Trip Insurance

[ostrich710]

Hi All --

 

My husband and I are booked for a cruise this coming May, and are undecided on whether or not it would benefit us to have trip insurance. How far in advance do we need to purchase trip insurance?

 

Thanks!

[MonaCK]

You need trip insurance. You never know what's going to happen, and it's a small investment in your pricy vacation. You buy it, hoping you will never need it, but you will regret not having it if you don't have it. Don't think it over. Just do it.

[Clarea]

Hi All --

 

My husband and I are booked for a cruise this coming May, and are undecided on whether or not it would benefit us to have trip insurance. How far in advance do we need to purchase trip insurance?

 

Thanks!

If you want to cover pre-existing conditions, the insurance company usually requires you to purchase the insurance within a very short time (10 days or so) from the first time you put a deposit down for the travel. If you don't need to cover pre-existing conditions, then you should purchase insurance at the same time you pay for any major items you want covered, like airfare or cruise final payment.

[xxoocruiser]

Hi All --

 

My husband and I are booked for a cruise this coming May, and are undecided on whether or not it would benefit us to have trip insurance. How far in advance do we need to purchase trip insurance?

 

Thanks!

 

Depends on whether or not any pre-existing medical conditions need to be covered. If so than in order to receive the Pre-exisiting Medical Waiver the insurance has to be purchased within 10-14 days ( exact timing varies with insurance company ) of the initial booking date. If not needed than you have up until the day before the payment payment date .

 

Following are good sites to check and compare policies

 

http://www.insuremytrip.com

 

http://www.squaremouth.com

[Iamthesea]

Not true!

 

There are insurance companies where you can be insured for pre-existing medical conditions at time of final payment. We do this with just about every cruise and usually pick CSA Freestyle and Freestyle Luxe.

[kc320]

Not true!

 

There are insurance companies where you can be insured for pre-existing medical conditions at time of final payment. We do this with just about every cruise and usually pick CSA Freestyle and Freestyle Luxe.

 

 

This is correct...CSA Custom Luxe cover's pre- existing conditions when purchased within 24 hours of FINAL payment....as far as I know this is the ONLY policy you can buy at final pmt. that covers pre-existing conditions...

 

OP...only you can answer the question on buying insurance or not...do you have medical insurance that will cover you out of the country...will it medi-vac you if needed? If so...your need for insurance is not as great as someone who does not have coverage outside the US....for myself the cost of the trip is not nearly as much of a deciding factor as being covered for medical emergencies...I don't sail without it...

[critterchick]

For us it depends on the length and cost of the trip and how far away from home we will be. For a short (3-5 nights) cruise going to the Caribbean or Mexico, or an Alaska or Hawaii cruise, we don't buy it (in other words, we self-insure). We have worldwide medical coverage, including medevac), or so our insurance companies tell us, and we have enough FF miles to book last minute domestic flights and hotel points so the other of us can stay nearby in. Grave situation.

 

But if we are going to Europe, South America, etc. and dropping a lot of money on the cruise (and a lot to me may be nothing to others), we typically purchase insurance. The logistics are more complicated, we may not speak the local language and having an independent advocate would be more helpful. We find that the cruise line insurance is less expensive at our ages (59 and 61) than the independent policies, once we add in "cancel for any reason" coverage.

 

Knock wood, we haven't had to use it.

[Alphadah]

We never used to buy insurance but as we have hit the age where you never know what will happen we do now. A couple of years ago really close friends had to cancel their cruise (no insurance) due to the fact that the husband needed bypass surgery the week before the cruise. They lost everything and the cruise line couldn't do a thing for them. Six months later another couple had already boarded the ship when he slipped on a rain covered pool deck (weather does not constitute any kind of neglect) and required hip surgery, so obviously they had to disembark via ambulance before the ship left port. They thankfully had insurance. My husband had to undergo an emergency appendectomy 2 years ago and if we had a vacation planned it would have been cancelled. We're not that old (57 & 61) but we've learned its best to protect the investment we've made. We actually buy independent insurance that will cover the cruise, airfare and any pre/post cruise hotel stays. I suppose if you're really young it may not be as important but I for one would no longer chance it.

 

Debbie

[cruiseco]

This is correct...CSA Custom Luxe cover's pre- existing conditions when purchased within 24 hours of FINAL payment....as far as I know this is the ONLY policy you can buy at final pmt. that covers pre-existing conditions...

 

 

CSA's Freestlye and Freestyle Luxe plans, several plans from HTH, several plans from Travel Guard, and a couple of plans from Travelex all offer the same benefit. I'm sure there's others also.

 

If you're considering the CSA Custom Luxe plan be sure to check the standard Freestyle plan also because it's got similar coverages but you don't have to step up to the "Luxe" version to get the pre-ex coverage. In my experience, anything named "Luxe" is going to cost you a bundle.

[dread_pirate]

For the most part, I don't really worry about trip cancellation - we generally can afford to eat the cost of the non-refundable portions of the trip if we ever had to cancel. And since we never have to date, I figure that what I've saved in premiums over the years probably cover the amount of a trip I may have to cancel in the future. (We have no serious pre-existing conditions to worry about.)

 

But I do worry about the unexpected happening on a trip - primarily medical issues. Anyone can have an accident at any age. My medical insurance does cover me world-wide but with large co-pays for "out of network" coverage. And it doesn't cover med-evac.

 

So we've started taking trip delay/medical coverage insurance only. It's significantly less expensive than policies including tripi cancellation, and it works for my piece of mind.

[Redbird48]

My initial inquiry had to do with my premium Chase Mastercard (United Mileage Plus Presidential Plus Card) trip insurance and whether anyone had considered that in lieu of what TA's want to sell/offer. The Guide to Benefits brochure indicates all the coverage anyone would need on a cruise. I have requested a copy of the master policy in question.

 

The premiums are related to cost of the cruise age of the applicant. The age of the applicant can be a very expensive factor in the premium.

 

I am still awaiting a response to this subject from any CC listers.

 

Thank you

Redbird48

[SPacificbound]

Not true!

 

There are insurance companies where you can be insured for pre-existing medical conditions at time of final payment. We do this with just about every cruise and usually pick CSA Freestyle and Freestyle Luxe.

 

I realize this is an old post and you will probably never see this, but thank you! :)