Travel Insurance

[jean87510]

9 hours ago, Liljo22 said:

Check your credit card perks.  I have Chase Sapphire and that comes with travel insurance as long as 100% of the costs is charged to the card.  They cover $10k per a person up to $20k total.  I had a Europe trip planned and had a death to an immediate family member and had to cancel.  I was able to get 100% of my costs back with no push back for the company.  Just needed to submit the receipts and cancellation policies.

Yep.  We have Chase Sapphire as well.  Only card we use for travel.  

[kfnesq]

I also use Allianz, and typically get the "Cancel for any reason" coverage just to be on the safe side.  Also, my husband is law enforcement and occasionally subpoenas to testify will pop up at inopportune times (which is a covered reason, byt the way).  Also, remember a ton of other stuff is covered, including missing ports and lost luggage.  Our most recent cruise in December had a port cancelled well before we sailed, and insurance still paid out $1250 for missing the port.  So - always check your coverage! 

[shipgeeks]

49 cruises so far, and have never purchased travel insurance. Have never wished we had. 

[Ret MP]

1 hour ago, shipgeeks said:

49 cruises so far, and have never purchased travel insurance. Have never wished we had. 

 

[time4u2go]

1 hour ago, shipgeeks said:

49 cruises so far, and have never purchased travel insurance. Have never wished we had. 

Same here.

[Big_G]

We didn't buy it when we were younger but as our parents began to age we started buying it mostly because of them. Over the past 5 years we've had 3 claims for cancelled cruises because they were hospitalized. Now we just buy it for ourselves. In fact we just bought an annual from Allianz because I got a little crazy booking cruises over the next year. The biggest concern for me is not cancellation so much as medical evacuation for an injury or illness.

[Husky1987]

Not a cruise situation, but the only time I've ever bought travel insurance it came in handy.  We were scheduled to fly to San Antonio over Christmas to see our daughter.  The day before we were supposed to fly out, there were forecasts of a major ice storm coming through Seattle.  So, on a whim I purchased travel insurance to cover the non-refundable cost of our AirBnb.  Everything else was cancellable or reusable (we fly Alaska often enough that I'd use the credits pretty quickly anyway).  Made sure it covered airline cancellations.  The travel insurance kicked in at 12:01 on Friday before Christmas.  Friday morning at 1:00 AM, I got an email from Alaska Airlines cancelling our flight, with no other flights going out for days.  Filed a claim, submitted the required paperwork, and got a check this week covering the AirBnB cost. 

 

I've never purchased insurance for any of our cruises, but depending on the situation I can see the peace of mind would benefit some, even if it was never used.

[Ret MP]

1 minute ago, Big_G said:

We didn't buy it when we were younger but as our parents began to age we started buying it mostly because of them. Over the past 5 years we've had 3 claims for cancelled cruises because they were hospitalized. Now we just buy it for ourselves. In fact we just bought an annual from Allianz because I got a little crazy booking cruises over the next year. The biggest concern for me is not cancellation so much as medical evacuation for an injury or illness.

This is a question, not a statement:

 

I have, in the past, did a little shipping around for "annual" travel insurance.  I decided not to get an annual policy because they're, I'm not sure what to call it, not an unlimited policy.  In other words, let's say you purchase a policy in January and it includes a 100K in emergency flight home benefit.  In January you have a medical emergency while in Raotan and it took 90K to get you flown home in an air ambulance.  Now, you only have 10K remaining for the year which means if there is a second incident, you are only getting a 10K discount.  What are the chances of a second incident like this to happen? Slight, for sure. Possible?  Yes!  Cancelations are fairly common though, which has yearly limits, too. Anyway, my question, did you or anybody else reading this check that out, is that true.  My shopping around wasn't a deep dive into it, cursory at best.

 

So, I decided to go with individual, cruise specific policies.  Is my thinking wrong?  

[Big_G]

3 minutes ago, Ret MP said:

This is a question, not a statement:

So, I decided to go with individual, cruise specific policies.  Is my thinking wrong?  

 

We took that into consideration and having hit the 50 cruises milestone without personal incident or injury we decided if we had to take advantage of that benefit, we would just purchase additional insurance a la carte for the remaining cruises. Short answer, your thinking is not wrong.

[Ret MP]

1 minute ago, Big_G said:

 

We took that into consideration and having hit the 50 cruises milestone without personal incident or injury we decided if we had to take advantage of that benefit, we would just purchase additional insurance a la carte for the remaining cruises. Short answer, your thinking is not wrong.

Thank you for the very polite response.  

[ldubs]

21 minutes ago, Ret MP said:

This is a question, not a statement:

 

I have, in the past, did a little shipping around for "annual" travel insurance.  I decided not to get an annual policy because they're, I'm not sure what to call it, not an unlimited policy.  In other words, let's say you purchase a policy in January and it includes a 100K in emergency flight home benefit.  In January you have a medical emergency while in Raotan and it took 90K to get you flown home in an air ambulance.  Now, you only have 10K remaining for the year which means if there is a second incident, you are only getting a 10K discount.  What are the chances of a second incident like this to happen? Slight, for sure. Possible?  Yes!  Cancelations are fairly common though, which has yearly limits, too. Anyway, my question, did you or anybody else reading this check that out, is that true.  My shopping around wasn't a deep dive into it, cursory at best.

 

So, I decided to go with individual, cruise specific policies.  Is my thinking wrong?  

 

Actually, I would not be surprised if the loss data shows a repeat event is more likely.  If so, it supports your concern about wanting higher limits.   I don't know what the data would show.  The comment just caught my attention.  

 

We like the annual policy for medical only because of the low premium. I have to acknowledge that as I grow older the exposure to medical issues while traveling is also growing.   We have some limited coverage courtesy our credit card, but otherwise don't purchase insurance for the trip cancel side of things.  

[CruisinRoxy]

I guess the take away here is that as your life circumstances change, so does the need to think ahead and for travel insurance. When we were younger we never gave a second thought to being insured and prepared for the unexpected.   Now, some 4 decades later, it’s a completely different story!

[Ret MP]

13 minutes ago, CruisinRoxy said:

I guess the take away here is that as your life circumstances change, so does the need to think ahead and for travel insurance. When we were younger we never gave a second thought to being insured and prepared for the unexpected.   Now, some 4 decades later, it’s a completely different story!

Sorry, this is off topic but brings up memories.  When I was in Elementary School, Jr. High School, and High School, my parents, (this was in South Florida, during the 50's & 60's), would purchase accident insurance from the school(s) for my brother and I (Back then, I don't think "health insurance" was a thing or not popular, I don't know/remember).  There were options for just in school hours and events coverage and/or 24/7/everywhere coverage.  My parents got the 24/7/everywhere insurance.  And it was a good thing, we got a lot of broken bones, black eyes, cuts, Ring/Hook worm, and so on.

[dada2199cc]

I invest the insurance policy value for every cruise and flight I take, and now I'm at a point where the investment could start paying for my cruises and flights if it was in a dividend ETF.

 

14 years of socking away that $80 here, $230 there, and it's become a sizeable investment.

 

Insurance is gambling for those who are bad at math but Trust The Experts™.  Even as I get older, it still makes no sense to me.  Maybe if I traveled only once a year?  

[baileymouse]

Always get the cruise insurance, you just never know. If we didn't have cruise insurance back in 2019, I would have been 50K+ in debt. My husband had a subdural hematoma, the ship's hospital couldn't do anything, they brought us back to St. Maarten and 30 hours later we were airlifted to NJ, where he died.   While we were still on the ship the charges were coming in on my credit card. I get notified by Capital One every time a charge is made. 

 

I have bought from Allianz and directly from Royal. Depends on the trip. 

[klfrodo]

As I've grown older and my resources have grown, I no longer worry about the "Comprehensive" portion of the travel insurance. I can absorb the cost of the cruise or land vacation. It's the medical portion that could put me into bankruptcy. Therefore, I only purchase the medical, evacuation, & repatriation portion of the policy. For $35pp I get $100K of primary medical and $250K of evacuation.

[Ret MP]

10 minutes ago, klfrodo said:

As I've grown older and my resources have grown, I no longer worry about the "Comprehensive" portion of the travel insurance. I can absorb the cost of the cruise or land vacation. It's the medical portion that could put me into bankruptcy. Therefore, I only purchase the medical, evacuation, & repatriation portion of the policy. For $35pp I get $100K of primary medical and $250K of evacuation.

That is good fruit for thought.  If your (not necessarily you klfrodo) cruise costs, let's say, ~$500.00 - $800.00 per person, the Comprehensive probably isn't economically a necessity, depending on your income, of course.  However, if your cruise costs, ranging from 6k to 12k, it makes more since no matter your income unless you are in the upper upper income levels and you live well within your means. 

 

When my wife and I take one of our, what we call  in-between cruises, we will look at not purchasing the "Comprehensive".  In-between cruises =  We can't wait for our next "big" cruise, so we, spontaneously book a short/inexpensive cruise to scratch the itch.  

 

I'm just extra sensitive and cautious about the unpredictable.  I try to cover all bases.  Not always possible but I try.    

[Babr]

For those who depend on credit card coverage, be aware that it does not cover pre-existing conditions for you, your traveling companion, or your family.  That has broader implications than you may have realized.

[t18c97]

1 hour ago, Babr said:

For those who depend on credit card coverage, be aware that it does not cover pre-existing conditions for you, your traveling companion, or your family.  That has broader implications than you may have realized.

I double checked the coverage I get with my Chase Reserve card and there is no mention of pre-existing conditions exclusion.Coverage does include your spouse and any children under 19 or if enrolled in a full time school it's 26 years. Their medical/dental coverage is only $2,500 but my Medicare plan N supplemental does provide international coverage benefits so I can live with that amount. 

[klfrodo]

29 minutes ago, t18c97 said:

I double checked the coverage I get with my Chase Reserve card and there is no mention of pre-existing conditions exclusion.

You may wish to call and double check that. I have the same card and that is not my understanding.

Also, this link appears to indicate that pre-existing conditions are not covered. Chase Sapphire Reserve Card: Travel Insurance Benefits [2023] (upgradedpoints.com)

 

You also indicate that your Medicare Supplement plan covers you internationally. Again, I would double check. Many of these plans do provide coverage, but they max out with a "lifetime" amount of only $50K.

[Babr]

38 minutes ago, t18c97 said:

I double checked the coverage I get with my Chase Reserve card and there is no mention of pre-existing conditions exclusion.Coverage does include your spouse and any children under 19 or if enrolled in a full time school it's 26 years. Their medical/dental coverage is only $2,500 but my Medicare plan N supplemental does provide international coverage benefits so I can live with that amount. 

If you were reading your Guide to Benefits, you just did not read far enough. Continue reading and you will find that pre-existing conditions are not covered for Trip Cancellation or Trip Interruption.

 

Call Chase for clarification to be sure you understand how it works and to whom it applies whether or not they are traveling with you.

[t18c97]

21 minutes ago, klfrodo said:

You may wish to call and double check that. I have the same card and that is not my understanding.

Also, this link appears to indicate that pre-existing conditions are not covered. Chase Sapphire Reserve Card: Travel Insurance Benefits [2023] (upgradedpoints.com)

 

You also indicate that your Medicare Supplement plan covers you internationally. Again, I would double check. Many of these plans do provide coverage, but they max out with a "lifetime" amount of only $50K.

OK, I found the section on pre-existing conditions, which is for things that you had prior to the initial deposit date or booking date of the trip. I can live with that since I have no pre-existing conditions that would cause me to cancel any of our current trips which we have booked. Now if I had congestive heart failure then maybe I'd be looking for something better, but since I don't I can live with this limitation. 

 

As for the Medicare supplement I know it only covers $50,000, and I can live with that amount. 

 

Yes I know you can buy coverages that have higher benefit amounts but as with all insurance you're gambling, do I pay X dollars thinking that I'll need a payout or based on past experience it's not necessary. Based on my past experiance it hasn't been necessary. So for me the basic coverage provide my the Chase card fills my needs. 

Edited January 19, 2023 by t18c97
Updating with additonal info.

[Babr]

6 minutes ago, t18c97 said:

I looked through the Guide to Benefits again and I don't see any mention of pre-existing conditions that would deny coverage, if you can find it in the guide please provide the page a section number. 

 

As for the Medicare supplement I know it only covers $50,000, and I can live with that amount. 

 

Yes I know you can buy coverages that have higher benefit amounts but as with all insurance you're gambling, do I pay X dollars thinking that I'll need a payout or based on past experience it's not necessary. Based on my past experiance it hasn't been necessary. So for me the basic coverage provide my the Chase card fills my needs. 

https://cdn.f9client.com/api3/file/1130287/inline/BGC10981_ADA_compliant_0915.pdf?__gda__=exp=1674099981~acl=/api3/file/1130287/inline/BGC10981_ADA_compliant_0915.pdf*~hmac=a829ae8498c67eb7fb2ea53bb26a49eebf05aa0dbbacf43b1919f615b707494f
 

Page 43 under What’s Not Covered?  
 

 

[t18c97]

Please see the prior post. Thanks 

[jclinard]

After a bad experience, I fully read the policies and found there are few ways to actually collect.  Death is one of the easiest ways, but I won't need the money if that happens, and my heirs will not know to collect.

 

I prefer to not insure any part of a trip that has a fixed amount of loss (air and cruise tickets, prepaid expenses, etc.).  I doubt if I could collect anyway, and I can afford the losses.  Medical issues are a different matter.  I want health coverage, as those expenses can be major.

 

As always, I urge people to only listen to people who know what color the insurance company prints their checks on.  Only a fool takes a recommendation from people who are basing it on nothing more than how quickly the insurance company cashed the check for the coverage.