When do I buy travel insurance?

[xray]

We just booked a cruise yesterday and paid the minimum down for a December 2014 cruise.

We also purchased the Vacation Protection Plan thru RCCL. I take blood pressure meds, and blood thinner meds but have not had any problems for over a year.

 

When should I purchase travel insurance that covers medical evacuation and medical costs?

 

Thanks,

Xray

[cruiseco]

We just booked a cruise yesterday and paid the minimum down for a December 2014 cruise.

We also purchased the Vacation Protection Plan thru RCCL. I take blood pressure meds, and blood thinner meds but have not had any problems for over a year.

 

When should I purchase travel insurance that covers medical evacuation and medical costs?

 

Thanks,

Xray

 

Both medical and emergency evacuation are included with the RCI CruiseCare plan. Their coverage limits are kind of low but the coverage is included with what you've already purchased. Are you looking for additional coverage or are you thinking of dropping the CruiseCare plan and getting something else?

 

http://media.royalcaribbean.com/content/en_US/pdf/RCICruiseCare.pdf

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

I take blood pressure meds, and blood thinner meds That is why ..

[Scrapnana]

Most companies give you 14 days from booking to purchase travel insurance that covers pre-existing conditions. I would check out how much medical coverage the RCI policy gives you. Most of the cruise lines medical insurance covers $15,000 - 25,000 (maybe a day or two in a hospital).

[GeezerCouple]

We suggest comparing the cost and all of the "terms and conditions" of the cruise company coverage with the different choices you can find at

 

www.TripInsuranceStore.com

 

(CALL them, rather than trying to figure out how the choices compare/contrast. We deal with Becky, there, but anyone can help explain the pros and cons of the different types and cost levels of coverage from the several insurance vendors they work with. Their commission is paid by the insurance company; you don't pay more than what you'd pay if you contacted the insurance company directly, to the best of our knowledge.)

 

You would probably want coverage the did NOT EXCLUDE "pre-existing conditions". The "look back" period for that, without such coverage, differs, and in some cases if your medication changes, or needs to be changed, or you've even consulted a medical person for a condition, you could be ineligible for that later.

 

The type of coverage we get works so that we only need to insure the "amount we've paid to date", and we must get the coverage within 21 days of making the original reservation (some other policies have 14 days to do this). Then, when we pay more, or add airfare, we must call within the same time window, to increase the coverage.

Not all policies work this way.

(So if we only pay a few hundred dollars deposit for many months or a year or more in advance, we are only paying for the insurance on that small amount, not the cost of the full trip.)

 

We also have the MedJetAssist separately, as it isn't expensive on an annual basis, and it will cover us on ANY trip more than 150 miles from home.

This is the coverage that would kick in AFTER you've been hospitalized someplace away from home, and you - YOU, not the local physician or insurance company - get to select ANY hospital to be transferred to, anywhere.

As with most insurance, we hope we won't need it, and especially this one! But it's comforting to know, as we get older, that IF something really bad happened, we'd be medevac'ed to our own hospital, or any other specialty hospital of our choice.

(There is a discount for AARP members, but you can get that discount without buying directly from AARP.)

 

The important thing is to explore the different types of coverages and the costs, and decide what you want to insure, vs. what costs you are willing to cover yourself.

 

And once you've got that decision made and the insurance purchased (or not), enjoy the rest of the planning!

 

GeezerCouple

[RJ2002]

Other sites to consider are insuremytrip.com and squaremouth.com .

 

In the case of insuremytrip.com , it offers more choices of insurance providers than trip insurance store, so you might want to keep that in mind.

[Happy2cruise]

Other sites to consider are insuremytrip.com and squaremouth.com .

 

In the case of insuremytrip.com , it offers more choices of insurance providers than trip insurance store, so you might want to keep that in mind.

You are correct that other sites offer more choices. I think the reason tripinsurancestore offers fewer is because they realize there are so many choices and confustion that they pre-screened and selected plans they feel confident representing. Not everyone will agree, but we found this very helpful and less confusing in finding the coverage we needed.

[GeezerCouple]

You are correct that other sites offer more choices. I think the reason tripinsurancestore offers fewer is because they realize there are so many choices and confustion that they pre-screened and selected plans they feel confident representing. Not everyone will agree, but we found this very helpful and less confusing in finding the coverage we needed.

 

We'll add to this.

 

TripInsuranceStore.com SHOWS the different features, choices, upgrades available from EACH insurance vendor they use, all on one very easy to read chart.

And THEN you can speak with a rep by phone if you wish, and they'll explain other differences if you have questions (we certainly did!).

 

Want to know how much medical coverage? Compare which policies offer $50k, $100k, or how much it would cost to add more, etc.

Same for how much IF you want to add "Cancel For Any Reason".

Same for adding a "work related issue" to be a covered reason. (Note: I am NOT sure how easy this is, or exactly how it works. We did not add it, even though it was quite cheap.)

And the same for many other features and optional add-ons.

 

I went back to InsureMyTrip, and there was a list of the "names" of the companies, and the costs. And we could "select" several to compare. Yes, the list was long, so long it was mind-boggling.

So I checked several, including the one we previously selected from TripInsuranceStore. [NOTE: The cost for the insurance we selected was IDENTICAL from each.]

The subsequent chart only shows 5, and the formatting was difficult to read, and one needed to scroll down, and down, and then go to the "next page" to see the same type of formatting for another few options.

There was also a LONG list of insurance policies that were NOT available to us, because we weren't eligible for the type of coverage, e.g., not available to residents of our state; not available for travel where we were starting or going; etc. That didn't add any anything useful. (After all, we can't change our citizenship. If we change our destination on another trip, a likely situation, THEN we want to see which companies DO offer coverage, not which ones don't...)

 

Given that a lot of problems seem to occur because travelers don't fully understand what is covered or not, the more clear this is, the better, to put it mildly.

 

We used to recommend InsureMyTrip for Guests at our own vacation rental properties. We now recommend TripInsuranceStore. (No, we do not get anything "back" for that. We just want travelers to our properties to have as easy a time as possible so they will consider the insurance, so that WE don't need to deal with requests for refunds if someone gets very sick, or misses a flight, etc. That helps the traveler AND us!)

 

GeezerCouple

[cruiseco]

So I checked several, including the one we previously selected from TripInsuranceStore. [NOTE: The cost for the insurance we selected was IDENTICAL from each.]

 

It has to be. Travel insurance premiums are regulated and a client MUST pay the same whether purchasing directly from the insurer or through any other source (online site, travel agent, etc). If anyone is finding a difference in premiums it's because the compared plans are not, in fact, the same.

[GeezerCouple]

It has to be. Travel insurance premiums are regulated and a client MUST pay the same whether purchasing directly from the insurer or through any other source (online site, travel agent, etc). If anyone is finding a difference in premiums it's because the compared plans are not, in fact, the same.

 

Yes, we understand.

 

I mentioned this, given there are occasional concerns mentioned about costs of insurance. The different plans differ in cost, but not by "vendor"; it is clear that not everyone realizes exactly the point you have made - that insurance, at least in the USA, is regulated by the state insurance commissions.

 

Thanks for explaining that a bit better!

 

GeezerCouple