Insurance: What company do you use?

[virginiab]

For my last couple of cruises I have bought a Savvy Traveler policy through TravelGuard. Now I see that they are owned by AIG and the lower-priced Savvy Traveler policy has disappeared. (I am most interested in the insurance for medical evacuation, as that is where the biggest loss is possible.)

 

For those who use travel insurance, what have you been buying recently?

 

I appreciate any help and ideas!

 

Virginia

[vacation fool]

www.insuremytrip.com

Click on this. They offer various coverages and companies and you can use the compare feature. I purchased one from them thru travel guard.

[bUU]

We're using CSA this time, recommended by our TA, and priced a little nicer than Travelex through insuremytrip.com, which would have been our personal choice.

[karenh1127]

I just saw a report on the news yesterday about travel insurance and according to Consumer Reports, most people dont need it. They said alot of coverage people already have under their homeowners policy such as cancellation, evacuation. And they said some medical policies will cover you while on vacation. Of course they stressed calling your insurance co and finding out what coverage you have. They recommended Insuremytrip.com for those that do need to purchase it. Just thought I would pass this on..

[bUU]

I'd be pretty upset if my homeowners insurance actually did include the COST of insurance for things not related to insuring my home. I would want to pay less for coverage specifically for what homeowners insurance is for. I surely don't want my premiums going to provide coverage for the cost of cancelling a cruise for anyone (including myself).

[Keith1010]

There are many good travel insurance companies. I would start by using insuremytrip.com to see what's available and at what cost.

 

Remember, like anything else in life the lowest priced policy is not the best.

 

I prefer ones that act as the primary insurer meaning that I can just file with them should we have a claim rather than first going through our health insurance provider and then for what they don't cover having to file again with the travel insurance company.

 

To the poster who mentioned the home insurance policy. Many policies do not cover travel and some homeowners insurance companies do sell supplmental policies but many times they don't cover the full amount of your cruise (only up to a small amount), etc.

 

Keith

[cruiseco]

(I am most interested in the insurance for medical evacuation, as that is where the biggest loss is possible.)

 

For those who use travel insurance, what have you been buying recently?

 

I appreciate any help and ideas!

 

Virginia

 

If your primary concern is the medical evacuation coverage you might want to take into account another factor -- where will you be evacuated to.

 

Most plans will take you to "the nearest adequate medical facility". But some are now including as a benefit the ability for the insured to choose which hospital to be treated at. TravelSafe is one (with $1,000,000 coverage) and a couple of the Travel Guard policies also are doing this. Here's from TravelSafe:

 

"Hospital of Choice

Subject to the terms and conditions of this item #2, you may choose a Medical Evacuation to a Hospital in a city within the USA or Canada other than your Home city, but the maximum amount payable is limited to the cost of a Medical Evacuation to your Home city. "

[yosh12]

I just saw a report on the news yesterday about travel insurance and according to Consumer Reports, most people dont need it. They said alot of coverage people already have under their homeowners policy such as cancellation, evacuation. And they said some medical policies will cover you while on vacation. Of course they stressed calling your insurance co and finding out what coverage you have. They recommended Insuremytrip.com for those that do need to purchase it. Just thought I would pass this on..

 

What they don't tell you is that most of the coverages people already have do not cover them once they leave the country. So if you're evacuated from Disney World, sure, but from the cruise in the Mediterranean, nope. And things like Medicare/Medicaide don't cover you outside the US either.

 

To the OP, just call TravelGuard and ask them what they offer that is the equivilant to what you purchased before.

[TravlGrl]

This is an interesting topic as I've never thought about whether I am already covered for travel insurance. I just looked into it and I *am*, and perhaps some of you are as well???

 

At my company, our life insurance is through UnumProvident. One of their benefits is "Emergency Travel Assistance around the world". I knew of this when I purchased my life insurance (and obviously sort of forgot about it), but never really looked into the details...until tonight. Though I do not have a full policy in front of me, it does say that it is provided by Assist America, and includes:

• hospital admittance guarantee
  
• emergency medical evac
  
• med supervised return travel
  
• transportation for a friend/relative if i am hospitalized for more than 7 days
  
• prescription replacement
  
• med consultation and evaluation
  
• med referrals to English-speaking med providers
  
• care and transport of unattended minor children

I plan to get my hands on the full policy as soon as possible to find out if I have been wasting my money on purchasing extra travel insurance. :eek:

[Keith1010]

This is an interesting topic as I've never thought about whether I am already covered for travel insurance. I just looked into it and I *am*, and perhaps some of you are as well???

 

At my company, our life insurance is through UnumProvident. One of their benefits is "Emergency Travel Assistance around the world". I knew of this when I purchased my life insurance (and obviously sort of forgot about it), but never really looked into the details...until tonight. Though I do not have a full policy in front of me, it does say that it is provided by Assist America, and includes:

• hospital admittance guarantee
  
• emergency medical evac
  
• med supervised return travel
  
• transportation for a friend/relative if i am hospitalized for more than 7 days
  
• prescription replacement
  
• med consultation and evaluation
  
• med referrals to English-speaking med providers
  
• care and transport of unattended minor children

I plan to get my hands on the full policy as soon as possible to find out if I have been wasting my money on purchasing extra travel insurance. :eek:

 

Travel insurance covers two major areas; health and travel

 

For health, see if there is a limit to what your insurance covers.

 

For travel, what happens if you have to cancel your trip due to health reasons or other related reasons. Does your insurance cover that?

 

Keith

[gizmo]

We're using CSA this time, recommended by our TA, and priced a little nicer than Travelex through insuremytrip.com, which would have been our personal choice.

 

I just looked at everything this past weekend on insuremytrip and found CSA to be much higher than most (AMex was high also) , including all the Travelex policies. ?? I compared everything, primary / secondary etc.

 

I eliminated CSA immediatly. I wonder what your policy was ?

[bUU]

I checked the specs (coverage amounts and such), and it was just simply less expensive for the same specs. :confused:

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have been buying Access America.

[gizmo]

I seleced World Wide Trip Protector this time.

 

It was a couple of $ less and had Primary coverage compared to the Travel Guard Protect Assist package that was secondary. Most things were similiar.

 

Bicker I am curious, which CSA package did you purchase ?

[virginiab]

Wow! I really appreciate all the information and ideas you guys provided! I have laready checked InsureMyTrip.com, but I think that some of the companies you mentioned wre not on there, so I am going to widen my search. Thanks a bunch!

 

Virginia

[cruiseco]

I just looked at everything this past weekend on insuremytrip and found CSA to be much higher than most (AMex was high also) , including all the Travelex policies. ?? I compared everything, primary / secondary etc.

 

I eliminated CSA immediatly. I wonder what your policy was ?

 

CSA prices out differently than other plans. The pricing is based on the assumption that you will buy the policy at the final payment date, not at the time of the original deposit. They let you do this and still give coverage for pre-existing medical conditions up to that point.

 

With CSA the closer you are to your departure date, the less expensive the coverage is. So if you're getting a quote on a CSA policy a year before you sail they'll be one of the most expensive plans out there. But if you get a quote at the final payment date when penalties actually kick in there's a good chance they'll be the least expensive option. With other plans, the premium remains the same no matter how far in advance you buy the policy.

[cruise_lover]

This is one of those things I don't have to worry about because I use a TA. I purchase my travel insurance through him and it is added on to the price of my cruise. I pay $99.00 for a 7-day cruise. This insurance covers medical evacuation, cancellations due to jury duty, approaching hurricanes, etc.

[romy]

Travel insurance covers two major areas; health and travel

 

For health, see if there is a limit to what your insurance covers.

 

For travel, what happens if you have to cancel your trip due to health reasons or other related reasons. Does your insurance cover that?

 

Keith

 

What about baggage delay or loss as well?

 

Romy

[gizmo]

Cruiseco, Thanks. :) I learn something new everyday.

 

I am going to take a closer look at this and keep it in mind for future travel.

[cruiseco]

Cruiseco, Thanks. :) I learn something new everyday.

 

I am going to take a closer look at this and keep it in mind for future travel.

 

The biggest problem with what CSA is doing is that when you go to their web site you can get a quote for a policy purchased today, but you can't get a quote for a policy purchased at some future date. You'll have a pretty good idea that if you wait to buy a policy you'll have a lower premium but you won't know by how much. It's really a dumb system from my point of view.

 

Oddly, if you're working with a travel agent that offers CSA he/she can plug in a future purchase date to figure the premium if purchased on that date. If you call CSA directly the customer service reps either can't or won't do this for you. I'm not sure if a company like insuremytrip has this capability if you call them by phone -- I suspect they do. So next time you're pricing policies call them and ask what the CSA plan would be if purchased at your final payment date to get a better idea of your cost if you decide to hold off buying a policy.

[puffer46]

I just saw a report on the news yesterday about travel insurance and according to Consumer Reports, most people dont need it. They said alot of coverage people already have under their homeowners policy such as cancellation, evacuation. And they said some medical policies will cover you while on vacation. Of course they stressed calling your insurance co and finding out what coverage you have. They recommended Insuremytrip.com for those that do need to purchase it. Just thought I would pass this on..

 

 

I also saw that news report. But keep in mind that if your cruise happens to be during the winter then there is a great possibility of missed connections due to snow, ice, etc. Especially if you are coming from a snowy state. I know a couple of yrs. ago we (a group) were leaving out of Syracuse, N.Y. and the day before we started getting alot of snow with high winds and blowing snow to boot. That alone could have delayed or canceled our flights. We were lucky that time but thank god we had trip cancelation ins. just in case. You never know. To us it is worth the $$ and peace of mind. Just my own opinion.

[gizmo]

The biggest problem with what CSA is doing is that when you go to their web site you can get a quote for a policy purchased today, but you can't get a quote for a policy purchased at some future date. You'll have a pretty good idea that if you wait to buy a policy you'll have a lower premium but you won't know by how much. It's really a dumb system from my point of view.

 

Oddly, if you're working with a travel agent that offers CSA he/she can plug in a future purchase date to figure the premium if purchased on that date. If you call CSA directly the customer service reps either can't or won't do this for you. I'm not sure if a company like insuremytrip has this capability if you call them by phone -- I suspect they do. So next time you're pricing policies call them and ask what the CSA plan would be if purchased at your final payment date to get a better idea of your cost if you decide to hold off buying a policy.

 

Thanks for the info. I kinda already though about this. If I want to compare everything on insuremytrip I could plug in dates that has a cruise about 70 days out, just to see what kind of results I get for each provider. I bet the results will be interesting. ;)

[cruiseco]

Thanks for the info. I kinda already though about this. If I want to compare everything on insuremytrip I could plug in dates that has a cruise about 70 days out, just to see what kind of results I get for each provider. I bet the results will be interesting. ;)

 

Just for laughs I punched in these numbers:

 

Age 55, trip cost $1500, travel dates 8/1/08 thru 8/08/08

 

CSA Freestyle plan if bought today: $93.30

CSA Freestyle plan if bought 70 days prior to departure: $61.33

 

Travelex TraveLite plan regardless of when bought: $68 + $8 admin fee = $76

 

So by waiting the CSA plan goes from being $17 more to being $15 less.

 

Too bad it's just so unworkable for the average consumer who doesn't have access to the ability to plug in that future date.

[Keith1010]

What about baggage delay or loss as well?

 

Romy

 

Yes, most travel insurance includes some loss of baggage and delay coverage. The key is to read what the coverage includes before purchasing.

 

Keith

[sultan_sfo]

Very informative!

 

 

Yes, most travel insurance includes some loss of baggage and delay coverage. The key is to read what the coverage includes before purchasing.

 

Keith