Annual Travel Insurance?

[suebee53]

I've recently learned that one can buy a year's worth of travel insurance to cover all trips, including road trips. I'm looking for feedback and recommendations on this. Thanks in advance!

[lasekeye]

We have been doing this for years!  You do have to set the length of travel that you will be doing & for long trips, you must cross back into your country (after 90 days I think), purchase something (gas…meal & keep the receipt), then you can leave again.

Every insurance company will prob be diff, but here in Canada it’s a real thing.  More economical than purchasing travel ins. for every trip…if you travel a lot.

[suebee53]

I've recently learned that one can buy a year's worth of travel insurance to cover all trips, including road trips. I'm looking for feedback and recommendations on this. Thanks in advance!

[RoePost]

I just purchased one this year for the first time.  It started in January.  I bought it from Allianz and you can almost customize it to what you are looking for...  We are seniors (73, 68) and our policies including evacuation coverage...health...cancellations,,...etc was $700 for the entire year.  I thought that was a pretty good deal.  Hope I never have to use it....

[Spanish Wells]

How does annual travel insurance work

[Travelling2Some]

23 minutes ago, RoePost said:

I just purchased one this year for the first time.  It started in January.  I bought it from Allianz and you can almost customize it to what you are looking for...  We are seniors (73, 68) and our policies including evacuation coverage...health...cancellations,,...etc was $700 for the entire year.  I thought that was a pretty good deal.  Hope I never have to use it....

That is good to hear.  I was told that it has been hard to buy annual coverage in NY.  Our circumstances are similar to yours and we will be interested in it going forward since we will be taking more international trips to make up for all the travels we had to cancel during Covid.  Once you pass 65 there is additional concern because Medicare does not cover us outside the United States and most of us have developed some of those pesky pre-existing conditions . 

[Babr]

9 minutes ago, Spanish Wells said:

How does annual travel insurance work

 

It covers medical and evacuation when you are away from home during the policy period, but cancellation benefits are capped. Allianz allows you to choose the amount up to $15,000, I think -  haven’t looked lately. The point is that the amount is fairly low if you travel often. You could exhaust the entire amount with one claim and be left without any cancellation coverage for the remainder of the year.

[ridge4]

We are also using annual insurance, purchased from Travel Insured. In our case, we purchased medical only.   Our credit card has good cancellation benefits, but lousy medical. We use the two together. Cannot comment on claims, haven’t had one yet. But for us, at least, it was much cheaper. 

[luckyinpa]

make sure, if you are interested, that any insurance you buy has cancel for any reason coverage. in my limited research, no annual plan has this, 

 

if you find one please post it!  once all this covid and travel policies go away, CFAR will be still very important

[RobInMN]

There's a whole sub-board for Insurance.😉 I don't know if it's sponsored by him or what, but we contacted Steve from TripInsuranceStore and also purchased annual insurance for the first time this year. We have 2 policies, one for medical, and one for trip cancellation. Along with the info in that sub-board, his website has a number of items in the FAQ.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/499-cruisetravel-insurance/

 

 

 

[time4u2go]

Obviously you should check your current medical insurance (and possibly your credit cards) first to see what's covered, so as not to over-insure unnecessarily.

[ssb]

Allianz has 3 levels of coverage for Annual Travel Insurance

and covers international and domestic travel year around

 

 

 

[flamingos]

Got it.  I'm glad she posted it originally where it could be seen - I had never heard of it before!

[Babr]

Be careful about relying on any credit card for cancellation. None of them cover cancellation caused by a pre-existing condition. Be sure you understand that term and whether it applies to you. Your status could change at any time if you seek treatment, receive a diagnosis, or even have an RX change.

 

None offers Cancel for Any Reason.  
 

Coverage for other travel risks can be rather skimpy. Trip delay, if it is offered at all, is usually $500. That is the provision that will pay for quarantine expenses if you find yourself so detained. Unless your cruise line is  still providing assistance, you won’t have adequate coverage.

 

 

[bmblob]

I had previously bought a single trip policy from Allianz and found that the annual global coverage was only a bit more and made much more sense if you travel more than 2 times a year.  There are several levels of coverage but hopefully you can find what suits you the best.  All the insurance carriers have relatively equivalent products to offer.  

[not-enough-cruising]

I have had an annual policy from Trawick international for several years. I have made 2 claims on it, and was pleased with the way they were handled. It covers you anytime you are 150 miles or more away from your home address.  
The nice thing about this policy, is that it views Covid-19 exactly the same as any other illness, no exclusions. 

[MikeTheNFT]

Definitely shop around and read the fine print.

 

But generally yes, annual plans are GREAT. If you travel twice per year they usually break even or are cheaper, if you travel more they are far cheaper than insuring separately. They also tend to be pretty customizable, so you can pick plans based on total, or up the amount of dollars per day in case of delay (to make sure you can afford hotels if needed, etc).

 

I highly advise it!

 

Also as others have mentioned, that guy who responds to everyone on the insurance board really seems to put in the work. Might be worth checking with him or asking some questions over there, too!

[gatour]

One thing to keep in mind, is the state you live in may affect your coverage.  Read the fine print to make sure you are buying the coverage that covers residents of your state.

[GEORGIEGIRL]

We have had an "annual" insurance policy with "Allianz" for the past 7 months and have traveled 3 times out of the country (2 cruises and 1 land tour) and we have 3 more cruises booked before our 1 year is up. So far we haven't had to use it (thank goodness) but, it has been nice knowing that we have it.

(we actually bought the most inclusive option that they offered, about $500.00 total for 2 people w/Covid-19 coverage).

 

We knew that we were going to be travelling quite a bit in the upcoming year so the "annual"  plan made sense for us.

 

We are glad we have it as a safety net, just in case.

 

However each persons situation is different.

[SRF]

The state you live in will also affect which companies you can purchase from.  I cannot get GeoBlue in MD.

 

I do not insure cancellation.  My thinking is, I have paid for the trip.  I would be unhappy, but it would not be an unexpected financial hit to cancel.

 

But medical or med evac could be a HUGE hit.  So I insure against that.

 

I typically pay about $35 per trip for a $0 trip cost policy.  If I cover up to $500 of trip cost, the policy price goes up to about $50.

[flamingos]

Thanks for the information - I did not know this was available.  We were about to get our annual travel medical policy, and will now look into this since it covers medical as well.

[flamingos]

14 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

I have had an annual policy from Trawick international for several years

Just checked them out:

 

Safe Travel Annual Plans are not available for residents of Oregon, Florida, New York or Washington

[ridge4]

20 hours ago, luckyinpa said:

make sure, if you are interested, that any insurance you buy has cancel for any reason coverage. in my limited research, no annual plan has this, 

 

if you find one please post it!  once all this covid and travel policies go away, CFAR will be still very important

The annual plans by Travel Insured offer a CFAR option. 

[AshleyDillo]

I have an annual policy from Allianz. It's way more affordable than paying for a policy for each cruise that I have booked plus it covers me on ANY trip that I take that's more than 100 miles from home.  I had a flight delay once and the insurance covered my extra rental car and meal costs during the delay.

 

You do have to be careful with ALL insurance policies to read them carefully and understand the coverage. In order to even qualify to make a claim you have to make sure you meet certain conditions.

 

A lot of folks quip, "You should have gotten travel insurance," for a lot of things that would NOT have been covered under a travel insurance policy.  For example, you can't proactively make changes that result in extra costs to prevent a claim and expect the insurance company to cover it such in the case of changing a flight because of a storm. You have to actually suffer the loss in order to make a claim. The insurance company won't pay that change fee to prevent you from getting stuck and having to book a last minute alternative flight to make your cruise, but they'll pay for that $$$$ last minute flight you had to book because your original flight was canceled 🤨

[ridge4]

19 hours ago, Babr said:

Be careful about relying on any credit card for cancellation. None of them cover cancellation caused by a pre-existing condition. Be sure you understand that term and whether it applies to you. Your status could change at any time if you seek treatment, receive a diagnosis, or even have an RX change.

 

None offers Cancel for Any Reason.  
 

Coverage for other travel risks can be rather skimpy. Trip delay, if it is offered at all, is usually $500. That is the provision that will pay for quarantine expenses if you find yourself so detained. Unless your cruise line is  still providing assistance, you won’t have adequate coverage.

 

 

While I agree that the fine print of any coverage should be examined closely, I think many people misunderstand the definitions of “pre-existing condition” in many policies.  For example, the definition of the coverage on the Chase Sapphire Reserved card reads:

 

Pre–existing Condition – illness, disease or accidental injury of You
or Your Traveling Companion, Your Immediate Family Member or the Immediate Family Member of Your Traveling Companion, for which medical advice, diagnosis, care or treatment was recommended or received within the sixty (60) day period immediately prior to the initial deposit or booking date (whichever occurs first) of a Trip; the taking of prescription drugs or medication for a controlled condition throughout this sixty (60) day period will not be considered to be a treatment
of illness or disease; additionally, regular antenatal care, through twenty–six (26) weeks gestation, provided it is a single, uncomplicated pregnancy which does not arise from services or treatment associated with an assisted reproductive program, including but not limited to
in vitro fertilization, is not considered to be a treatment of illness
or disease.

 

Therefore, we are not covered for any condition that changed during the 60 day period prior to trip booking or deposit. It is not correct, in this case, to state that our status could change at any time and affect coverage. RX for a controlled condition is not considered treatment. 
 

Again, read and understand your coverage, but I think many people could be wasting money on coverage for pre-existing conditions. 

Edited March 30, 2022 by ridge4