When to purchase annual travel insurance

[mpk]

Single trip insurance has particular timing requirements related to booking date, final payment date, etc.

 

How about Annual plans?  Does it have to be in force when the reservation is made, or just when you are actually traveling?

[Jersey42]

13 hours ago, mpk said:

Single trip insurance has particular timing requirements related to booking date, final payment date, etc.

 

How about Annual plans?  Does it have to be in force when the reservation is made, or just when you are actually traveling?

Given no one has responded yet. I'll take a stab at a partial answer.  First, I'm not a big fan of annual comprehensive travel insurance plans for many people.  Take a look at the thread I linked below for some reasons. 

 

That said, I always maintain an annual GeoBlue Trekker policy that primarily covers emergency medical and medical evacuation. If you go that route, there is no timing requirement.  You can purchase it whenever you want and put it into effect the day before your next planned trip.  There is no pre-existing conditions exclusion, thus timing is a non issue.

 

If you elect to purchase a annual comprehensive plan, read the plan document thoroughly.  They are all different and have different rules.  If you potentially have a pre-existing condition, pay particular attention to any pre-existing conditions and waiver of pre-existing conditions language.  Some plans have a waiver if you purchase within 14-21 days of the initial trip deposit, like the single trip plans. Others have no waiver, just a lookback period.  At least one plan ties the waiver to each trip.

 

Advice often given on this forum is to talk with a good travel insurance broker. Unless something has changed recently, none of the brokers often mentioned in this forum offer annual comprehensive plans any more.  They only offer annual medical and evacuation plans.

 

 

[Hlitner]

I agree with just about everything Jersey42 posted.  We also have an annual Geoblue Trekker policy which is simply a Travel Medical and Evacuation policy.  It has no trip cancellation or interruption coverage.  When it comes to GeoBlue, if makes sense to purchase the annual policy very close to the date of your first trip (for the policy year).  In fact, you can purchase it right up until the day of your trip.

 

As to annual Trip Insurance policies I do agree with Jersey42 that you need to carefully read the policy and/or consult with a decent travel insurance broker regarding provisions you may not fully understand.  

 

Hank

[Ashland]

20 hours ago, Hlitner said:

I agree with just about everything Jersey42 posted.  We also have an annual Geoblue Trekker policy which is simply a Travel Medical and Evacuation policy.  It has no trip cancellation or interruption coverage.  When it comes to GeoBlue, if makes sense to purchase the annual policy very close to the date of your first trip (for the policy year).  In fact, you can purchase it right up until the day of your trip.

 

As to annual Trip Insurance policies I do agree with Jersey42 that you need to carefully read the policy and/or consult with a decent travel insurance broker regarding provisions you may not fully understand.  

 

Hank

We also have a GeoBlue Trekker policy and for our Arctic Circle cruise in two weeks we purchased a IMG policy .... Does this sound about right?

[mpk]

Would quarantine costs be covered under travel interruption coverage?

 

Thanks for the info and patience with my newbie questions.

[Babr]

2 minutes ago, mpk said:

Would quarantine costs be covered under travel interruption coverage?

 

Thanks for the info and patience with my newbie questions.

No. That is covered under Trip Delay. Look for the most generous benefits you can afford if that is a concern for you. The benefits will be listed as per person per day. There will be a daily limit as well as a maximum cap.

 

Also look for a policy that will extend coverage in case you are delayed near the end of your trip.

 

Trip Interruption will reimburse unused prepaid nonrefundable costs if your trip ends early for a covered reason. It will also pay for your return transportation.

[vermonter16]

We have a trip we are taking in September which is part of a cruise.  I just happend to check the flight yesterday and it wound up being cancelled....then got concerned that what if it gets cancelled when we actually go?  This trip was booked so long ago and the airfare was not booked with any card that gives benefits...part of the cruise was but that was it.  My concern is that I am not covered if something happens with the flight. Of course I did not buy airline insurance.  Is there any insurance I could purchase now without a full policy?  Would the Chase Sapphire that I used for some of the cruise work for the airline/hotel if we were delayed in arriving?  I wouldn't think so but I really don't know.

[Tampa Girl]

On 7/12/2022 at 9:16 PM, Hlitner said:

I agree with just about everything Jersey42 posted.  We also have an annual Geoblue Trekker policy which is simply a Travel Medical and Evacuation policy.  It has no trip cancellation or interruption coverage.  When it comes to GeoBlue, if makes sense to purchase the annual policy very close to the date of your first trip (for the policy year).  In fact, you can purchase it right up until the day of your trip.

 

As to annual Trip Insurance policies I do agree with Jersey42 that you need to carefully read the policy and/or consult with a decent travel insurance broker regarding provisions you may not fully understand.  

 

Hank

 

We are looking for an annual policy which covers med evac. and which would cover a 128-day WC. The medical is not so important because our health insurance covers us throughout the globe.  I looked at GeoBlue Trekker and if I read it correctly, it doesn't cover any trip over 45 days.  Did I misread this?

[Hlitner]

5 minutes ago, Tampa Girl said:

 

We are looking for an annual policy which covers med evac. and which would cover a 128-day WC. The medical is not so important because our health insurance covers us throughout the globe.  I looked at GeoBlue Trekker and if I read it correctly, it doesn't cover any trip over 45 days.  Did I misread this?

The annual Geoblue Trekker covers trips up to 70 days long.  But even that does not work for a WC.  I believe the GeoBlue single trip plans can cover trips up to 6 months long and you can also purchase more coverage up to a $Million.  But WCs are special and a huge investment so I am thinking this is a time to call Steve (tripinsurancestore) or another professional broker.  Steve's brokerage company does handle GeoBlue among their product line so they should be able to tell you the pros/cons of GeoBlue vs other products.

 

For what its worth, if I booked a full WC I would probably call Steve (or one of his staff).  A cruise  that long and that expensive would likely have me also looking at cancellation/interruption options.  A WC costs enough that self-insuring the cruise cost (in case of cancellation/interruption) would tickle my own so-called "sleep quotient"  If I lay awake at night worrying if I have adequate coverage...it is time to call in the real professionals for advice :).

 

Hank