Cruising. Westpac and ANZ complimentary Travel Insurance

[Aus Traveller]

7 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Be very wary of CC insurance as it can be very tricky, some have a minimal spend on each item of travel I.e. $250 on flights, another on hotel, another on the cruise  not just on the whole trip.

Which CC requires a minimum spend on each item of travel?  I haven't ever seen this limitation.

[Aus Traveller]

8 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Be very wary of CC insurance as it can be very tricky, some have a minimal spend on each item of travel I.e. $250 on flights, another on hotel, another on the cruise  not just on the whole trip.

I haven't come across this limitation. Which CC is it?

[Belmont Babe]

22 hours ago, 888sydney said:

Newbie here….I have ANZ card with complimentary travel insurance. 
I know that Covid is covered. 
 

Wondering if you get confined in your room on a cruise for say 5 days, anyone knows whether there is any compensation from ANZ Allianz travel insurance?
 

thanks 

Right at the bottom of - Section 1.5 "There is no cover for claims arising from any lockdowns, changes in government alert levels, quarantine or mandatory isolation that applies generally or broadly to some or all of a population, vessel or geographical area, or that applies based on where You are travelling to, from, or through."
 

[lorri111]

I  did a lot of research on this insurance question for our short domestic cruise in April, particularly the question as to whether it was covered by our credit card international travel insurance. The bank itself was useless on this but the insurer (Allianz) was thankfully very clear...

Please be advised that the PDS booklet defines ‘overseas’ as “outside of Australia and its territories and includes when you are aboard a foreign registered cruise vessel in Australian territorial waters”.

– this means that cruises ships with foreign registered vessel have provision for cover under the international travel insurance, which does have as a benefit international medical expenses.

 

Medicare will definitely not covered medical expenses on board so this coverage is welcome.

 

Australian Frequent Flyer website has a recent article on insurance offered by various credit cards and what the minimum spends are to qualify (for mine, Westpac Altitude it is $400 pp)

[Dee51]

Can you please advise what destination you use when applying for cover on a domestic cruise? 

[cruiser3775]

2 hours ago, Dee51 said:

Can you please advise what destination you use when applying for cover on a domestic cruise? 

I'd like to know this also. I have recently booked on a domestic cruise that stays completely within Australian territorial waters. When I try to get online quotes, the first question they ask is "What countries will you be visiting?"  If you only put Australia, you get offered only domestic cover plans. Some of them then allow you to add cruise cover for an additional cost. but many do not, so you can't proceed with the quote.

[lorri111]

16 minutes ago, cruiser3775 said:

I'd like to know this also. I have recently booked on a domestic cruise that stays completely within Australian territorial waters. When I try to get online quotes, the first question they ask is "What countries will you be visiting?"  If you only put Australia, you get offered only domestic cover plans. Some of them then allow you to add cruise cover for an additional cost. but many do not, so you can't proceed with the quote.

I agree, it is hard to work out domestic cruising cover via travel insurance directly. I was just pleased that my credit card (Westpac Altitide) automatically covered it specifically (post 29)

[LittleFish1976]

29 minutes ago, cruiser3775 said:

I'd like to know this also. I have recently booked on a domestic cruise that stays completely within Australian territorial waters. When I try to get online quotes, the first question they ask is "What countries will you be visiting?"  If you only put Australia, you get offered only domestic cover plans. Some of them then allow you to add cruise cover for an additional cost. but many do not, so you can't proceed with the quote.

 

If you add cruising cover the automatic assumption is that you are outside Australian territorial waters. You're therefore covered for ship-to-shore evacuation and all the important expensive things. This is true even if you first select the only country you will travel to as Australia. Some policies will just refer to this as 'domestic cruising' but it means ocean cruising and gives you the required benefits.

Edited March 17 by LittleFish1976

[cruiser3775]

1 hour ago, LittleFish1976 said:

f you add cruising cover the automatic assumption is that you are outside Australian territorial waters. You're therefore covered for ship-to-shore evacuation

The problem is that several of  the major travel insurance companies do not offer the cruising cover component as an extra, when you select only Australia as the country you will visit. These are companies that do offer cruise cover when you select overseas countries, so presumably they would also offer it for domestic cruises. But there is no way to proceed with the quote online. I guess I'll have to actually phone some of them and wait for ages on hold before i get through.

[LittleFish1976]

39 minutes ago, cruiser3775 said:

The problem is that several of  the major travel insurance companies do not offer the cruising cover component as an extra, when you select only Australia as the country you will visit. These are companies that do offer cruise cover when you select overseas countries, so presumably they would also offer it for domestic cruises. But there is no way to proceed with the quote online. I guess I'll have to actually phone some of them and wait for ages on hold before i get through.

I checked Allianz and Covermore and they both do. Which ones are you having a problem with?

[cruiser3775]

Qantas and Insure & Go

I looked at Covermore, but their quote is much higher.

There are also a couple of travel insurers who won't even quote you a price until less than 120 days before you depart, if you are over a certain age. That means I wouldn't be able to book flights (to get to the cruise) until four months out, which might prove to be much more expensive than if I booked it now.

[Pushka]

8 hours ago, cruiser3775 said:

The problem is that several of  the major travel insurance companies do not offer the cruising cover component as an extra, when you select only Australia as the country you will visit. These are companies that do offer cruise cover when you select overseas countries, so presumably they would also offer it for domestic cruises. But there is no way to proceed with the quote online. I guess I'll have to actually phone some of them and wait for ages on hold before i get through.

You could always select say Pacific Islands because not going there reduces their risk anyway. 

[boeckli]

5 hours ago, cruiser3775 said:

Qantas and Insure & Go

I looked at Covermore, but their quote is much higher.

There are also a couple of travel insurers who won't even quote you a price until less than 120 days before you depart, if you are over a certain age. That means I wouldn't be able to book flights (to get to the cruise) until four months out, which might prove to be much more expensive than if I booked it now.

 

Why are you having issues with Insure and Go? I used them for a domestic cruise last December and from what I can see if you choose 'Cruise' and then 'Domestic' you get just what you need.

[cruiser3775]

Sorry, it wasn't Insure and Go, it was Tick Travel.

I've finally bought a policy today, after much searching. For a nine day low cost domestic cruise, the quotes I got from 12 different companies varied from $275 to $442. But it's not a good comparison, because the level of cover also varies a lot. The more expensive ones had cover amounts for cancellation way in excess of what I paid for the cruise, or high cover for luggage or valuables (which I don't take when cruising). I mainly wanted cover for medical & evacuation, plus Covid cover, plus a modest amount for cancellation.   You have to read the T & Cs unfortunately, which takes a lot of time.   In the end, I found that Covermore had a lower cost domestic cruising policy, which I could add to with a couple of extras that covered the amounts I would actually lose if something went wrong.  I also get a substantial discount by buying it through Virgin with my frequent flier number.

Edited March 18 by cruiser3775