Travel Insurance

[jerwick]

When you buy travel from an independent company such as Travel Guard do you estimate your airfare trip cost as the change fee per trip (usually $200 per segment) or the total airfare cost?

 

Jerry

[bugspost]

yes,,,,we include the total airfare in our travel insurance.....

[cherylandtk]

If you do not intend to cancel, and would definitely re-book the airfare, then you can cover just the re-booking fee. Most people cover the full cost of the air ticket.

[sirwired]

If you do not cover the total non-refundable cost, you will be ineligile for their "promotional" coverages like the pre-ex waiver, work reasons coverage, etc.

[cruiseco]

If you do not cover the total non-refundable cost, you will be ineligile for their "promotional" coverages like the pre-ex waiver, work reasons coverage, etc.

 

That is absolutely correct for Travel Guard. This is from their policy wording:

 

"The Insurer will waive this exclusion if the Insured

meets the following conditions: 1. You purchase the program

within 15 days of making the initial Trip payment. Day one is the

date the initial Trip payment is received; 2. The amount of Trip

Cancellation coverage purchased at that time equals the full cost

of all pre-paid non-refundable trip arrangements. The cost of any

subsequent arrangement(s) added to the same Trip must be

insured within 15 days of the date of payment or deposit for any

subsequent Trip arrangement(s). Failure to do so may affect the

pre-existing medical condition waiver coverage;"

 

So if you need their pre-existing condition coverage and do not insure the cost of the air tickets and instead only include the amount of any change fee you're out of luck. Other insurers do not have this requirement so you have to check every policy you're considering to see what their policy wording says.

 

Also, before you include that change fee in the trip cost you insure be sure to check how the insurer handles that. Some will not cover change fees whether you include them in the insured trip cost or not so insuring that amount is a waste of money. Others will only cover the change fees if the cruise line cancels the cruise -- but not if you have to cancel. So, again, be sure to find out from whatever insurer you decide to use whether there's even any point in including the change fees in your trip cost and under what circumstances they could be claimed.

[6rugrats]

I am a little confused by that TravelGuard wording.

 

I purchase an air ticket that cost $800. If I change this ticket because the trip is cancelled, it will cost me a $150 fee, but I will receive the remaining balance back in a voucher. Yet, TG is saying I must insure the entire $800 or I could lose my pre-existing condition waiver?

It states I must insure, "all pre-paid non-refundable trip arrangements". Yet, all of my ticket is "refundable" but the $150 change fee. Is that incorrect?

[cruiseco]

I am a little confused by that TravelGuard wording.

 

I purchase an air ticket that cost $800. If I change this ticket because the trip is cancelled, it will cost me a $150 fee, but I will receive the remaining balance back in a voucher. Yet, TG is saying I must insure the entire $800 or I could lose my pre-existing condition waiver?

It states I must insure, "all pre-paid non-refundable trip arrangements". Yet, all of my ticket is "refundable" but the $150 change fee. Is that incorrect?

 

Don't confuse "changeable" with "non-refundable".

 

Here's how it was explained to me back when Travel Guard was part of AIG: If the airline is giving you a voucher for a future flight that makes the ticket "changeable" but it's still "non-refundable' and would have to be included in the trip cost to get the pre-ex waiver. Only if the airline is willing to give you all of your money back (not on a voucher) would it be considered a "refundable" ticket and not have to be insured.

 

Since then Travel Guard has a new underwriter (Chartis) that calls the shots on these things so they may have a different interpretation of "non-refundable".

 

Update: I made a quick call to Travel Guard and the interpretation is the same -- unless the airline is willing to give you all of your money back in cash -- not a voucher -- it's a "non-refundable trip arrangement" and the full cost of the ticket has to be insured in order to be eligible for the pre-ex waiver.

[6rugrats]

Thank you. I did call TG yesterday and had the same thing explained to me. I was confusing the two terms. If I insure the total cost of the air tickets, and the trip is cancelled for a covered reason, I will receive the entire cost of the tickets back. They do not care about remaining value on a voucher. Which seems odd.

 

In the past I have only insured what I would be out-of-pocket if I had to cancel, which was the change fee. I guess I have been lucky. Even though I do read through the policies, I just missed that part and really learned something important here yesterday!

[Lou33]

They do not care about remaining value on a voucher. Which seems odd.

 

Did TG tell you that they don't care about the voucher? From what I have heard, it is typical that a travel insurance company would refund your airfare, but not until you surrender your voucher to them first.

[6rugrats]

Did TG tell you that they don't care about the voucher?

Yes. I specifically asked about this.