Best third party company to book travel insurance?

[bmarts]

I've looked at rates for other companies but just wanted to get input on what people use if they choose to book insurance? 

[Denversail]

I’m also interested in feedback on this. How long do you have to book ins from booking? Is it okay as long as it is prior to final payment?

[crzndeb]

I use Allianz. If I have several cruises booked within a year, I get their year policy.

[bobmacliberty]

I use insuremytrip.com.  They provide quotes from several different companies and have a nice comparison feature so that you can see how one less expensive option compares with another more expensive option.  We end up mostly with Nationwide.

[SG65CB]

50 minutes ago, Denversail said:

I’m also interested in feedback on this. How long do you have to book ins from booking? Is it okay as long as it is prior to final payment?

 

This depends on what type of coverage you want. 

 

You can book your insurance any time, right up until the day you leave. Obviously you wouldn't be covered for anything that happens prior to booking, but if you are mainly seeking coverage for medical expenses incurred during the trip this is fine. 

 

If you want to include "Cancel for any Reason", or insure against pre-existing conditions, the policy has a stated time limit. Sometimes it is within a small number of days after you make the INITIAL deposit. 

 

 

[resetjet]

I talked to a guy he pays one company a sum for all his cruises.  Good for a frequent cruiser.  I had the chase saphire card and it has trip insurance.  I dont think it included the medical.

[ssb]

Allianz 

[soremekun]

Geo Blue Travel Insurance 

[D4]

There is no one best policy for everyone.  
 

Be sure to review and compare the coverages, coverage limits, exclusions, etc when comparing policies.

[Coralc]

2 hours ago, SG65CB said:

 

This depends on what type of coverage you want. 

 

You can book your insurance any time, right up until the day you leave. Obviously you wouldn't be covered for anything that happens prior to booking, but if you are mainly seeking coverage for medical expenses incurred during the trip this is fine. 

 

If you want to include "Cancel for any Reason", or insure against pre-existing conditions, the policy has a stated time limit. Sometimes it is within a small number of days after you make the INITIAL deposit. 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

I use insuremytrip.com.  They provide quotes from several different companies and have a nice comparison feature so that you can see how one less expensive option compares with another more expensive option.  We end up mostly with Nationwide.

 

Same. I just chickened out and bought travel insurance today. I wasn't going to. But we are cruising for 2 weeks in March, and it seems that Covid is still going around, plus other viruses. We ended up with Nationwide, no pre-existing conditions. We are getting older and $266 is not a bad deal against an $8,000 loss. We didn't buy it for our last 2 inexpensive West Coast cruises. I am just more comfortable having it. 

[GeezerCouple]

1 hour ago, D4 said:

There is no one best policy for everyone.  
 

Be sure to review and compare the coverages, coverage limits, exclusions, etc when comparing policies.

 

This is absolutely true.

What is "best" depends upon what one needs or wants in terms of coverage.

We learned about www.TripInsuranceStore.com here on CC just about 10 years ago.  They are a broker, and offer several policies from several different vetted travel insurers.

They were *incredibly* patient answering our questions, as it was all totally new to us.  (We had been naive before... and very lucky!)

 

But CALL them.  The short online policy summaries simply cannot provide enough detail so one could know if it matches "your" needs or not.  Also, we didn't even know what to look for, in a few cases, such as:  frail family members not traveling with you?  pre-existing medical conditions?  chance of being called back to work? etc...

 

We've ended up using Travel Insured, through TIS.  There is no extra charge for the traveler to book through TIS.  IF one needs help with a claim, they are there to help.

 

And... our very first big trip, our first time using travel insurance, DH had a medical emergency less that 2 weeks before our planned departure, and by then... no refunds for anything!

We got every cent back.  The check arrived about 2 weeks after we submitted the claim.  (Hint: KEEP RECEIPTS!  The insurer has the right to make sure there aren't fraudulent claims, of course.)

 

We've since had several other claims, and each paid without nonsense.

We wish we had NOT needed to make the claims, that the travel was all "without any need for insurance", but that's not what turned out to happen for us.

 

GC

[Babr]

14 hours ago, resetjet said:

I talked to a guy he pays one company a sum for all his cruises.  Good for a frequent cruiser.  I had the chase saphire card and it has trip insurance.  I dont think it included the medical.

If you are going to depend on your credit card for cancellation and interruption coverage, it is in you best interest to know how it works.

 

Start with pre-existing conditions. Familiarize yourself with the term as defined in the policy and to whom it applies.