if I cancel over 12 months from the cruise I would do that directly through the cruise line and get a refund of my deposit. I am just not sure that that is what it really means. This is the phrase that I am concerned about:

 

"Your Scheduled Departure Date must be no more than 12 months beyond Your Effective Date."

 

According to insuremytrip,com, for comprehensive travel insurance:

These plans offer all inclusive coverage, from trip cancellation to medical evacuation. Because of this, the effective date of the plan will be one minute after midnight the day after you bought the plan. If you purchased your travel insurance on April 26th at 4:13pm, your plan will go into effect on April 27th at 12:01am. This will allow you to utilize your trip cancellation coverage if needed.

 

That reads to me like the effective date is the day I buy the insurance, and that isn't valid over 12 months before the cruise. I will probably just call the insurance companies and ask them what I should do.

Well, I don't understand all that, but we've always (well, except for one cruise) used Insure My Trip to purchase, and several of our trips were purchased over a year ahead of time. We always purchase within 2 weeks of initial deposit for the pre-existing conditions coverage. And we've never been told we had to start the trip within 12 months.

Unless this is something new, or something specific to a specific company, I'd ask again for clarification of this.

If you want want an accessible cabin you have to book as soon as the cruise is released, which can often be 2 years in advance. So if you are disabled and likely to have other medical problems this poses a problem. By the way I am from the UK so the insurance companies you mention would not apply to me.

If you want want an accessible cabin you have to book as soon as the cruise is released, which can often be 2 years in advance. So if you are disabled and likely to have other medical problems this poses a problem. By the way I am from the UK so the insurance companies you mention would not apply to me.

This thread is over a year old.

It is still relevant, my post was only a few days ago

If you have any medical issue that would warrant booking early because of the "pre-existing" conditions clause, get your insurance in that first 14 days after booking.

I book our longer cruises way ahead of time (more than 12 months) and here is how I look at it: If I have to cancel, it costs her nothing since I can use that insurance for another trip in the future. So, once I booked a fall TA and then decided to do it the following spring. The insurance company just applied my insurance to the spring cruise.

Most insurance can be purchased when final payment is due. If you are using a TA discuss it with them for confirmation. If booking direct, discuss it with the cruise line.

check it out for yourself, Y Presumably y OUR TA I is an expert in travel but not INSURANCE AS HER OR HIS FIELD OF SPECIAL KNOWLEDGE. IF YOU WISH, ask you TA but get the answers from the i inwsurer you htink you may use.

You should get clarification directly from the insurance company. My understanding of your statement is that you are insured for covered issue that happen within one year prior to your start of travel (e.g., cancellation). The only relevance of when you purchase the insurance relates to waivers of preexisting conditions (another woefully misunderstood item).

 

Consider a Travelex Select Traveler comprehensive policy or at least use it's provisions as the standard by which to measure other companies' offerings.

Because we've started booking further out of late (currently into 2019 - almost 2 years), I've been doing more research on finding good insurance for higher priced cruises where the premiums won't break the bank and PEC waivers are available for policies purchased before final payment is due (e.g., Nationwide)

To that end, websites like insuremytrip.com can be helpful. But, read the fine print. Brokered versions of a particular policy can have different coverages/limitations than the same-named policy available on an insurer's own website. So, it's often best to buy direct. Of course, whatever you do, never buy a cruise line's own insurance for all of the obvious reasons.

BTW, whenever you comparison shop, take a look at Travelex Select Traveler - if for no other reason than to have a "gold standard" for comparison. Remember too, that trip cancel/interrupt coverage provided by some credit cards do not waive PECs. Finally, if you're a fellow American geezer, make sure your Medicare supplement policy converts to, at least, its "basic" coverage version whenever you leave the US.

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JMO but I would not depend upon what a TA has to say with regard to travel insurance. I would depend upon what propspective inurrererrs say. If you have any paarticular compnies in mind, ASK them. iF your TA RECOMMENDS AN INsurer, ,

 

check it out for yourself, Y Presumably y OUR TA I is an expert in travel but not INSURANCE AS HER OR HIS FIELD OF SPECIAL KNOWLEDGE. IF YOU WISH, ask you TA but get the answers from the i inwsurer you htink you may use.

We always book through a TA - the same one for about 20 years - and, when we buy it, buy our insurance through her. Sometimes we purchase when we book, sometimes at final payment. We have also purchased through her directly with the cruise line as well as with independent carriers. She sends us the policies for our review and also provides us with the opportunity to purchase on our own if we prefer.

I trust what she has to say based on my direct experience with her, and that is just what works with us.