iamtrustworthy

Hi LadyZot, You're right. Lots of plans won't take you back to a hospital close to home. All our plans will, but not all of them that are availble. Steve Dasseos

Hi Srch, Unfortunately, I can't give you any advice about Canadian travel insurance plans. Steve Dasseos

Hi vpcats, > Is it OK to have this Geo-blue plan AND buy another policy Yes as long as you don't submit the same claim to both companies (aka "double-dipping"). I've sold combinations of different policies lots of times when it benefits my customer. Steve Dasseos

Hi klfrodo, I like your flowchart. My suggestion is to start with something like "Would a normal person go to a doctor for this?" instead of "Is this a life or death emergency?" Steve Dasseos

Hi CruisingSince1982, > Is this the correct way to purchase insurance to cover us in the event that we have to cancel our flight? No. You have to cover the round-trip dates before you leave home. Your flights purchased using miles count as a $0 trip cost. Steve Dasseos

Hi Bo, The soonest they can buy is when their doctor says they can travel. The insured travelers must be able to take the trip on the date they purchase the travel insurance. If you are one of the travelers, you must be “medically able to travel when you pay your premium (get your travel insurance)”. In other words, your doctor says you can travel today. If your doctor says you can’t travel today, but instead says you will be able to travel in the future, don’t buy the plan today. The insurance company always sides with your doctor. Something else that can affect you is are you having surgery or other medical procedure(s) scheduled just before you leave. Steve Dasseos

Hi kidder kid, As long as nothing has happened where you would file a claim, you may get all the plans I know as late as the day before you leave on your trip. Steve Dasseos

Hi klfrodo, You will want to cancel all your travel arrangements not less than 48 hours before you're leaving home. Some companies' CFAR plans have other deadlines. After you have cancelled everything call us or the insurance cmpany to start the claim. They will ask for a reason you cancelled. If you give a reason other than "I changed my mind", they will process it like any other Trip Cancelaltion claim. If the reason was a covered reason, the claim will be paid according to the policy for up to a 100% reimbursment. If the reason was not a covered reason, the claim will be paid according to the policy for up to a 75% reimbursment. Steve Dasseos

Hi rbsol18, > Going forward, what role, if any, should I expect my insurance agent to play in resolving such matters? First, I believe that if someone earns a commission they are morally obligated to help you with the claim. We help everyone with claims, but since the start of Covid, everything has slowed down partly to to staffing problems and having to train new employees. I wrote this a year ago: https://tripinsurancestore.com/blog/why-are-travel-insurance-claims-taking-so-long-to-process/ We have a good relationship with our companies mainly because they know that we haven't ever tried to deceive them. In the last 21 years, I've sent more than a few emails to our companies that start with: "I made a mistake and this is my fault, but I need your help". We record our phone calls so we can send the call to our companies to document our mistakes, too. In addition, I personally have been having longer response times from my companies over the last 3 months. I hope this helps you. Steve Dasseos

Hi alc13, > So if we exceeded the Medigap emergency limit we'd be covered by a travel policy with secondary coverage? You are correct. Steve Dasseos

Hi sailman55, I know you're frustrated with TripMate's coverage, but TripMate is the administrator of the plan and they handle the claims, too. However, TripMate didn't design Viking's plan. Here's a very basic explanation of how this works: Viking contracts with TripMate (or any other administrator) to provide a Trip Cancellation plan. The plan design has multiple choices for the coverage benefit levels. The plan itself also has filed and approved policy wording with the States they do business in. Viking works with TripMate on the plan design. I hope this helps you. Steve Dasseos

Hi alc13, You're welcome. Here's how your Medicare Medigap plan covers you outside the USA: https://tripinsurancestore.com/medicare-does-not-cover-you-outside-the-usa/ Steve Dasseos

Hi sandiego1, Sorry about the delay responding. I thought I had already answered you. I can't speak for all companies, but all my plans will reimburse your prepaid non-refundable trip costs if you are cancelling or interrupting your trip for a covered reason. However, if the cruise line is giving you your money back to the gift card, then there's no financial loss that needs reimbursing. Steve Dasseos

Hi Choozin Croosin, > So I guess these are all pre-existing conditions? In the last 180 days, have either of you, or a traveling companion or a non-traveling family member, had any medication changes or had treatment for, had symptoms of or been diagnosed with any medical condition that could worsen and, in turn, cause you to cancel or interrupt your trip? Or that could cause you to seek treatment on your trip? Note this: In addition to your own medical conditions, your trip could also be affected by a traveling companion or a non-traveling family member's medical conditions. We have four Trip Cancellation plans you may buy by Final Payment that will cover pre-existing conditions. And two travel medical plans. If you want more specific information and travel insurance plan prices for your trip, call us at 1-888-407-3854 or 1-816-282-6858. Steve Dasseos

Hi carlakruz, All our Trip Cancellation plans cover covid the same as any illness. Here are my recent Blog posts about Covid and how you are covered: https://tripinsurancestore.com/blog/are-quarantine-costs-covered-if-i-test-positive-for-covid/ https://tripinsurancestore.com/blog/this-little-known-benefit-is-important/ https://tripinsurancestore.com/blog/does-a-trip-cancellation-plan-cover-a-last-minute-positive-covid-test/ https://tripinsurancestore.com/blog/more-about-what-is-covered-for-covid/ https://tripinsurancestore.com/blog/how-is-a-positive-covid-test-at-the-cruise-terminal-covered/ https://tripinsurancestore.com/blog/does-a-licensed-nurse-definition-of-a-physician/ If you want more specific information and travel insurance plan prices for your trip, call us at 1-888-407-3854 or 1-816-282-6858. Steve Dasseos

Hi alc13, It's lot cheaper to get medical treatment outside the USA. I've never seen one greater than $74,000. I recently had a customer who had a heart attack in Panama City and his hospital bill for 10 days was $31,000. The medical transport back to Ohio was just under $40,000. As for what you need, Are you covered by Medicare with a supplement you bought on your own, have Tricare or are on a former employers' retiree health plan? Or do you have Advantage plans? Steve Dasseos

Hi whogo, It's a small world. I'm in Iowa, too. I live in Pella. What you need depends on various factors. May I get the following information to start? - What are your current ages? - What are your travel dates from and back to home for each trip? - Will you have fixed or open-ended travel dates? - In the last 180 days, have either of you had any medication changes or had treatment for, had symptoms of or been diagnosed with any medical condition that could worsen and, in turn, cause you to cancel or interrupt your trip? Or that could cause you to seek treatment on your trip? - Are you covered by Medicare with a supplement you bought on your own, have Tricare or are on a former employers' retiree health plan? Or do you have Advantage plans? Since these questions reveal private information, neither Cruise Critic nor myself want you to share that in a public forum, so, if you want, you may email me at steve@tripinsurancestore.com . Steve Dasseos

Hi Linda, > no response to email I checked the email account that receives the email form information and there are only two requests from someone named "Linda" in the past 5 weeks, but neither of them live in California. I also checked all the requests in the past 5 weeks, but none of them reference an Alaska cruise on Regent. > unprofessional response on phone We answer the phone identifying ourselves. I say "Hi, this is Steve with TripInsuranceStore.com. How may I help you?". I can't imagine why any business wouldn't say something similar. > call not returned as promised We return all our calls. If no one answers we leave a voicemail. Now and then, we get the message "The person at ___ has a voicemailbox that hasn't been set up". Sometimes, the calls don't go through, but we'll try two more times. Another glitch that happens is T-Mobile often labels our phone calls as "Japan" because 81 is the country calling code for Japan and our outgoing phone number is 816-282-6858. Steve Dasseos

Hi Vertygo, I can't say whow this happened, and you may not want to help me figure out how this happened to you, but if so, email me your phone number and I'll trck this down. My email is steve@tripinsurancestore.com Steve Dasseos

Hi rinkrats, Depending on the States you all live in, the 2 people might ending having a different plan than the one person. Also, don't average the trip cost between all of you. Here's why not: https://tripinsurancestore.com/blog/we-average-the-cruise-suites-cost-between-us/ Steve Dasseos

Hi Jeannette, Call us and we'll tell you. That said, i wouldn't waste the paper printing out the Certificate of Coverage. Steve Dasseos

Hi drvmywifecrazy, We determine which policy someone should get by the questions we ask you and the concerns you share with us. There's no one policy that is best all the time for everyone. You may call us at 1-888-407-3854 if you want our recommendation. Steve Dasseos

Hi AryMay, If you bought a future cruise credit on a cruise for a future cruise without having confirmed travel dates, my travel insurance companies will not consider that your Initial Trip Deposit Date. The date you have confirmed travel dates is your Initial Trip Deposit Date. Here's more information: https://tripinsurancestore.com/initial-trip-deposit-date/ Steve Dasseos

Hi colingu, > We are using a 7 week cruise as both a holiday and a way to immigrate back to New Zealand. So the cruise will be one way. Any suggestions where to get insurance as most policies require you to return back to where you started? If you were a resident of the USA based travel insurance, you could insure a one-way trip with a trip cancellation plan. It can also be done with a medical only plan. However, I don't know if a UK travel insurance company will allow this. The starting place is to find a plan that doesn't define a "Trip" as a period of round trip travel that starts and ends from your residence. If you find one, then you need to find out if it will allow the ending date of your trip to be the ending date of the policy. I hope this helps you. Steve Dasseos

Hi Bin man, Unfortunately, I don't know anything about how Travel Insurance works for United Kingdom residents. Steve Dasseos