HAL Platinum Protection Plan

[rnr4thatsme]

Hello!   I've been thinking of gifting my elderly father and his wife an Alaskan cruise on HAL this summer.  I was reading about the platinum protection plan and it says it covers pre-existing conditions and makes no mention as to age?  Is this too good to be true?  Being as they are an older couple, they definitely have medical conditions etc - nothing serious, but the usual things for people of a certain age.  And being of that age, I want to purchase very good insurance, which this plans sounds like it is.  Does anyone have any advice?

[Ottawa traveller]

I use this plan all the time as I have a pre-existing condition and the plan lets you cancel for any reason up to sailing. That is you can cancel if you simply change your mind.  There is some medical but I also have an annual plan with an affiliate group tha makes sure I have all the medical I need.  You would have to decide exactly what you think you need it for.  It is quite expensive but for me not so expensive that I know I can cancel if need be and still get 90% of the fare ( not including the cost of the premiums for the plan) back.

[crystalspin]

1 hour ago, rnr4thatsme said:

And being of that age, I want to purchase very good insurance, which this plans sounds like it is.  Does anyone have any advice?

It is not "very good insurance". But it is available insurance! 

 

 

 

ETA: as long as they don't live in New York State, Quebec, British Columbia, Puerto Rico or the United Kingdom.

 

Edited March 13 by crystalspin

[kazu]

Cancellation insurance is good - no tricks, no fuss or muss and paid quickly.

 

Medical insurance is limited to $10,000 USD.  I never took it for that but for the cancellation protection.

 

I was medically disembarked in Puerto Vallarta January 2023 (not fun) and underwent surgery.  HAL’s Care people were on the phone to me (part of the insurance I think) in no time.  They paid the 2 days I lost on my cruise and have paid the medical maximum while I continue to wait on my primary insurance.  (Declined, appealed - decline overturned and now the claim sits in the infamous queue).  

 

Of course, if my primary pays I will have to repay HAL’s insurance but at least they provided some relief after the expenses.

 

I now have a lot of appreciation for the Platinum insurance.

[Ipeeinthepools]

3 hours ago, rnr4thatsme said:

Hello!   I've been thinking of gifting my elderly father and his wife an Alaskan cruise on HAL this summer.  I was reading about the platinum protection plan and it says it covers pre-existing conditions and makes no mention as to age?  Is this too good to be true?  Being as they are an older couple, they definitely have medical conditions etc - nothing serious, but the usual things for people of a certain age.  And being of that age, I want to purchase very good insurance, which this plans sounds like it is.  Does anyone have any advice?

 

Perhaps it’s obvious but don’t purchase this insurance until you make final payment because it’s not refundable if you cancel prior to final payment.

[TiogaCruiser]

I believe it is 24 hours before final payment on that deadline.

[cheeseheads4ever]

I thought you couldn’t wait that long to buy insurance through the cruise line but I could be wrong..

[POA1]

30 minutes ago, cheeseheads4ever said:

I thought you couldn’t wait that long to buy insurance through the cruise line but I could be wrong..

Other than nonrefundable fares, like casino rates, you can wait until final payment to add cruise protection. The cruise protectiin isn't really insurance, although the platinum version has some insurance components.

 

It's cancel for any reason protection. There is no age limit, no pre-existing conditions limit. Our TA said it was our best bet once I hit 50.

[retird]

I just tried getting the HAL insurance but was refused.  Reason:   

Because I booked with a non refundable deposit, cancellation fees begin to accrue immediately. They told me I needed to purchase the protection at time of booking or within 24 hours after booking.    

EASY TO BOOK. Cancellation Protection Plans can be booked until the date cancellation fees begin to accrue (varies by cruise). Opt in when making your booking or visit Manage my Bookings to add a plan to your existing reservation. 

Edited March 14 by retird

[cheeseheads4ever]

Thought so!!

[YourWorldWithBill]

Cancellation coverage is always expensive, however you look at it. Some credit cards will allow you to include cancellation coverage, possibly avoiding some of the timing pitfalls.

 

For medical coverage, if you have a problem with the cruise line's insurance for any reason, get a credit card that covers everything related to medical. The amount of coverage may not be enough, but for an extremely minimal charge you can get all the coverage needed. But  including cancellation coverage is still costly.

 

[Hlitner]

The big downside is the medical insurance maximum.  These days, even a hangnail can end up costing $10,000 (yes, an exaggeration).  We do not feel comfortable without at least $100,000 of medical (easily obtained through a provider such as GeoBlue).  

 

We do not criticize HAL since most cruise line offered policies are wholly inadequate in terms of medical (which is truly your biggest risk since liablity is virtually unlimited).  Folks worry about protecting a few thousand in cruise cost but seem to not be concerned about 10s of thousands of dollars in medical cost if something happens.  

 

Those of us on Medicare do not normally get any coverage outside the USA with the exception of some so-called "Advantage Plans."  For example, our own Medicare is via Aetna Medicare PPO and we are covered for both Emergency and Urgent care, worldwide.  But that coverage is limited.  

 

Hank

[LAX]

Can someone double-check my understanding of the Platinum CPP? The most important feature (to my elderly mother, at least) is the NO pre-existing medical condition exclusion regardless of when it's purchased. I intend to get additional medical and evacuation coverage even if I purchase this plan.

 

So, this plan can be purchased as long as it's added PRIOR to final payment is due, right? Can it be added to just 1 guest or does it have to be added to all guests within the same stateroom? Will the refund be in the form of payment used (ie: credit card) or future cruise credit? What is the ballpark cost for a 7-day Alaska itinerary (~$2,500)?

 

LAX

 

[crystalspin]

13 minutes ago, LAX said:

So, this plan can be purchased as long as it's added PRIOR to final payment is due, right? Can it be added to just 1 guest or does it have to be added to all guests within the same stateroom? Will the refund be in the form of payment used (ie: credit card) or future cruise credit? What is the ballpark cost for a 7-day Alaska itinerary (~$2,500)?

It must be purchased prior to when penalties accrue. If you choose a non-refundable deposit (i.e. the "Best Price" fare), you must buy the plan immediately. Some long cruises have penalties due earlier than final payment date, and the CPP must be bought before that day. But, for a 7-day cruise with a refundable deposit, CPP (Platinum or Standard) will need to be purchased before final payment.

 

You can add it for one person in a cabin, but if that person cancels before sailing, the person remaining will be charged "single supplement". 

 

The refund for cancellation will be refunded to the credit card and quite quickly. We were refunded on the Standard plan at just a week!

 

I don't have an answer for your ballpark!

[LAX]

5 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

It must be purchased prior to when penalties accrue. If you choose a non-refundable deposit (i.e. the "Best Price" fare), you must buy the plan immediately. Some long cruises have penalties due earlier than final payment date, and the CPP must be bought before that day. But, for a 7-day cruise with a refundable deposit, CPP (Platinum or Standard) will need to be purchased before final payment.

 

You can add it for one person in a cabin, but if that person cancels before sailing, the person remaining will be charged "single supplement". 

 

The refund for cancellation will be refunded to the credit card and quite quickly. We were refunded on the Standard plan at just a week!

 

I don't have an answer for your ballpark!

Thanks. We will be looking to book fully refundable fare because it's too far in advance to lock ourselves into this trip. As much as we all want to go, lots of things out of our control can happen in over a year's time!

 

The main reason most other travel insurance won't work it's because of the pre-existing medical condition exclusion on such early deposit. This plan would allow us to not lose our "premium" should we need to cancel before final payment (all other things would be refundable until then).

 

LAX

 

[LAX]

32 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

It must be purchased prior to when penalties accrue. If you choose a non-refundable deposit (i.e. the "Best Price" fare), you must buy the plan immediately. Some long cruises have penalties due earlier than final payment date, and the CPP must be bought before that day. But, for a 7-day cruise with a refundable deposit, CPP (Platinum or Standard) will need to be purchased before final payment.

 

You can add it for one person in a cabin, but if that person cancels before sailing, the person remaining will be charged "single supplement". 

 

The refund for cancellation will be refunded to the credit card and quite quickly. We were refunded on the Standard plan at just a week!

 

I don't have an answer for your ballpark!

Oh! You brought up an important point about single supplement. What about in the case of 3 guests? Would we get refund on 1/3 of total cost for the stateroom? Or just the fare on the 3rd guest (lower fare) even though she will be one of the 2 guests with higher fare?

 

I am not sure how this will actually work as the other two guests will have travel insurance through a 3rd party and if my elderly mother can't go, there is a good chance all of us won't either.

 

LAX

 

[crystalspin]

1 minute ago, LAX said:

You brought up an important point about single supplement. What about in the case of 3 guests? Would we get refund on 1/3 of total cost for the stateroom? Or just the fare on the 3rd guest (lower fare) even though she will be one of the 2 guests with higher fare?

Wherever you list her, I'm betting she becomes the third guest if she cancels, the lower fare.

[LAX]

7 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

Wherever you list her, I'm betting she becomes the third guest if she cancels, the lower fare.

I am okay with that as long as the cost is priced accordingly. I can put the cost of more expensive fare on the other 2 guests' travel insurance for reimbursement.

 

LAX

 

[Ipeeinthepools]

Remember that this cancellation insurance doesn’t have any “covered” reasons where you get 100 percent of your fare returned.  If your mother had a new medical condition, such as she fell and broke a bone, you would still only get 90 percent of the fare returned to you.  There are no questions asked, if you cancel, you only get 90% of the fare refunded.

 

As far as the cost is concerned, you can go to the manage my cruise and see the exact cost.  The cost depends on several factors but for reference I just booked a 14 day transatlantic cruise that cost about $2600 per person and the cost for the Platinum coverage was $329.

[mcrcruiser]

We use these to insure our trip & have medical & medical evacuation as well . first you need the Chase Sapphire Credit card & you book the cruise using this credit card .This then insures  the cruise for trip interruption & Trip cancellation due to health or death reasons . Then go to Aalianz Travel Insurance  not .com on the internet & pick a  yearly plan that suits your needs  .Ay 85 uears of age ,we find this combination the best of all worlds when it comes to travel insurance  . Much much cheaper because you cover for one full year vs buying expensive one trip at a time travel insurance plans .A plus is with the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card if you spend$4000  in 3 months ,easy to do with some cruise costs , you can get the bonus which when I took that card was a $800 bonus to spend as we wanted ,It may now be $600 bomus but iot chamges . I am filing a claim  right now for illness & had to cancel a cruise with a $700 penalty . We will get all $700 back form the Chase Yravel ins company

[TiogaCruiser]

The cost for platinum is roughly 10% of the cruise only fare. If you purchase air and/or a pre or post cruise tour through HAL the CPP covers all 3, but the price is based on only the cruise fare. 
 

I’ve exercised CPP twice.

[mcrcruiser]

Be careful what the cruise lines sell as insurance does not vcover 100% of the loss  'however ,my post above does cover all 100% of the loss 

 

As Hank said above the biggest risk is the medical which can easily run into the many thousands  , Actually in order to be safest  you need Med Jet Assist insurance to get you home from a foreign hospital if you can not board a commercial plane but  need ambulance to take you to amedical jet  to get you home when you are half way around the world  . With out med jet assist  ,the cost to get back to a home based hospital is in the 6 figures  costing . This is fact

[mcrcruiser]

Lastly "always " read your insurance plans before you go  . 

[LAX]

On 3/19/2024 at 6:54 AM, TiogaCruiser said:

The cost for platinum is roughly 10% of the cruise only fare. If you purchase air and/or a pre or post cruise tour through HAL the CPP covers all 3, but the price is based on only the cruise fare. 
 

I’ve exercised CPP twice.

How was your experience? If there are 3 guests in the stateroom, is there a way to specify a particularly guest as being the 3rd one (lower fare) so that the cost is lower?

LAX

 

Edited March 21 by LAX

[Ineke]

We had Platinum insurance on our Tales of the South Pacific cruise this past fall. Never needed it, thank goodness, but imagine our shock when we were told we could not get it for our upcoming cruise in April, because we are from British Columbia. So we settled for the next best thing, and fortunately have very good emergency medical coverage. But as a Canadian, be aware. This is when living on the Wet Coast is not ideal.