Arguing with my DH about insurance

[gooch47]

We're back to our old argument over what to insure and what not to insure. We have Princess's top level insurance for the cruise itself but opted to make our own air reservations and hotel reservations. It won't be cheap, either. Southwest from here to LA, Delta from LA to Sydney, 1 night extra before and after in LA, 2-3 nights extra before and after in Sydney.

 

I'm pretty sure the Princess package won't cover any of that, right? What would happen if we got sick in Sydney two nights before the cruise? I'm fairly certain that Princess's stuff wouldn't cover medflight stuff. Just another thing to worry about.

[Loonbeam]

Generally speaking unless you purchased your hotel and air via Princess, it will not cover them via default (you may be able to purchase a rider to cover the higher cost I would have to look at the policy details).

 

This means that during any of the nights you listed you have no coverage for trip delay, lost baggage, medical etc other than provided by your existing carriers.

 

Your agent should be able to find you an insurer that will quote just the remaining aspects of the trip or you could possibly drop the Princess policy and purchase a comprehensive 3rd party one.

 

The only thing I do not insure for vacation are tickets paid with FF miles. And that's basically because you can't.

 

 

 

We're back to our old argument over what to insure and what not to insure. We have Princess's top level insurance for the cruise itself but opted to make our own air reservations and hotel reservations. It won't be cheap, either. Southwest from here to LA, Delta from LA to Sydney, 1 night extra before and after in LA, 2-3 nights extra before and after in Sydney.

 

I'm pretty sure the Princess package won't cover any of that, right? What would happen if we got sick in Sydney two nights before the cruise? I'm fairly certain that Princess's stuff wouldn't cover medflight stuff. Just another thing to worry about.

[paul929207]

Look at the effective dates for the policy. At least the ones I get say that I have coverage from Jan 1, 2011 thru February 5, 2011. My TA knows that we always go early, so she pads a couple of days on either end.

[Embracedbylife]

In addition to the princess platinum protection we always get seperate insurance through travelguard or similar insurance agent for the flights and hotels and other costs before and after cruising. I've learned you always want to have insurance no matter your age or health. Best of luck!

[Whimsy]

We get our travel insurance independantly so we have everything covered. Most of the time I compare plans thru insuremytrip. For our upcoming cruise with a large group we are letting the TA handle it but it's still not thru the cruise line since we book our own air.

[Pam in CA]

In addition to the Princess insurance, we have MedJet Assist, which will fly you from anywhere in the world and home in a medically-equipped jet. Since we travel alot, it makes sense for us. We buy an annual policy that to me, is pretty reasonable. It's $250/year for me as an individual, and (I think) $395/year for a couple.

 

We don't purchase additional insurance because we either (usually) use cruiseline air or air miles. If you get sick on the cruise, your expenses are covered by "trip interruption" at $100/day up to the cost of your cruise, which is pro-rated to the number of days completed. This clause will also cover a commercial flight home (at least that's what Berkley was going to do in my BIL's case.)

 

When comparing policies, check what's covered if one of you is sick and the other is staying at a hotel nearby. I know that some policies will cover only five days.

[geocruiser]

Princess air is not covered by Princess ins. Last year we had to get another ins for the air part of my sister in laws trip.

[geoherb]

I purchased separate insurance for our cruises last year in addition to Princess's platinum coverage. I wanted to cover the airfare and precruise expenses that we would be out if we had to cancel.

[Pam in CA]

Princess air is not covered by Princess ins. Last year we had to get another ins for the air part of my sister in laws trip.

That's true if the reason is cancellation. If the reason is trip interruption, read the fine print.

[Toto2Kansas]

I'm pretty sure the Princess package won't cover any of that, right? What would happen if we got sick in Sydney two nights before the cruise? I'm fairly certain that Princess's stuff wouldn't cover medflight stuff. Just another thing to worry about.

 

You are correct. Your flights and hotel will not be covered by your insurance with Princess. One way around this is to book a different type of insurance and cover the complete cost of your cruise plus flights plus hotels. ;)

[gooch47]

How much are we saving by being Elite and using Princess Insurance? Would Travelguard or the equivalent cost less in the long run?

 

Considering the overall cost of this trip ($$$$) I think my husband is skimping on something that could cost us a fortune if something bad happened.

 

I did just realize that he would be covered for a medical flight home because of another insurance policy he uses for his Medicare Part <whatever> costs. It is just me that would have to just croak in OZ.

[Toto2Kansas]

How much are we saving by being Elite and using Princess Insurance? Would Travelguard or the equivalent cost less in the long run?

 

Considering the overall cost of this trip ($$$$) I think my husband is skimping on something that could cost us a fortune if something bad happened.

 

I did just realize that he would be covered for a medical flight home because of another insurance policy he uses for his Medicare Part <whatever> costs. It is just me that would have to just croak in OZ.

I would go to www.insuremytrip.com and compare policys and see if it would be better for you to cover the entire cost of the trip with one of the major insurers than with the Princess insurance just covering your cruise. ;)

[Astro Flyer]

We're also Elite & qualify for the upgrade to the higher coverage for free. We generally book our own flights & hotels so will check InsureMyTrip to check for other insurance options. We find quality policies for considerably less this way that covers everthing on our trip in one policy. If we want the 'cancel for any reason' option like in the Princess policy, then through TAs you can purchase a CSA Pro policy with that option. This won't be listed on IMT because it's only through a TA however you can get an online quote without a TA code...it's only necessary to purchase. As I recall the CSA Pro rates were very competitive with the Princess rates & could be another option to research to cover all of your costs in one policy. This policy's cost is much less than other policies with the cancel for any reason option maybe because it's only offered to TA customers.

[deedeetoo]

Most hotel room reservations can be cancelled on fairly short notice, sometimes a couple days, sometimes only a few hours before arrival. You should check the notice requirement on your reservations before you pay extra to insure for it.

[happytalk44]

Princess air is not covered by Princess ins. Last year we had to get another ins for the air part of my sister in laws trip.

Hasn't this changed and Princess air is now covered by Princess insurance?

[geocruiser]

That's true if the reason is cancellation. If the reason is trip interruption, read the fine print.

 

Pam,

 

I brought the Princess air last year and was told by Princess it was not covered. This was about the time that EZAir came out. Now her cruise did get interrupted and she had to fly home. Princess got her the flight. We did get the money back for the three days she left before the cruise ended and for her air ticket home 9the flight that Princess booked). I did not file with the ins co that I had insured the air part of her trip only Princess ins.

Princess was wonderful with all they did to get her home.

[stretchcruz]

We are also Elite but have always found that by booking insurance with insure my trip dot com, that we get better coverage for less money. I have also heard that you should never book travel insurance through the company that you have booked your cruise with. Granted, we don't think Princess (Carnival Corp) will ever go under, but the folks who were on Renaissance and had insurance with them lost everything. If you go on insure my trip you can compare coverages and prices, we normally can book for less than half of Princess' charge for insurance.

[Times Prince]

Any insurance read the fine print. Found out that the insurance we were going to use for our next trip doesn't cover people from Texas.

 

We've always gotten the Princess coverage, and enjoy the upgrade to Platinum coverage. Also we have some coverage by booking hotels and flights with our bank credit card - you might too.

[gooch47]

I'm not terribly worried about flight costs (even though the one to Sydney is EXPENSIVE) or hotel costs.

 

My biggest worry is medical evacuation. I kind of liked the idea of the yearly policy. Mentioned it to my husband last night and he pooh-poohed the idea. Does anyone have any real experience with that? Hopefully not, but I'd really like to hit him with some actual costs.

 

I also found out that his Medicare police does NOT cover medical evacuations like I though.

[rollingstone]

We are Elite also but find it better to use insuremytrip. Since all of our arrangements are independent, we need an insurance for this type of travel. They have Travelguard, which is what Princess uses. Hopefully you will never need to use it! Last year my mother became ill at home while we were on an Asian Cruise. They paid $4,000 for one way tickets home (2). Coach class! a day room at one of the airports, reimbursed for missed days of cruise, rental car & hotel paid for in Alaska & $ to have FF miles from Alaska put back into our account.

This all came to over $6,000!! It only takes one calamity without insurance to be the one on Cruise Critic whining that you should have been insured! (I mean YOU in general, not YOU personally)

[roundpond]

I would go to www.insuremytrip.com and compare policys and see if it would be better for you to cover the entire cost of the trip with one of the major insurers than with the Princess insurance just covering your cruise. ;)

I second this advice: http://www.insuremytrip.com was extremely helpful. I felt it was less expensive than the Princess insurance, and I was able to cover all my pre-paid, non-refundable costs for the entire trip. However, you have to decide what type of coverages are more important to you since all policies are different and cover at different $$.

[gooch47]

As I said, we have insurance for the cruise itself. What is bothering me is that we now often (always ???) make our own air and hotel arrangements and stay a few days before and after cruises which are not covered by the Princess insurance.

 

Are you sure they use Travelguard? I submitted a claim about a year ago for some medical treatment and I thought it was a different company. We've used Travelguard way in the past so I thought I would have remembered the company name.

[Zukini]

I've used Seven Corners for my past three trips to cover both air, cruise, and medical, and I've found them to be pretty fairly priced...they've got a few different kinds of policies, depending on how comprehensive you want your coverage to be (we used a policy they call "RoundTrip").

 

On my last trip, DW & I came down with Norovirus, so we filed a claim with Seven Corners. While they wanted pretty comprehensive documentation (including copies of the visa stamps from our passports:confused:), they processed the claim very quickly.

 

www.sevencorners.com

[nycruise]

We never insure the air or hotel. Most hotels can be cancelled with 24 hours notice so it's unlikely we would incure a cost relating to the hotel.

 

Airfare is generally good on a future flight except for the penalty which usually runs in the $100 to $250 per ticket.

 

We always insure for the cruise and most importantly medical expenses, evacuation, etc. Which can run into the many thousands of $'s, much more than the entire vacation.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Insurance is great we have collected 3 times