Trip insurance

[Ginger Pop]

Traveling on ff points from New England to Sydney and back and doing b2b cruises with Celebrity in Oct. Being that it a very expensive trip with lots of shore excursions planned, has anyone ever purchased trip insurance that would cover the entire trip? We have planned this for years and have the cruise care insurance for cruises, but wondering about the hotels before and after cruise and the rest.

[TeeRick]

Traveling on ff points from New England to Sydney and back and doing b2b cruises with Celebrity in Oct. Being that it a very expensive trip with lots of shore excursions planned, has anyone ever purchased trip insurance that would cover the entire trip? We have planned this for years and have the cruise care insurance for cruises, but wondering about the hotels before and after cruise and the rest.

 

Try posting your question on the insurance forum.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=635

[Ergates The Ant]

Being from the UK, we always travel abroad with insurance, as our medical treatment at home is free, but not elsewhere (esp USA!) In our case, this is usually the major factor, as although losing the holiday cost might be an acceptable risk to some, finding oneself in hospital with a massive bill to pay, or being refused treatment without proof of insurance, is not something a sane person would contemplate.

 

A typical travel insurance package includes all non cancellable elements of the holiday, including hotels, transport, flights, cruise, plus lost luggage, delayed flights, etc. Some items incur extra supplements, and there is usually a small excess, which can sometimes be waived for an extra fee, a good idea as the excess can mount up on individual items.

I don’t know if US insurance brokers offer something similar or not.

[hcat]

We always take the cruise line ins for whatever it covers...but that's not complete enough for us now that we have Medicare which does not cover med care outside of the US ..We get a pvt policy with increased med coverage and evac up to a million. Costs are very resonable.. we book it late so it does not cover pre existing conditions and the one we get is not cancel for any reason...keeps price down.

 

Prior to being on Medicare for anything with pvt airfare and private excursions we bought pvt ins.. It came in handy the one time we had to cancel a very big trip just after final payment....we had pre paid pvt excursions, airfare and a cruise.

 

You can get specifics on the Ins Forum as suggested, but definitely get some pvt ins coverage..

[emmas gran]

Cannot answer your question but tell you about a friend.

 

Flew to Barbados for 2 week vacation and day 4 she is taken ill and they will not even take her to the hospital without $5000 US being paid up-front. 2 Days later she was airlifted to Broward hospital in Fl. Suspected stroke. After 10 weeks in Broward Hosp she was medi-vaced to the UK via Iceland due to pilot hours they had to touch down there and then continue to UK.

This total payout by the Insurance Company was £500,00.00 , her husband had the $5000 back within 3 days on contacting the insurers in UK from Barbados. We have never travelled without insurance and this re-inforces the need for it .

[jkgourmet]

Insuremytrip.com. the MOST important insurance for travel is medical. Lose the cost of the trip is very unfortunate. Being hit with uninsured medical expenses can be DEVASTATING.

 

We know several people who have had accidents or became ill while travelling. One was uninsured (except for the Dr appt CruiseCare insurance) and came home with nearly $50k in bills (required helicopter evacuation. The other had insurance .Not on a cruise. His total bills exceeded $350k

 

No I AM NOT kidding or exaggerating.

[mmsJack]

Just bought a policy via: https://tripinsurancestore.com/ which is a search engine for many insurance policy sites and similar to the site suggested by another poster in this thread (which is also great.) I just liked the comparison chart on this site better.

 

There was no difference in price for buying our policy via the link from this search site or going directly through the insurance company, I checked. These search sites are basically like an insurance agent so they likely get a commission on the policy you buy via a link from their site. They do have live people you can call if you have questions which is pretty helpful if it's your first time and are not sure what you need.

 

We wanted a lot of (admittedly prob over) coverage, extra med-evac coverage, an A or better rated insurance company and we wanted to be absolutely certain the policy we were buying would be the primary policy in the event that anything happened vs. having to file w/ our US based health insurance first which for us would mean paying the claim ourselves and then having to personally file with our insurance company privately. Some policies only offer 'primary' coverage if purchased w/ in a certain time frame from when you make your first payment on a trip - this varies by policy.

 

Most policies will cover pre-x conditions but ONLY if you purchase w/ in a couple weeks of paying your downpayment. This time frame varies by policy - just fyi.

 

As someone above suggested, there is section on CC that is completely devoted to insurance questions/experiences/etc and there's amazing info and tons of posts available to read and learn from, I found it super helpful.

 

Good Luck and have a great trip!

[Ginger Pop]

We always take the cruise line ins for whatever it covers...but that's not complete enough for us now that we have Medicare which does not cover med care outside of the US ..We get a pvt policy with increased med coverage and evac up to a million. Costs are very resonable.. we book it late so it does not cover pre existing conditions and the one we get is not cancel for any reason...keeps price down.

 

Prior to being on Medicare for anything with pvt airfare and private excursions we bought pvt ins.. It came in handy the one time we had to cancel a very big trip just after final payment....we had pre paid pvt excursions, airfare and a cruise.

 

You can get specifics on the Ins Forum as suggested, but definitely get some pvt ins coverage..

We are in same boat. I am going to get it for extra medical and extra evacuation due to purchasing the first down payment a year and half ago on a Celebrity ship and it won't cover pre-existing or trip total cancellation. Do you mind me asking which company you bought it from? We are in our 70's and have done lots of b2b but not this far from home or as expensive. A bucket it for me.

[Ginger Pop]

Just bought a policy via: https://tripinsurancestore.com/ which is a search engine for many insurance policy sites and similar to the site suggested by another poster in this thread (which is also great.) I just liked the comparison chart on this site better.

 

There was no difference in price for buying our policy via the link from this search site or going directly through the insurance company, I checked. These search sites are basically like an insurance agent so they likely get a commission on the policy you buy via a link from their site. They do have live people you can call if you have questions which is pretty helpful if it's your first time and are not sure what you need.

 

We wanted a lot of (admittedly prob over) coverage, extra med-evac coverage, an A or better rated insurance company and we wanted to be absolutely certain the policy we were buying would be the primary policy in the event that anything happened vs. having to file w/ our US based health insurance first which for us would mean paying the claim ourselves and then having to personally file with our insurance company privately. Some policies only offer 'primary' coverage if purchased w/ in a certain time frame from when you make your first payment on a trip - this varies by policy.

 

Most policies will cover pre-x conditions but ONLY if you purchase w/ in a couple weeks of paying your downpayment. This time frame varies by policy - just fyi.

 

As someone above suggested, there is section on CC that is completely devoted to insurance questions/experiences/etc and there's amazing info and tons of posts available to read and learn from, I found it super helpful.

 

Good Luck and have a great trip!

Re-read your post and I thank you for all the information.

[NantahalaCruiser]

Traveling on ff points from New England to Sydney and back and doing b2b cruises with Celebrity in Oct. Being that it a very expensive trip with lots of shore excursions planned, has anyone ever purchased trip insurance that would cover the entire trip? We have planned this for years and have the cruise care insurance for cruises, but wondering about the hotels before and after cruise and the rest.

Agree with other postings regarding medical insurance.

 

Regarding hotels, I only book with refundable deposits so do not include their cost in my insurance coverage.

[Knolmom]

Ginger Pop, if you are over 65 and have Medicare whether an advantage plan, aPPO or just plain Medicare you need to take a plan where the insurance is the PRIMARY PAYER. It is no more expensive than any others but you will not have to submit to Medicare first and have them turn you down.

Under regular trip insurance you must submit to your own insurance company first before the trip insurance pays. Get one that is a Primary Payer. They change every year but the plans are always offered from reputable companies like John Hancock, travelers ect. I even for get who ours is for our upcoming trip to Greece. We got it through Insuremytrip.

[Mythbuster]

Another option is to use a Premium Credit Card. I use Chase United Presidential Card. In addition to many perks it includes travel insurance for all travel expenses charged to the card and includes medical emergencies abroad. You will be paying $300-400 per year but that is usually less than the independent travel policies. And you get the other perks such as express boarding, 2 free checked bags and entry into the President's club at all airports. American Express and others offer similar benefits.

[Ginger Pop]

We always take the cruise line ins for whatever it covers...but that's not complete enough for us now that we have Medicare which does not cover med care outside of the US ..We get a pvt policy with increased med coverage and evac up to a million. Costs are very resonable.. we book it late so it does not cover pre existing conditions and the one we get is not cancel for any reason...keeps price down.

 

Prior to being on Medicare for anything with pvt airfare and private excursions we bought pvt ins.. It came in handy the one time we had to cancel a very big trip just after final payment....we had pre paid pvt excursions, airfare and a cruise.

 

You can get specifics on the Ins Forum as suggested, but definitely get some pvt ins coverage..

Thank you. Did go to insurance forum, did go to Insuremytrip.com and travelinsurance store web sites. We have the ships insurance for out B2B in Sydney in October and also my private insurance that I found out covers medical, too. We booked last year on ship so I know pre-existing and trip cancellation is not in, but I'm trying to get medical evacuation and trip cancellation or trip lay over etc. I have to call Celebrity and find out exact numbers, then the 2 companies. Thank you everyone. When on Medicare, booking early, and Australia and NZ distance is hard when no TA.

[Ginger Pop]

Ginger Pop, if you are over 65 and have Medicare whether an advantage plan, aPPO or just plain Medicare you need to take a plan where the insurance is the PRIMARY PAYER. It is no more expensive than any others but you will not have to submit to Medicare first and have them turn you down.

Under regular trip insurance you must submit to your own insurance company first before the trip insurance pays. Get one that is a Primary Payer. They change every year but the plans are always offered from reputable companies like John Hancock, travelers ect. I even for get who ours is for our upcoming trip to Greece. We got it through Insuremytrip.

Thanks.

[hcat]

We are in same boat. I am going to get it for extra medical and extra evacuation due to purchasing the first down payment a year and half ago on a Celebrity ship and it won't cover pre-existing or trip total cancellation. Do you mind me asking which company you bought it from? We are in our 70's and have done lots of b2b but not this far from home or as expensive. A bucket it for me.

 

Travel Protector Plan

Travel Insured International . The underwriter is united States Fire Ins Co...easy to get info and book over the phone 1 800 243 3174

Or online travelinsured.com

 

Be clear to request the Enhanced med of $500, 000 and Evac..1 million

[2flacruisers]

We always use TravelGuard Insurance for our cruises. It was the company that RCCL use to offer in the old days....friends of ours had to use it and I can tell you that they would have incurred hundreds of thousands of dollars if they didn't have it. The cruise ship (not Celebrity), packed their bags and shipped them to a clinic in Cozumel without a thank you very much for cruising with us. The wife remembered that they had purchased TravelGuard, called them, and immediately air lifted the husband to the states for surgery.

[phoenix_dream]

There is a huge difference between the need for sufficient medical coverage, and insurance for other reasons. Before you go crazy buying the latter, consider how much you might actually be out of pocket should the worst occur. Many major credit cards provide a certain amount of coverage for lost luggage, cancelled hotels, etc.. Many hotels can be cancelled the day of, or one or two days prior without penalty. Airfare can be cancelled to be used later, but will incur a certain fee. Many excursions can be cancelled within a certain time period, even if prepaid (and many are pay when you take them). Unless money is no issue at all or you don't want to take time to do some fairly simple math, you may find insurance (again, not talking medical) is not necessary. We have cruised more than 45 times without trip insurance. Even had we needed to cancel one of those trips, we would have paid WAY more for insurance than the expenses we would have incurred.

 

I am not anti-insurance - I worked in the industry for my entire career. But believe me my company made tons of money on people who wanted some 'peace of mind' but didn't really need the insurance. It's a personal decision but if money matters, do some math and consider your own individual situation. Insurance may in fact be the smartest move. But then again it may not.