TravelGuard Insurance vs Princess Insurance

[Princess Chatterer]

My travel agent says in writing that Princess insurance DOES NOT cover flight interruption or flight cancellation for air travel that you book on your own.

[AKman2495]

FWIW, I did not purchase insurance until my mother (85) decided to join us on a Panama Canal cruise. I looked at both the Princess and Travel guard insurance and opted for Travel guard because they cover non-princess flights and was slightly lower cost for equivalent coverages.

 

I can't say how well it works because we are leaving in a month-and frankly, I am expecting not to have to find out.....

[montgomeryfamily]

We went with TG for a couple of reasons....

 

1) our 13 year old was insured for free, so even though the cost pp was more for my husband and I, it still ended up being less overall

 

2) most importantly, as a active duty servicemember I never know if I may be called to go to the 'tip of the spear'. With Princess, I would not be entitled to compensation if military orders dictate I miss the sailing

 

 

Be careful using Travelguard if you have to cancel the cruise before final payment because of getting deployed/orders. Unlike several other insurance companies which allow a period of time to rebook another cruise and apply the monies to the travel insurance for that cruise, Travelguard does not allow you to do so, even if you are cancelling before final payment because you have gotten deployment orders. They don't give refunds and the only way to keep from losing the money is that you have another cruise booked when you call to cancel and modify your travel insurance to that new cruise/date.

 

I know this from personal experience. We had been cruising for years and had always used Travelguard, so we had a long history of insuring cruises with this company. After 9/11, my unit was called up and deployed. I had a very expensive cruise/trip booked and the Travelguard insurance premium was approximately $1200. The cruise was not yet at final payment, but final payment was only a couple of days away and the cruise would be during time covered by the orders. So I cancelled the cruise and called Travelguard.

 

At that time, Travelguard did not specifically cover being called to military duty. But in prior conversations with booking representatives, I had been told by the representative that we could always move the premium monies to another cruise if we could not go on the one covered under the policy. So that is what I had thought I would do if I did get called to military duty or deployed.

 

I called Travelguard, explaining that my unit had been called up and I cancelled the cruise since I would be on orders during that time-- but it was before final payment so there would be no need to submit a claim. I explained that I intended to book another cruise when I had a projected return date and I wanted to apply the premium monies to that, but the Travelguard representative told me NO--I had lost the premium money. The Travelguard representative stated that once the cruise was cancelled, since we did not have a replacement cruise booked, we could not apply the monies to another cruise and we lost the monies. I asked if I could just go ahead and book some future cruise now and call them back with the information so they could apply the premium money to that cruise, but I was told no to that as well.

 

I wrote Travelguard about this situation, but never received a refund or the offer to appy the premium monies to another cruise. I had not been told and it was not in any of the policy documents that you had to have a replacement cruise booked before you cancelled the cruise covered under the travel policy or certainly I would have handled it differently, even if it meant just booking a "placeholder" cruise. I also would have thought Travelguard would have been happy that we avoided a situation which would have required submitting a claim by cancelling before final payment. This was the last time we ever used Travelguard.

 

I have found that several other travel insurance companies allow you to cancel a cruise and move the premium monies to a cruise booked within even a window of a month or even more after the orginal cruise cancellation (including the Travelex policy referenced in this thread). Several of these same companies also include coverage for military duty and pre-existing condition coverage.

 

So be very careful if you are in a situation where you need to cancel a cruise before final payment because you will be deployed/on orders during that time--make certain you call to find out exactly what you can do to protect your premium monies, even if it means just booking a "placeholder" cruise until you can decide when/what cruise you can/want to take BEFORE you cancel that cruise covered under the travel policy.

[Pam in CA]

My travel agent says in writing that Princess insurance DOES NOT cover flight interruption or flight cancellation for air travel that you book on your own.

That's correct. Princess insurance covers only what you book through Princess. However, they WILL pay for transport to the nearest medical center. There's a difference between canceling a cruise for a non-medical reason and needing medical care. When my BIL was in the hospital, the Princess insurance would have covered flying him (and us) commercially from FLL to LAX. Since he was in critical condition and hooked up to a ventilator/IV's, that wasn't an option.

[LindaM]

We have been using TheTripInsuranceStore . The owner is extremely helpful and will guide you in the right direction. Ask for Steve. Since discovering it on the Regent boards, I have been braver about using something that isn't ship related. These policies refund money----not giving only credits.

[Pia1913]

That's exactly how it works. Princess insurance wanted proof that Medicare would deny the claim even though the sickness was on the Diamond Princess in the Far East. Princess insurance already knew in advance that Medicare would deny the claim but demanded that we supply them proof of denial anyway. After giving Princess insurance the proof of Medicare denial Princess insurance finally paid the small claim. What a hassle.

 

Sorry, but I disagree. I think that's the right way to do it and there was no hassle at all. Most of the Medicare recipients also have medigap nsurance with foreign coverage and that has to be filed first. You don't send your claim to Medicare for refusal, you send it to Medigap. Depending on your company it's processed quickly and when Berkley gets the paperwork it refunds quickly too. I know, because I've done it twice.

[mek]

While none of us ever expect to fall ill or be injured on a cruise, what has sold us on Princess Insurance is reading about the special attention that the cruise line gives those who have Princess insurance and do have need for care while on a cruise.

 

Further, Princess has no age related premium so at a more advanced age, the costs are significantly lower.

 

And, lastly the "free" upgrade to platinum level insurance provides a 100% coverage (transfer to another cruise) if one cancels for any reason.

 

The Princess insurance administrator, Berkely Care, is one of the largest and most reputable companies administering travel insurance.

 

So, for us the Princess insurance is the best deal.

 

So true about the age requirement. DH is 87, so some of the policies aren't even available to him anymore. Those that are available have sky high rates. It will probably be Princess for us for any exotic itineraries going forward.

[Pam in CA]

Sorry, but I disagree. I think that's the right way to do it and there was no hassle at all. Most of the Medicare recipients also have medigap nsurance with foreign coverage and that has to be filed first. You don't send your claim to Medicare for refusal, you send it to Medigap. Depending on your company it's processed quickly and when Berkley gets the paperwork it refunds quickly too. I know, because I've done it twice.

You're both right. We were told to submit a claim to both Medicare and Anthem BC. When submitting the claim to Berkley, we included a copy of the check from Anthem BC and a copy of our Medicare submission. We never heard back from Medicare; no surprise. Berkley paid the remaining unpaid amount within a couple of weeks.

[DeepWaterMariner]

Sorry, but I disagree. I think that's the right way to do it and there was no hassle at all. Most of the Medicare recipients also have medigap nsurance with foreign coverage and that has to be filed first. You don't send your claim to Medicare for refusal, you send it to Medigap. Depending on your company it's processed quickly and when Berkley gets the paperwork it refunds quickly too. I know, because I've done it twice.

 

I agree, sort of. We had that situation but we had to get a refusal from Medicare before our Medigap would consider the claim and then finally it went to the travel insurance for what was left to pay. Had we understood exactly how this was going to work and that the Medicare claim had to be filed to a particular address based on our departure port we might have avoided some frustration in getting our claims handled correctly.

[Pia1913]

You're both right. We were told to submit a claim to both Medicare and Anthem BC. When submitting the claim to Berkley, we included a copy of the check from Anthem BC and a copy of our Medicare submission. We never heard back from Medicare; no surprise. Berkley paid the remaining unpaid amount within a couple of weeks.

 

I agree, sort of. We had that situation but we had to get a refusal from Medicare before our Medigap would consider the claim and then finally it went to the travel insurance for what was left to pay. Had we understood exactly how this was going to work and that the Medicare claim had to be filed to a particular address based on our departure port we might have avoided some frustration in getting our claims handled correctly.

 

Anthem is a different type of administrator.

 

Submission to Medicare is correct if you are not dealing with foreign travel. If your injury/illness out of the country, then you don't need to go thru Medicare, but just the foreign coverage portion of your medigap, which has become your primary.

 

Sorry if this sounds convoluted, but this is my business; the kind of work I've been doing most of my adult life. I understand it all; may not be explaining it to your situation. I thought the Berkley form was very easy to follow, but then again, I can do forms in my sleep.

[highheel girl]

I can do forms in my sleep.

 

 

and packing too. :D

[flamomo]

I am going to Europe in about 6 1/2 weeks to board a cruise in Venice, sailing to FLL. I am elite with Princess and do have Princess insurance, but am considering Medjetassist coverage for this trip. I have the kind of Medicare supplement that provides coverage for foreign travel. I am traveling solo and, while in good health for my age, I am of an age where "anything" could happen.

I have been on their website, but wish I could find a phone number for the company because I have some questions that I don't see answers to on the website. I do not find one on the website.

[Pam in CA]

i have been on their website, but wish i could find a phone number for the company because i have some questions that i don't see answers to on the website. I do not find one on the website.

1-800-527-7478

[panamatiger]

I've been reading this thread. Such an interesting discussion. We purchased "Travel Insured - Arch" ( as opposed to TravelGuard-Chartis)through InsureMyTripfor our Spring Cruise to Hawaii. Just curious if anyone has seen any major difference between the two. The premium cost was only like $9

more but Arch had more reviews on the InsureMyTrip website.