Credit cards

[lbfluffy]

Thanks to numerous tips from members we notified all our credit card companies we will be on a Panama Canal cruise. We listed all our ports. So just in case we need money, we are set. In a previous post I mentioned my husband was diagnosed with AFIB. So one of the members told me to make sure I have enough cash if we end up in a hospital that wants cash. We will be able to get cash from our credit cards. It is not like the US. I feel ready. We leave on November 17th.

 

[Daniel A]

47 minutes ago, lbfluffy said:

Thanks to numerous tips from members we notified all our credit card companies we will be on a Panama Canal cruise. We listed all our ports. So just in case we need money, we are set. In a previous post I mentioned my husband was diagnosed with AFIB. So one of the members told me to make sure I have enough cash if we end up in a hospital that wants cash. We will be able to get cash from our credit cards. It is not like the US. I feel ready. We leave on November 17th.

 

I may be wrong, but I think my American Express membership includes a concierge type service for things that can go wrong when travelling internationally.  It wouldn't hurt to look into it.  AMEX might be able to get a hospital to waive a cash requirement based on guarantees from American Express.

 

Again, I may be wrong, but I thought I saw that somewhere in my AMEX paperwork.

[lbfluffy]

I don’t have American Express, but I do have visa through citi that has travel insurance on it. I’ll check it for medical coverage for other countries. 

[frugaltravel]

43 minutes ago, lbfluffy said:

I don’t have American Express, but I do have visa through citi that has travel insurance on it. I’ll check it for medical coverage for other countries. 

Note that many benefits of Citi cards were reduced or eliminated recently. So be sure to double check.

[franktown]

American express has also just recently changed the travel insurance on some cards.  Also has eliminated car rental insurance on some cards.  They are all trying to get you to upgrade to cards with higher yearly fees.

[indygirl99]

lbfluffy

 

Have fun on your cruise. I am doing the Panama canal in 2021 and can't wait. I look forward to hearing about your fun.

 

For others that state travel insurance with credit cards has been reduced or dropped my recent experience confirms this.

 

I just returned from an international trip where I notified my credit cards of my travel plans. Was notified by American Express that they had reduced their travel insurance ( basically no coverage). Bank of America and Citi bank notified me that they  (as of July 2019) no longer provide travel insurance.

 

American Express advised me to purchase an independent travel insurance plan.

 

So for those who think they are covered it might be in your best interest to get that confirmed in writing.

[frugaltravel]

 That is why I like my Chase Sapphire card. It includes some really good travel insurance and car rental collision damage waiver coverages. Worth every penny of the annual fee.

[lbfluffy]

42 minutes ago, indygirl99 said:

lbfluffy

 

Have fun on your cruise. I am doing the Panama canal in 2021 and can't wait. I look forward to hearing about your fun.

 

For others that state travel insurance with credit cards has been reduced or dropped my recent experience confirms this.

 

I just returned from an international trip where I notified my credit cards of my travel plans. Was notified by American Express that they had reduced their travel insurance ( basically no coverage). Bank of America and Citi bank notified me that they  (as of July 2019) no longer provide travel insurance.

 

American Express advised me to purchase an independent travel insurance plan.

 

So for those who think they are covered it might be in your best interest to get that confirmed in writing.

We have the Costco executive visa citi card. It covers $3000 per person. Plus we have chase. As far as medical my insurance said they will reimburse us. I work for our city government agency. We have great insurance. 

[Coral]

Have a great trip!

[fluffybunny22]

You don't want to have to take a cash advance on your credit card. You'll incur a huge fee and the finance charges start from the day you pull the cash regardless of if you pay in full every month.

[riffatsea]

Take an ATM/debit card with you to get cash in other countries from a local cashpoint/atm.

Don't use your actual credit card to get cash.

I declined a new American Airlines mastercard because they discontinued their travel insurance.

So far Chase Sapphire still has it.

In addition we have a yearly travel medical plan from Geo Blue which covers medical costs and evacuation home and includes pre existing conditions.

[Daniel A]

2 minutes ago, riffatsea said:

Take an ATM/debit card with you to get cash in other countries from a local cashpoint/atm.

Don't use your actual credit card to get cash.

I declined a new American Airlines mastercard because they discontinued their travel insurance.

So far Chase Sapphire still has it.

In addition we have a yearly travel medical plan from Geo Blue which covers medical costs and evacuation home and includes pre existing conditions.

The above is good advice.  As an addition to the advice about the ATM/debit card, you may want to ask your bank to increase the cash limit that you can withdraw in one day.  You may also want to have a talk with your banker to explore the best options you have to come up with cash if needed in a hurry.

[nini]

On 10/29/2019 at 9:23 PM, lbfluffy said:

We have the Costco executive visa citi card. It covers $3000 per person. Plus we have chase. As far as medical my insurance said they will reimburse us. I work for our city government agency. We have great insurance. 

Unfortunately, this CC has discontinued the the travel benefits. I know that

Costco is not too happy about it, nor are we.  😞

[lbfluffy]

2 hours ago, nini said:

Unfortunately, this CC has discontinued the the travel benefits. I know that

Costco is not too happy about it, nor are we.  😞

Wow I’ll need to check that out. Not good. 

[Hlitner]

On 10/30/2019 at 12:23 AM, lbfluffy said:

We have the Costco executive visa citi card. It covers $3000 per person. Plus we have chase. As far as medical my insurance said they will reimburse us. I work for our city government agency. We have great insurance. 

 I think you are a bit naïve about what can happen in foreign lands.  For example, when my DW was injured in Asia we had to take her to a hospital in Osaka, Japan.  Although we had excellent travel medical insurance ($250,000 in med and $500,000 of medical evacuation) I had to pay hospital bills of many thousands just to get her out of the hospital.  The tab on the cruise ship was another couple of thousand and the cost of getting her home was about $20,000 (for the two of us).  And this is nothing when you consider she was never admitted as an inpatient (her surgery was outpatient).  An inpatient admission would have resulted in far higher bills which would need to be settled before discharge.  Most travel insurers do not pay foreign hospitals or physicians directly so the patient needs to have the credit card limits to handle the big bucks.  With decent insurance you will eventually get most of your money back, but that can take many weeks or even months.

 

Speaking of Medical Evacuation, if one of you were to become seriously ill or injured the cost of medical evacuation aircraft could easily cost $50 - $100,000.  In our case it was ONLY $20,000 because DW was cleared to fly commercial (in a lay flat seat).  Even Delta Airlines had no problem charging us about $10,000 per person for last minute Business Class.  If Delta has refused to take DW (this does happen and is the ultimate decision of the pilot) our cost to get her home would have likely exceeded $100,000.

 

Hank

 

 

[lbfluffy]

53 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

 I think you are a bit naïve about what can happen in foreign lands.  For example, when my DW was injured in Asia we had to take her to a hospital in Osaka, Japan.  Although we had excellent travel medical insurance ($250,000 in med and $500,000 of medical evacuation) I had to pay hospital bills of many thousands just to get her out of the hospital.  The tab on the cruise ship was another couple of thousand and the cost of getting her home was about $20,000 (for the two of us).  And this is nothing when you consider she was never admitted as an inpatient (her surgery was outpatient).  An inpatient admission would have resulted in far higher bills which would need to be settled before discharge.  Most travel insurers do not pay foreign hospitals or physicians directly so the patient needs to have the credit card limits to handle the big bucks.  With decent insurance you will eventually get most of your money back, but that can take many weeks or even months.

 

Speaking of Medical Evacuation, if one of you were to become seriously ill or injured the cost of medical evacuation aircraft could easily cost $50 - $100,000.  In our case it was ONLY $20,000 because DW was cleared to fly commercial (in a lay flat seat).  Even Delta Airlines had no problem charging us about $10,000 per person for last minute Business Class.  If Delta has refused to take DW (this does happen and is the ultimate decision of the pilot) our cost to get her home would have likely exceeded $100,000.

 

Hank

 

 

We will be calling our agent tomorrow to find out about the insurance cost. Thank you 

[wowzz]

The medical coverage figures quoted above seem too low to be worthwhile.  Perhaps it's  a US condition, but most travel policies issued here in the UK have medical coverage up to £10 million ($13 million)

Why is the US figure so low?

Edited December 31, 2019 by wowzz

[SRF]

On 10/30/2019 at 8:55 AM, fluffybunny22 said:

You don't want to have to take a cash advance on your credit card. You'll incur a huge fee and the finance charges start from the day you pull the cash regardless of if you pay in full every month.

 

The OP mentioned this as an EMERGENCY situation, in case of major medical expenses.

 

Or do you suggest they carry $100,000 in cash??????

[SRF]

3 hours ago, wowzz said:

The medical coverage figures quoted above seem too low to be worthwhile.  Perhaps it's  a US condition, but most travel policies issued here in the UK have medical coverage up to £10 million ($13 million)

Why is the US figure so low?

 

I guess your medical system costs more. 🙂

 

I have been hospitalized for periods of months, including critical care (full time dedicated nurse to me), and the full bill was less than $2 million.

[SRF]

6 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Speaking of Medical Evacuation, if one of you were to become seriously ill or injured the cost of medical evacuation aircraft could easily cost $50 - $100,000.

 

Halifax to Washington DC was $29,000 for my mother (and my Dad got to ride along).

 

Worldwide, you can look at $250,000 or more for a true medical evac.

[wowzz]

2 hours ago, SRF said:

 

I guess your medical system costs more. 🙂

 

I have been hospitalized for periods of months, including critical care (full time dedicated nurse to me), and the full bill was less than $2 million.

No, our medical system is free! The £10 mil is to cover medical costs outside of the UK.

[ilikeanswers]

3 hours ago, SRF said:

I guess your medical system costs more. 

🙂

 

Whenever I get travel insurance the options are world wide including USA or worldwide excluding USA. The premium is always higher including USA😜. But like the last poster our medical cover can be up to AU$20 million or sometimes they just put unlimited. 

Edited December 31, 2019 by ilikeanswers

[Hlitner]

How much medical and evacuation insurance one needs is a debatable issue that has often been discussed here on the Cruise/Travel Insurance blog.  Having spent a lifetime in the Medical Insurance industry (government) I have strong personal feelings but others may certainly disagree.  For those of us in North America I do think that $100,000 of medical coverage is the minimum that gives me some level of comfort.  Medical evacuation coverage of at least $100,000 is a bare minimum and it is usually not too expensive to get much higher limits.   Folks here in the USA need to understand that Medicare does not pay anything for treatment outside the USA (there are a couple of weird exceptions that seldom apply) but some Medicare Advantage plans and Supplemental policies give some coverage.  If in doubt, call your plan and ask the questions and also request that info in writing (they can usually send you an e-mail with the reference from the detailed policy).

 

One shocker for many Americans is that they may well be required to cover all foreign medical expenses out of pocket and later seek reimbursement (which can take months).  Those that do not have high limits on their credit cards can be at some risk of difficulty :(.  I do not have a good answer to that problem.  GeoBlue (a policy tied to the US Blue Cross/Blue Shield network) does have a limited number of providers out of the country and, in theory, these providers will accept "assignment" so you do not need to pay out of pocket.  But while that sounds good in theory, reality is that in an emergency situation you are likely not going to get care from those specific providers.  

 

The easiest way to get some insurance is buy the policies offered by most cruise lines, but we think that their maximum medical limits are often wholly inadequate.  That being said, it is better then nothing.  Folks that are confused by all this can look online at sites like insuremytrip.com or squaremouth.com or simply call Steve at the Trip Insurance Store.  Steve has been featured here on CC and has many fans here on CC (in interests of full disclosure we have never spoken to or done business with Steve or his company).  And finally, the advice I am offering only applies to those in the USA.  Each country (and State within the USA) has their own insurance laws/regulations so what might work for a US resident may not be helpful to a UK resident.

 

Hank

[nini]

I really appreciate the knowledge and relayed experiences regarding travel

insurance and the ramifications. Even when our CC included the $3000.00

coverage, we still purchased travel insurance for the other reasons as well. 

We always feel better when traveling knowing it is there.

[Toofarfromthesea]

15 hours ago, Hlitner said:

 I think you are a bit naïve about what can happen in foreign lands.  For example, when my DW was injured in Asia we had to take her to a hospital in Osaka, Japan.  Although we had excellent travel medical insurance ($250,000 in med and $500,000 of medical evacuation) I had to pay hospital bills of many thousands just to get her out of the hospital.  The tab on the cruise ship was another couple of thousand and the cost of getting her home was about $20,000 (for the two of us).  And this is nothing when you consider she was never admitted as an inpatient (her surgery was outpatient).  An inpatient admission would have resulted in far higher bills which would need to be settled before discharge.  Most travel insurers do not pay foreign hospitals or physicians directly so the patient needs to have the credit card limits to handle the big bucks.  With decent insurance you will eventually get most of your money back, but that can take many weeks or even months.

 

Speaking of Medical Evacuation, if one of you were to become seriously ill or injured the cost of medical evacuation aircraft could easily cost $50 - $100,000.  In our case it was ONLY $20,000 because DW was cleared to fly commercial (in a lay flat seat).  Even Delta Airlines had no problem charging us about $10,000 per person for last minute Business Class.  If Delta has refused to take DW (this does happen and is the ultimate decision of the pilot) our cost to get her home would have likely exceeded $100,000.

 

Hank

 

 

 

A comprehensive rebuttal to the "I don't need insurance because I am young and healthy' position.  Well done.