Travelers beware of Vikings new travel voucher policy. NEVER purchase travel insurance through Viking!

[Selion]

3 hours ago, Packman1000 said:

Wondering if everyone buys travel insurance.

We do.  MIL has a chronic condition and we can't risk it if something were to happen with her.  We also do not ever buy insurance offered through cruise lines or airlines.  Better coverages to be had buying independently, and often less expensive.

[longterm]

Things happen, and as we get older we get, we find trip insurance to be essential.

 

My brother and his wife were in Italy, riding bicycles around a walled town; having never been on a bike with hand brakes (go figure), my brother hit the front brake hard, was thrown in the air over the handlebars, and he landed on top of his wife. His wife suffered a broken knee and multiple fractures, and spent the next 3 weeks in a hospital there in Italy before she was even able to get on a plane to go home.

 

I don't know whether they had trip insurance, but I do know that their trip was cut short and they lost thousands of dollars.

 

Another of my brothers was on a Rick Steves tour of Tuscany with us last month, when he twisted his ankle a week into the tour and had tremendous pain in his leg for the remainder of the trip; he was lucky he could still walk, but it wouldn't have taken much for him to have needed to cancel the trip altogether.

 

Now that we're in our late-late-late-late-late-30s, we take nothing for granted and factor the cost of trip insurance into our travel plans.

[JVilleGal]

On 6/28/2023 at 8:42 PM, CurlerRob said:

It's complex. Viking obviously markets the insurance under the TripMate branding.

 

The CFAR portion of the policy is underwritten by Viking itself and, as you observe, they make the rules for that portion of the policy. The rest of the policy (a more traditional set of insurances) are underwritten by Generali. It's not clear to me if the plan administrator is a separate company or a division of Generali.

 

None of which matters other than to say read the policy very carefully, no matter who fronts it! 🍺🥌

Generali is one of the largest insurance companies in the world and they OWN Tripmate, VIKING has a cruiseline policy much like buying insurance for a Princess or HAL cruise. The get a share of the premium paid just like an insurance agent would. This policy is designed for VIKING just as other similar police’s are designed for other Cruiselines which they sell to passengers.

 

Full disclosure I like the Viking product, dislike their policies and will also be loosing a $5800 voucher and I fully understand I agreed to the terms. Will still sail VIKING (and others) only mad at myself.

[Haqdeluxe]

3 minutes ago, JVilleGal said:

Generali is one of the largest insurance companies in the world and they OWN Tripmate, VIKING has a cruiseline policy much like buying insurance for a Princess or HAL cruise. The get a share of the premium paid just like an insurance agent would. This policy is designed for VIKING just as other similar police’s are designed for other Cruiselines which they sell to passengers.

 

Full disclosure I like the Viking product, dislike their policies and will also be loosing a $5800 voucher and I fully understand I agreed to the terms. Will still sail VIKING (and others) only mad at myself.

I am not being snarky and do mean this as positive praise...

How absolutely adult of you!😁

[JVilleGal]

Just now, Haqdeluxe said:

I am not being snarky and do mean this as positive praise...

How absolutely adult of you!😁

Lol well I am actually mad at myself as I knew better than to end up with a voucher. I disregarded the voice in my head that said don’t do it. Every bit of it is hard earned money and not a Viking bonus. But I’m moving on and trying not to whine…

[TravlingGato]

On 6/28/2023 at 8:04 PM, LibertyBella said:

I cannot blame Viking if people do not understand the voucher "rules." 

 

It is not Viking's job to hold everyone's hand and make sure they thoroughly read terms and conditions.  Many, many people on this website want to do everything themselves, and then blame the cruise line if it does not work out, instead of taking responsibility for not learning the travel parameters.

 

I used a Viking voucher this year, left over from the pandemic, and my mother had one as well which she decided not to use.  I learned all the rules about the vouchers and I had her transfer the voucher to my brother.  I warned my brother that if you cancel and do not use it, you lose it.

 

Travel insurance is not always a fail-safe anyway, as it has its own set of terms and conditions.

 

The bottom line is never accept vouchers unless you fully understand how to use them.

How many people read the Viking 17 page US passenger contract RULES?  

[JVilleGal]

1 minute ago, TravlingGato said:

How many people read the Viking 17 page US passenger contract RULES?  

Not me that’s for sure. But after the last couple years of hearing about Vouchers at least I knew enough to completely understand the Voucher rules that came with my vouchers. I also knew that there were many different vouchers issued and some had completely different rules based on circumstances and time frame issued. The earlier passengers did not have the advantage of knowing how difficult the Vouchers would become.

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, TravlingGato said:

How many people read the Viking 17 page US passenger contract RULES?  

 

Most definitely have read the entire document multiple times before we paid our first deposit, as for longer cruises the cancellation was $1,000 pp. No way I'm walking away from $2K because I didn't read the contract.

 

Not being a lawyer, I have to read some of it multiple times to fully understand it.

[Mich3554]

5 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

 

It only takes one major medical emergency to bankrupt many people. Also Medicare, which I'm sure many of Viking's customers are on, won't cover most international travel situations.

However, a medical policy is fairly reasonable to pick up compared to 10-15% of the cost of a trip.  We bought medical insurance for a month in Fiji, it was a few hundred $$ (required for travel to Fiji).  Medical insurance for the WC was 1/10 of what TripMate was. 

[Mich3554]

On 6/28/2023 at 8:38 PM, Peregrina651 said:

 

Motorized scooters are not allowed on board, the key word here being motorized. Mechanical aides are permitted. See the Viking Oceans FAQ, in the section "Life on Board."

There was a motorized scooter on the Iceland to NYC cruise I was on a few weeks ago, I know as he backed into me.  It was like a miniaturized cart you can ride at the grocery store.  

[ginnyb51]

6 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

 

It only takes one major medical emergency to bankrupt many people. Also Medicare, which I'm sure many of Viking's customers are on, won't cover most international travel situations.

 

[SJD117]

3 hours ago, TravlingGato said:

How many people read the Viking 17 page US passenger contract RULES?  

I do, for each cruise we take. That's because the contract terms (lower case) sometimes change, and I want to be up on them.

 

Caution: I'm a lawyer and I like reading contracts (to see if they hang together). So you should disregard anything I say.  🤣

[ginnyb51]

We have also self insured up to now because this entire process started in 2019 and four years later our health is not as good as it once was.   Unfortunate that we were inexperienced in the travel insurance process and too busy with other aspects of life to figure this out in time. Thanks for all the comments and I think it great that someone enjoys reading contracts!   I would not disregard what an attorney says - that usually does not pay off!

[SJD117]

25 minutes ago, Mich3554 said:

However, a medical policy is fairly reasonable to pick up compared to 10-15% of the cost of a trip.  We bought medical insurance for a month in Fiji, it was a few hundred $$ (required for travel to Fiji).  Medical insurance for the WC was 1/10 of what TripMate was. 

I contracted a bad arm infection (insect bite) when I visited Fiji in 1981. Days later, the island bus I was in crashed head-on into another vehicle. Following those two incidents, I had the choice of visiting a medical clinic in Suva or waiting until my flight out to Sydney. I chose Sydney.

[FetaCheese]

4 hours ago, TravlingGato said:

How many people read the Viking 17 page US passenger contract RULES?  

I do. And again before booking, as it may have changed.

 

Edited July 1, 2023 by FetaCheese
Addl info

[CurlerRob]

12 hours ago, Mich3554 said:

Nope.  DH prefers to self insure.  I did some tooth gnashing about the World Cruise we recently completed, but we did wind up picking up medical insurance for the cruise from another source.  
Both of us are fairly young and healthy, but I suspect there will be a time where it becomes a more serious consideration.

 

Interesting approach. There's an argument to be made for self insuring regarding cancellation / interruption insurance. As an oversimplified example, if you assume the average cost of that insurance is 7% of the cruise fare, then as long as you take 14 cruises without a 'claim', you've saved enough in premiums to pay for the 100% loss that might happen on cruise 15. Whether you get though 14 trips without a problem is a function of many things - family health, how often you cruise, bad luck, etc. As well, if you self insure, you are at least well aware of the extent of the potential loss ahead of time, and it's fixed in size. It's all really a question of risk tolerance.

 

In my opinion, medical is a whole different issue and you were wise to acquire that coverage. Unless one is extremely wealthy and prepared to shrug off a potentially huge medical bill, I can't see the logic in self insuring at all. Youth and health are not protection against a major accident that could be financially devastating.

 

My commitment to medical insurance was solidified many years ago when my wife contracted pneumonia on a trip to Hawaii. She received exemplary care at a small hospital that had state of the art equipment and superb staff.

 

The bill was $15K for one night.

 

Extrapolate that to 30 days in an ICU due to an accident and the cost of medical insurance is rounding error. 🍺🥌

[lackcreativity]

16 hours ago, JVilleGal said:

Lol well I am actually mad at myself as I knew better than to end up with a voucher. I disregarded the voice in my head that said don’t do it. Every bit of it is hard earned money and not a Viking bonus. But I’m moving on and trying not to whine…

I have heard that voice in my head over and over again, yet continue to disregard it. I am not even sure why. We continue to insure through TripMate, in spite of all the good advice I have read here about the folly of that decision. We had a very positive claim experience with them on our first (land-based) trip abroad years ago, and so we take the lazy approach of just continuing to do so. If we ever suffer a loss because of that, I have no one else to blame.

 

Up to now, even with a variety of rescheduled cruises, we have been able to avoid any vouchers. Currently, we accepted a move-over offer on a river cruise with incentives too good to pass up. I am not sure if this is considered a voucher or not.  However, since the offer left us taking the rebooked cruise with the cruise itself being free and significantly upgraded, our loss would be a lost experience, with minimal financial impact. 

 

JVilleGal,

I wish you happy travels. Sometimes being an adult is hard, but generally it is the best thing you can do!

 

[_alan_]

On 6/30/2023 at 5:05 PM, TravlingGato said:

How many people read the Viking 17 page US passenger contract RULES?  

 

Me.  Everyone should.  But I know some people don't even buy a house and read the local zoning laws or HOA rules prior, so par for the course.

[meee123]

ginnyb51, thanks for your post. See my similar one about Viking's latest self created issue with my parents cruise. And to what you said, "I stand by my statement that travel insurance should not be purchased from Viking, especially if they reinsure and bear the risk for travel insurance claims.    Just buy travel insurance from an independent broker that you find through your travel agent or on your own."

 

I couldn't agree more. 

[CCWineLover]

4 hours ago, meee123 said:

ginnyb51, thanks for your post. See my similar one about Viking's latest self created issue with my parents cruise. And to what you said, "I stand by my statement that travel insurance should not be purchased from Viking, especially if they reinsure and bear the risk for travel insurance claims.    Just buy travel insurance from an independent broker that you find through your travel agent or on your own."

 

I couldn't agree more. 

Yes, it is a tough lesson to learn in life (don't buy insurance from the cruise line).  We were fortunate in that we didn't have to encounter the issues you all have had when we first bought Tripmate.  Our last many many cruises have been done via a 3rd party insurer that insures vouchers (not all do).  Via The Trip Insurance Store.  Owner Steve Dassios has done some excellent forums on Cruise Critic, which is where we learned about this.  He's a great educator as well.   Do a forum search on the company and you'll find the threads (maybe a year old?) that he began.  Excellent reading.

[Redtravel]

Never buy insurance from the tour operator.  If the operator goes out of business, you get nothing.  Also, the cost of buying insurance from Viking is very high compared to other options.  If you take more than 2 trips a year, look at a yearly policy.  Years ago, I got injured on a trip with another tour company that sold tripmate.  Getting reimbursed for expenses was terrible. They make it really tough to comply.  Be sure that you know what the insurance co. wants before making a claim. Keep all receipts, get injury statements and notes on official paper signed by doctors, etc.  

[Babr]

It may make sense not to buy insurance from a tour operator, but Viking insurance is underwritten by Generali and administered by TripMate. If Viking were to go out of business, it would have no impact on a claim because Generali is independent of the cruise line.

 

The problem with Viking is its voucher program, not the insurance itself. You just have to know that it does not cover vouchers that Viking issues. You have to go to a third-party policy to get that coverage.

[janetcbl]

When you reach “a certain age”, the Viking insurance is the only one with a reasonable price. Now, for the cost of ones we have used in our younger years, we could pay for another trip! If anyone knows of a better one for the older generation, please let me know. Thanks!

[philw1776]

1 hour ago, janetcbl said:

When you reach “a certain age”, the Viking insurance is the only one with a reasonable price. Now, for the cost of ones we have used in our younger years, we could pay for another trip! If anyone knows of a better one for the older generation, please let me know. Thanks!

THIS ^^^^
The other packages are much more expensive for old coots. Need insurance in case of accident or health emergency during trip.

[JVilleGal]

1 hour ago, janetcbl said:

When you reach “a certain age”, the Viking insurance is the only one with a reasonable price. Now, for the cost of ones we have used in our younger years, we could pay for another trip! If anyone knows of a better one for the older generation, please let me know. Thanks!

So true and due to Age that is the only reason to consider using “ANY” cruiseline offered Travel Insurance. Most Travel Insurance (other than cruiseline sponsored products) are priced based on the age of the applicant as we age the risk of serious illness or accidents increases the cost of the premium. At age 75 and beyond the cost really goes up significantly. This is where cruiseline coverage starts to make sense as it rarely takes age into account. So compare if you are at or beyond the magic age of 75 and in need of TI coverage.