COVID-19 Health Travel Insurance; Where to buy?

[swdke]

Has anyone purchased Covid travel health insurance?  Where to buy?  Thanks.

[klfrodo]

I use Steve at tripinsurancestore.com

 

Want to Understand How Trip Cancellation Insurance Works? 888-407-3854 Get the Best Trip Insurance Details, Advice (tripinsurancestore.com)

 

[TytalusWarden]

Allianz's trip insurance includes COVID coverage.  I don't know about COVID-specific or COVID-only insurance, I would be a bit surprised if a company is literally doing trip insurance that only covers COVID-related issues, but then again I'm not an insurance agent so who knows?  😄 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Question:

 We are vaxxed, the kid is not, I added regular RCI insurance when I booked our November cruise (booked sometime in 2019 or 2020 for November 2020, and then L&Sed to November 2021). Would it be enough per current regulations if we were to contract Covid onboard?

 

P.S. Yes, I know rules change every 15 minutes. Sigh...

Edited August 13, 2021 by Itchy&Scratchy

[TytalusWarden]

11 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

Question:

 We are vaxxed, the kid is not, I added regular RCI insurance when I booked our November cruise (booked sometime in 2019 or 2020 for November 2020, and then L&Sed to November 2021). Would it be enough per current regulations if we were to contract Covid onboard?

 

P.S. Yes, I know rules change every 15 minutes. Sigh...

 

So the Royal Caribbean travel protection does not exclude COVID coverage, but IMO it does NOT cover adequate amounts for medical evacuation.  The COVID statement is made here in their FAQ:  https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/will-i-require-travel-insurance-for-my-cruise 

 

$50,000 for medical evacuation is kinda' low compared to the rest of the industry, which is $100k-$500k depending on your plan (some even cover $1m, but that's a bit excessive unless you're going to some REALLY remote location.)  If you're sticking to North America $50k might be sufficient, it really depends on the day and what level of evacuation you need (can it wait a day?  are they gonna' be landing a helicopter on the deck?.)  Some reading material to get you started, obviously you decide your level of risk:  https://www.forbes.com/advisor/travel-insurance/medical-evacuation-coverage/ 

 

Personally I've been going with Allianz travel insurance for my recent trips.  Prices tend to be lower and coverage rates are higher on most of the itineraries I've been a part of.  I'm sure the same is true for other companies providing travel insurance.  Most of my policies have $500k+ of medical evacuation coverage and more than enough coverage to ensure I'm not paying out-of-pocket if I have a heart attack onboard a cruise ship and need to be stabilized, medically evacuated, then have surgery in a competent location almost anywhere in the civilized world.

Edited August 13, 2021 by TytalusWarden
Clarified It's NOT Excluded COVID Coverage

[alexgtp]

I would look at the following insurance aggregators.

 

squaremouth and insuremytrip   

 

If they can't find what you need, you probably don't need it.

 

Lots of premium and budget choices to fit every budget. Use the "COMPARE" feature.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

3 minutes ago, TytalusWarden said:

If you're sticking to North America $50k might be sufficient, it really depends on the day and what level of evacuation you need (can it wait a day?  are they gonna' be landing a helicopter on the deck?

thanks, I don't expect that kind of an evacuation in the 7 days of us sailing in the Caribbean (Cococay, St Thomas, Antigua). This is in case we test positive at the end of the cruise, before reentering the US, and they send us home early/separately from everyone else, like they did on a couple of cruises last month. If anything, we'd barely start developing symptoms at that point. 

I am off to read more of the FAQ. Thanks!

[TytalusWarden]

1 minute ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

thanks, I don't expect that kind of an evacuation in the 7 days of us sailing in the Caribbean (Cococay, St Thomas, Antigua). This is in case we test positive at the end of the cruise, before reentering the US, and they send us home early/separately from everyone else, like they did on a couple of cruises last month. If anything, we'd barely start developing symptoms at that point. 

I am off to read more of the FAQ. Thanks!

 

So for another.... 1-2 months?  I don't remember, but there's some timeframe where RCL is covering those COVID evacuation costs.  I don't recall specifically when they are requiring minimum COVID coverage, or if it is on all embarkation points.  I just know what I need for the specific itineraries I'm interested in, so you might have to read up on that a bit more just to be sure.

 

When I was on Adventure of the Seas at the end of June and early July they didn't yet have the COVID coverage requirement, so I didn't think about it... but I did have coverage through my Allianz plan, so I guess the point was moot for me, LOL.  😄 

[Stevanb]

We having been buying  trip insurance by the year from Seven Corners for years   they sell  by the trip also . They have  some of the highest evacuation and includes spouse some do not. Lat year we added covid policy to it . We renew in Dec and will renew the policy with covid.  What ever you buy make sure evacuation includes spouse .

[Babr]

34 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

thanks, I don't expect that kind of an evacuation in the 7 days of us sailing in the Caribbean (Cococay, St Thomas, Antigua). This is in case we test positive at the end of the cruise, before reentering the US, and they send us home early/separately from everyone else, like they did on a couple of cruises last month. If anything, we'd barely start developing symptoms at that point. 

I am off to read more of the FAQ. Thanks!

You are correct not to focus on the evacuation portion of the policy. People seem to think that because Royal is flying people home from some ports by private aircraft that insurance will do the same.

 

Nope. The evacuation part gets you to the nearest appropriate facility to take care of your needs. Most often, people are disembarked at the nearest port and transported by ambulance. Once you are able to fly, you are returned home by commercial air. The air ambulance is used only for the most severe cases or those who need higher level/extended care. It is done with concurrence of attending physicians and insurance doctors. None of that is likely to happen just because you test positive for Covid - heart attack, maybe.

 

As for the helicopter on a ship, that is not arranged by insurance anyway. It is done by the Coast Guard or military equivalent, depending on the nearest country. They do it at no cost to you as part of their mission to aid ships at sea and only in direst emergencies.

 

What you do need to pay attention to is the trip delay and trip interruption clauses because that is the part that will pay if you have to quarantine. 
 

If you are not comfortable wading through a bunch of policies, contact Steve, mentioned in Post #2 here.  He owns the agency and participates in the Cruise/Travel Insurance board on CC.

Edited August 13, 2021 by Babr

[Itchy&Scratchy]

47 minutes ago, Babr said:

What you do need to pay attention to is the trip delay and trip interruption clauses because that is the part that will pay if you have to quarantine. 

thanks, I believe I have that built into the my credit card. I have to use it to pay for the cruise and travel related to it for it to be applied.

[Babr]

1 minute ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

thanks, I believe I have that built into the my credit card. I have to use it to pay for the cruise and travel related to it for it to be applied.

Check to see what the dollar limits are. The premium cards have higher limits for cancellation, but I don’t remember what they do about trip interruption. Standard travel policies pay up to 150% of trip cost, but that is supposed to reimburse you for lost days of your trip and expenses to return home. You’d have to do the math for your trip to see if it would be enough to cover an extended delay because of quarantine.

 

If you are interested, Traywick International offers additional funds specifically for quarantine, and the search engine at insuremytrip.com allows you to limit your search to Covid-friendly policies.