Travel Insurance Recommendations

My husband and I have been cruising once or twice a year for the last 10 years and have never bought travel/trip insurance....I know that is not recommended.

My husband is 63 and I am 52 and we are both in great health with no chronic issues. We are concerned though that we are getting older and should consider protecting ourselves. Jim's mother is also 90 years old and not in the best of health and are concerned that something might happen before our trip that would require us to stay home.

What would be the best company to obtain travel insurance with and what type of policy should we consider?

Thanks!

My husband and I have been cruising once or twice a year for the last 10 years and have never bought travel/trip insurance....I know that is not recommended.

 

My husband is 63 and I am 52 and we are both in great health with no chronic issues. We are concerned though that we are getting older and should consider protecting ourselves. Jim's mother is also 90 years old and not in the best of health and are concerned that something might happen before our trip that would require us to stay home.

 

What would be the best company to obtain travel insurance with and what type of policy should we consider?

 

Thanks!

Go to insuremytripdotcom. They list several reputable insurance companies with varying type of coverage. We never travel without insurance. We have used Travlex several times.

Dave

Save all receipts and credit card statements in case you do have to file. Our recent claim even required proof we had purchased the policy....surely they had proof.

Purchasing the right trip insurance plan can be very confusing. I have been getting mine from tripinsurancestore.com for many years now because I can always call someone there who will explain the policy differences and answer my questions. Shirley

There are a great many travel insurance policies and a few excellent on-line insurance brokers including squaremouth.com, insuremytrip.com.

The first thing to do is to find out what coverage you already have....for example, do you have health plans that cover expenses outside the US? If you do, then that's probably not all that important in Travel Insurance.

The cruise line offers health insurance (they resell someone's policy). It offers some good and some not so good provisions. One reason we don't buy it is that it only provides $25000 evacuation insurance...that's what covers getting your from the ship to a hospital and then home. While it's hard to estimate the possible exposure, $25,000 is pretty low.

Pre-existing conditions- sounds like you want this coverage so that if something happened to your mom, you would be covered.

Perhaps the one area where you really have to think a bit is "cancel for any reason" insurance. For example, your mom takes a turn for the worse and while her condition isn't covered (see the small print in any policy you're considering), you might want to postpone or cancel your trip just to be with her. That would be "cancel for any reason".

I'd suggest going to one of the web TA brokers and entering your details to see what types of policies show up and to compare the types of policies to see which might fit you the best.

I use Travel Insured International. If you are a USAA member, you get a 10% discount. Same applies if you are traveling with a USAA member.

Depending upon the particular cruise, I don't get the Trip Cancellation/reimbursement as the cruise is already paid -- just the emergency evacuation. This is the coverage I purchased for our cruise to Bermuda next week. Cost $70 for the two of us. Of course, cost varies depending on your age.

Missed Connection $750 (3 hours)

Trip Delay $1,500 ($200/ day)

Emergency Accident & Sickness Expense $150,000 ($50 deductible)

Emergency Evacuation & Repatriation $1,000,000

Pet Care $300 ($50/day)

Baggage & Personal Effects $2,500**

Baggage Delay $500 (12 hours)

Accidental Death and Dismemberment $25,000

Accidental Death & Dismemberment-Air Only $100,000

Renters Collision Insurance $50,000

** Baggage and Personal Effects has a per-article limit of $250. There is a combined maximum limit of $500 for valuables.

Purchasing the right trip insurance plan can be very confusing. I have been getting mine from tripinsurancestore.com for many years now because I can always call someone there who will explain the policy differences and answer my questions. Shirley

We also use TripInsuranceStore.com

We suggest that you CALL them, rather than just trying to compare all the choices online.

Sometimes they've suggested a less expensive coverage that fits our needs for a particular trip.

But they always ask a few questions (at the least) to help us find the right match for our needs for each different trip.

We also get MedJetAssist on an annual enrollment, "just in case"...

GeezerCouple

The major risks you should ensure you're covered for are medical and evacuation. Those costs could run into the tens of thousands of dollars.

On the other hand, trip cancelation insurance is something you may choose to self-insure for (i.e. not buy insurance). Trip cancelation coverage is relatively expensive and you've already paid for the cruise so it's unlikely to be a ruinous loss.

Just because you are healthy doesn't mean you'll never need to worry, either. We're worried about going on our next one due to a health issue that just started with out 20 year old. Who would have thought she would be the issue!

It all depends on your personal risk comfort level. I have the June trip fully insured due to where we are going and how much we are spending. $15K is a lot of $$$ for me. The Caribbean cruises I won't buy up as much, however.

Trip Insurance with medical is worth it's weight in gold. We were taking a cruise out of NYC and on the Cruise Line Bus ride to the port, my husband cut his finger loading other passengers luggage. The gash required 6 stitches. We had to do it on the ship, which is registered out of the US and therefore our medical insurance insurance considered it out of network. The $480 bill was immediately added to our tab and had to be paid when we departed the ship. The medical center on the ship did schedule a second visit to remove his stitches, but I did that myself. Travel Insurance would have been half that amount.

Trip Insurance with medical is worth it's weight in gold. We were taking a cruise out of NYC and on the Cruise Line Bus ride to the port, my husband cut his finger loading other passengers luggage. The gash required 6 stitches. We had to do it on the ship, which is registered out of the US and therefore our medical insurance insurance considered it out of network. The $480 bill was immediately added to our tab and had to be paid when we departed the ship. The medical center on the ship did schedule a second visit to remove his stitches, but I did that myself. Travel Insurance would have been half that amount.

That's not a great example.

You could have paid $240 for insurance in order to avoid a $480 expense. That's not worth its weight in gold. It's like getting a $50 deductible on your auto insurance in order to avoid a $100 accident expense.

I'm in favor of medical insurance for most people - but to cover against the risk of an $18,000 surgery or $30,000 medical evacuation.

Consider this for those of you who don't buy medical insurance . I'm a travel agent and this story was going around the office. There was a young lady (in her 20's) who booked a cruise to Europe. She felt she did not need to get insurance due to being young and in excellent health. While crusing she had an a accident at poolside and subsequently broke her neck. She ended up in coma for many months and I'm not even sure if she recovered yet. The family is now trying to figure out how they are going to afford paying for the hundred of thousands dollars in hospital bills. Had she bought med. insurance they could have avoided this very unfortunate situation. Not trying to scare anyone but I'm the kind of person who would rather be safe than sorry.

Look into Medjet ..

Just because you are healthy doesn't mean you'll never need to worry, either. We're worried about going on our next one due to a health issue that just started with out 20 year old. Who would have thought she would be the issue!

 

It all depends on your personal risk comfort level. I have the June trip fully insured due to where we are going and how much we are spending. $15K is a lot of $$$ for me. The Caribbean cruises I won't buy up as much, however.

As mentioned, the most hale and hearty can have an accident.

I use Travel Insured International. If you are a USAA member, you get a 10% discount. Same applies if you are traveling with a USAA member.

 

Depending upon the particular cruise, I don't get the Trip Cancellation/reimbursement as the cruise is already paid -- just the emergency evacuation. This is the coverage I purchased for our cruise to Bermuda next week. Cost $70 for the two of us. Of course, cost varies depending on your age.

 

Missed Connection $750 (3 hours)

Trip Delay $1,500 ($200/ day)

Emergency Accident & Sickness Expense $150,000 ($50 deductible)

Emergency Evacuation & Repatriation $1,000,000

Pet Care $300 ($50/day)

Baggage & Personal Effects $2,500**

Baggage Delay $500 (12 hours)

Accidental Death and Dismemberment $25,000

Accidental Death & Dismemberment-Air Only $100,000

Renters Collision Insurance $50,000

 

** Baggage and Personal Effects has a per-article limit of $250. There is a combined maximum limit of $500 for valuables.

I saw the Pet Care listed here. Just wondering- what would that be used for?

We started buying trip insurance years ago when our parents were not in the best of health, never needed it but kept buying it as we got older. This year I used Squaremouth.com to find and buy a policy from Tin Leg. Two days before we were due to depart I had a cardiac cath and we could not travel. 12 days after my procedure I filed my claim with Tin Leg. Two months later after many phone calls and email I am told that a check is in the works...for partial payment. They won't cover my deposit because I used a Celebrity Gift card that I got for credit card points and they are resisting paying for a pre-paid 3 night hotel stay because it was paid for by our travel companions and not directly by me. They seem to want to ingnore the fact that I paid for our companions' airfare....Will I buy travel insurance again? YES...will I use squaremouth.com or Tin Leg again? NO. The good news is I am getting something back, we are already booked for a new cruise and the doctors were able to find the source of my chest pains, fix it up nicely and pronouce me one very lucky man who is now good to go for another 68 years.

I saw the Pet Care listed here. Just wondering- what would that be used for?

I believe that covers extended boarding fees in case you are delayed returning home.

We also use insuremytrip.com

I believe that covers extended boarding fees in case you are delayed returning home.

 

We also use insuremytrip.com

Ohhh, thank you!

Consider this for those of you who don't buy medical insurance . I'm a travel agent and this story was going around the office. There was a young lady (in her 20's) who booked a cruise to Europe. She felt she did not need to get insurance due to being young and in excellent health. While crusing she had an a accident at poolside and subsequently broke her neck. She ended up in coma for many months and I'm not even sure if she recovered yet. The family is now trying to figure out how they are going to afford paying for the hundred of thousands dollars in hospital bills. Had she bought med. insurance they could have avoided this very unfortunate situation. Not trying to scare anyone but I'm the kind of person who would rather be safe than sorry.

Now if they had MedJet and she was medically stable enough to fly (coma or not), she would be flown home with doctor/nurse on the plane to a US hospital where she would both get good medical treatment and insurance coverage.

BTW..that's the major difference between MedJet and other policies....most policies require that a) the foreign hospital state that they can't treat the patient or that the patient needs to be evacuated (home) for medical reasons. With MedJet, the foreign hospital you request medical evacuation and the only question for the foreign hospital is whether you are medically stable enough for air travel. There is a huge difference there.....which is why we never travel without MedJet Assist.

We started buying trip insurance years ago when our parents were not in the best of health, never needed it but kept buying it as we got older. This year I used Squaremouth.com to find and buy a policy from Tin Leg. Two days before we were due to depart I had a cardiac cath and we could not travel. 12 days after my procedure I filed my claim with Tin Leg. Two months later after many phone calls and email I am told that a check is in the works...for partial payment. They won't cover my deposit because I used a Celebrity Gift card that I got for credit card points and they are resisting paying for a pre-paid 3 night hotel stay because it was paid for by our travel companions and not directly by me. They seem to want to ingnore the fact that I paid for our companions' airfare....Will I buy travel insurance again? YES...will I use squaremouth.com or Tin Leg again? NO. The good news is I am getting something back, we are already booked for a new cruise and the doctors were able to find the source of my chest pains, fix it up nicely and pronouce me one very lucky man who is now good to go for another 68 years.

We do use squaremouth because I like their format but we only buy big name brand policies that are sold by all of the online Travel insurance sites. All of them have policies from companies we've never heard of...which are best to avoid, even if insuremytrip or squaremouth or ???? say they're great companies.

Now if they had MedJet and she was medically stable enough to fly (coma or not), she would be flown home with doctor/nurse on the plane to a US hospital where she would both get good medical treatment and insurance coverage.

 

BTW..that's the major difference between MedJet and other policies....most policies require that a) the foreign hospital state that they can't treat the patient or that the patient needs to be evacuated (home) for medical reasons. With MedJet, the foreign hospital you request medical evacuation and the only question for the foreign hospital is whether you are medically stable enough for air travel. There is a huge difference there.....which is why we never travel without MedJet Assist.

[Pressing the "LIKE" button!]

This is what is so different about MedJetAssist.

One does NOT need to worry about arguing with the local medical personnel about whether they are "qualified" for the necessary care or not.

WE would get to decide which medical facility is to care for us, if we got admitted to a hospital away from home.

I guess there could be some disagreement about whether the patient is/is not well enough to be transported.

However, with air ambulances and physician/nursing staff included, there are a lot of conditions that can be transported.

It the condition is so bad that moving the patient is that risky, there might be an unhappy outcome no matter what.

Note that this coverage is in effect even when in home country, as long as one is at least 150 miles (I think that's it?) from home when admitted to a hospital as an inpatient.

That covers us if we are driving through rural areas far from home, or even away on business in a different big city.

GeezerCouple

Now if they had MedJet and she was medically stable enough to fly (coma or not), she would be flown home with doctor/nurse on the plane to a US hospital where she would both get good medical treatment and insurance coverage.

 

BTW..that's the major difference between MedJet and other policies....most policies require that a) the foreign hospital state that they can't treat the patient or that the patient needs to be evacuated (home) for medical reasons. With MedJet, the foreign hospital you request medical evacuation and the only question for the foreign hospital is whether you are medically stable enough for air travel. There is a huge difference there.....which is why we never travel without MedJet Assist.

I like MedJet too. The only drawbacks with MedJet are they only use fixed-wing aircraft (so no helicopter evacuations off a ship) and they only do hospital to hospital transports so if you aren't admitted to a hospital they won't transport you.

However, if you have MedJet and a good trip insurance policy the overlapping coverages will take care of you.

I like MedJet too. The only drawbacks with MedJet are they only use fixed-wing aircraft (so no helicopter evacuations off a ship) and they only do hospital to hospital transports so if you aren't admitted to a hospital they won't transport you.

 

However, if you have MedJet and a good trip insurance policy the overlapping coverages will take care of you.

Glad you pointed this out.