travel insurance

[seahawk8292]

can someone please give us advice on buying travel insurance. What should we look for in a policy? please help!:confused:

[miami]

I asked a similar question and many suggested going to insuremytrip.com

[emoki3]

For us, we have been using TravelGuard. I was going to go with Princesses insurance, but I get better coverage for less with TravelGuard. I have many pre-existing conditions, so if I have to cancel my trip due to my health, I will get every cent of my money back from the trip.

Just my two cents worth...*smiles*

Evie

[Knuklehead]

I thought somebody told me that an emergency evacuation on a chopper runs about $25,000 . MAJOR ISSUE .

[Lady Vidora]

With princess do you pretty much just get credit for a future cruise? Is that credit anyone can use, or does it have to be the people (or person) who cancelled?

[PescadoAmarillo]

The major difference with Princess's insurance is that you can cancel for ANY reason and still get a voucher good for future travel on Princess for up to one year, just for the person who cancelled (not transferable). With Standard, the voucher is for 75% of your cancellation charges; for Gold it is for 90%. If you cancel for a covered reason (i.e. health issue), you will get your cancellation charges returned to you in a check.

 

Princess's insurance coverage tends to be a little less benefit for a little more price, but if you think you may not be able to go on the cruise for a non-covered reason (i.e. something comes up at work, babysitting arrangements fall through), it may be the better choice.

[Pam in CA]

One of the perks of being a Platinum member is that if you purchase Princess insurance, you are automatically upgraded to the Princess TravelCare Gold for the cost of the regular insurace. For me, that makes it worth it.

[paradise4ever]

I've used princess travel care ins and this past year my sister had to use it for Alaska (taken to emergency hospital from airport inroute to SF). Got all lher money back except the travel ins. Also cancelled the Caribbean for next month as she was still ill and could not go on the trip. Thank you Princess.

[GTVCRUISER]

I have a question ,if one person can not make the cruise and they have insurance,can the other passenger go alone on the cruise that was booked for 2 people? Thanks

[cherylandtk]

gtvcruiser

 

Yes, there are some limits as to reason for cancellation and did that person also have insurance. But yes, the remaining traveller is covered if the original partner is unable to go.

 

To OP and others comparing Princess insurance:

The main difference between Princess (by Berkelycare) and the other insurances is that 75%/90% voucher mentioned above if you cancel for a non-covered reason. Only Princess gives you coverage for that. Most policies have varying coverage amounts for all the other usual reasons. You need to READ the policy, understand the jargon, and decide what is possible/likely to happen to you.

 

Compare all the policies for coverages of common costs: Medical care, evacuation, baggage loss/delay and trip delay/interruption in addition to the cancellation coverage. Understand that pre-existing conditions means something you already have for a certain number of days BEFORE you buy the insurance. Then know if your policy has a waiver for this or not, and if the waiver is limited to a certain number of days after putting money down on your trip.

 

Then decide what could happen to you: Could you get pregnant, break your leg, change jobs, get sick, be denied your vacation time, lose your job, or do you have family members that might die, get seriously ill, be in a car accident, move, not be able to babysit the grandkids or otherwise mess up your vacation plans? Since that covers a LOT of potential what-ifs, everyone has to evaluate their own situation and make an educated decision on what insurance to purchase. ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL.

[paradise4ever]

GTVcruiser:, Last year my friend got pneumonia and the doctor said that she was in no way going to go on the cruise. This was about 4 days before the cruise. My other friend wanted to go anyway as there were others in their group so she got the cabin to herself. The insurance company reimbursed the full amt except the insurance fee. Had the other person been not able to go without they too would have been reimbursed. I believe this was Princess.

[candydane]

I always compare available policies at the time I want to buy the insurance. Policies change occasionally so new comparisons need to be made for each trip to be sure everything is current. I also do separate comparisons based on each traveler's age since policy premiums are based on age brackets.

 

I use a spread sheet with the policy points important to me listed down the left side and the insurance companies across the top. Then using insuremytrip.com, I enter the coverage for each insured event for each insurance policy. Then I list each policy's costs across the bottom, entering costs by travelers' ages. I also try to check the companies' websites to verify my facts and figures, especially of the policies that are most appealing to me.

 

Once the spread sheet is done, I can determine the value of each policy, based on the policy cost and the events' coverage. Sometimes the cheapest policy is not the best policy if it has less coverage for an event that is important to me. The best policy for each person can vary -- and usually does -- depending on each person's age and coverage needs. From what I've found, different people travelling together do not have to use the same insurance policy so they can purchase whatever insurance policy works best for them.

 

I'll be glad to e-mail my Excel spread sheet if anyone want to use it as a basis for personalizing their own comparisons. Just click on my e-mail link below.