What travel insurance do you recommend?

Are there any travel insurances that cover trip cancellation due to sickness or injury prior to the trip!? With kids, that's always my biggest concern.

Are there any travel insurances that cover trip cancellation due to sickness or injury prior to the trip!? With kids, that's always my biggest concern.

Go to http://www.insuremytrip.com and compare policies. You can get more coverage for less money than going through the cruise line.

If you are a member of USAA they have great trip insurance.

I second insuremytrip.com. You can select cancel for any reason, or other items as needed. I've had great success with them.

Good luck

travel guard

Go to Squaremouth.com and do some comparisons there.

We always buys travel insurance because I have an elderly Mom and don't want to take any chances on needing to get back or having to cancel last minute.

Some policies (travelguard maybe) also will include kids for free so it's a really good site to use so you can compare.

The ones we have always used included pre-existing conditions, etc. as long as they were purchased within so many days of down payment.

In my opinion it's very little money for a lot of peace of mind.

Good luck!

Go to Squaremouth.com and do some comparisons there.

 

We always buys travel insurance because I have an elderly Mom and don't want to take any chances on needing to get back or having to cancel last minute.

 

Some policies (travelguard maybe) also will include kids for free so it's a really good site to use so you can compare.

 

The ones we have always used included pre-existing conditions, etc. as long as they were purchased within so many days of down payment.

 

In my opinion it's very little money for a lot of peace of mind.

 

Good luck!

Thanks for that link to Squaremouth. Easy to use, and easy to compare policies.

We always use tripinsurancestore.com and normally buy the TravelSafe plan which fits our needs. For every cruise, we call tripinsurancestore and speak to one of highly knowledgeable reps and go over the trip. They will advise which insurance would be the best for our specific needs and they are there if you have any problems at all.

Good luck!!

We always use tripinsurancestore.com and normally buy the TravelSafe plan which fits our needs. For every cruise, we call tripinsurancestore and speak to one of highly knowledgeable reps and go over the trip. They will advise which insurance would be the best for our specific needs and they are there if you have any problems at all.

 

Good luck!!

I cannot find anything in the TravelSafe info that requires coverage of airfares. What has been your experience in that regard?

I cannot find anything in the TravelSafe info that requires coverage of airfares. What has been your experience in that regard?

All prepaid, non-refundable costs must be covered for the pre-existing condition waiver. Our airfare is non refundable so we include it in our total. Have verified this with both a rep at tripinsurancestore and a rep at TravelSafe.

All prepaid, non-refundable costs must be covered for the pre-existing condition waiver. Our airfare is non refundable so we include it in our total. Have verified this with both a rep at tripinsurancestore and a rep at TravelSafe.

The rep I spoke to at TravelSafe said that the pre-existing waiver would not be affected if we did not include the non-refundable airfare costs but it would affect the trip cancellation and interruption component.

The rep I spoke to at TravelSafe said that the pre-existing waiver would not be affected if we did not include the non-refundable airfare costs but it would affect the trip cancellation and interruption component.

It may be true but I am going by what I was told and emails documenting conversation. Bottom line for me, I will include all non-refundable costs to make sure there are no loop holes......it just me;)

It may be true but I am going by what I was told and emails documenting conversation. Bottom line for me, I will include all non-refundable costs to make sure there are no loop holes......it just me;)

Remember, it can vary by which TravelSafe plan you're looking at (they have several) and by your state of residence. You may both be correct.

I certainly don't want any loop holes either. It's scary to think that I've been underinsured for several cruises --even one which we booked and insured through a local-office travel agent!

I certainly don't want any loop holes either. It's scary to think that I've been underinsured for several cruises --even one which we booked and insured through a local-office travel agent!

I agree and like you we were not properly insured for several cruises when we first started. That is why I guess I just find it safer to insure the air and cruise. Looks like we've both learned a lot;).

Go to Squaremouth.com and do some comparisons there.

 

 

 

We always buys travel insurance because I have an elderly Mom and don't want to take any chances on needing to get back or having to cancel last minute.

 

 

 

Some policies (travelguard maybe) also will include kids for free so it's a really good site to use so you can compare.

 

 

 

The ones we have always used included pre-existing conditions, etc. as long as they were purchased within so many days of down payment.

 

 

 

In my opinion it's very little money for a lot of peace of mind.

 

 

 

Good luck!

I have a question - why do the insurance carriers require you to buy the insurance so many days after initial deposit? We took the cruise line insurance when we booked our cruise, but after reading about better coverage at a lower rate,I was thinking about switching. We have not had to pay for the cruise line insurance; it's not due till final payment, so why would third-party require it be bought so far in advance? Why couldn't you purchase at any point up to final payment?

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I have a question - why do the insurance carriers require you to buy the insurance so many days after initial deposit? We took the cruise line insurance when we booked our cruise, but after reading about better coverage at a lower rate,I was thinking about switching. We have not had to pay for the cruise line insurance; it's not due till final payment, so why would third-party require it be bought so far in advance? Why couldn't you purchase at any point up to final payment?

 

 

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You can. In fact, you can also buy it from some carriers after final payment. But some provisions may be different.

Many of the insurers require that you buy it within a certain number of days to get the "cancel for any reason" coverage or pre-existing condition coverage. (CSA will cover pre-existing conditions if bought on or before final payment.) This is to minimize "adverse selection" - buying the insurance only after you've had some sort of event that could cause you to cancel.

You can. In fact, you can also buy it from some carriers after final payment. But some provisions may be different.

 

Many of the insurers require that you buy it within a certain number of days to get the "cancel for any reason" coverage or pre-existing condition coverage. (CSA will cover pre-existing conditions if bought on or before final payment.) This is to minimize "adverse selection" - buying the insurance only after you've had some sort of event that could cause you to cancel.

Ah...so, stop people from buying when they know they need to cancel. We only need cancel for any reason because we have aging parents, so if one fell seriously ill or worse would be the only reason we would probably cancel.

I was planning on calling around, but when I saw that there were conditions that you needed to book so many days after you book your trip. We booked our trip in early Oct :). So we are probably well beyond that range...lol

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We only need cancel for any reason because we have aging parents, so if one fell seriously ill or worse would be the only reason we would probably cancel.

 

Every major third-party insurer would cover this in their base policy -- there would be no need to pay the ~50% additional premium to get this coverage.

This is from one plan's covered reasons for trip cancellation:

"Sickness, Injury or death of you, your Family Member, Traveling Companion, or Business Partner. The Sickness must commence while coverage is in effect, require the examination of a Physician, in person, at the time of Trip Cancellation or Trip Interruption and, in the written option of the treating Physician, be so disabling as to prevent you from taking or continuing your Covered Trip."

Here's the plan definition of a "Family Member:

'Family Member includes your or the Traveling Companion's dependent, spouse, child, spouse's child, son-daughter-in-law, parent(s), sibling(s), brother-sister, grandparent(s), grandchild, step brother-sister, step-parent(s), parent(s)-in-law, brother-sister-in-law, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, guardian, Domestic Partner, foster-child, or ward."

Your parents may have some medical issues and you perhaps have not purchased a policy within the time frame needed to get coverage for pre-existing conditions. Even that might not be a problem as some insurers DO NOT apply the pre-existing condition to NON-traveling family members. This is from a Travelex plan:

"Pre-existing Condition means an illness, disease, or other condition during the 60 day period immediately prior to your effective date for which you or your Traveling Companion, Domestic Partner, Business Partner or Family Member scheduled or booked to travel with you:

1) received or received a recommendation for a diagnostic test, examination, or medical treatment; or

2) took or received a prescription for drugs or medicine. . . . . "

Every major third-party insurer would cover this in their base policy -- there would be no need to pay the ~50% additional premium to get this coverage.

 

 

 

This is from one plan's covered reasons for trip cancellation:

 

 

 

"Sickness, Injury or death of you, your Family Member, Traveling Companion, or Business Partner. The Sickness must commence while coverage is in effect, require the examination of a Physician, in person, at the time of Trip Cancellation or Trip Interruption and, in the written option of the treating Physician, be so disabling as to prevent you from taking or continuing your Covered Trip."

 

 

 

Here's the plan definition of a "Family Member:

 

 

 

'Family Member includes your or the Traveling Companion's dependent, spouse, child, spouse's child, son-daughter-in-law, parent(s), sibling(s), brother-sister, grandparent(s), grandchild, step brother-sister, step-parent(s), parent(s)-in-law, brother-sister-in-law, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, guardian, Domestic Partner, foster-child, or ward."

 

 

 

Your parents may have some medical issues and you perhaps have not purchased a policy within the time frame needed to get coverage for pre-existing conditions. Even that might not be a problem as some insurers DO NOT apply the pre-existing condition to NON-traveling family members. This is from a Travelex plan:

 

 

 

"Pre-existing Condition means an illness, disease, or other condition during the 60 day period immediately prior to your effective date for which you or your Traveling Companion, Domestic Partner, Business Partner or Family Member scheduled or booked to travel with you:

 

 

 

1) received or received a recommendation for a diagnostic test, examination, or medical treatment; or

 

2) took or received a prescription for drugs or medicine. . . . . "

Thanks! This is basically what we were looking for.

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When searching on insuremytrip.com how do you pick a cruise as the destination, al is see are options to pick one travel destination? Do you just pic the country you are embarking from?

When searching on insuremytrip.com how do you pick a cruise as the destination, al is see are options to pick one travel destination? Do you just pic the country you are embarking from?

They let you pick general destinations (Caribbean, South America, Asia etc) or choose the most distant port of call.

We always use tripinsurancestore.com and normally buy the TravelSafe plan which fits our needs. For every cruise, we call tripinsurancestore and speak to one of highly knowledgeable reps and go over the trip. They will advise which insurance would be the best for our specific needs and they are there if you have any problems at all.

 

Good luck!!

This was a great website, several quotes come up in one page with all the information. There is also a link for policies with less medical coverage. I booked the travelsafe plan as it doesn't have pre-exsisting condition look back requirements for people not traveling with you, and 60 day look back on the travelers. Put in various amounts of money for example 1550 per person was $160 but 1500 per person was $124. For me it was worth the potential loss of $100 in event trip was cancelled to save $36 now.

As noted by Cruiseco in post #19, some policies do not apply the pre-existing condition exclusion to the ongoing health of non-traveling family members. But some do, even including it when it leads to death. For those of us concerned with elderly or ill family members it is absolutely vital that we choose our policies according to our needs, one size (or company) does not fit all.

For that reason alone, plus the fact that our ages are creeping up, we have now found the cruiseline policy (with 100% any-reason cancellation credit) to be our best option. But it may not be yours; we have refundable airfare (or insure it separately) and have the ability to use a credit within a year.