Credit card insurance question.

[portcbob]

Hi fellow Aussie cruisers.

Doing a big trip to the Canadian Rockies with Alaska cruise in May.

We have a platinum Suncorp visa credit card and apparently get free ? Travel insurance.

I have contacted the travel arm of Suncorp and spoken with them about full coverage and what type. I’m not real convinced that if there’s a major issue overseas particularly in America we will have sufficient coverage or coverage at all in fact. The contents of the travel t & c’s are very hard to work out unless your a road scholar.

Thinking about paying for more medical cover to alleviate our concerns.

Any of you guys with a similar issue or do you consider the free policy would suffice.

[Stickman1990]

Have you read the product PDS?

Can you post a link to it?

Have you met all the conditions on you to validate coverage under the policy?

Do you have any other pre-exisiting conditions that need to be declared to the insurer? 
 

You do not want to be in the US with no or inadequate health cover - that’s one place o wouldn’t want to “self insure”

Edited January 15, 2020 by Stickman1990

[Aus Traveller]

Stickman1990 has suggested the obvious questions you need to consider. Check out what is required for you to qualify for the free travel insurance - how much you have to pay on the card, limit on age, do you have to have a return ticket and limitations regarding your health.

 

BTW, you don't have to read the whole policy document - some of it won't be relevant to your situation, but read carefully the sections on eligibility, pre-existing medical conditions, and what you are covered for. With our ANZ Platinum Visa travel insurance we have to pay an excess of $200 on many types of claim.

 

Stickman has suggested if you can post a link, someone here with a bit of spare time might be able to give you their opinion. 

Only you can make the final decision.

 

P.S. Here is a 'cut and paste' from Suncorp. You have to pay the full price of the ticket on the credit card.

If you are a Suncorp Platinum cardholder, you become eligible for this policy if you booked your overseas ticket before you left Australia using one of the following:

• You paid for the full price of the ticket with your credit card
• As the cardholder, you redeemed Suncorp Bank Rewards points for the ticket in question
• As the cardholder, you used the Take Flight Program to get your ticket

Note that costs such as taxes, airport charges or travel agent fees do not have to be covered with any of the above methods. Furthermore, please keep in mind that the International Travel Insurance policy will not apply if you obtained your ticket using any other rewards program or scheme other than the one mentioned above.

If you have activated the policy by fulfilling the above conditions, then you can also activate the policy for your spouse and any dependent children, as long as they will be travelling with you for the entire duration of the trip. To do so, you must obtain their tickets using any of the methods outlined above.

Edited January 15, 2020 by Aus Traveller

[Elorac123]

I relied on my Westpac complimentary in US and various countries after reading the online and hard copy brochures time and time again and disclosing 2 existing that were not on the list of covered.

Be vigilant as far as your health cover goes for instance,,if you have high cholesterol you need to disclose it (who would have thought) if you didn’t and had heart issues whilst away you would not be covered.

Never had to claim however.

Cheers Carole

[By The Bay]

If you pay for your travel with your Credit Car, do not cancel the card after payment. There was a recent discussion where a cancelled card meant no insurance coverage. 

[portcbob]

Thanks guys for your answers.

We have no pre existing conditions and we have paid for the trip in full on our card.

we have read the contents of the policy.

Just wondering what others think.

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, portcbob said:

Thanks guys for your answers.

We have no pre existing conditions and we have paid for the trip in full on our card.

we have read the contents of the policy.

Just wondering what others think.

You will probably be OK. We have unfortunately had to submit claims under our free Visa travel insurance and they were met with no problems. I was planning to rely on my free travel insurance for a 21 night cruise, Ushuaia, Falkland Is, South Georgia and Antarctica. I phoned to check that it would be OK and they assured me it would be. 😁

[The_Big_M]

7 hours ago, portcbob said:

Hi fellow Aussie cruisers.

Doing a big trip to the Canadian Rockies with Alaska cruise in May.

We have a platinum Suncorp visa credit card and apparently get free ? Travel insurance.

I have contacted the travel arm of Suncorp and spoken with them about full coverage and what type. I’m not real convinced that if there’s a major issue overseas particularly in America we will have sufficient coverage or coverage at all in fact. The contents of the travel t & c’s are very hard to work out unless your a road scholar.

Thinking about paying for more medical cover to alleviate our concerns.

Any of you guys with a similar issue or do you consider the free policy would suffice.

 

You say you're thinking of paying more for medical. However, this policy covers you for unlimited medical benefits.

 

There's no need for any additional medical cover. I'd be very comfortable with this assuming everything else is fine and procedures are followed (as with any policy).

[Aus Traveller]

7 hours ago, The_Big_M said:

You say you're thinking of paying more for medical. However, this policy covers you for unlimited medical benefits.

 

There's no need for any additional medical cover. I'd be very comfortable with this assuming everything else is fine and procedures are followed (as with any policy).

Agreed. 🙂

[MicCanberra]

Note that if you have several policies that whoever you claim from may just claim from the other insurance company. either way, if you are already covered, no use getting a back up policy.

[lucymorgan]

Another thing to check is whether it covers medical evacuation (from a cruise ship).  I think this is the reason that many insurance companies offer cruise specific insurance as it can be one of the most expensive items if you have to pay.  

 

I have a black westpac card and free insurance but it only covered me/spouse and dependent children under 18 - as my daughter is travelling with me and is 23 I needed to take out paid insurance.  

 

[oz cruiser 65]

I have been using combank cc free insurance for over 15 years.  They use covermore for the insurance company.  Last march i claimed near on $20k for cancelled cruise medical issue.  I had to supply heaps of hospital medical records but got back everything.  Claim excess was 250. 

I 100% recommend them.  Have 3 policies currently in place for upcoming cruise.  No problems. 

[Cruisegroover]

I broke my ankle in Skagway and the port agent took me back to the ship for assessment/treatment. No problems with claiming the costs on my Bankwest cc. I was probably lucky I treated onboard as the costs would have been a lot lower than in a US hospital. Also don't think Skagway even had a hospital though could be wrong on that.

[NSWP]

We travelled on CC Insurance for years, but now they will not cover us for pre existing issues,  ANZ/Alliance.

 

Great for those of you who can get such cover.

[oz cruiser 65]

Yes pre existing conditions can be a gamble. My current (this cruise) policy excludes pre-existing conditions . I take the chance on that after consulting my specialist.  

[noosa_blue150]

Choice magazine article I read recently  also says to check that the travel insurance with credit card will,cover you from date of when  cruise taken out with travel agent vs date of departure 

[oz cruiser 65]

yes that's the only way to go. the insurance must be immediately...its the only way to protect what you have spent...remember you spend everything before you go. 

 

[NSWP]

On 1/18/2020 at 11:07 AM, oz cruiser 65 said:

Yes pre existing conditions can be a gamble. My current (this cruise) policy excludes pre-existing conditions . I take the chance on that after consulting my specialist.  

You are brave gambling on that.

[Aus Traveller]

18 hours ago, noosa_blue150 said:

Choice magazine article I read recently  also says to check that the travel insurance with credit card will,cover you from date of when  cruise taken out with travel agent vs date of departure 

Our Visa card insurance covers cancellation or holiday deferment costs so it applies from the date a person books, provided they meet the other eligibility criteria (less than 80 yrs old, pay $250 on the card and have a ticket to return to Aust).

[noosa_blue150]

That’s good. However not all do hence my warning 

[By The Bay]

Following the cancellation of our P&O cruise from Singapore, I contacted my Westpac insurance company and was informed that we were not covered due to the COVID-19. They started they do not cover epidemics or pandemic. Has anyone found a credit card policy that covers COVID-19? If so, I will be looking for a change of banks.

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[LittleFish1976]

1 minute ago, By The Bay said:

Following the cancellation of our P&O cruise from Singapore, I contacted my Westpac insurance company and was informed that we were not covered due to the COVID-19. They started they do not cover epidemics or pandemic. Has anyone found a credit card policy that covers COVID-19? If so, I will be looking for a change of banks.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
 

ANZ premium cards do currently cover epidemics and pandemics.

[cme2c]

1 hour ago, By The Bay said:

Following the cancellation of our P&O cruise from Singapore, I contacted my Westpac insurance company and was informed that we were not covered due to the COVID-19. They started they do not cover epidemics or pandemic. Has anyone found a credit card policy that covers COVID-19? If so, I will be looking for a change of banks.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
 

Suncorp do not cover epidemics and pandemics that have been declared as such by WHO. I have not been able to find such a declaration, even on WHOs website at 20/02/2020.

[By The Bay]

ANZ premium cards do currently cover epidemics and pandemics.

Thanks ANZ here we come.

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[cheznandy]

23 minutes ago, By The Bay said:

Thanks ANZ here we come.

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Tom, we have had an ANZ Frequent flyer black card for years.

I compare Credit Cards all the time to see if we can get a better deal re Travel Insurance/Lounge Passes and have never found one better that suits us.

Most important thing is the Travel Insurance has unlimited Overseas Medical.

We use the lounge passes every year.

 If you apply now they are offering 120000 Qantas points with a $4000 spend in the first 3 months, easy, to do when paying off cruises.

One way to Singapore is about 22000 Classic reward points for Economy plus about $180 in taxes, so plenty points left to upgrade!!!

I think Mic Canberra has had a ANZ black for a while too.