Question on tripmate

[Tas353]

Looking for advice about travel insurance. We have a Viking cruise booked for Fall2024. Need to make a decision this week if we want pre-existing conditions covered. The insurance seems to have gotten more expensive. I think if we had to cancel, the insurance cost is not refunded since it’s not through Viking. We can always choose to purchase it later and not have pre-existing covered. Curious for thoughts on this. 

[Selion]

I've always gotten insurance independently from the cruise lines and I've used Travel Guard numerous times.  They allow you to purchase a policy for the amount of your deposits, so the pre-existing conditions waiver is in force.  Then you can adjust the trip total after you have made the final payment, then pay the additional premium.  If you cancel before final payment, you haven't paid the most of your insurance premiums.  Even if you cancel after final payment but before travel commences, you can ask Travel Guard to issue a voucher (minus an admin fee, used to be $7 USD) for use on a future policy.

 

TL; DR - If you want the most flexibility out of your travel insurance, don't buy the one sold by cruise lines.

 

BTW, TripMate's "cancel for any reason" is sponsored by Viking.  You'll receive a Viking voucher for the costs paid.  Read through this forum and you'll see Viking vouchers have some pit falls, but for most cruisers they are easy enough to work with.

[lackcreativity]

If you are even asking about coverage for pre-existing conditions, it makes me think it is something you might need. I certainly don't need to know any of your particulars, but speaking just for me and my spouse, we would not travel without it. I would say we are pretty healthy 70 year olds, but I can say that because pharmaceuticals keep our typical age related conditions at bay.

 

However, things can go awry at any time, and you might say insurance companies are always going to look for a way to deny a claim. Back when we started traveling ( in our 50's) we worried about elderly parents needs that might cause cancellations. Now it is us!

[lackcreativity]

Selion,

 

We are looking at booking a Viking cruise for 2024 under the $25 deposit, but were cautious about having to pay the entire insurance cost at booking. I think I will investigate Travel Guard if it is accurate that we can insure that $25 deposit and still have the coverage for pre-existing conditions. Does that then eliminate the cancel for any reason coverage that we would get through Viking? 

[greatver]

I found that Viking insurance was cheaper than independent policy. Suspect that it was because of age. Viking may have group rates whereas independents may be age rated. (I am a healthy 84). 

[LindaS272]

Check out thetripinsurancestore:

https://tripinsurancestore.com

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/2484-qa-cruise-insurance-w-steve-dasseos-of-the-tripinsurancestorecom-june-2020-read-only/

 

[TayanaLorna]

We always use the TripMate insurance through Viking because we have no choice.  None of the companies most US based travelers can insure one who lives in Puerto Rico.  I found one other company but their premium was the same as Vikings but did not include Cancel for Any Reason provided by Viking. 

 

Having to pay for Vikings insurance so far in advance without having any risk until 120 days before the cruise really stinks.  Other companies will insure you for your actual risk (deposit) and then your cruise fare total when you complete payment which is great.  Adding Cancel for Any Reason to those policies is either not possible or very expensive. 

 

It is now possible to insure Viking Vouchers through TripMate which was a huge complaint previously.  

[LindaS272]

29 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

We always use the TripMate insurance through Viking because we have no choice.  None of the companies most US based travelers can insure one who lives in Puerto Rico.  I found one other company but their premium was the same as Vikings but did not include Cancel for Any Reason provided by Viking. 

 

Having to pay for Vikings insurance so far in advance without having any risk until 120 days before the cruise really stinks.  Other companies will insure you for your actual risk (deposit) and then your cruise fare total when you complete payment which is great.  Adding Cancel for Any Reason to those policies is either not possible or very expensive. 

 

It is now possible to insure Viking Vouchers through TripMate which was a huge complaint previously.  

I presume, though, that your independent post-extension would not be insured under Viking’s TripMate policy. What do you do for that?

[Selion]

3 hours ago, lackcreativity said:

Does that then eliminate the cancel for any reason coverage that we would get through Viking? 

Unfortunately, no.  The cancel for any reason coverage would cover situations such as "I decided not to go."  Pre-existing conditions waiver only applies to cancellations due to medical reasons.  "Pre-Existing Medical Conditions Exclusion Waiver Provides coverage otherwise excluded due to pre-existing medical conditions."  Travel Guard's covered medical cancellation can be for " Insured, Family Member, Traveling Companion, Business Partner, or Host at Destination."  So this waiver is very handy.  A must-have if any relatives for whom you'd take time off in case of emergencies have chronic conditions.  In our case, that's our MIL.

Edited June 4, 2023 by Selion

[leishirsute]

I booked my first Viking Cruise using their Tripmate.  I found it to be too expensive and inflexible.  Viking actually raised the price of the insurance $200/person between quotes in the span of 20 minutes, because I previously paid only the $25 deposit to lock in the cruise.  They said that didn't lock in the price of the Tripmate.

[leishirsute]

Just be aware that the cost of Tripmate is not locked in with the $25 deposit.  VIking raised the price of Tripmate by $200/person in  the span 20 minutes because I initially only paid the the $25 deposit but then noticed that their invoice stated that i refused insurance (which I had not).  I called them and they said the price of insurance went up $200/person from the prior call 20 minutes before.

[TayanaLorna]

15 hours ago, LindaS272 said:

I presume, though, that your independent post-extension would not be insured under Viking’s TripMate policy. What do you do for that?

Correct.  Our week after Viking in Brazil was not insured.  The cost of the river cruise, hotel and airfare was small compared to Viking cruise. My biggest concern was lack of medical coverage.  Our next cruise we are doing Viking pre and post so the risk would be cost of airfare if we do our own.

[Tas353]

1 hour ago, leishirsute said:

Just be aware that the cost of Tripmate is not locked in with the $25 deposit.  VIking raised the price of Tripmate by $200/person in  the span 20 minutes because I initially only paid the the $25 deposit but then noticed that their invoice stated that i refused insurance (which I had not).  I called them and they said the price of insurance went up $200/person from the prior call 20 minutes before.

Thanks for that. I didn’t realize. We locked in with $25 and don’t pay balance til January. Have read everyone’s responses and will need to decide by Wednesday. 

[jc522]

I just spoke to the Trip Insurance Store (TIS). I think I've got this right.

 

Viking wants $2198 to insure the 2 of us. Travel Guard Essential through TIS will cost $1250.30. That settles that.

 

Viking's cancellation penalty is $100 per person up to 120 days prior to the trip. I thought I'd wait until then to buy the insurance, but TIS recommends purchasing $500 of insurance coverage now for about $125. At 120 days prior we would increase the coverage to the full price of the cruise (or a lesser amount if we prefer). This way any new medical conditions from this date forward will be included in our coverage and not considered pre-existing. Also, our rate schedule would be locked in. The new cost is reduced by the $125 that we already paid.   

Edited June 13, 2023 by jc522

[CurlerRob]

8 hours ago, jc522 said:

I just spoke to the Trip Insurance Store (TIS). I think I've got this right.

 

Viking wants $2198 to insure the 2 of us. Travel Guard Essential through TIS will cost $1250.30. That settles that.

 

Viking's cancellation penalty is $100 per person up to 120 days prior to the trip. I thought I'd wait until then to buy the insurance, but TIS recommends purchasing $500 of insurance coverage now for about $125. At 120 days prior we would increase the coverage to the full price of the cruise (or a lesser amount if we prefer). This way any new medical conditions from this date forward will be included in our coverage and not considered pre-existing. Also, our rate schedule would be locked in. The new cost is reduced by the $125 that we already paid.   

 

Travel insurance is generally a very competitive market. A price difference that large would have me reading the two policies very carefully to see if they were actually equivalent in coverages and provisions. If they are the same, you've found a good deal.

 

The advice to buy a small amount of coverage early, then upgrade it near PIF time is sound, well worth doing. 🍺🥌 

[jc522]

12 hours ago, CurlerRob said:

 

Travel insurance is generally a very competitive market. A price difference that large would have me reading the two policies very carefully to see if they were actually equivalent in coverages and provisions. If they are the same, you've found a good deal. 

The coverages are not the same, but the TIS plan has all that we need. I do not think Viking's insurance has the flexibility to tailor the coverage to what think is sufficient.

[Cienfuegos]

My wife and I bought the Viking Cancel for Any Reason coverage last year. We had to cancel, and we were paid in full, minus the cost of the insurance.   I wrote about it in an earlier thread.

 

They stretched out the process to the last day at each interval, and made the final payment on the last day by email. Almost four months following their receipt of all required information.

 

One irritating aspect of the process is the refund is not initiated until the voyage has begun. In combination with Viking's annoying pay in full, years in advance, this leaves the prospective voyager in hock to Viking for a very long period of time.

[rljan]

We have not used TripMate.  However, I checked reviews of many companies before deciding on a different company.  TripMate"s reviews were some of the worst.  I filtered out the reviews from those who had never made a claim and determined that TripMate was not the way to go for us.

[deec]

IMO not having "pre-existing" conditions covered is a mistake.  Even a change in medication can invalidate a claim of a medical condition without the pre-existing coverage.  Also if you have family that you would want to cancell if one of them became ill would be covered for a pre-existing conditions.  this was very important to me when we had elderly parents alive.

[Vineyard View]

Insuremytrip.com

squaremouth.com

 

two really good companies to compare policies. If you have questions you can call them. We’ve used both in the past and have found that their pricing is the better option for us, and we’ve been able to insure the deposit up front. I am hoping that is still an option with them because it’s a really smart way to get your pre-exiting locked in for less initial cost

[mikenannie]

Travel insurance is always a challenge for us. 
 

My experience is that the reviews tell you little about the product. 90% are complaints from people who feel they didn’t get what they paid for and you don’t know the specifics, just their perception. People who used the policy, had a claim, and had no issues, rarely post a review. That’s true of all the insurance plans available. 
 

I wish there was a website with better reviews but I’ve never found one. 

[LindaS272]

34 minutes ago, mikenannie said:

Travel insurance is always a challenge for us. 
 

My experience is that the reviews tell you little about the product. 90% are complaints from people who feel they didn’t get what they paid for and you don’t know the specifics, just their perception. People who used the policy, had a claim, and had no issues, rarely post a review. That’s true of all the insurance plans available. 
 

I wish there was a website with better reviews but I’ve never found one. 

Check with Steve at The Trip Insurance Store. You can also find a Q&A with him here on CC.

[janetcbl]

We used to compare insurance rates, etc., for our Viking trips, but now that we are in the “old” age category, every other insurance company is really expensive, so we have gone with Viking. 

[Vineyard View]

I just booked insurance through insuremytrip.com again. Had a dialogue with a very knowledgeable agent via iChat. Screen shot all.

There are a few companies who do not allow you to book deposit only, so important to ask.  There are a few companies who allow you to insure for less than total trip cost if you choose without penalty - some people are in favor of this. The total cost of the policy is locked in if you book deposit only - Just type in what that total amount will be and you will know. 

I booked with an insurance company we have used previously. I read the entire contract to make sure. I booked with deposit only cash outlay, and have Pre-Existing medical. I will add to it when we put more money on our trip or make final payment. If we change our itinerary for some reason prior to sailing and penalties, I can transfer the policy as long as travel is within 730 days from when I booked it. 
 

[longterm]

We always get trip insurance these days; after reading countless negative reviews of TripMate, I found AIG Travel Guard and use them for all of our trips.

 

We just secured a trip to Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania in 2025, and I was advised to get trip insurance within the first 2 weeks of paying the deposit, so that we would get covered by "cancel for any reason." I was going to get insurance anyway so went ahead and bought the policy right away, even though the trip is 2 years away.

 

Viking makes it easy to add TripMate, but before you consider buying it, do a Google search and you'll find lots of negative reviews.