Trip Insurance - Pros/Cons and Poll

[MargaritaPlease]

OK, let me say up front that I'm a non-believer. I'm capable of "self-insuring" and can't see why I'd pay the seemingly ridiculous premiums too cover some long-shot circumstances.

So what are the pros and cons of buying trip insurance?? Do you buy it because you couldn't afford the hit if something did go wrong? Is it more important for elderly? Families? In the winter?

 

Which trip insurance companies have you used? Have you actually made a claim and how was that process? What types of coverage do you think are most important?

[BeckyR]

We used to never buy insurance. We were younger, healthy, parents in pretty good health, etc. Felt it was a stretch to take a cruise anyway, so why the added expense. Then just 2 weeks before a long-awaited Alaskan cruise, I developed a DVT and could not travel. We stood to loose over $6000 because of our kids traveling with us. Luckily, my FIL was able (and more than willing) to go with my husband and the kids so we didn't lose the money. After that, we decided to start buying insurance.

 

We have had a claim 2 out of the 4 times we have bought it. When we flew to the Med. our daughter got an ear infection which required seeing the ships dr. and antibiotics. The bill for this was about $150 more than the cost of the insurance, so we more than broke even. Last year, our oldest daughter and I both came down with a respiratory infection which, together, dr's expenses were over $800. Insurance sure came in handy then. Paid every penny.

 

We still do not load up on insurance. It would not exactly break us if the worst happened, but with our parents older and in more delicate health, we like having the option of cancelling if they take a turn for the worse. DH's mother was just rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery last week with small hope of recovery. Luckily she did and our cruise is still 2 weeks away, so we are still on, but that's just an example. Plus, since we cruise with our girls, 4 passengers = a lot of money! We use Travelex's Travelite policy. It fits our needs and they have paid extremely promptly on every occasion with absolutely no hassle.

 

Becky

[janep]

We get insurance because that what it is, insurance that if something goes wrong we will get our money back. A few cruises ago the other family at our table got the dread stomach virus. They were quarantined for 4 days. Thank God we didn't get it, anyway, their insurance paid them for time missed! From that point on we always get it. I like knowing that if needed anything that happens will be covered financially. It is expensive but if you are paying all that money for a cruise what is a few more bucks.

[JENANDGENE]

I have not made a claim myself, however I work for an ambulance company in Connecticut quite close to The US Coast Guard Academy and 2 major casinos. Lots of people end up getting transported by our ambulances while here on "trips", weather that be a vacation, to see a family graduation, etc. I have seen numerous trips paid by travel insurance companies including ground ot air transportation back to a home hospital which can cost into the thousands of dollars. To me I would say its worth it.....

 

Jen

going platinum!! May 7, 2006 Adventure of the Seas

Jewel 2005

Explorer 2004

Voyager 2002

Monarch 1994

[scubapuss]

It is worth the money. My trip is about $13000.00 this time insuranse is $600. I think it is worth it if something goes wrong. Even though your own medical insuranse has to pay first a death in the family could mean loosing it all.

[Nliedel]

It's gambling. You are gambling that you will not have your once a year vacation wrecked by something unexpected. Sometimes I don't buy it but I am a nervous wreck every single time. The peace of mind is worth it to me now. All it takes is one ruined vacation to see the value.

[dougp26364]

Probably the most important coverage is for the catasrophic loss that would bankrupt you. That would be unexpected medical claims not covered by your own personal insurance. Some companies will provided medical coverage when you're outside of the country so it's always best to call your health care plans administrator to see if you really need that coverage.

 

Other than that, the nusience claims like trip delay or trip interuption can come in handy but, you HAVE to know the definitions of the policy. I got burned by this one when we had a trip interuption claim that was denied. It seems in the fine print, the trip delay had to be caused by very specific causes. 1. A strike that affected public transportation (under the plans definition of public transportation, cruise ships were not included) 2. Weather delay that affected your flight 3. Mechanical or any other delay caused by your airline.

 

Our claim was caused by a fisherman's strike in Spain which blocked all the ports. We missed our flight home and ended up shelling out an additional $1,400 for airfare home, a little less than $200 ($175 I think) for the hotel room and maybe around $50 for cabs. We never had the chance to eat as we were to busy trying to arrange for flights home the next day and find a hotel room on short notice. RCI refunded us the hotel room and the cab fare, the insurance refused the claim for the $1,400 airfare.

 

Our company was Travelsafe. I understand that Travel Guard did not pay either on the basis that it was not a "legal" strike under their definition of "legal strike."

 

On the other hand, CSA and TravelEx DID pay their claims.

 

If you were to buy insurance, I'd say get the best catastrophic coverage you can to protect you from financial ruin. Unless you're independantly wealthy and just want to risk a small fortune, an unexpected hospital bill for either illness or injury could really cause problems. At the same time you might as well read the policy to see if it will pay for the minor claims that many of us can absorb like trip interuption, travel delay, lost or delayed baggage et....If you have to get coverage for the big things, you might as well make sure it will cover you for the little things as well.

 

From this point on, it's goodbye to Travelsafe and hello to either CSA or TravelEx for us.

[MargaritaPlease]

It's gambling.

 

Well yah... And like casinos, the house always wins. Insurance companies take in premiums in excess of what they pay out - or they wouldn't be in business. So... On average, buying insurance is a loss for the subscriber - just like gambling is a loss for the player. But... That doesn't mean you can't win sometimes.

 

Probably the most important coverage is for the catasrophic loss that would bankrupt you. That would be unexpected medical claims not covered by your own personal insurance.

 

I'm fortunate that my health plan covers my family worldwide. The most I'd benefit here would be transportation home. Great story on the port in Spain. In my got... I just know... I'd get caught in the fine print too.

 

Thanks for all the other responses... Keep 'em coming!

[knothead]

We always buy the insurance. While we could stand to loose the $ for the price of the cruise itself, It would be a whole different story if one of us had to be air lifted from the ship for any reason. We also might not have the emercency funds to fly us from one of the ports back home if some member of our family passed away suddenly.

 

Our last cruise almost didn't happen! We booked a year out and did not expect to lose my Dh's mother to cancer 6 days before our sail date. We were just about to cancel our cruise before she passed away. Our insurance would have covered that loss with no problem plus the cost of our airfare.

 

My motto is never leave home without it. As sure as you believe that nothing will happen it WILL!

[jonb7]

To me, the most important coverage is the emergency medical evac. There' s just no way we could cover that kind of expense on our own. I use TravelEx Travelite, because it is the least expensive for our family and has the coverage we need.

[AltaJoe]

Like BeckyR, we never used to purchase insurance, but as we get older and our parents as well, it is now part of our cost of vacationing. One additional consideration is that our vacations are getting much more intricate and pricey, so the risk/reward matrix gives off a clear BUY sign.

[tommoore1]

A couple of years ago we were on a cruise on the Exploder of the Seas, and midway through the trip (while on a "sea" day!), I received a phone call from my daughter informing me that my father had passed away.

We had trip insurance, and they paid all my expenses to fly home from the next port of call (Cozumel--VERY expensive!), and several weeks later, I even received a check for the portion of the cruise that I missed!

I strongly recommend travel insurance.

[wegiekat]

We always buy the insurance and though we have never had to use it, a couple that sailed with us on the Rhaposdy last year ended up ill. The travel insurance paid what their regular insurance did not. Their medical bill on the ship was close to $1500 and they were reimbursed every penny.

 

So for me - I don't consider it a waste of money. My 2 cents.

 

Mindy

[crusinmama06]

Without a doubt, we are firm believers now!!!!!

 

Young, extremly healthy family. Traveling on the 4th cruise with NO problems in the past.

 

Our kids get a case of the sniffles, no big deal. We head to the ship doc, he prescribes meds, send my hubby to the room with our infant daughter while I wait in the ship's hospital for the meds. Everyone starts running around. A nurse comes up and tells me to stay where I was, they were "bringing my daughter in" (an emergency call came in from the room). I THOUGHT they meant my older daughter, thought she had fallen and hurt her ankle or something.

 

My husband comes running in carrying my 7 month old baby and she is BLUE, not breathing AND seizing.

 

Long story short, she caught a virus on the ship, caused a seizure. We spent 2 days in the ship's hospital. They TRIED to airlift us off the ship (winds too strong). THEN they tried to get us a tender boat off the coast of the bahamas where a cargo plane would fly us to a hospital. (the currents were too strong, the captain did not want to risk us in a tender boat). So they ended up taking the whole ship back to Port Canaveral a few hours early (about 8) and had an ambulance waiting for us at the dock to rush us to Port Canerveral Medical Centre. Which caused us to miss our "Non-cancellable" US Air flight which doesn't allow "Medical Emergency" as an excuse to switch your flights.

 

Ship Hospital - $1,800

US Air Flight Change Fee - $1,250

Ambulance - $500

Port Canaveral Medical Center - $1,100

Hotel in Port Canaveral - $179

 

Now our own health insurance paid for the ambulance and hospital in port canaveral (except for the deductibles). The TA didn't have travel insurance linked to the US Air tickets so that landed on us.

 

I will never travel without insurance.

[J&SLowery]

We buy for every cruise. Insurance paid for itself before our first ever cruise. We certainly could afford to take the hit, otherwise I doubt we would cruise twice a year.

 

3 weeks before our wedding in 1999, 2 discs in my back decided they had had enough, with absolutely no prior signs or symptoms....6 hours of surgery later and the neuro-surgeon who told me that I wouldn't be able to travel for 2 months, I had no choice but to not take our honeymoon until mid May. Our trip was paid in full, and insured. We called RCCL- it was actually Berkely, and were asked to provide a simple letter from the doctor providing his medical reason for not allowing me to travel. We faxed the letter and were asked to choose another date to cruise within a day. We mailed our cruise and airline tickets back and received new ones within a week.

 

Again, w/ Berkely care, Scheila swam through a school of sea-lice and took on a pretty bad rash (I don't know how I avoided, as I was snorkelling right next to her). Saw the ship's doc and got meds that she needed just fine. We were able to submit to our Major Medical carrier, and they reimbursed 100% less our co-pay. Trip insurance is (generally) secondary to any other available insurance. We submitted our co-pay that was not paid by our Major Medical and the trip insurance reimbursed us that amount.

 

We have also use Access America- have never had a claim with them, although we have friends who have. A friend developed an infection (to which I will not elaborate) but received on-board medical treatment, IV antibotics, and a stay of about 12 hours in the infirmary. The bill was not cheap!! It took a while, but they were reimbursed for this as well.

 

 

Oh, by the way, I failed to mention that my back injury occurred 7 years ago this weekend. I'll be 33 this month....that means I was 26 when my back blew out. I'm 5'10 and weighed about 190lbs at the time. I've also been in the fire service since I was 16. I learned very early that "young and healthy" do not always go hand in hand.

 

Peace of mind goes a long way.

 

Jay

[TheWog]

All it takes is one medical evacuation. We get it for cruises and like the peace of mind. I live in the Northeast and cruise in the Winter months. Blizzard happened on the day our cruise departed last year. Fortunately we are fly down the day ahead people, but there were many who couldn't get off the ground. For about $100 it is worth it to me.

[kc320]

We bought insurance for our 1st cruise, read all the fine print later & decided it was a waste of money. It DIDN'T cover more than it Did. Fast forward about 6 years, we have a cruise booked on HAL in our 1st balcony, about 1 month before we are to sail I get a notice for jury duty the week we are to be cruising. Of course we hadn't bought insurance, so if I hadn't been able to be excused we would have been out about $3,000, not small change for us. After that buying insurance was a given! In 2004 my husband & I were booked for the Serenade S. Carribean, 2 weeks before we were to sail he passed away. With the insurance I was able to get a refund for our cruise & airline tickets.

 

So yes, insurance is a gamble, but I'd rather have it & not need it, than need it & not have it!

[kbt2]

On our past 10 cruises DH and I never purchased cruise insurance, as we never really felt anything could go wrong...like you say a long shot...since we are young and had no children at the time. However, this time we opted to purchase cruise insurance for our May cruise, because we now have twin 2 yr olds and a 4 yr.old that will be staying behind with grandparents that are in 60's. So we felt we needed to be able to last minute cancel cruise if something were to happen to the children or g-parents before or during the cruise. And since we are now a family of 5, I don't want to lose $2500 because I didn't make a $100 investment on travel insurance.

[Honey's Gal]

kc320, I am so sorry that you lost your husband. That must have been very difficult.

 

We also get insurance, because my 50 yr old very healthy husband, went to work one night and had a massive stroke while there. My best friends 50ish husband went to work, was sitting having coffee. Mentioned he had a little heartburn, stood up and went down, a fatal massive heart attack. No prior symptomes to either. BTW, when my DH was in rehab for 6 weeks, I saw many many young people there, 20's and 30's that had had strokes. It was so sad, so anything can happen at anytime, anywhere, to anyone. If you can afford to lose all your $$$, that is fine, I cannot and continue to cruise and travel as much as I like.

 

We buy it for the peace of mind. As kbt2 said, it is an investment (for our peace of mind).

[Lou33]

Medical is the most important part of cruise insurance, but many people are already covered by health insurance through their employer. If that is the case, then they should decide if they still need cruise insurance for non-catestrophic events, like last minute trip cancellation, or lost luggage, etc.

 

My health plan fully covers us when we are out of the country, just the same as at home. This was true for every professional job that I have had, and every professional job that my wife has had. Almost all of our friends have similar coverage.

 

If we need to use our health plan, it wouldn't matter if we were on a trip across the country to visit family, or on a cruise. We would be covered just the same.

[jabraun]

I Purchased It For A March Cruise. It Only Cost 150.00 For A Family Of 5. Covers Everything (travelex) No Charge For Kids.:)

[Lynnees]

Absolutely. Wouldn't consider leaving home without it. We do have good out of country medical insurance through my employer but I want everything covered. We've never had to use it but I know of two cases here - one did and one didn't.

 

This week a person I work with was suppose to be on vacation. Her son was taken extremely ill with a failing kidney and has been in the hospital since last Tuesday so she had to cancel. She had insurance.

 

The second case (land based vacation) is absolutely tragic. A young couple were to go to Mexico or some such place a couple of months ago. They have a baby about 8 months old who was going to be staying with grandma while they were away for a week. Four days before they were to leave the baby died. They tried to change the name and let someone else go but the travel company said they couldn't. They didn't have insurance. So very sad. Now they've gone to the press to embaress the company, which they did. They were offered $1200 off their next trip but that hasn't satified them. They want the money. As tragic as this is, I believe they are wrong. That's the point of insurance isn't it?

[dougp26364]

 

 

I'm fortunate that my health plan covers my family worldwide. The most I'd benefit here would be transportation home. Great story on the port in Spain. In my got... I just know... I'd get caught in the fine print too.

 

Thanks for all the other responses... Keep 'em coming!

 

Then it's probably a waste of money unless you can find coverage that only covers the little things. In that case, the policy probably wouldn't cost much more than $30 to $50 to cover a possible loss of $500 to $2,000. Of course, there is the fine print as I found out the hard way. ;)

 

If you're not in need of the medical coverage, then your essentially paying $100 to $300 (depending on your ages and the provider), for $500 to $2,000 worth of coverage. Anyone doing match can easily figure out that, with a little luck, you'll save that much and have it in the bank after only a few cruises without incident.

[tinkerme1]

I read your review of the Med cruise and all the problems you encountered. JBond has also been very helpful in reiterating some of the details including insurance.

 

I have a question: Did you ever ask for a mediator to look at your claim? They say, "The Fairness Principle - all denied claims are sent to a mediator for review and the mediator's decision is honored." Did you follow through with this in your claim to Travel Guard? I'm suspecting so, but wanted to check.

 

I was shocked to hear that your claim wasn't paid.

[cruisinsince99]

Pros: Buys us comfort. If we need the coverage, God forbid, we'll have it.:)

 

Cons: Dips into the Libation Funds. Boo Hoo. :mad:

 

Bottom line, if we need it and have it, our long term Libation Fund is less affected!! :D