Trip Insurance question

[MT_DreamChaser]

I have a Princess cruise booked for September 2011 and even though I have no pre-existing conditions that I am aware of, I want anything possible covered by my trip insurance. I have 21 days from date of booking the cruise to purchase insurance to cover pre-existing. I've never bought trip insurance but am looking through insuremytrip.com. My question is:

 

Since I can't book this far out with Alaska Air, can I include it as my airline carrier or will it not be covered with my initial travel insurance and I will have to purchase separate insurance for the air portion? Specifically, I am looking at Travelex.

[Mr_Cruise]

That's a question best directed to the insurer. No one on here could answer that with any degree of certainty.

[MT_DreamChaser]

Thanks. That is what I was afraid of and they are closed for the evening.

[Coral]

I agree, check with the company.

 

From my experience - I would book the insurance to cover the cruise. When you book the air, you can modify your policy to increase the amount to cover the air. Or, you can buy a seperate policy on the air.

[grandmato4]

I have a Princess cruise booked for September 2011 and even though I have no pre-existing conditions that I am aware of, I want anything possible covered by my trip insurance. I have 21 days from date of booking the cruise to purchase insurance to cover pre-existing. I've never bought trip insurance but am looking through insuremytrip.com. My question is:

 

Since I can't book this far out with Alaska Air, can I include it as my airline carrier or will it not be covered with my initial travel insurance and I will have to purchase separate insurance for the air portion? Specifically, I am looking at Travelex.

 

We purchased Travelex Select Insurance for our last cruise directly from Travelex through their website and have it for our 2011 cruise too. You do not have to have purchased your airfare when you make your initial purchase of insurance for your cruise. When you do purchase your airfare you just have to contact them within the 21 days of the purchase(to maintain your coverage for pre-exisiting conditions) and have it added to your policy. If the addition of your airfare puts you into the next pricing category you will then be charged the additional cost.

 

Since making our initial purchase of insurance in April within 21 days of making our deposits for our cruise we called Travelex in May to add our air flights to LA and our pre-cruise hotel cost. That additional cost did not bump us up to the next pricing category so we did not have to pay any additional cost. When I do finally book our return home airflights I will call and have that cost added within 21 days of purchasing it and I do know that at that time I'll have moved to the next higher pricing category so I'll just have to pay the additional cost at that time.

 

Hope this helps. I've not had to file a claim with them but they have always been very nice and helpful to speak to for any questions or additions I've made to our insurance.

[caribill]

See below

[doctoranna]

You choose the dollar amount you want to cover. If you play around with the pricing thing on the website, you can see if increasing the coverage to include the estimated cost of the airfare will increase the price of the insurance.

[happy cruzer]

You choose the dollar amount you want to cover. If you play around with the pricing thing on the website, you can see if increasing the coverage to include the estimated cost of the airfare will increase the price of the insurance.

 

yep, you just need to estimate it high enough and you are covered no matter what date you bok the airfare. If you make a change that affects the value of your entire trip then a call to the insurance company is required. Not complicated at all as long as you can get within a few hundred dollars of the total costs.

 

Good Luck.

[Stevesan]

I have a Princess cruise booked for September 2011 and even though I have no pre-existing conditions that I am aware of, I want anything possible covered by my trip insurance. I have 21 days from date of booking the cruise to purchase insurance to cover pre-existing. I've never bought trip insurance but am looking through insuremytrip.com. My question is:

 

Since I can't book this far out with Alaska Air, can I include it as my airline carrier or will it not be covered with my initial travel insurance and I will have to purchase separate insurance for the air portion? Specifically, I am looking at Travelex.

 

I purchase add on air fare insurance while booking Continental. The carrier is Access America, and costs 5% of the fare.

Call Alaska Airline and ask the rep if that option is available.

[FunForUs]

I have a Princess cruise booked for September 2011 and even though I have no pre-existing conditions that I am aware of, I want anything possible covered by my trip insurance. I have 21 days from date of booking the cruise to purchase insurance to cover pre-existing. I've never bought trip insurance but am looking through insuremytrip.com. My question is:

 

Since I can't book this far out with Alaska Air, can I include it as my airline carrier or will it not be covered with my initial travel insurance and I will have to purchase separate insurance for the air portion? Specifically, I am looking at Travelex.

 

I have found that the rules to cover pre-existing conditions when purchasing travel insurance can be complex and do vary from company to company. Most of the ones that I look at require that you insure the full amount of the cost of the trip. If the full amount is unknown when you first purchase the insurance you can add it when you actually book the air or other nonrefundable items. I have been using tripinsurancestore.com for a couple of years now and they have a lot of information on their web site, but you can also call them and ask specific questions. Hope this helps.

[bike61]

See below

 

 

Since I live an hour away from my port I very nicely declined the offer to purchase Travel Ins. I guess that wasn't good enough because even though it shows me declining I am getting e-mails and phone messages explaining travel ins. I am not interested in this service my husband had cancer over 15 yrs ago has been given a clean bill of health and I know it is considered a pre-existing condition, so I'm not even sure if we could purchase it at all, can anyone comment?

[sirwired]

Since I live an hour away from my port I very nicely declined the offer to purchase Travel Ins. I guess that wasn't good enough because even though it shows me declining I am getting e-mails and phone messages explaining travel ins. I am not interested in this service my husband had cancer over 15 yrs ago has been given a clean bill of health and I know it is considered a pre-existing condition, so I'm not even sure if we could purchase it at all, can anyone comment?

 

Many 3rd-party policies will waive pre-existing conditions entirely as long as you are able to travel when the insurance is purchased, and you purchase the insurance in a particular amount of time after placing your deposit (most providers want you to purchase soon after deposit, CSA wants you to purchase before final payment.) Also, this isn't like regular medical insurance; as long as any particular condition doesn't flare up in the pre-ex lookback period (if applicable), it's covered.

 

SirWired

[alidor]

I'm most familiar with Travelguard and for the policies we deal with, if you purchase them within 15 days of deposit, any possible cancellations or problems due to pre-existing conditions ARE covered.

 

Have been in the travel business for 35 years or so and most of my clients take it and we buy it for ourselves. I've seen what can happen to people who don't buy it. No one plans on cancelling but things just happen.

 

On one of Travelguard's policies, there is evacuation to an "adequate medical" facility of course, but for an extra amount you can purchase coverage to be transported to a facility "of your choice." I think this is a very important clause. If someone has a pre-existing condition or is elderly and in travelling in the states, Europe or Canada, you probably don't need to concern yourself too much about the facilities, but if travelling to the Caribbean, a third world country, etc., that facility of your choice can be extrememly important.

 

Never a pat answer...

[cruiseco]

I am not interested in this service my husband had cancer over 15 yrs ago has been given a clean bill of health and I know it is considered a pre-existing condition, so I'm not even sure if we could purchase it at all, can anyone comment?

 

Each travel insurer has a "look back" period -- the time period prior to the date you purchased the policy that they can look at to determine if a medical condition is "pre-existing" or not. This period ranges from 60 to 180 days for most insurers. You'll find it in the plan's definition of a pre-existing condition. For example, this is from TravelSafe:

 

"Pre-Existing Condition" means any injury, sickness or condition (including any condition from which death ensues) of You, or Your Traveling Companion, or Your and/or Your Traveling Companion's Family Member traveling with You which within the 60 day period prior to the effective date of Your Trip Cancellation coverage under the Policy: (a) manifested itself, became acute or exhibited symptoms which would have caused one to seek diagnosis, care or treatment; (b) required taking prescribed drugs or medicine, unless the condition for which the prescribed drug or medicine is taken remains controlled without any change in the required prescription; or © required medical treatment or treatment was recommended by a Legally Qualified Physician."

 

So they're looking only at the 60 day period prior to the effective date of the cancellation coverage. With TravelSafe the "effective date" for trip cancellation is:

 

"For Trip Cancellation: Coverage begins on Your "Effective Date" which is at 12:01 a.m. on the date the appropriate cost for this policy for Your Trip is received . . ."

 

So to determine if a medical condition is pre-existing or not according to TravelSafe you'd count back 60 days from the date you paid for the policy and answer the following questions:

 

Did your husband's cancer meet any of the following:

 

Did it: (a) manifest itself, became acute or exhibit symptoms which would have caused one to seek diagnosis, care or treatment?

 

Did it:(b) require taking prescribed drugs or medicine, unless the condition for which the prescribed drug or medicine is taken remains controlled without any change in the required prescription?

 

Did it: © require medical treatment or treatment was recommended by a Legally Qualified Physician? [regular check-ups don't count]

 

If the answer to ALL of these questions is "no" then your husband's cancer history is not a pre-existing condition. But note that every plan is different but that you can use this same general method to determine if a condition is pre-existing or not with any of them. As always, if you're not sure or something is unclear call the insurer.