Cdn. buying U.S. travel insurance?

[bunnyrab]

Booked Med. and transatlantic cruise today in U.S. dollars. Offered U.S. insurance (Travel Insurance International). Much less expensive than Travel Guard in Canada. Anyone used and made claim on this insurance. Please help. Time sensitive. Thanks Heather.

[Shake]

Travel insurance isn't for everyone.

 

You sure you really need it? We have never purchased insurance for any of our 13 sailed cruises. :cool:

[drakes2]

Just be careful to check to see exactly what is covered in the event you have to make a claim, as could be different if you are a Canadian citizen and making a claim on a US insurance plan. Personally, I only buy insurance from a Canadian insurance company.

Booked Med. and transatlantic cruise today in U.S. dollars. Offered U.S. insurance (Travel Insurance International). Much less expensive than Travel Guard in Canada. Anyone used and made claim on this insurance. Please help. Time sensitive. Thanks Heather.

[Aurelija]

I would get several quotes from Canadian insurance brokers on line, eg Kanetix, or TD, you will get multiple options from different companies, an easy one-step procedure. From our recent experience with a US travel insurance (Caribbean cruise last December) our claim was denied after several weeks of "consideration". The reply was to submit the claim to provincial government for reimbursement first, but they kept all the original receipts that we have attached as requested. In the end I didn't bother as the amount, thankfully, was not that high, but I learned my lesson.

[elena7seas]

I was told by Celebrity that I can't buy through Celebrity as a Canadian, but have to buy through Berkely (Celebrity's underwriter in New York) direct.

[Project_gal]

Booked Med. and transatlantic cruise today in U.S. dollars. Offered U.S. insurance (Travel Insurance International). Much less expensive than Travel Guard in Canada. Anyone used and made claim on this insurance. Please help. Time sensitive. Thanks Heather.

 

I advise that you read the T&Cs carefully. In the UK, you not usually eligible for UK Travel Insurance if you are not a UK resisdent. It is often in the small print and, perhaps, not easy to find.

 

Sue

[Baseball fan]

I now always but insurance. I always say I would rather lose $200 than the total cost of my vacation if I had to cancel. I do my research on insuremytrip dot com. It allows me to compare multiple policies and their coverage. Luckily I haven't needed it but I know many people who have had to file a claim.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[broberts]

I prefer to deal with a local insurance provider. My thinking is that it's much easier to pursue a claim when no borders have to be crossed.

 

Don't forget to get travel medical insurance to supplement the pittance provided by most provinces for out of country coverage. http://www.health.alberta.ca/AHCIP/coverage-outside-Canada.html may be of interest to you.

[DirtyDawg]

I prefer to deal with a local insurance provider. My thinking is that it's much easier to pursue a claim when no borders have to be crossed.

 

Don't forget to get travel medical insurance to supplement the pittance provided by most provinces for out of country coverage. http://www.health.alberta.ca/AHCIP/coverage-outside-Canada.html may be of interest to you.

 

Agreed, and remember consumer protection laws are different in the U.S. vs. Canada and insurance regulations are also different. The Canadian plan may cost a bit more but consider this 'premium' to be insurance on your insurance. ;)

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Booked Med. and transatlantic cruise today in U.S. dollars. Offered U.S. insurance (Travel Insurance International). Much less expensive than Travel Guard in Canada. Anyone used and made claim on this insurance. Please help. Time sensitive. Thanks Heather.

Have you check your credit card , they may have some

 

Also are you asking about Heath insurance or trip cancellation ?

 

I wonder what cost would for medical evacuation , one time we were a day out of Madeira, heading to FLL, a person had a heart attack , they had turn the ship around and head back for 3 hours just to meet a helicopter .

 

Paying for a ship travel for 6 hours would not be cheap

[sleepybert]

Just be sure it covers Canadians. Many things we purchase in the US don't apply to Canadians (warranties etc).

[nikkiml]

Even-though I am fully insured from work, I would never consider leaving Canada without being properly insured... too many horror stories of people losing everything they owned because of hospitalization cost. I know that my primary insurance has a limit, so the second one will cover the rest.

 

My DH and I have been buying from Blue Cross a yearly travel insurance, and it even covers business travel, for $180 cdn per year for the two of us (not each).

 

Better sound than sorry. :o

[Shake]

Here's a guy who doesn't bother to wear a seatbelt when driving. Doesn't need that BS either since he doesn't plan to have an accident.

 

Cruise insurance is not for everyone, if this was the case it would be required by law just like auto insurance and soon to be health insurance.

 

Many people depending on their health and age really should purchase cruise insurance. At this time of my life it's a waste of $$money$$.

 

And for your own good I suggest you always use your seatbelt. :)

[bunnyrab]

Have you check your credit card , they may have some

 

Also are you asking about Heath insurance or trip cancellation ?

 

I wonder what cost would for medical evacuation , one time we were a day out of Madeira, heading to FLL, a person had a heart attack , they had turn the ship around and head back for 3 hours just to meet a helicopter .

 

Paying for a ship travel for 6 hours would not be cheap

 

I always buy all inclusive. Health, trip cancellation and baggage. I have heard of people who got sick on vacation with no insurance and lost their home after paying the bills. I never leave home without it.

My credit card has no travel insurance. Probably because I refuse to pay a s/c to have a credit card. There are enough free ones out there and I get free air miles.

[bunnyrab]

I prefer to deal with a local insurance provider. My thinking is that it's much easier to pursue a claim when no borders have to be crossed.

 

Don't forget to get travel medical insurance to supplement the pittance provided by most provinces for out of country coverage. http://www.health.alberta.ca/AHCIP/coverage-outside-Canada.html may be of interest to you.

 

Thanks for the link. Your not kidding. PITTANCE.

The reason I was considering buying U.S. insurance is because I put a small claim in to Travel Guard Canada which I mailed to Ontario and after waiting 7 weeks with no reply I phoned. Guess what? They had mailed it to their claims center in Wisconsin U.S.A. :rolleyes:

[bunnyrab]

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to reply. I appreciate it. I think I will continue with Canadian Insurance. The Med. is a long way from home.

[broberts]

Cruise insurance is not for everyone, if this was the case it would be required by law just like auto insurance and soon to be health insurance.

 

Many people depending on their health and age really should purchase cruise insurance. At this time of my life it's a waste of $$money$$.

 

And for your own good I suggest you always use your seatbelt. :)

 

In my home province TAs are required to ask customers if they wish travel insurance and have them at the very least check a box declining insurance. The TAs also pay into a fund to cover vacationers who get stranded by resort and carrier failures.

 

Health and age have little to do with the need or desire for coverage. Young healthy people and old fogies with dozens of preexisting conditions break bones, have loved ones hospitalized or worse, get struck by catastrophic maladies. Carriers are unable to complete their carriage within the proper time frame for a host of reasons, affecting all passengers regardless of age or health.

 

I'm not suggesting that trip cancellation & interruption insurance is for everyone, it isn't. But I do believe it unwise to base the decision on health and age.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Cruise insurance is not for everyone, if this was the case it would be required by law just like auto insurance and soon to be health insurance.

 

Many people depending on their health and age really should purchase cruise insurance. At this time of my life it's a waste of $$money$$.

 

And for your own good I suggest you always use your seatbelt. :)

To travel to Cuba you need proof that u have travel Heath insurance

[Ex-Airbalancer]

I always buy all inclusive. Health, trip cancellation and baggage. I have heard of people who got sick on vacation with no insurance and lost their home after paying the bills. I never leave home without it.

My credit card has no travel insurance. Probably because I refuse to pay a s/c to have a credit card. There are enough free ones out there and I get free air miles.

 

With TD visa, if you keep $5000 in TD account you get their best card free

And get travel points

[maryann2]

Even-though I am fully insured from work, I would never consider leaving Canada without being properly insured... too many horror stories of people losing everything they owned because of hospitalization cost. I know that my primary insurance has a limit, so the second one will cover the rest.

 

My DH and I have been buying from Blue Cross a yearly travel insurance, and it even covers business travel, for $180 cdn per year for the two of us (not each).

 

Better sound than sorry. :o

I was also insured with Blue Cross when I worked but then found out that it does not cover pre-existing conditions. Many exclusions. That is when I started using extra Medical insurance.

I always buy all inclusive. Health, trip cancellation and baggage. I have heard of people who got sick on vacation with no insurance and lost their home after paying the bills. I never leave home without it.

My credit card has no travel insurance. Probably because I refuse to pay a s/c to have a credit card. There are enough free ones out there and I get free air miles.

My credit card only covers cancellation / delay etc but after you have actually started the vacation, actually left home. It does not cover Medical over 65. That is why I always buy extra insurance but only Medical.

I figure the money I have saved over the years by not buying the whole package and only Medical has more than paid for the odd time I might have to cancel.

[maryann2]

Booked Med. and transatlantic cruise today in U.S. dollars. Offered U.S. insurance (Travel Insurance International). Much less expensive than Travel Guard in Canada. Anyone used and made claim on this insurance. Please help. Time sensitive. Thanks Heather.

 

There is a lot of information in this thread

 

Canadian Medical Insurance discussion

 

Personally I use travel safe. Underwritten in Canada. Covers pre-existing if purchased within two weeks of booking cruise. Has $ 1 million coverage. Much better than the $10,000 supplied by the cruise line.

TravelSafe

[Schmoe38]

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to reply. I appreciate it. I think I will continue with Canadian Insurance. The Med. is a long way from home.

 

If you have some time to do some homework, check out the major banks' websites and have a look at their "travel" credit cards. Normally you will see some sort of a gold card that will carry an annual fee, but carries out of country medical and trip cancellation coverage as part of the features. The out of country medical covers various time frames but is usually 25-31 days depending on the provider. You will need to take note of the maximum age for coverage, but we have used a gold card with this coverage for years. Fortunately for us, we have never had to test the claim process, but friends of ours needed to take advantage of the trip cancellation facility and had no problems whatsoever. I believe there is also a stipulation that you book at least a certain portion of your trip on that particular credit card. Our card stipulates we must book at least 75 per cent of our trip on the card. The extra perk of booking the trip on this card, is we get 5% of our cost charged to the card in the form of cash back when we return home from our cruise. I think you are making the right decision in purchasing the coverage because it is right for you and that's all that matters.

Good luck

 

Randy

[LiftLockCouple]

There is a lot of information in this thread

 

Canadian Medical Insurance discussion

 

Personally I use travel safe. Underwritten in Canada. Covers pre-existing if purchased within two weeks of booking cruise. Has $ 1 million coverage. Much better than the $10,000 supplied by the cruise line.

TravelSafe

 

If you don't want to read through the entire thread look for post #62 in the link that was provided above. That should be of some help.

I too us Travel Safe, the Canadian policy for the same reasons noted in the quote.

[avcruz]

I prefer to deal with a local insurance provider. My thinking is that it's much easier to pursue a claim when no borders have to be crossed.

 

Don't forget to get travel medical insurance to supplement the pittance provided by most provinces for out of country coverage. http://www.health.alberta.ca/AHCIP/coverage-outside-Canada.html may be of interest to you.

 

Thanks, that's a great link.

I also like to confirm if the insurer is going to pay major expenses direct, or if I have to pay up front and submit for reimbursement.

[drakes2]

Don't you just love that TD Travel Visa card, I did not bother with cancellation insurance as I booked my last cruise a few weeks in advance and get 14 days medical insurance with the card, also had enough points to cover airfare to Ft. Lauderdale and back home again. :)

With TD visa, if you keep $5000 in TD account you get their best card free

And get travel points