Jersey42

32 minutes ago, JUST4JENNA said:

Can you please explain why you suggest an annual travel plan if you already have good coverage out of the US? Thank you 

If that is the way it came across, I apologize because that was not my intent.

I do not recommend a comprehensive annual travel insurance plan for the majority of people.  The biggest faults I have with these plans are limitations in their medical coverage. Too little is my biggest issue, but secondary vs primary, and handling of pre-existing conditions can be a concern. But if you already have good medical coverage outside of the US, then the limitations won't matter.

Another concern is the limited annual cancelation and interruption benefit.  15K/year is the most I have seen, and the average is a lot less.  But if you tend to take a lot of relatively inexpensive trips, this limitation may not matter to you either.

So the only way I would consider an annual comprehensive travel plan is if:

• you already have good medical coverage outside of the US, and
• you tend to take a lot of relatively inexpensive trips (even if the total cost of the trips exceed the annual maximum benefit)

42 minutes ago, kctwinmommy said:

I'm sure they do only use one. I'm trying to make sure I know what we would need for a secondary policy, as in, what's NOT covered by the Citi card, and can we get a policy to cover just those things. And I want to make sure dealing with two separate companies won't be a problem. Which is why we may end up just getting 1 policy.

As others have said, this can be much more complicated than you want it to be or it should be.  That said here are a few thoughts.

First get a copy of your current credit card guide to benefits to make sure you actually have travel insurance benefits.  If so, read it and make sure you pay special attention to pre-existing conditions, covered reasons for cancellation/interruption, and requirements to coverage.  The Costco Anywhere Visa® Cards By Citi dropped the travel insurance benefit several years ago.  So unless you have a different card, or you are grandfathered in, you may have no travel insurance benefit.

Then call a good travel insurance broker such as TripInsuranceStore  and ask them the question.  They probably will not know much about your credit card, but that is why you need a copy of the benefits in front of you.

Things that I would be concerned about include:

• All credit card insurance that I have seen exclude coverage for pre existing conditions for travelers and non-traveling family members with a minimum 60 day lookback period. Most third party policies do not include non-traveling family members and you can often gat a waiver of pre-existing conditions.  Just be sure you understand exactly what this means.
• Many, but not all, third party policies require you insure the full non-refundable cost of your trip in order to waive the pre-existing conditions exclusion.  If pre-existing conditions might be an issue, then choices of third party policies are much more limited.
• Most credit card coverage is secondary to any other insurance.  Some third party plans are also worded like this.  I can see one insurance company not wanting to consider a claim until they can see what the other one has paid.  If both insurers take the same position I have no idea how you resolve it.
• The list of covered reasons for most credit card coverage is shorter than ones on most third party plans.  Make sure you understand the differences and are you comfortable with those differences.
• Credit cards offer very minimal or no medical and medical evacuation coverage.  Unless you already have good foreign travel coverage, make sure the third party plan will give you the needed coverage and you meet their requirements.  This is another area where some plans may want you to insure the full trip cost.

There are probably more potential issues, which is why a good broker can be invaluable.  Good luck and let us know your end result.

OP here.  I just wanted to follow up with the end result.

• The Crown Grill credit card charge remained pending for several days.
• The reservation stayed missing from the Android app, iPhone app and the web app.
• I called Princess and they saw no Crown Grill reservation for me, but the person I spoke with did not have access to the pending charge info.  He made me another Crown Grill reservation and I was charged once again.  He said the initial pending charge should eventually disappear, but if not to call back and they would fix it.
• Both pending credit card charges remained for several days.
• As of today the initial pending charge is gone, the second charge (correctly) went through and the dinner reservation currently appears on all of the apps.

I am still not sure what happened, but everything is back the way it should be.

1 hour ago, Ret MP said:

That's why I said, "Simply Stated".  

My point is no Medicare Supplement has language similar to "if you are traveling outside the U.S. or its territories, your supplement becomes your primary coverage".  So no help for the OP.

If someone has coverage different than Medicare with a Supplement, then by all means they should check their existing plan before purchasing travel medical insurance.  I have seen a lot of employer sponsored plans for retirees (especially from government employers including military) that offer much better foreign travel coverage than a Medicare Supplement. Some Medicare Advantage plans also provide minimal to excellent foreign travel coverage, but the terms and conditions vary widely as they are not standardized like the Medicare Supplements.

On 4/8/2023 at 7:11 PM, Ret MP said:

I am a Medicare and TRICARE FOR LIFE (Retired Military Supplemental to Medicare, simply stated) customer.  Medicare doesn't cover anything outside of the U.S. and its Territories, with only a very few exceptions. 

 

However, I'd check the wording of your Supplement, it may say that if you are traveling outside the U.S. or its territories, your supplemental may become your primary coverage.  

TRICARE For Life works exactly the way you describe, but even though you may think of it as "Supplemental to Medicare", it is not a Medicare Supplement (Medigap) policy.  (In a few situations such as this, it is better than a Medicare Supplement.)

Medicare Supplements are different and you will not find that wording in any of them. They are regulated by law and all plans (of the same letter) provide exactly the same coverage, from all providers.

Medigap Plans C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, M or N:

• Covers foreign travel emergency care if it begins during the first 60 days of your trip, and if Medicare doesn't otherwise cover the care.

• Pays 80% of the billed charges for certain medically necessary emergency care outside the U.S. after you meet a $250 deductible for the year.

Foreign travel emergency coverage with Medigap policies has a lifetime limit of $50,000.

** The only exception is if you live in one of three states (MA, MN, WI) that have there own plans. All 3 states offer plans with foreign emergency travel and the terms are at least as good or better than the plans in the rest of the states.

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I'm probably too late for the OP, but Medicare (with or without a supplement) is considered a primary plan for GeoBlue elegibility.  GeoBlue will process and pay claims as the primary payor!  While they reserve the right, to contact your primary insurance company to coordinate benefits, I have not seen that happen in my limited experience.  I have seen posts on these boards that all say the same thing and Steve at TripInsuranceStore, has told me he has never seen coordination of benefits.  If GeoBlue ever coordinates with my supplement, it will use up some of my $50K lifetime maximum and I will rethink my foreign medical insurance in the future.

I just booked a cruise this morning..  I was able to find an acceptable date and time for the Crown Grill, so I reserved it using the MedallionClass app. My credit card was charged immediately and the reservation initially appeared in the Dine My Way section of the app.  Now the app shows no record of the reservation, but it will let me book the MDR (or Sabbatinis) for the same day.  So do I have a CG reservation and how do I prove it when I get on the ship.  All I can show is a credit card charge from "PRINCESS CRUISES PASSA" for $78.

On 3/27/2023 at 12:36 PM, texswamper said:

Thank you for giving your experience.  The meteorologist was just talking about the sargassum issue in the Caribbean and a lady posted that photo saying it was taken at Maya Chan but you are correct, without  more detail from the owner of the photograph it's just speculation.  

That photo was definitely not taken at Maya Chan. I have been there too many times to know the background looks nothing like it.  It is definitely possible that someone would see that amount of sargassum at Maya Chan, at least before they began raking for the day.  Unfortunately you can find similar sargassum photos in many places today.  Here are a few photos from locations near me in Palm Beach County, Florida.  It is not always like this, but it can be and the problem seems to be getting worse..

You might want to see my post on the recent thread linked below.  

My conclusion to the OP was "If you take a lot of relatively inexpensive trips, have no pre-existing conditions and have good medical coverage outside of the US (even with a big annual deductible), you can find an annual travel insurance policy that will probably offer everything you need at a good value.  If not, then you need to weigh any negatives with your risk tolerance.".

Just be sure you understand the terms and conditions of any policy you purchase and how they fit your situation. None of the annual comprehensive travel plans plans work for us, but for others with different needs, they can be a good value.

28 minutes ago, drbeamer said:

@venussuzWe FINALLY got our reimbursement after filing complaint with the state insurance commission. What an ordeal. I hope you get yours soon

Glad yours was resolved.

Did you have a similar situation to the OP?  i.e. you used Carnival Vacation Protection (or another cruise line policy) and had claim issues with the non-insurance portion of the policy.  If so, I am pleasantly surprised that any state insurance commission would intervene. 

5 hours ago, HardestyHouse said:

Excellent information! Thank you.... Is this type of "insurance" unique to Carnival? I've only cruised twice. The other was Royal Caribbean and all went smoothly, so no claim.

Others have already provided some good insights, and as you have seen, the simple answer is this is not unique to the Carnival Vacation Protection Plan.  Here are some specifics and comments.

• All cruise line "insurance" plans that I have seen are a combination of true insurance (subject to regulation by each state), and non-insurance (non regulated) benefits.
• If the line offers a Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) benefit, this is always a non-insurance benefit provided by the cruise line.
• Cancelation for a covered reason is sometimes a non-insurance benefit, and sometimes an insurance benefit offered by the insurance underwriter. This is always stated in the plan document, and usually on the web page.
• Most plans offer some sort of an emergency assistance hotline.  This is always a non-insurance benefit.
• MSC is the only plan I have seen that is mostly true travel insurance.  But, it is also the only plan I've seen that does not offer CFAR.  They do have an concierge hotline which is their only non-insurance benefit.
• Nationwide or Arch are the insurance underwriters for most of the plans.  Aon Affinity is the administrator for all of these plans. This includes plans from lines owned by Carnival Corp, Royal Caribbean, NCL and Disney.  MSC and Viking use Generali as the underwriter, with different plan administrators.
• Aon Affinity is never the insurance underwriter.  They just manage the plans and claims (insurance and non-insurance) for the cruise line.

8 hours ago, venussuz said:

I knew it was going to be Aon. You might want to file a complaint with your state's (or territory's) insurance commission. We just had to do so after waiting 9 months for payment on Covid interruptions on a June TA. We haven't been paid anything despite filing two days after getting home in June 2022.

@HardestyHouse - Contacting your state's insurance commission is often a good idea for actual travel insurance, but it unfortunately will most likely be a waste of time in your case.  

Carnival's Vacation Protection Plan is a combination of Travel Insurance (underwritten by Nationwide) and non-travel insurance benefits (from Carnival and LiveTravel).  Claims (for all parts of the plan) are administrated by Aon.  The Trip Cancelation feature (for covered and non covered reasons) is a non-insurance feature provided by Carnival Cruise Line.  So your state insurance commission probably won't help you with trip cancelation benefits.  It is all spelled out legally in the fine print.

https://www.carnival.com/about-carnival/vacation-protection.aspx

Here are some additional insights from Steve at TripInsuranceStore.com

https://tripinsurancestore.com/travel-insurance-vs-travel-supplier-waiver-plans/

3 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

With a very few exceptions, CC included insurance has no PEC waiver and the claim limits are woefully inadequate for longer and/or premium/luxury cruises (e.g., five $ figures).

1 hour ago, mrgabriel said:

It certainly depends on the credit card you use. 

It's  always worth checking first before you spend money on an insurance policy.

I am curious if the terms and conditions on the Canadian Amex Platinum card are better than those for the United States card? With the US card:

• No medical
• No coverage for pre-existing conditions for you or non traveling family members.  There is a 60 day lookback period.
• Trip cancelation coverage is for seven listed reasons.
• Maximum cancelation or interruption coverage is $10K per trip and $20K per year.

We do rely on credit card insurance for some trips, and not for others.  I have looked at a lot of cards in the US for travel insurance benefits.  I have yet to find one that:

• has a pre-existing conditions waiver
• covers more than $2,500 in medical
• covers more than $10K per trip for cancelation/interruption

If you are aware of any US card that covers PEC or more than $10K per trip please share. If you are only aware of Canadian card(s), sharing that may help other Canadians reading this thread.

,

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Added Emerald Captain: Martin Stenzel as per @memoak

Future moves (first posted on Feb 23, 2023) :

• Caribbean - CD Jody Miles joins on April 27.
• Discovery - Captain Smith returns in May.
• Island - ED Mark Gillespie leaves in mid-March.
• Regal - CD Aaron Hawkins (possibly?) joining when ship is in the UK.
• Royal - CD Corinne Steel returns in April.
• Sapphire - DRO Mario Propato plans to return "in a few months".
• Sky - CD Matt Barnard returns in May when ship is in Europe. 

@jakenzie32 - IMHO $100K medical per person and $500K of medical evacuation is more than adequate coverage in almost any cruise situation. Steve from TripinsureanceStore recently posted "I've never seen a medical claim for more than $74,000 outside the USA."  He has also posted the following in December: "The most expensive medical evacuation I've seen was $127,000 from South Africa to Minnesota". 

So both policies are absolutely fine for the specific question you asked. It is the other terms and conditions that determine the best choice for your needs.  So either read the policy details (pay special attention to covered reasons and pre-existing conditions for you and non traveling family members), or call TIS and ask a lot of questions.

It is difficult to purchase the right policy from summary charts.  The charts are great to help eliminate policies you don't want, but the devil is often in the details that do not show up in the summaries. 

TO UPDATE THIS LIST:

• DO NOT push the "Quote" button. It creates a copy that the next person cannot properly update.
• DO select and copy ALL of the text (including the instructions and the list) up to COPY TO THIS LINE . . . from the most up-to-date list (the most recent reply with the list). 
• Go to the bottom of the latest post, to the "Reply to this Topic..." box to create a new post.
• Paste your copied text into that box.
• Make your modifications to the list.
• Add change notes at the bottom.
• Click the "Submit Reply" button just below the list you are modifying.
• Confirm that everything is correct! You can edit for up to 20 minutes.

<COPY TO THIS LINE SO THERE IS SPACE TO TYPE CHANGE NOTES AFTER THE CHART> 

Sky Captain and DRO as per @KarmaCruisers

Future moves:

• Caribbean - CD Jody Miles joins on April 27.
• Discovery - Captain Smith returns in May.
• Island - ED Mark Gillespie leaves in mid-March.
• Regal - CD Aaron Hawkins (possibly?) joining when ship is in the UK.
• Royal - CD Corinne Steel returns in April.
• Sapphire - DRO Mario Propato plans to return "in a few months".
• Sky - CD Matt Barnard returns in May when ship is in Europe. 

Would you mind posting a picture of the senior officer's (see sample from the Emerald below).  It is normally in the Piazza, typically on deck 6.   Either post it here or on this sticky thread.  If you can't easily post a picture can you post the name of the Captain. There was supposed to be a new one as of this cruise. 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2724695-princess-senior-ship-staff-inc-cruise-directors-entertainment-directors/

Regal ship officers from @mdgary who is on the March 12th sailing

Would you mind posting a picture of the senior officer's (see sample from the Emerald below).  It is normally in the Piazza, typically on deck 6.   Either post it here or on this sticky thread.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2724695-princess-senior-ship-staff-inc-cruise-directors-entertainment-directors/

To all of those looking for a copy of the latest officer photos:

I have had decent luck when asking on a live thread (when one exists) or on a roll call for the current and next cruises.  I usually post a sample picture (so they know what I am talking about) and give an approximate location of somewhere in the piazza.

Whenever I gets a response that is not posted on this thread, I post a copy here and give credit.

TO UPDATE THIS LIST:

• DO NOT push the "Quote" button. It creates a copy that the next person cannot properly update.
• DO select and copy ALL of the text (including the instructions and the list) up to COPY TO THIS LINE . . . from the most up-to-date list (the most recent reply with the list). 
• Go to the bottom of the latest post, to the "Reply to this Topic..." box to create a new post.
• Paste your copied text into that box.
• Make your modifications to the list.
• Add change notes at the bottom.
• Click the "Submit Reply" button just below the list you are modifying.
• Confirm that everything is correct! You can edit for up to 20 minutes.

<COPY TO THIS LINE SO THERE IS SPACE TO TYPE CHANGE NOTES AFTER THE CHART> 

Sapphire Capt and CD.  Caribbean Captain and DRO. Removed Sky Capt.

Future moves:

• Caribbean - CD Jody Miles joins on April 27.
• Discovery - Captain Smith returns in May.
• Island - ED Mark Gillespie leaves in mid-March.
• Regal - CD Aaron Hawkins (possibly?) joining when ship is in the UK.
• Royal - CD Corinne Steel returns in April.
• Sapphire - DRO Mario Propato plans to return "in a few months".
• Sky - CD Matt Barnard returns in May when ship is in Europe. 

1 hour ago, NightOne said:

All of the policies I have seen require cancellation to be more than 48 hours away for it to be covered. Once you get within 48 hours then it is not covered. So the Southwest Airlines debacle would not be covered.

 

If you have a policy in mind that covers situations like the Southwest one I am more than happy to take a look.

43 minutes ago, NightOne said:

Which none of them seem to cover. You end up eating the entire cost of the cruise even though you have a travel insurance policy. 😞

The only policies I have seen that would partially cover the Southwest situation would be one of the cruise line policies.  Most of these policies offer CFAR coverage for the cruise only, and they usually let you cancel up until the scheduled cruise departure.  This is different from the 48 hour deadline for most third party CFAR plans. 

I say partially, because most cruise line plans will not cover the airfare.  Some will, if purchased through the cruise line.  Most of those that cover airfare purchased through the cruise line, will not offer CFAR for the airfare.  I believe Holland America will cover the airfare purchased through them for any cancellation.  There may be others, but you need to research.

CFAR from the cruise line is in the format of a 75% to 100% Future Cruise Credit.  Holland America is again an exception as they provide a 90% cash refund.

Cruise line policies may have helped in the Southwest situation, but they have their own disadvantages including:

• Limited medical coverage
• No waiver of pre-existing conditions
• Limited or no coverage for items not purchased through the cruise line
• Usually no coverage for pre or post cruise travel not purchased through the cruise line

@molemaui - here are a few more comments.

It sounds like you understand Medjet Assist and the reason some people purchase this policy even if they have a GeoBlue Trekker policy.  We currently rely only on GeoBlue, but might consider a Medjet membership in the future.

As @klfrodo said, GeoBlue Trekker is a secondary plan and requires you have a primary home medical plan. But GeoBlue will pay as the first payer and there is no need to file with your primary payer. In our limited experience, GeoBlue has never tried to collect from our primamy plan. Steve from TripInsuranceStore.com told me in the past that he has never seen it either.  It is a great plan for someone on Medicare with a Supplement (Medigap), as you don't have to worry about using any of the supplement's $50K lifetime maximum for foreign emergency travel.  

We also often rely on our Chase card.  Based on secondhand knowledge, Chase will pay valid claims, but there are some limitations.  Here are the bigger ones for us:

• There is no waiver of pre-existing conditions for us or non-traveling family members.  Chase has a 60 day lookback period. Depending on the reason for a claim, they can require medical records.  For example if you have a cancelation claim due to a sick parent, the 60 day lookback would apply to the parent and all of the parent's recent medical records will most likely be requested.
• The list of covered reasons for cancelation and interruption is shorter than with most travel insurance policies.  We usually don't worry about it, but you should probably review the terms if you are relying on the card for an expensive trip.

3 hours ago, nini said:

 

I do not think that living in Washington state has anything to do with it.

Actually it does as your plan is limited to residents of the areas served by Regence.  Regence offers plans in four western states, so I could not purchase any of these plans in Florida.

3 hours ago, nini said:

Ours is a "Regence MedAdv+RX Classic PPO plan. This Advantage Plan includes prescriptions and dental. In USA, our co-pays are from $15.00 to $35.00. Internationally, they are $90.00.

Yes, there are Medicare Advantage plans available in many parts of the country that offer international emergency coverage, although many are not as generous as yours.  I was more curious about coverage for a helicopter evacuation from the ship, as I have never seen this before.  I looked at your Regence plan doc and could not find it there either.  Maybe as @klfrodo suggested, they rep was talking about a ground or air ambulance from somewhere on land to a hospital that can treat you.

I’m a little late here, but let me share some thoughts on annual travel insurance.   I have looked at annual comprehensive travel insurance plans from seven companies and I have not found one that works for us.  So I do not have one and can’t comment on the claims process.  I do carry an annual GeoBlue Trekker policy which is a good fit for us, but it only covers emergency medical and medical evacuation.

Before purchasing an annual plan, you need to understand your situation as it may affect insurance coverage.  You also need to understand an annual plan rarely offers the same coverage as multiple individual trip plans.  If you spend the time up front, you will know if an annual plan is a good choice for you.  Here are some things to consider:

Medical – This is the first thing I would look at.  If you already have good medical coverage outside of the country, then the likelihood an annual plan would work for you increases.  If not look at

• Maximum coverage.  It’s either per trip or per year. Most plans offer $50K per trip or less.
• Primary or secondary.  For some people such as Medicare with a supplement, primary is critical.  Primary also simplifies the claims process.
• Pre-existing conditions.  Lookback period.  Is there a waiver and what are the rules?  Even if you have no pre-existing condition, claims are often easier as the plan will not need to look at prior medical records.

Pre-existing conditions for cancelation/interruption – Same notes on medical.  In addition if do they apply to non traveling family members.

Cancelation/Interruption coverage – How much will they pay per year?  Is it enough for the types of trips you take. The maximum coverage I am aware of is $15K per year.  Most policies are a lot less.  If you hit the maximum on your first trip are you ok with no coverage for the rest? @GeezerCouple provided further insights above.

Maximum trip length – All plans cover a 30 day trip.  Some allow up to 45 or 90 day trips.

Where do you live? – These policies cannot be sold in certain states.  WA and NY are the most restrictive but I know KS, MO, MT, PA and OR restrict at least one annual policy.

________________________

If you take a lot of relatively inexpensive trips, have no pre-existing conditions and have good medical coverage outside of the US (even with a big annual deductible), you can find an annual travel insurance policy that will probably offer everything you need at a good value.  If not, then you need to weigh any negatives with your risk tolerance.

Many regular posters here recommend you contact a good insurance broker for help.  Unfortunately none of the brokers typically mentioned on this forum offer a comprehensive annual policy. They all have annual medical and medical evacuation policies.