Travel Insurance success story

[Ourusualbeach]

1 minute ago, wayne_trisha said:

 

My point was insurance is much more need for the medivac portion. I miss my cruise, I'm out my sunk costs without insurance but anyone can slip/fall on the ship and now you are taking a $25K helicopter ride if you want to or not.

Then why bother quoting part of a post and make it seem as if they were for advocating travelling without medical insurance. 

[wayne_trisha]

36 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Then why bother quoting part of a post and make it seem as if they were for advocating travelling without medical insurance. 

***** are you talking about about? Go look at post 14 of this discussion. I quoted the WHOLE POST. DUH.

[wayne_trisha]

51 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

You missed the first part of their post where they stated this,

 

“**DISCLAIMER: I am only talking about cancellation/reimbursement insurance, NOT health or medical transport coverage**”

Go read post 14. Which was their first post in case you missed it. Might be edited now but I quoted the whole post.

[S.A.M.J.R.]

1 hour ago, Ourusualbeach said:

You missed the first part of their post where they stated this,

 

“**DISCLAIMER: I am only talking about cancellation/reimbursement insurance, NOT health or medical transport coverage**”

And what if the insurance covers BOTH?  Ours did and we paid a whopping $60pp for a week long cruise.  

[Ourusualbeach]

34 minutes ago, wayne_trisha said:

Go read post 14. Which was their first post in case you missed it. Might be edited now but I quoted the whole post.

My apologies.

[Ourusualbeach]

19 minutes ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

And what if the insurance covers BOTH?  Ours did and we paid a whopping $60pp for a week long cruise.  

 

If you are talking about getting trip cancellation/interruption as well as medical insurance for $60 for a week I’d be carefully checking the coverage limits and exclusions as that is one heck of a deal.  

[S.A.M.J.R.]

4 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

 

If you are talking about getting trip cancellation/interruption as well as medical insurance for $60 for a week I’d be carefully checking the coverage limits and exclusions as that is one heck of a deal.  

Travel Guard Gold.  Here's part of the brochure our TA sent us (this was in 2016):

 

Cost was $360 for six (two adults, two 18 year olds, and two teens), so ~$60pp.  

 

Here's the current link: https://www.travelguard.com/plans/gold

[Ourusualbeach]

2 minutes ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

Travel Guard Gold.  Here's part of the brochure our TA sent us (this was in 2016):

 

Cost was $360 for six (two adults, two 18 year olds, and two teens), so ~$60pp.  

 

Here's the current link: https://www.travelguard.com/plans/gold

Not bad, I’d be concerned about the medical coverage but if you had existing medical through another source then it would be a good deal.  

 

Im assuming that is a family plan (typically very good rates) 

[S.A.M.J.R.]

9 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Not bad, I’d be concerned about the medical coverage but if you had existing medical through another source then it would be a good deal.  

 

Im assuming that is a family plan (typically very good rates) 

I think the two teens were free, but we had to pay for 18yo.  So even if it was for four people, $80pp for the week.  Again, how much of that premium was for trip cancellation?  I'm guessing not a huge amount.  

 

The TA found it.  When DW & I took our first cruise, it was just the two of us and insurance was right at $200, so $100pp.  

 

If someone doesn't feel insurance is worth it, that's fine.  But to claim that it's an "investment" is false (IMO).  It's not an investment because you don't want/hope to make money from it. 

[leisuretraveler223]

1 hour ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

Travel Guard Gold.  Here's part of the brochure our TA sent us (this was in 2016):

 

Cost was $360 for six (two adults, two 18 year olds, and two teens), so ~$60pp.  

 

Here's the current link: https://www.travelguard.com/plans/gold

 

That's great IF YOU NEED IT.  I have a three year plan with MedJet Assist that covers me globally for medical transport, and my personal health insurance covers me worldwide on a reimbursement basis.  I have immediate access to a line of credit through my business more than adequate to cover any expenses until that are reimbursed.  So for me, the ONLY question about "travel insurance" when it comes up here is cancellation/reimbursement.

 

That's why I SPECIFICALLY said I was addressing only that part of the issue.  However, people can't seem to wrap their head around that idea.

 

So as simple as I can put it: Paying for insurance to cover the cost of a purchased vacation should you have to cancel is universally considered a BAD investment.  People can say they don't think of it as one, and that's fine.  But it still is one, and it's still a bad one.

 

Want to tell me you're getting a good deal because it covers medical expenses and evacuation? Great!  If you need that....

[S.A.M.J.R.]

7 minutes ago, leisuretraveler223 said:

 

That's great IF YOU NEED IT.  I have a three year plan with MedJet Assist that covers me globally for medical transport, and my personal health insurance covers me worldwide on a reimbursement basis.  I have immediate access to a line of credit through my business more than adequate to cover any expenses until that are reimbursed.  So for me, the ONLY question about "travel insurance" when it comes up here is cancellation/reimbursement.

 

That's why I SPECIFICALLY said I was addressing only that part of the issue.  However, people can't seem to wrap their head around that idea.

 

So as simple as I can put it: Paying for insurance to cover the cost of a purchased vacation should you have to cancel is universally considered a BAD investment.  People can say they don't think of it as one, and that's fine.  But it still is one, and it's still a bad one.

 

Want to tell me you're getting a good deal because it covers medical expenses and evacuation? Great!  If you need that....

So YOU get to decide what qualifies as an "investment"?  Tell me another "investment" that you don't WANT to pay out when you purchase it.  Heck, look up the definition of "investment"... the action of investing money for profit or material result.  That's not why people purchase insurance.  Again, they don't WANT to have to use it.  

 

I'll admit you're correct that however much you pay for a cruise (let's say $2000) is "gone" whether you take the cruise or not.  BUT, if you take the cruise, you are getting SOMETHING for that money.  You're getting food, a room, and drinks (ALL things that have value), to say nothing about the entertainment and memories.  However, if you have to cancel without insurance, you may as well have thrown that $2000 in the fire or garbage.  You get NOTHING for that money.  If you have insurance, you then get that money back to use on other items (whether a cruise, movie, house payment, whatever).  I'm glad you're financially well off that you have no problem (potentially) throwing money away.  I wish I was there, I really do.  But I WANT something for my money.  

 

And again, it depends on how many cruises/trips you take, what the cost of those are, and how much the insurance is. 

[leisuretraveler223]

5 minutes ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

So YOU get to decide what qualifies as an "investment"?  Tell me another "investment" that you don't WANT to pay out when you purchase it.  Heck, look up the definition of "investment"... the action of investing money for profit or material result.  That's not why people purchase insurance.  Again, they don't WANT to have to use it.  

 

I'll admit you're correct that however much you pay for a cruise (let's say $2000) is "gone" whether you take the cruise or not.  BUT, if you take the cruise, you are getting SOMETHING for that money.  You're getting food, a room, and drinks (ALL things that have value), to say nothing about the entertainment and memories.  However, if you have to cancel without insurance, you may as well have thrown that $2000 in the fire or garbage.  You get NOTHING for that money.  If you have insurance, you then get that money back to use on other items (whether a cruise, movie, house payment, whatever).  I'm glad you're financially well off that you have no problem (potentially) throwing money away.  I wish I was there, I really do.  But I WANT something for my money.  

 

And again, it depends on how many cruises/trips you take, what the cost of those are, and how much the insurance is. 

 

Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but you seem to be getting a little hot under the collar, and that just seems strange.

 

To make an investment is simply to put up something of a certain value (primarily money) for the purpose of a potential return value.  It's really as simple as that.   

 

If you "invest" in covering the cost of your cruise, you are saying that you are willing to spend an amount of money for the potential return of a much larger value should the circumstances allow it (in this case obviously, the need to cancel or similar).  Obviously, that is not the outcome you WANT, but for the purpose of a discussion about investment, desired outcome is not really relevant.

 

The reason this is generally considered a bad investment, is because the potential return while high, is also very unlikely to be realized.  In fact, even worse, your initial investment is almost always completely lost.

 

I completely understand the desire not to lose out on the trip. And I get the analogy of throwing $2,000 in the fire or garbage.  Like I said, if that happens, it SUCKS!  However, if you make back the $2,000 over time with other investments, then you haven't really lost out at all.  So, if instead of investing by purchasing insurance that most likely will be completely lost, you invest in more stable options with more modest but far less volatile returns, even IF you have to cancel the cruise and lose the money, you're more likely to come out ahead in the long run.  It's really just a frame of mind.

 

This is part of an exercise a lot of financial planners do with insurance products.  There are a variety of life insurance options that are considered very conventional investment vehicles.  And the reality is that any sort of insurance is, in fact, an investment.

[S.A.M.J.R.]

14 minutes ago, leisuretraveler223 said:

 

Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but you seem to be getting a little hot under the collar, and that just seems strange.

 

To make an investment is simply to put up something of a certain value (primarily money) for the purpose of a potential return value.  It's really as simple as that.   

 

If you "invest" in covering the cost of your cruise, you are saying that you are willing to spend an amount of money for the potential return of a much larger value should the circumstances allow it (in this case obviously, the need to cancel or similar).  Obviously, that is not the outcome you WANT, but for the purpose of a discussion about investment, desired outcome is not really relevant.

 

The reason this is generally considered a bad investment, is because the potential return while high, is also very unlikely to be realized.  In fact, even worse, your initial investment is almost always completely lost.

 

I completely understand the desire not to lose out on the trip. And I get the analogy of throwing $2,000 in the fire or garbage.  Like I said, if that happens, it SUCKS!  However, if you make back the $2,000 over time with other investments, then you haven't really lost out at all.  So, if instead of investing by purchasing insurance that most likely will be completely lost, you invest in more stable options with more modest but far less volatile returns, even IF you have to cancel the cruise and lose the money, you're more likely to come out ahead in the long run.  It's really just a frame of mind.

 

This is part of an exercise a lot of financial planners do with insurance products.  There are a variety of life insurance options that are considered very conventional investment vehicles.  And the reality is that any sort of insurance is, in fact, an investment.

And I ask again... name another "investment" that the buyer does not WANT to make money from.   I get that there is life insurance options that are investment vehicles (whole life comes to mind IIRC).  Term life isn't an investment (at least I don't consider it as such).  I consider it "insurance".  

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again, it depends on how much you cruise/take trips.  Let's even say cancellation insurance is $100pp that covers a $2000 cruise, you would have to successfully take 20 cruises before you start "breaking even".  

 

How much time would it take to make up the $2000 for the cruise?  

 

As far as me getting "hot under the collar", don't forget you can't read tone.  

[leisuretraveler223]

16 minutes ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

And I ask again... name another "investment" that the buyer does not WANT to make money from.   I get that there is life insurance options that are investment vehicles (whole life comes to mind IIRC).  Term life isn't an investment (at least I don't consider it as such).  I consider it "insurance".  

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again, it depends on how much you cruise/take trips.  Let's even say cancellation insurance is $100pp that covers a $2000 cruise, you would have to successfully take 20 cruises before you start "breaking even".  

 

How much time would it take to make up the $2000 for the cruise?  

 

As far as me getting "hot under the collar", don't forget you can't read tone.  

 

Again, "wanting" isn't really part of the equation.  But it is not unusual in a complex investment portfolio to have some options that are going to pay off on unlikely eventualities that might in fact be harmful to other parts of your portfolio.  It doesn't mean  you WANT it to pay off. But it's a diversification strategy.

 

You are correct about life insurance, and I was referring to whole life, not term.

 

With your comparison about the 20 cruises, you're underestimating impact.  Don't forget that if you insure every one of those and don't need it on 19 of them, you have lost that initial investment 19 times.  So, in your example, you spent $2000 over twenty cruises to save..... $2,000

 

You are right about the "hot under the collar" and not being able to read tone.  But, I too am guilty of doing so.

[LadySpoilt]

I have a different reason for taking out travel insurance.  Husband and I could (not happily) eat the cost of a cruise and airfare, however the medical coverage is a totally different matter.  As with many insurance policies an accident onboard a cruise ship or in another country is considered "out of network".  And with a fairly large out of network deductible, not willing to risk it.

 

We have been cruising for over 25 years as a family. For the first many many years we did not take out insurance.  Finally it caught up with us.  A broken toe onboard ship.  The out of network charge was more than the ships medical cost, so we were out all of that.  After that we wised up, and glad we did.  I think it was the following cruise that son was sick, he was in medical several times before they (the ships medical department after conferring with some higher ups) decided to make us get off the ship in Cozumel and to go to hospital for cat scans.  The following day was going to be a sea day and they would not chance a medical emergency at sea.  Insurance called ahead to hospital and made them aware of our coming and our travel insurance coverage.  Fortunately we were discharged in time to make it back to the ship.  However we still had to cover the $ 2000.00 hospital bill before being discharged.  (We may have been able to let insurance cover it up front but time was getting to short to make it back to ship before it would leave us, so we opted to pay it and deal with insurance when we got home.)  Filed all the necessary paperwork, and it was maybe 2 weeks before we were reimbursed the full $ 2000.00.  Used it another time when hubby had a eye infection onboard.  The bill was paid in full and we came out fairly even on what we had paid for the cruise insurance.

 

In closing I can say that we have definitely come out ahead after paying to the premiums.  Lesson learned from first accident was it would have been a lot less to have taken our insurance than had the pay the entire bill.

Edited February 12, 2019 by LadySpoilt

[linkerbink]

We always purchase trip insurance and have had to use it twice. The first time, my mother, sister and I had booked a cruise to Alaska when my mother was hospitalized just a few weeks prior to our departure. The second time my sister, her husband and I were booked on the Anthem. My sister’s husband passed away suddenly and we had to cancel. In both instances ALL our costs were recovered, except for the cost of the insurance, of course. In my mind, it is as essential a travel item as your identification documents. We certainly never expected either situation to develop.

[SRF]

5 hours ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

And what if the insurance covers BOTH?  Ours did and we paid a whopping $60pp for a week long cruise.  

 

Who did you insure through for trip cancellation for $60 per person????

 

Unless your cruise was for free.

 

 

[SRF]

1 hour ago, LadySpoilt said:

I have a different reason for taking out travel insurance.  Husband and I could (not happily) eat the cost of a cruise and airfare, however the medical coverage is a totally different matter.  As with many insurance policies an accident onboard a cruise ship or in another country is considered "out of network".  And with a fairly large out of network deductible, not willing to risk it.

 

We have been cruising for over 25 years as a family. For the first many many years we did not take out insurance.  Finally it caught up with us.  A broken toe onboard ship.  The out of network charge was more than the ships medical cost, so we were out all of that.  After that we wised up, and glad we did.  I think it was the following cruise that son was sick, he was in medical several times before they (the ships medical department after conferring with some higher ups) decided to make us get off the ship in Cozumel and to go to hospital for cat scans.  The following day was going to be a sea day and they would not chance a medical emergency at sea.  Insurance called ahead to hospital and made them aware of our coming and our travel insurance coverage.  Fortunately we were discharged in time to make it back to the ship.  However we still had to cover the $ 2000.00 hospital bill before being discharged.  (We may have been able to let insurance cover it up front but time was getting to short to make it back to ship before it would leave us, so we opted to pay it and deal with insurance when we got home.)  Filed all the necessary paperwork, and it was maybe 2 weeks before we were reimbursed the full $ 2000.00.  Used it another time when hubby had a eye infection onboard.  The bill was paid in full and we came out fairly even on what we had paid for the cruise insurance.

 

In closing I can say that we have definitely come out ahead after paying to the premiums.  Lesson learned from first accident was it would have been a lot less to have taken our insurance than had the pay the entire bill.

 

I don't think ANYONE has suggested not getting insurance to cover medical and med evac.

 

But there is no need to pay to cover the trip cost, if you can, as you stated, manage to eat it (even unhappily).

 

That is why I insure with a $0 trip cost, for $32 per person per cruise.

[SRF]

2 hours ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

And I ask again... name another "investment" that the buyer does not WANT to make money from.   I get that there is life insurance options that are investment vehicles (whole life comes to mind IIRC).  Term life isn't an investment (at least I don't consider it as such).  I consider it "insurance".  

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again, it depends on how much you cruise/take trips.  Let's even say cancellation insurance is $100pp that covers a $2000 cruise, you would have to successfully take 20 cruises before you start "breaking even".  

 

How much time would it take to make up the $2000 for the cruise?  

 

As far as me getting "hot under the collar", don't forget you can't read tone.  

 

You will probably find, that the cost is higher than that.

 

As I have stated, I just ran the numbers, and it was $500 more to cover my $7000 cruise fare.  So 14 to 1.

[leisuretraveler223]

6 hours ago, wayne_trisha said:

Until you slip on a wet deck or fall down the stairs and need a medivac. $25K to get you off the ship and you have no say in the matter. We always buy insurance just for these reasons.

 

Except this has NOTHING to do with insuring "the cost of a trip".....

[S.A.M.J.R.]

27 minutes ago, SRF said:

 

You will probably find, that the cost is higher than that.

 

As I have stated, I just ran the numbers, and it was $500 more to cover my $7000 cruise fare.  So 14 to 1.

I looked up my documents.

 

2013: Cruise for two people for one week on Oasis in a balcony.  Insurance was $77.50pp so $155 total. Cruise cost $2948.

2014: Cruise for five people (two adults, three kids) for one week on Freedom. Insurance was $103.50 for each adult (kids free) total $207.  Cruise cost $6872.

2016: Cruise for six people (two adults, two 18yo, two kids) for one week on Freedom.  Insurance was $131.50 for each adult, $50 for each 18yo.  Total $377.  Cruise cost $8642.

 

And keep in mind, this insurance covered more than just trip cancellation.  Maybe the prices have gone up in the meantime or maybe your insurance isn't the best deal. 

Edited February 12, 2019 by S.A.M.J.R.

[LadySpoilt]

55 minutes ago, SRF said:

 

I don't think ANYONE has suggested not getting insurance to cover medical and med evac.

 

But there is no need to pay to cover the trip cost, if you can, as you stated, manage to eat it (even unhappily).

 

That is why I insure with a $0 trip cost, for $32 per person per cruise.

In response to your rather snarky response above.....I was merely stating my reasons for buying travel insurance.  Quite sure that I never once referenced or put down anyone regarding their reasoning for purchasing insurance.  Besides I thought the title of this topic was  "Travel Insurance Success Story" so I think my post regarding my Travel Insurance Success Story was quite appropriate as Travel Insurance covers several different things.

Edited February 12, 2019 by LadySpoilt

[leisuretraveler223]

45 minutes ago, LadySpoilt said:

Travel Insurance covers several different things.

 Correct!  And paying for it to cover the cost of a trip is, in fact, a bad investment!

[time4u2go]

On 2/5/2019 at 10:54 PM, BopRN said:

JRUDY33........I follow Consumer Advocate Clark Howard's advice on many things and he always says to buy travel insurance from a 3rd party. The reason is because any company is going to have their own best interest at heart, not yours. So we always choose another insurance company.

I'm a bit confused by this advice.  Since any company is (obviously) going to have their own best interest at heart and not yours, why does that make buying insurance from a 3rd party better?  Note that I'm not agreeing or disagreeing.

Edited February 12, 2019 by time4u2go

[BopRN]

3 hours ago, time4u2go said:

I'm a bit confused by this advice.  Since any company is (obviously) going to have their own best interest at heart and not yours, why does that make buying insurance from a 3rd party better?  Note that I'm not agreeing or disagreeing.

The company referred to would be the travel company, not the insurance company. Clark Howard just included this again in his recent email on travel insurance.....

 

" But, this is important: Never purchase the travel protection plan from the trip organizer or online travel agent. They are designed to protect the company and not the consumer. This includes when you are booking on a site like Expedia or Travelocity."