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Is Travel Insurance necessary??


krysti0423

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Is travel insurance necessary? That is only a question you can answer. Look over the risks covered by one of the major 3rd-party plans (there are a bunch of them at tripinsurancestore.com and insuremytrip.com) and decide for yourself if those are risks you need covered.

 

Things you need to think about:

Does your medical insurance cover you abroad?

Are you traveling to places where medical care might require an evacuation? (i.e. tiny Caribbean islands)

Can you absorb the cost of having to unexpectedly cancel your trip?

Am I traveling during a time of year when it's significantly likely to encounter weather delays?

 

Can you purchase it through your regular insurance agent? Probably not. While most travel insurance is backed by major insurance companies (Nationwide, AIG/Chartis, etc.) it is sold through it's own divisions.

 

You can purchase it through your travel agent, the cruise company, or on your own. (I think the best deals are on the insurance you purchase on your own...)

 

SirWired

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It's only necessary if you end up needing it. But nobody has that crystal ball yet, so you have to make your own choice based on your probablity of having to cancel, or getting ill or injured while on the cruise, and/or your ability to absorb the loss or medical costs if you do cancel/become ill/get injured without insurance.

 

There are many third party sites that sell travel insurance, your travel agent is one. You can shop around for the best policy and price, but a decent basic policy should cost about 5% of your trip costs. A fully comprehensive deluxe one will cost two or three times that.

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Here's a current story about why insurance is critical, especially if you are over 60. A friend of ours and her husband were leaving today (Sunday) for a two week river cruise in Europe. Last Thursday, she had a brain embolism; so, obviously the trip is off! I don't know if they had insurance; but, if they didn't, there goes many thousands of dollars which, if they did have insurance would have only cost them a few hundred. And just think what the situation would have been if this happened next week when they were on the cruise in Europe! That is why it is also critical to make sure you have sufficient medivac coverage in your purchased policy.

 

As a footnote: Our friend seems to be doing OK under the circumstances; but all prayers are appreciated. Her name is Judy!

 

Moral of the story: BUY TRIP INSURANCE EVERY TIME!

 

Don & Erica

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You'd have to ask your travel agent about the policy they sell, nobody here is going to be able to answer that question for you.

 

Most TA's do sell insurance - but you should check to make sure that it will provide the coverage you're looking for.

 

My DH's parents have medical problems. Several companies won't cover us if something happens to them due to their pre-existing health problems. Therefore, when choosing coverage we have to check the conditions carefully.

 

I have medical coverage through my work. Our credit card also provides trip interruption coverage and medical coverage. You may want to check with your credit card company to see what it covers so that you're not paying for coverage you already have.

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Is Travel Insurance necessary? Rather than get it through the travel company I am looking into booking with, can I get it through my local travel agent who I have my homeowners through?

 

Hi Krysti - sometimes you can get travel insurance with your agent, but that doesn't mean it will be cheaper actually. I'll paste a link on here for the site I used - can compare prices of travel insurance for what you need specifically. http://www.travellinsurance.org - hope that helps!

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You are best off getting travel insurance independently - if you purchase from a cruise line, or your agent, it probably will not cover you for bankruptcy of either. There is a web site http://www.insuremytrip.com where you can get quotes from many insurance companies at once. If you purchase insurance within a certain time frame of your initial deposit, most will cover you for preexisting conditions and a couple will cover you for that if you purchase by the time of final payment.

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Heads up about travel insurance and cruises. My roomate purchased insurance. She ended up sick and cancelled. Insurance paid her costs but since I had the room to my self, Carnival doubled the price of my ticket because I was now a single in a double room. On top of that was a $50 administration fee. Wheww, did not make my trip a happy one.

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Heads up about travel insurance and cruises. My roomate purchased insurance. She ended up sick and cancelled. Insurance paid her costs but since I had the room to my self, Carnival doubled the price of my ticket because I was now a single in a double room. On top of that was a $50 administration fee. Wheww, did not make my trip a happy one.

 

If you're thinking that might happen (one cancels but the other still goes) be sure to find a policy with an "occupancy adjustment" provision. Here's an example from a CSA plan:

 

"3. your additional cost as a result of a change in the per person

occupancy rate for prepaid travel arrangements if

a Traveling Companion’s Covered Trip is canceled and

your Covered Trip is not."

 

Carnival's plan also includes this coverage:

 

"(a) Trip Cancellation - non-refundable cancellation charges imposed by Carnival Cruise Lines and/ or airfare cancellation charges for flights joining or departing Your Sea/Land Arrangements; or the additional costs You may incur as a result of

a change in the per-person occupancy rate of prepaid travel arrangements if a Traveling Companion cancels his/her Cruise Vacation for a covered reason and You do not cancel."

 

Did you have insurance also? This type of coverage is very common and it's probably a good bet that if you had insurance it would have covered this for you.

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yes always get insurance you never know what might happen. In 2009 we had a cruise to Hawaii planed and payed for and our son in law passed away . We got all our money back and were able to go in Jan of 2010. Also on our 2 week caribbean cruise we had plane and weather problems and the insurance covered the extra expense.

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I used to think of travel insurance as just to cover the cost of my trip if I had to cancel my for some reason, but after reading posts here on cruise critic, I got a total new perspective.

 

Heard many stories of cruisers who became seriously ill while on board or who had accidents while in other countries, Read the horror stories of hospitals requiring huge amounts of cash deposits, thousands and thousands of dollars, prior to even evaluating or treating the ill or injured person. Also read stories about injuries while in other countries and the need, or more importantly, the wish to have the person medevaced out for higher level of care. Med evacuation from another county or while on board the ship in the middle to the ocean could easily exceed $50,000.

Was also not previously aware that many personal medical insurance does not pay when treatment occurs out of the country.

 

After being educated here on cruise critic, I would not consider leaving the country without travel insurance. Have bought several times at TripInsuranceStore.com and have been pleased with their customer service and helpfullness.

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  • 2 weeks later...

speaking as one who has had to USE the travel insurance we purchased, all i can say is YES YES YES....invest in the insurance! it's a small price to pay for the peace of mind. in my particular case, i happened to break my neck three weeks prior to sailing. so there we were...having to cancel the amazing cruise we had looked forward to for 18 months. it was totally heartbreaking...lol....every bit as excruciating as the broken neck! luckily, we had the insurance and got a total refund. i cant imagine having lost all that money! you just never know what can happen....so do it - then relax and have fun!

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As someone who just got back from a cruise, I can tell you that the bills for small things add up quickly! I was treated on board for a sore and had to go back on a daily basis to get it redressed and checked. For a total of around 8 days of treatment, the out of pocket bill without insurance would be ~$640 USD.

 

I'm by no means an "older" person, but I will never take a trip without insurance after this experience. Luckily, my mother purchased insurance and I have my normal medical insurance that should cover most, if not all, of the costs.

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I agree with the prior postings that trip insurance is a MUST. Here is why, a few years back, I was on a cruise with my parents and some other family. Day 1 was lovely, went snorkeling blah blah blah. Day 2, go about the day, and wonder why I haven't seen my dad all day. :confused: Well his "little cough" that he had upon leaving had turned into pneumonia, and he was in the infirmary receiving IV antibiotics (which he returned for 3 times daily for the duration of the trip) and he needed a chest X-ray. That $150ish trip insurance plan saved them upwards of $10,000 when all was over with. :eek: They (the cruiseline) still required payment prior to disembarking, however a phone call and faxing the bill to the insurance company was all it took for reimbursement. :D

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  • 2 weeks later...

Yes, travel insurance is necessary for your peace of mind. A friend of my daughters went to China on a river cruise and had a stroke he was 55. They had no insurance. He was sent to a Chinese hospital and was there for 3 weeks while they tried to arrange for him to come home. The Chinese government would not release him until he paid for his medical care.(this is common in most countries) Long story short it cost them $65000. sixty five thousand. to fly from Beijing to Los Angles and pay for the hospital in China. I can buy alot of insurance for that amount of money.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I buy a policy for a full year that covers medical and evacuation for any trips I take for a full year with a very high dollar limit. It costs me about $450 for my wife and for me. It even covers problems if I am in the US and more than a defined distance (I forget what it is) in the US. I used this when I had some emergency dental work.

 

In my opinion, everything else is a waste of money. I realize that if I have to cancel before the cruise, I will end up paying for a cruise that I do not take. I am willing to accept that risk.

 

As with any purchase, you need to make a decision as to what is important to you.

 

DON

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  • 3 weeks later...
I buy a policy for a full year that covers medical and evacuation for any trips I take for a full year with a very high dollar limit. It costs me about $450 for my wife and for me. It even covers problems if I am in the US and more than a defined distance (I forget what it is) in the US. I used this when I had some emergency dental work.

 

In my opinion, everything else is a waste of money. I realize that if I have to cancel before the cruise, I will end up paying for a cruise that I do not take. I am willing to accept that risk.

 

As with any purchase, you need to make a decision as to what is important to you.

 

DON

 

Could you let me know the name of the co. so I could look into getting the same type of policy?

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One medical evacuation insurance that I have used on a yearly basis is

Medjet Assist and they are located in Birmingham Alabama. If you are an AARP member, buying the insurance through AARP is an excellent discount.

 

For major trips (cruises) I have purchased individual trip insurance through the TA using AcessAmerica. The two times in last 15 years that I have had a claim it worked out pretty much what I expected and was not a major hassle (TA also filed it for me :D she's a gem!).

 

On small trips or less expensive ones especially domestically I just self insure. A $500 pp 3 day I can absorb that fairly easily. A $5,000 pp vacation to the end of the world -- well I want coverage. Self-insurance is a great thing if you have thought it out and decided what works for that trip and set of circumstances. But do your homework, read the fine print and have the Medjet Assist for the big expense of getting you home.

 

Somehow thinking of it as self insurance seems less risky than I'm not buying insurance. Very often self insurance is the best choice.

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