Annual Multi Trip Travel Insurance for a 55 Day Trip

[Sparky74]

I’m trying to find travel insurance for our upcoming trip. We fly to Seattle, cruise to Alaska and back to Seattle, cruise to Sydney via Hawaii and Fiji, fly to Brisbane, cruise to nowhere for 3 days, cruise to PNG and back to Brisbane and then have a few days before we go home.

 

We will be away for 55 days. The annual multi-trip policies offered by both Alliance and NIB cover for a maximum trip of 45 days. CoverMore appear to have a suitable policy but by the time I added on cruise cover and cancellation cover it was over $3,000. 
 

Is anyone aware of an insurer who offered a reasonably priced annual multi-trip policy that covers a 55 day trip?

[arxcards]

How does it compare with separate policies? A policy for your US part, then a non-US policy for your Australian & PNG cruises.

Everything is as clear as mud in this space ATM, and expensive to boot. 

[Sparky74]

51 minutes ago, arxcards said:

How does it compare with separate policies? A policy for your US part, then a non-US policy for your Australian & PNG cruises.

Everything is as clear as mud in this space ATM, and expensive to boot. 

I asked Alliance about that, specifically if I could use the annual policy for the USA and transpacific cruise which would be 37 days, and purchase a seperate policy for the remainder. No can do as a journey is defined as from when you leave your home or place of employment until you return. 

We are currently considering returning home for one night in between the transpacific and the three nighter. Ie fly to Coffs Harbour, drive home to Grafton and drive on to Brisbane the next morning. That way an annual multi-trip policy would cover us as they’re two separate journeys and we’d have a car in Brisbane for our few days after the PNG cruise and a way to get home at the end. Hmmm, we could also drop our Alaska clothes at home along with anything else we don’t need. 

Edited June 7, 2022 by Sparky74

[arxcards]

I was thinking more along the line of how it prices for two separate trip policies, not an annual one. Normally there is better value for money on an annual, but I am not sure they like to carry the risk over a year ATM. It also depends on what else you might have in mind over the 12 month period, and your 1 day stopover would be a way of making it work.

 

Allianz/Mondial underwrite a lot of these branded polices, so I don't know of anything cheaper.

[Cbtours]

50 minutes ago, Sparky74 said:

I asked Alliance about that, specifically if I could use the annual policy for the USA and transpacific cruise which would be 37 days, and purchase a seperate policy for the remainder. No can do as a journey is defined as from when you leave your home or place of employment until you return. 

We are currently considering returning home for one night in between the transpacific and the three nighter. Ie fly to Coffs Harbour, drive home to Grafton and drive on to Brisbane the next morning. That way an annual multi-trip policy would cover us as they’re two separate journeys and we’d have a car in Brisbane for our few days after the PNG cruise and a way to get home at the end. Hmmm, we could also drop our Alaska clothes at home along with anything else we don’t need. 

sounds like a plan!

[Ondine]

I know this sounds dumb but when I look at annual multi trip policies it gives several choices of time frames.  Does this mean that you choose the length of the longest cruise and then can do any other cruises that fit within that length of time over the year?  Also do you have to advise the insurer of the dates of each cruise/holiday?

 

I have only taken out single trip insurances in the past but with so many trips this summer because of cruise credits etc a multi trip policy may be the way to go.

 

I know someone will enlighten me.  Many thanks

[Aus Traveller]

We use the complimentary credit card travel insurance. The ANZ Platinum Visa one has a limit of six months for any one trip, but no limit on the number of trips in the year. There is also no restriction on the part of the world that is covered by their policy.

Edited June 7, 2022 by Aus Traveller

[OzKiwiJJ]

5 minutes ago, Ondine said:

I know this sounds dumb but when I look at annual multi trip policies it gives several choices of time frames.  Does this mean that you choose the length of the longest cruise and then can do any other cruises that fit within that length of time over the year?  Also do you have to advise the insurer of the dates of each cruise/holiday?

 

I have only taken out single trip insurances in the past but with so many trips this summer because of cruise credits etc a multi trip policy may be the way to go.

 

I know someone will enlighten me.  Many thanks

Yes, you choose the policy that covers the longest trip period. We didn't have to advise the insurance company of trip dates. We used annual policies for 2 or 3 years with InsureAndGo. I actually have one on hold from 2020 with around ten months still valid on it and will be reactivating it later this week. It should cover all our trips through to next April.

[arxcards]

8 minutes ago, Ondine said:

I know this sounds dumb but when I look at annual multi trip policies it gives several choices of time frames.  Does this mean that you choose the length of the longest cruise and then can do any other cruises that fit within that length of time over the year?  Also do you have to advise the insurer of the dates of each cruise/holiday?

 

I have only taken out single trip insurances in the past but with so many trips this summer because of cruise credits etc a multi trip policy may be the way to go.

 

I know someone will enlighten me.  Many thanks

The time frame is for the amount of time from when you leave for your trip till you get home. It can be made up of multiple cruises in the one trip, or land travel like Alaska cruise combined with Canadian Rockies. 

[Sparky74]

4 minutes ago, Ondine said:

I know this sounds dumb but when I look at annual multi trip policies it gives several choices of time frames.  Does this mean that you choose the length of the longest cruise and then can do any other cruises that fit within that length of time over the year?  Also do you have to advise the insurer of the dates of each cruise/holiday?

 

I have only taken out single trip insurances in the past but with so many trips this summer because of cruise credits etc a multi trip policy may be the way to go.

 

I know someone will enlighten me.  Many thanks

I’m no insurance expert but my understanding is that with an annual multi-trip policy you choose the length of the longest trip you want cover for. Then if you take other trips you are still covered as long as each individual trip is not longer than the maximum trip length you’ve chosen. 
 

I'll use our plans as an example. I'm planning on choosing 45 day maximum trip length on an annual multi-trip policy. We will leave home on 25th August, fly to the USA, cruise Alaska, and then cruise back to Sydney. We'll fly and drive back home on 30th September. This is 37 days, so within the 45 day maximum. 
The next day we'll drive to Brisbane, do a 3 night cruise followed by a 10 night cruise to PNG. we'll stay in Brisbane for four nights before driving back home. This will be 18 days, well under the 45 day maximum. 
We also have a 7 night domestic cruise at the end of June. That’s 8 days. 
We will probably take another cruise in the first half of next year. Even if we chose to take all of our annual leave (28 days) and do B2B we would be covered because the trip is less than the 45 day maximum trip length that we’ve chosen.

[valantine80]

41 minutes ago, Sparky74 said:

I’m no insurance expert but my understanding is that with an annual multi-trip policy you choose the length of the longest trip you want cover for. Then if you take other trips you are still covered as long as each individual trip is not longer than the maximum trip length you’ve chosen. 
 

That is correct. A number of years ago we were taking out an annual policy with RACQ and told the agent our longest cruise we wanted covered was eg 30days. He suggested we take choose cover for a longer time, and not sure it cost any more, for which we were grateful as we ended up doing a longer cruise also under the one policy.

[Relaxing Robbies]

I agree with the idea of breaking your trip into 2 separate trips.

 

Before covid we had an annual policy with 1Cover that covered something like a 60 day trip, but had a general exclusion for pandemics and epidemics. We also had insurance through our credit card that only covered 30 day trips and did not cover some preexisting health conditions.

 

We had a trip of something like 38 days booked for March 2020 which involved cruising from Melbourne to Sydney, followed by 10 days on land in Newcastle, then cruising from Sydney to Honolulu before flying home to Melbourne. When covid started I worried what would happen if we caught covid during that trip. I called the credit card insurance company and checked with them about the 30 day limit. They agreed with my suggestion that we could get around that by breaking the trip into separate trips by returning home from Sydney for 1 night before the cruise to Hawaii.  My husband thought it was crazy, but I booked a cheap return trip home for the night just to make sure that the insurance would be valid.

Ended up all being rescheduled anyway when covid worsened and our Hawaii cruise was cancelled.

 

[Ondine]

Many thanks to all who replied.  It was as I thought.

 

Because I survive on super and a part pension I cannot apply for a credit card with travel insurance (I am evidently a big risk and have to be working).  My current credit cards don't give me insurance.

 

Because I am 81 that disqualifies me for a lot of insurance policies.  I am really ancient although I have no medical problems and don't take any medicines.

 

I will search through the benevolent companies who will look on me with pity and see what comes up.

 

This summer I will be on the first ship out of Melb on 4th Nov and also on the last one in March.   Got a total of 8 cruises booked which together total 3 months thanks to the lockdown and cruise credits so an annual policy is the way to go if I can find one at a reasonable rate.  Gosh I will forget what home looks like.

 

Again thank you all my friends with your answers.

[MMDown Under]

3 minutes ago, Ondine said:

Many thanks to all who replied.  It was as I thought.

 

Because I survive on super and a part pension I cannot apply for a credit card with travel insurance (I am evidently a big risk and have to be working).  My current credit cards don't give me insurance.

 

Because I am 81 that disqualifies me for a lot of insurance policies.  I am really ancient although I have no medical problems and don't take any medicines.

 

I will search through the benevolent companies who will look on me with pity and see what comes up.

 

This summer I will be on the first ship out of Melb on 4th Nov and also on the last one in March.   Got a total of 8 cruises booked which together total 3 months thanks to the lockdown and cruise credits so an annual policy is the way to go if I can find one at a reasonable rate.  Gosh I will forget what home looks like.

 

Again thank you all my friends with your answers.

If you have no medical problems and don't take any medicines, would you be comfortable to self insure?

I assume cruises are in Australia. 

I know two people, who were dying from cancer, whose doctors advised them to go ahead and travel - one to NZ and one to UK.  Both successfully completed their travels. Personal doctors know the medical condition of their patients better than insurance underwriters who are risk adverse. 

I got my MIL in her 80s travel insurance to the USA through National Seniors.  She had a letter from her personal doctor that she was fit to travel.  

[OzKiwiJJ]

25 minutes ago, Ondine said:

Many thanks to all who replied.  It was as I thought.

 

Because I survive on super and a part pension I cannot apply for a credit card with travel insurance (I am evidently a big risk and have to be working).  My current credit cards don't give me insurance.

 

Because I am 81 that disqualifies me for a lot of insurance policies.  I am really ancient although I have no medical problems and don't take any medicines.

 

I will search through the benevolent companies who will look on me with pity and see what comes up.

 

This summer I will be on the first ship out of Melb on 4th Nov and also on the last one in March.   Got a total of 8 cruises booked which together total 3 months thanks to the lockdown and cruise credits so an annual policy is the way to go if I can find one at a reasonable rate.  Gosh I will forget what home looks like.

 

Again thank you all my friends with your answers.

Have you tried InsureAndGo. I think they advertise on the Seniors Card website that they insure people up to age 100. Also they have a Seniors discount.

[OzKiwiJJ]

[Ondine]

No I will always want travel with insurance.  I do not care about cabin confinement and missing ports etc but do not feel safe in case something happens and I need to be airlifted off or end up in hospital in another country.  Been on several trips where people have bee airlifted off - three I think.  Also last trip someone died on the last night.  Life is very unpredictable.  I may fall down stairs or catch something else.

 

All trips are ex Melbourne and go to Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and the Islands.  Tasman can be very rough and trips from Melb usually take 3 days at sea to get anywhere.

 

I will add National Seniors to my list.  Thanks

[Ondine]

5 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Have you tried InsureAndGo. I think they advertise on the Seniors Card website that they insure people up to age 100. Also they have a Seniors discount.

 

Actually I have always used Insure&AndGo in the past and was waiting for them to add cruising to their offers.  Looks like it has been added.  Mind you they weren't very helpful with refunds when we shut down but that is now in the past and my anger has subsided.  After promising a total refund I think I got around 30%.  But times were tough for them too.

[Hogbay]

 With a cover more 45 day yearly policy and were cruising b2b2b and had a 3 day break in Australia between cruising how would they know if you were not "at home " for the night ? Do you get a ankle bracelet 🤔🤣

[OzKiwiJJ]

3 minutes ago, Ondine said:

 

Actually I have always used Insure&AndGo in the past and was waiting for them to add cruising to their offers.  Looks like it has been added.  Mind you they weren't very helpful with refunds when we shut down but that is now in the past and my anger has subsided.  After promising a total refund I think I got around 30%.  But times were tough for them too.

We took the offer to put our annual policy on hold. I talked to someone there the other week and I can reactivate it at any time so I'm doing that on Friday.

[Sparky74]

3 hours ago, Hogbay said:

 With a cover more 45 day yearly policy and were cruising b2b2b and had a 3 day break in Australia between cruising how would they know if you were not "at home " for the night ? Do you get a ankle bracelet 🤔🤣

"How would they know?" THEY probably wouldn’t but you would. 
How would "they" know if you lie about your RAT result pre- cruise? They wouldn’t but you would. 
How would they know if…

[Ondine]

On 6/8/2022 at 4:13 PM, OzKiwiJJ said:

Have you tried InsureAndGo. I think they advertise on the Seniors Card website that they insure people up to age 100. Also they have a Seniors discount.

 

I thought that I would try a dummy quote for my future trips.  They are not doing multi trips yet but are now doing cruise insurance.

 

Put in the information and although they cover you up to 100 yrs old message came back telling me as I was over 80 I needed to be with another passenger who was under 80.  

 

OMG I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.  Told the kids and they laughed till they cried at the thought that their independent mother needed a baby sitter to take out insurance with InsureAndGo.  I feel like some sort of child who needs looking after.  Such is life.

 

Luckily all bar one of the cruises I will have my eldest son with me.

Edited June 10, 2022 by Ondine

[Porky55]

1 minute ago, Ondine said:

OMG I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.  Told the kids and they laughed till they cried at the thought that their independent mother needed a baby sitter to take out insurance with InsureAndGo.  I feel like some sort of child who needs looking after.  Such is life.

Keep looking at a variety of companies, I’m sure there will be one that treats you like the adult you are 🙂

[NSWP]

1 hour ago, Ondine said:

 

I thought that I would try a dummy quote for my future trips.  They are not doing multi trips yet but are now doing cruise insurance.

 

Put in the information and although they cover you up to 100 yrs old message came back telling me as I was over 80 I needed to be with another passenger who was under 80.  

 

OMG I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.  Told the kids and they laughed till they cried at the thought that their independent mother needed a baby sitter to take out insurance with InsureAndGo.  I feel like some sort of child who needs looking after.  Such is life.

 

Luckily all bar one of the cruises I will have my eldest son with me.

You need a toy boy, 😝 

[Russell21]

16 hours ago, Ondine said:

 

I thought that I would try a dummy quote for my future trips.  They are not doing multi trips yet but are now doing cruise insurance.

 

Put in the information and although they cover you up to 100 yrs old message came back telling me as I was over 80 I needed to be with another passenger who was under 80.  

 

OMG I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.  Told the kids and they laughed till they cried at the thought that their independent mother needed a baby sitter to take out insurance with InsureAndGo.  I feel like some sort of child who needs looking after.  Such is life.

 

Luckily all bar one of the cruises I will have my eldest son with me.

Ondine did you actually speak to someone or did you do an online dry run? The reason I'm asking is that about a week ago I spoke to them and was informed that they were not doing cruise bookings until the end of the month.