Free Trip Insurance

We are able to get free trip insurance from our travel agent ;however ,the insurance is not issued until final payment has been received .Thus ,this insurance then does not cover pre exisiting conditions.:)

There are many TAs that are offering free trip insurance as incentives to book with them

We are in our mid 70 s & trip insurance is quite expensive if we buy it on insuremytrip.com . We have found that taking the free insurance from our TA is a great perk for us & we supplement it with a Travel Medical insurance plan issued by American Express :D.The coverage we opt for is $100,000 medical ,$100,000 medical evacuation & $100,000 accidental dismemberment .This plan works as long as you are $150 miles from home .Our premium cost is only $18.00 per month & we can buy it on a monthly basis :D.By buying this American Express Travel medical plan we now are well covered in the event of a emergency ;as the free insurance does have a med vac trip cancellation ,trip interruption , trip delay ,baggage claim ie coverage & my medical here in the US will pay up to $25000 for "emergency "medical treatment outside the USA

This is how we can escape the high costs of trip/travel insurance.Of course if we have to fly ,then we will take out flight insurance for any type of cancellation reason

Other very handy insurance services from American Express insurance are pay a $15 fee when renting a auto & it is covered yp to 45 days & $75000 automatically when we use our amer Express credit card to rent the auto. The auto is fully covered & should anything happen to the rented car our personal insurance carrier will never be involved . normal credit cards do cover auto damage ;however ,your personal insurance carrier does get involved. We find that in strange environments it best to rent the auto with our Amer Express card & get their ins automatically.(you need to pre set this up with American Express --you can also do the same for flight ins). Result is we have peace of mind;):)

Any questions?

thanks so much for the info on the $15 AMEX ins. for a rental car. We already have the $18/month medical ins. which we consider a bargain. Thanks for the info.

Does the $18. per month medical ins cover pre existing conditions? Do you know if it is primary or does it kick in after your regular dedicated pays? I'm going to look into this. Thanks for the info.

we supplement it with a Travel Medical insurance plan issued by American Express :D.The coverage we opt for is $100,000 medical ,$100,000 medical evacuation & $100,000 accidental dismemberment .This plan works as long as you are $150 miles from home .Our premium cost is only $18.00 per month & we can buy it on a monthly basis :D

Hi mcrcruiser,

I found the American Express $100,000 medical but can't find that it includes $100,000 medical evacuation. Maybe coverage depends on the state that you live in?

Does the $18. per month medical ins cover pre existing conditions? Do you know if it is primary or does it kick in after your regular dedicated pays? I'm going to look into this. Thanks for the info.

purduemom The American Express travel medical insurance would become primary if it was a preexisiting condition & the free trip insurance did not cover pre existing conditions . Call the toll free 800 # in my post reply below

What is important is to read the policy .I know that prior authorization must be given (via phone is fine & or fax --to have documentation ) if a person must be medically evacuated off the ship .Those costs generally are in the 5 figure range .

As far as normal medical bills are concerned (not surgery or other large bills --then get prior authorization in writing from them e-mail or fax will do ) the costs are covered by them if primary .If you have any other medical ,that medical takes the first position & then the American Express takes the 2nd position

What we want is peace of mind for enough coverage& cost savings of regular trip insurance premiums ;because of our ages;):)

we supplement it with a Travel Medical insurance plan issued by American Express :D.The coverage we opt for is $100,000 medical ,$100,000 medical evacuation & $100,000 accidental dismemberment .This plan works as long as you are $150 miles from home .Our premium cost is only $18.00 per month & we can buy it on a monthly basis :D

 

Hi mcrcruiser,

I found the American Express $100,000 medical but can't find that it includes $100,000 medical evacuation. Maybe coverage depends on the state that you live in?

You need to call them on their toll free Tel # 1-800-297-2900 & talk with a representative. Yes the plan covers medical evacuation & accidental dismemberment :)

You need to call them on their toll free Tel # 1-800-297-2900 & talk with a representative. Yes the plan covers medical evacuation & accidental dismemberment :)

Thanks alot!

Thanks alot!

Thank you for posting the insurance information offered by AMEX. We have had AMEX for years but never really looked at the travel benefits it offers. Do you have to sign up and pay the $18.00 every month, or can you purchase it the month you need it. I can see how you would be able to do this one time, but will AMEX let you buy it again if you cancel the insurance only after one month?

It is not just the travel companies that give you free travel insurance, you also have to look at the travel insurance you buy directly from your cruise travel agency. I always buy our travel insurance directly from Squaremouth, but on the last cruise that I bought, the cruise agency was offering free dinner for two in a Speciality resturant if you bought their travel insurance. After I bought it, I read the policy, and it didn't cover anywhere near what I would have bought, for the same price, directly on my own. Now that Celebrity raised their Speciality Resturant prices to $45.00, up from $40.00, I am now told that I will get a $80.00 OBC, no more free Speciality Resturant. So in the future, I will buy my own travel insurance.

Thanks for the info on the AmEx auto rental.

We just contacted them and the rate quoted to us was $20. 00 per rental for a maximum of a 42 day rental. The $20 will be automatically added to each rental if we use the AmEx card. Apparently the rates vary by where you live:confused: and the $15 & 45 days applies to residents of California. As long as it covers our rentals in Spain & Belgium I'm happy.

Once again another money saving thing we have learned from CC

we live in California. whenever I rent a car, I get charged $17.95 after the car rental charge hits the card. It beats paying $15 - $25.00 per day that the rental cars want to charge. With Amer Exp you may one fee of $17.95 no matter how long you rent the car. I am going to check into the Medical insurance coverage.

Be sure to carefully read what is covered with the insurance policy so there are no surprises.

Keith

Be sure to carefully read what is covered with the insurance policy so there are no surprises.

 

Keith

Extremely good advise.

A friend and I were supposed to cruise on Summit in a week (4/27). We booked the cruise with a TA back in Feb 2012, and I asked about travel insurance. I always get it with cruising, and it was especially important for this trip, as my father has ALS/Lou Gehrig's disease. They said they'd take care of that upon final payment (Jan 2013). Well, a few months later, I read about pre-existing conditions and when they are/aren't covered by trip insurance. I looked into buying that independently at that time, but could not find a company offering it, as we were so many months past the initial booking. So we just went ahead with the travel insurance recommended by the TA. I figured, if something happened with my dad last minute, it would be while we were traveling, so it could get us home, or it would be a last-minute illness, like pneumonia, which ALS patients are very susceptible too, that would cause me to cancel. I thought for sure it covered last-minute illnesses, no matter what they are from.

I should've done my homework: I've had to cancel the cruise, due to my father's deteriorating condition. And while there are other recent illnesses at work in his condition(pneumonia, kidney failure), as they are attributable to the ALS - and not an unforseen event (which is how its termed in the travel insurance), it looks like we will not be reimbursed any of our money. Personally, being out the money is the last thing I care about now when faced with losing my dad, but I am concerned for my travel companion, who unfortunately gets punished because of my error.

Lesson learned, but I do advise everyone to make the insurance an item to settle as soon as book, and not wait, and to think through your own situation in determining your level of coverage.

American Express no longer offers the $18.a month option,I just spoke with them. the insurance is charged on the price of the cruise.I was quoted a fee of $32 per person for a total cruise cost of $3000.This is for medical only,trip cancellation or interuption is seperate and would be $59.00 per person.

We paid $89.00 each for our last cruise on Celebrity that included medical and cancellation but not as high a medical coverage.that was the Celebrity policy with Barkley's.I was all set to get the $18 one.The rep I talked with said they do not offer anything comparable,darn.

I looked online for the $18 Amex deal and learned it no longer is being offered.

Anyone have any claims experience with HTH Worldwide, Squaremouth, Amex or other travel insurance providers??

I need to buy ASAP!

Another consideration is that (as I understand it) this supplemental insurance does not protect the cost of the cruise and travel. So you are exposed to a preexisting condition that causes you to cancel after final payment. If your purpose were to protect from medical costs not covered by a preexisting condition, this might be a possible answer, but there are other financial exposures that would NOT be covered by this type of insurance.

Thanks for the topic. I too have had the AmEx insurance for years as well as the free cruise insurance from our Travel agent. However, you will note that AmEx is not offering it anymore. I called them late August and they think the suspension is only temporary. However, the notice is still (Oct 3) up on their web-site.

Has anyone tried to renew? (I but it annual)

Bill

Health coverage and evacuation coverage.

As with all health insurance these days, make sure you understand what is covered and what ia not with your primary personal coverage. Also make sure you know what policy(ies) cover you in the countries you are visiting and is theer a limitation in countries that have socialized medicine.

Also, be sure that any supplemental insurance doesn't create a problem with double coverage. Some primary insurance plans will deny claims if there is a second policy, even if the second policy specifically states that it is supplemental to the primary policy. Don't ask how the Affordable Care Act affects these rules (I understand it does but no one can tell me how it works with international travel and, in some state's cases, even interstate travel.)

Auto Coverage

As for auto rental coverage, be sure to learn how it works where you are travelling and what paperwork is needed for claims before you leave home. I speak from sad experience in Malaga, Spain where I rented a car for a week from Hertz. I was slammed into by a local driver who lost control on a wet roadway. Turns out that Spain's laws are totally no-fault meaning the damage to the rental car becomes my problem, not the woman who hit me. Amex declined the claim because I was deemed by them not to be at fault based on the accident report. The CDW option was purchased but it has a low maximum.

Postscript. If you wind up having to pay for damage, don't just accept what the car rental company tells you. You have the right to see all repair bills before you allow a charge to your credit card. Took some time, but being persistent I saved about $600.00.

One last point. Read the fine print. Hertz says their cars cannot be driven in the traffic circle around The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile. At least that was the case about 5 years ago. Also, cars rented in France or Switzerland cannot be driven in Italy.