Travel Insurance

[JRudy33]

I am planning a cruise for 10/28/06 on the Radiance. Can anyone recommend a good travel insurance company or should we go with RCI's insurance? The "pre-existing condition" part of RCI's insurance worries me because we both have slightly high blood pressure. Does that mean if anything happens to either of us that remotely might be due to high blood pressure, that the insurance wouldn't cover anything? We have never had travel insurance before but decided from now on to purchase it.

[phantom728]

We generally get our travel insurance through Travelex, their website is www.travelex.com. The only problem will be that once final payment is made you generally can't get travel insurance. They usually stipulate that it must be purchased prior to final payment.

We generally cruise in the winter and live in northeast PA, so we have to worry about snowy weather being a problem for air travel. Because of this we invest in the travel insurance to be safe.

Hope this helps some:)

[cruiseco]

I am planning a cruise for 10/28/06 on the Radiance. Can anyone recommend a good travel insurance company or should we go with RCI's insurance? The "pre-existing condition" part of RCI's insurance worries me because we both have slightly high blood pressure. Does that mean if anything happens to either of us that remotely might be due to high blood pressure, that the insurance wouldn't cover anything? We have never had travel insurance before but decided from now on to purchase it.

 

Your high blood pressure condition may not be considered to be pre-existing by RCI's definition.

 

If a condition is controlled through the taking of prescription medication (I assume you're taking a pill a day or something) in the 60 day period prior to the date you purchased the policy it's not considered to be "pre-existing." So if the problem worsened after buying the policy to the point your doctor recommended that you cancel the cruise the claim would be paid.

 

By "controlled" they mean that in the 60 day period prior to buying the policy there have been no changes in the diagnosis, prognosis, or treatment (including NO changes in the medication),

 

So, if the above describes your condition then you should look at the RCI plan but you should also look around for other alternatives.

[cruiseco]

We generally get our travel insurance through Travelex, their website is www.travelex.com. The only problem will be that once final payment is made you generally can't get travel insurance. They usually stipulate that it must be purchased prior to final payment.

 

If you're referring to the cruise line's plan that is usually the case. If you're referring to plans from Travelex that's not correct -- you can buy their plans at any time up until the day prior to your departure, although they may not cover pre-existing conditions if it's been more than 21 dats since the first payment on the trip.

[JRudy33]

Thanks a lot for your responses and the explanation of "pre-existing condition". Our blood pressure is under control from medication. When I finally do make our reservation, I will ask our TA what the cost of RCI's insurance is and compare it to that of Travelex. I have gone to their website and did get a cost of the insurance from them.

[TheWog]

If you're referring to the cruise line's plan that is usually the case. If you're referring to plans from Travelex that's not correct -- you can buy their plans at any time up until the day prior to your departure, although they may not cover pre-existing conditions if it's been more than 21 days since the first payment on the trip.

 

That's correct. I purchased Travelex Lite insurance in January for a January cruise/hotel stay. No issues there.

[LeslieRN72]

I went to insuremytrip.com and compared all the different plans. I ended up buying the TravelEx TravelLite insurance plan. It had the best rating and was the best deal by far.

 

After looking at the RCI insurance in the back of my document book it looks to be inferior and to be quite a rip-off.

 

Here's a comparison of the two on some of the basics:

 

TravelEx TravelLite-Per Person

 

Trip Cancellation: 100%

Trip Interruption: $1,250

Travel Baggage: $1,000

Baggage Delay: $250

Travel Delay: $750

Accidental Death: $10,000

Medical: $50,000

Dental: $750

Emergency Evacuation: Included in Medical

Flight Insurance: $50,000

Our Cost for 2 adults

and 1 child Total $79

 

RCI CruiseCare---

 

Trip Cancellation: 100%

Trip Interruption: 150%

Travel Baggage: $1,500

Baggage Delay: $500

Travel Delay: $500

Accidental Death: 0

Medical: $10,000 sickness/medical

Dental: included in medical

Emergency Evacuation: $25,000

Flight Insurance: 0

 

Our cost for plan

2 adults and 1 child $147

 

As you can see the TravelEx is much cheaper. I have heard really good things about their customer service as well.

 

From what I am gathering it sounds like cruise lines and travel agencies must make a pretty nice profit/commission on their travel insurance. Kind of like Best Buy does on their service agreements. It pays to shop around.

 

Good luck,

 

Les

[cocoabeana]

I am cruising in March 2006. Can I cancel my insurance with royal Caribbean now and get the travelex insurance? It does sound much better. If I can cancel now I will change. Thanks for the info

[Candleonwater]

I've always just bought my insurance through RCCL, but since I'm looking to book elsewhere... started looking into separate insurance. It is all SO confusing!

 

Looking at the Travelex site... they seem to offer 2 options for me, Travel Plus and Travelite, at what appear to be VERY reasonable prices.

 

What I'm not sure about is what kind of coverages are NORMAL. What is a "normal" amount to carry for Medical or Evacuation?

 

Another thing I found interesting about Travelex... "Family Value: Children under 16 are covered at no additional cost (except for optional plan add-ons) when accompanied by a covered adult. The children must be a Family Member to the primary insured". Is it possible, I pay for me, and my daughters coverage is free? I have a hard time believing that... but hey, if it's SO... woohoo!

[cruiseco]

 

After looking at the RCI insurance in the back of my document book it looks to be inferior and to be quite a rip-off . . .

 

As you can see the TravelEx is much cheaper.

Les

 

For you, yes. For others, maybe not. For example, for a $1000 p/p trip cost travelers 75 years old with Travelex they would pay $81 p/p, not the $37 per adult you're paying. In that case the cruise line plan becomes very price competitive.

 

Also, with the RCI plan you have the ability to cancel for any reason and at minimum get a credit toward a future cruise. So if you have some sort of work conflict or other non-covered scenario you at least have some coverage. With Travelex you'll be out of luck. For those who may be at risk of cancelling for a "non-covered" reason the extra couple of dollars may be well worth it.

 

As with many things, whether or not a travel insurance plan is a good value or not depends on your own personal situation.

[LeslieRN72]

I went to http://www.insuremytrip.com and just compared a bunch of different plans from different companies. It really simplified it for me and allowed me to look at them side by side. It also had the ratings which made me feel good as well.

 

That is how I ended up with TravelEx. Check it out.

[cruiseco]

 

Another thing I found interesting about Travelex... "Family Value: Children under 16 are covered at no additional cost (except for optional plan add-ons) when accompanied by a covered adult. The children must be a Family Member to the primary insured". Is it possible, I pay for me, and my daughters coverage is free? I have a hard time believing that... but hey, if it's SO... woohoo!

 

Yes, your daughter would be covered at no charge. And by the way, they go by the age at the time the policy is purchased so if someone is 15 they are eligible for the free coverage even if they're 16 at the time of travel.

 

Travel Guard has started a similar program with a plan (Essential Expanded) but they do it a little differently:

 

#1 One free kid 16 or under for every adult insured. Note that you get an extra year with Travel Guard (16 vs 15) but for a family of two adults and three kids one of the kids would have to pay the going rate. With Travelex you could have one adult and three kids and all of the kids are still free.

 

#2 With Travel Guard you have to buy the plan within 15 days of the initial trip deposit date to qualify -- with Travelex it doesn't matter.

[Candleonwater]

I went to purchase insurance today, and realized I'm OUTSIDE the 21 days since first payment (deposit)... so travelex excludes Pre-existing conditions. What exactly are pre-existing conditions? I don't have anything that I am aware of...

 

Or, I could go with CSA's Comfort Plan which allows for the Pre-existing limitations to be waived if purchases within 24 hours of FINAL payment...

[cruiseco]

What exactly are pre-existing conditions? I don't have anything that I am aware of...

 

.

 

But what about family members? Most of the plans also apply their pre-existing condition exclusion to them also. If you have to cancel your trip because a parent dies and it turns out to be a pre-existing condition you'd better have the waiver if you want to be covered.

 

One exception is CSA which DOES NOT apply the pre-ex exclusion to non-traveling family members.

 

For more info on pre-existing conditions go to:

http://www.tripinsure.info/pre_ex.htm

[Candleonwater]

Any suggestions then? I am outside the window for MOST companies.

 

My mother does have high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes... but it is all under control (when MD's help)... so are those pre-existing or not? I've never given any of this any thought before.

[Candleonwater]

Sorry, that should read... "with MD's help", but in reading the information on the Pre-existing conditions site... as long as she stays on the same track it's not pre-existing.

[cruiseco]

Any suggestions then? I am outside the window for MOST companies.

 

My mother does have high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes... but it is all under control (when MD's help)... so are those pre-existing or not? I've never given any of this any thought before.

 

Is your Mother traveling with you? If not, then look at the CSA plans as they do not apply the pre-existing condition exclusion to non-traveling family members.

 

If your mother is traveling with you and you haven't yet made your final payment, again look at the CSA plans that offer a pre-existing condition waiver if the policy is purchased no later than 24 hours after the final payment.

 

If your mother is traveling with you and you've just made the initial payment on the trip see which plans you can still buy and get the pre-existing condition waiver -- Travelex allows you 21 days, others range from 7 to 15 days.

 

If your mother is traveling with you and you can't get the pre-ex waiver by either of the above methods then you need to get more info.

 

If your Mother's condition(s) are controlled through the taking of prescription medication and have remained controlled with no changes then they may not be considered to be pre-existing anyway. The time period looked at for the condition to be controlled varies by policy. Here's some examples:

 

Travelex: 90 day period before buying the policy

CSA: 180 days

Global Alert: 60 days

 

So, if she's traveling with you do the following:

Find out from her if the conditions are controlled. If they are, find out from her if and when there were any changes in her diagnosis/treatment.

 

From there you can narrow down choices. For example, if her doctor put her on a new prescription 100 days ago you eliminate any plans that have a look-back period or more than 100 days. In the example above, you'd still have the Travelex and Global Alert plans to choose from (there are others also).

 

Once you figure out the pre-ex part, look at the remaining choices and see which meets your needs the best as far as coverages and price.

[Candleonwater]

No, she is NOT traveling with me. My only concern is that if something should happen to her while I'm gone...

[mkringen]

I bought my insurance earlier this week through insuremytravel.com and bought the travelex travel lite plan for $95. I just checked the travelex.com site and could have got the same dang thing for $63. That sucks!!! That would have been almost $30 for more drinks by the pool!!!

 

Lesson learned. Don't use a middleman.

 

Michelle in SoCal

[cruiseco]

I bought my insurance earlier this week through insuremytravel.com and bought the travelex travel lite plan for $95. I just checked the travelex.com site and could have got the same dang thing for $63. That sucks!!! That would have been almost $30 for more drinks by the pool!!!

 

Lesson learned. Don't use a middleman.

 

Michelle in SoCal

 

Cancel it get a refund(they give you 10 days) then buy again direct from Travelex.

 

However, you probably didn't put in the same trip information each time. Check your confirnation from insuremytrip (ages, travel dates, trip cost, etc) and compare it exactly against the Travelex web site info. The premiums should match 100%.

 

In most cases it's illegal for an agent to charge more than the issuing company and illegal for the issuing company to undercut an agent.

 

If you think insuremytrip is breaking the law call them immediately and go over it.

[cruiseco]

I bought my insurance earlier this week through insuremytravel.com and bought the travelex travel lite plan for $95. I just checked the travelex.com site and could have got the same dang thing for $63. That sucks!!! That would have been almost $30 for more drinks by the pool!!!

 

Lesson learned. Don't use a middleman.

 

Michelle in SoCal

 

I think I see what you might have done. There only one way the Travelex web site can come up with a quote of $63:

 

$58 total premiums

$5 processing fee

$63 total

 

Assuming you're insuring two people that gives a $29 per person premium. The ONLY way to get a $29 per person premium is if both are between 35 and 60 years old with $0 trip cost to insure.

 

Those same people with a $500 - $1000 per person trip cost to be insured would come up with the $95 total -- 2X $45 plus the $5 fee.

 

Try the Travelex site again and double-check the trip cost you're insuring and see what it gives you.

[mkringen]

Come to think of it the travelex site did not even ask me what my trip costs. That is dumb. How can they insure nothing? heehee

 

I feel much better now. And a little dumb. heehee I didn't even see a place to put in the cost of the trip.

 

Michelle in SoCal

[cruiseco]

Come to think of it the travelex site did not even ask me what my trip costs. That is dumb. How can they insure nothing?

 

Actually, that's a fairly popular option. Maybe not with cruises so much but say you're going to fly to England for a two week stay with friends and family. You're using frequent flyer miles for the air tickets so there's really no trip cost to insure. But you might still want/need the medical, the emergency evacuation, the travel delay coverage, etc so buying the plan with a $0 trip cost is a good choice. And, as you can see you save some money.