Travel Insruance

[william]

What is the best travel insurance you have used?

[sippican]

What is the best travel insurance you have used?

 

The best travel insurance is the one you never need to use :D

Poor souls that may have had multiple misfortunes to compare benefits from different companies! :eek: Hopefully you'll hear from some who have had positive experiences with a company. We insure our major trips and choose a company based on what our coverage priorities are at that point in time. ex: medical evacuation and cancel for any reason are two to consider. Generally the insurance provided by TAs or the cruiselines are not the best value. Using a site like insure my trip dot com enables you to compare policies, prices and ratings of different companies.

[sparks1093]

The best travel insurance is the one you never need to use :D

Poor souls that may have had multiple misfortunes to compare benefits from different companies! :eek: Hopefully you'll hear from some who have had positive experiences with a company. We insure our major trips and choose a company based on what our coverage priorities are at that point in time. ex: medical evacuation and cancel for any reason are two to consider. Generally the insurance provided by TAs or the cruiselines are not the best value. Using a site like insure my trip dot com enables you to compare policies, prices and ratings of different companies.

 

Agreed. I've purchased TravelGuard coverage for a couple of different trips but haven't had to use them. Fortunately.

[Staplerman]

We insure our major trips and choose a company based on what our coverage priorities are at that point in time. ex: medical evacuation and cancel for any reason are two to consider. Generally the insurance provided by TAs or the cruiselines are not the best value. Using a site like insure my trip dot com enables you to compare policies, prices and ratings of different companies.

 

This statement is absolutely true, since it could cost upwards of $25k-$50k to air evac a sick family member from a cruise ship. The travel insurance offered by cruise lines (and for that matter, from sites like Orbitz) often has coverage that will not pay in total in the event of an emergency evac due to illness.

 

Having to deal with an emergency like this would be devastating, dealing with a $10,000 bill from the medical evac company when you get home would add insult to injury (no pun intended).

[jlacy1987]

Sorry to hijack the thread, but how extensive should travel insurance be? We got a quote from the company USAA uses (we both have accounts there) for

 

$98 for the most basic coverage -- most basic Medical and Evacuation; no Pre-existing Medical Coverage (which we don't have except for Celiac or asthma); Basic Trip/Flight Cancellation; No coverage for Accidental Death & Dismemberment or

 

$138 for Emergency Medical, Evacuation, and Repatriation; Purchase within 21 days after initial trip deposit to be eligible for Pre-existing Medical Conditions coverage; Trip/Flight Cancellation

 

 

We went without travel insurance for our first cruise (risky we know!) because money was very tight for our honeymoon, but I'd like to have travel insurance now. But we are loss as to what we would need. How do you figure up the "trip cost." Is that just the cost of the cruise or the cruise plus what you would spend while gone, what?

[sparks1093]

Sorry to hijack the thread, but how extensive should travel insurance be? We got a quote from the company USAA uses (we both have accounts there) for

 

$98 for the most basic coverage -- most basic Medical and Evacuation; no Pre-existing Medical Coverage (which we don't have except for Celiac or asthma); Basic Trip/Flight Cancellation; No coverage for Accidental Death & Dismemberment or

 

$138 for Emergency Medical, Evacuation, and Repatriation; Purchase within 21 days after initial trip deposit to be eligible for Pre-existing Medical Conditions coverage; Trip/Flight Cancellation

 

 

We went without travel insurance for our first cruise (risky we know!) because money was very tight for our honeymoon, but I'd like to have travel insurance now. But we are loss as to what we would need. How do you figure up the "trip cost." Is that just the cost of the cruise or the cruise plus what you would spend while gone, what?

 

It should be as extensive as you can afford, especially for the evacuation and repatriation. You may not have pre-existing conditions but what about your family? If they have a pre-existing condition the insurance company may balk at paying, depending of course on the policy language. The guideline that I've read is that the insurance should cost no more than 10% of the covered trip cost, unless you have unique circumstances.

[jlacy1987]

It should be as extensive as you can afford, especially for the evacuation and repatriation. You may not have pre-existing conditions but what about your family? If they have a pre-existing condition the insurance company may balk at paying, depending of course on the policy language. The guideline that I've read is that the insurance should cost no more than 10% of the covered trip cost, unless you have unique circumstances.

 

My husband has Celiac and I have very mild asthma. Those are the only two pre-existing conditions. Is having repatriation in the travel insurance is very important?

[sparks1093]

My husband has Celiac and I have very mild asthma. Those are the only two pre-existing conditions. Is having repatriation in the travel insurance is very important?

 

Repatriation is for repatriation of remains, which can be pricey. If the worst should happen I wouldn't want my family to have to worry about paying to get my body back from a foreign country, so personally I would choose a policy that had it versus a policy that did not.

[jimlouisesophie]

We are using, for the first time, an insurance company that Canadiana & Americans can both use as it was recommended on one of these boards. It is http://www.insuremytrip.com and I have downloaded their policy as well to make sure everything is covered. Great rates as well, even for people with pre existing conditions.

[sippican]

We are using, for the first time, an insurance company that Canadiana & Americans can both use as it was recommended on one of these boards. It is http://www.insuremytrip.com and I have downloaded their policy as well to make sure everything is covered. Great rates as well, even for people with pre existing conditions.

 

Yes, as mentioned in my previous post, that is a great resource for purchasing travel insurance. Just to clarify, the website is not an insurance company, it is a "clearing house" type of service that offers policies from many various insurance providers (kind of like travel sites like Expedia or Hotwire). The beauty of using this site is that travelers can compare the policies, coverages and prices of various providers side-by-side. If you purchase a policy, you are buying from an individual insurance company, such as TravelGuard or Amex.

[garycarla]

Just a point. Only those that have to actually USE their travel insurance can answer this. Many others have purchased what they believe is the best, but until you place a claim, you really do not know how good it is. Right?

[jimlouisesophie]

Yes, as mentioned in my previous post, that is a great resource for purchasing travel insurance. Just to clarify, the website is not an insurance company, it is a "clearing house" type of service that offers policies from many various insurance providers (kind of like travel sites like Expedia or Hotwire). The beauty of using this site is that travelers can compare the policies, coverages and prices of various providers side-by-side. If you purchase a policy, you are buying from an individual insurance company, such as TravelGuard or Amex.

Thanks for the very detailed information which I failed to mention. It is a great site.

 

We choose ETFS insurance, which is an American company but Canadians as well can purchase insurance with them....the only problem I have found with ETFS is that when I had a question, there was only a single person who could answer questions from Canadians, but it really is not a big deal, as the return call to me was very prompt.

[klfrodo]

. Is having repatriation in the travel insurance is very important?

 

It's not cheap and it's not easy trying to bring a dead body back home, let alone from a foreign country.

 

Short story. My BIL died in a cross country motorcycle accident a few States away. Auto/motorcycle insurance / medical insurance does NOT (in his instance anyway) cover the transportation of remains.

Do to the cost, his wife had to cremate BIL's remains, so she could afford to bring him back home.

[cruiseco]

Repatriation is for repatriation of remains, which can be pricey.

 

"repatriation" can also mean bringing you home for continuing care after being stabilized elsewhere. For example, this is from one plan:

 

"Your treating Physician and We determine it is feasible and medically Necessary to transfer You to a medical facility nearer to Your primary residence to recuperate in familiar surroundings, medical repatriation will be provided. "

 

This is a much more common event than bringing your remains home. And in the case of cruisers probably more important on many itineraries. For example, if you are on your Alaska cruise and need to be airlifted from the ship to a shoreside hospital your cost will be $0 -- the Coast Guard provides that service at no charge. But once you're stabilized and ready to be flown home on an air ambulance with a doctor or nurse in attendance that cost is on you or your insurance.

 

Not all plans are worded this way -- some will call this a "non-emergency evacuation" -- but be sure it's covered one way or the other.

[sparks1093]

"repatriation" can also mean bringing you home for continuing care after being stabilized elsewhere. For example, this is from one plan:

 

"Your treating Physician and We determine it is feasible and medically Necessary to transfer You to a medical facility nearer to Your primary residence to recuperate in familiar surroundings, medical repatriation will be provided. "

 

This is a much more common event than bringing your remains home. And in the case of cruisers probably more important on many itineraries. For example, if you are on your Alaska cruise and need to be airlifted from the ship to a shoreside hospital your cost will be $0 -- the Coast Guard provides that service at no charge. But once you're stabilized and ready to be flown home on an air ambulance with a doctor or nurse in attendance that cost is on you or your insurance.

 

Not all plans are worded this way -- some will call this a "non-emergency evacuation" -- but be sure it's covered one way or the other.

 

Thanks for the info! The only time I've seen "repatriation" used was when talking about "repatriation of remains".

[erinmarie424]

We have always purchased TravelSafe and unfortunately had to use it for an unplanned early departure - we received reimbursement for every additional travel expense and unused non-refundable expense. I am very happy with them and will use them again in the future.