the Dolan's on whether to buy travel insurance

[smeyer418]

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2011/02/26/travel.insurance.cnn?hpt=Sbin

 

and they say yes....

[PennyAgain]

I buy travel insurance for any trip where the loss of the cost would depress me.

[riffatsea]

Who or what is a Dolan?

[Don P]

A must if you are traveling outside the continental US. For a trip valued at $15,000 we paid $930. The cost included healthcare coverage throughout our two week European cruise. It had a $50,000 policy limit while in Europe and a $500,000 limit should we want to return to the States due to serious illness or injury. In sime countries you can't get in without health insurance. Czechlesovokia is one of them. Be aware your stateside health insurance doesn't work in Europe. Good luck!

QUOTE=smeyer418;28144797]http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2011/02/26/travel.insurance.cnn?hpt=Sbin

 

and they say yes....

[sail7seas]

A must if you are traveling outside the continental US. For a trip valued at $15,000 we paid $930. The cost included healthcare coverage throughout our two week European cruise. It had a $50,000 policy limit while in Europe and a $500,000 limit should we want to return to the States due to serious illness or injury. In sime countries you can't get in without health insurance. Czechlesovokia is one of them. Be aware your stateside health insurance doesn't work in Europe. Good luck!

QUOTE=smeyer418;28144797]http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2011/02/26/travel.insurance.cnn?hpt=Sbin

 

and they say yes....

 

 

What you say may be true for some people but Not for all.

 

Some people's health insurance pays world wide. Medicare does not.

 

We never insure the price of our trips/cruises and are way ahead for all those premiums we never paid for about our last 50 or so cruises. We have been very, very lucky to never have to cancel a cruise after final payment and would hate to lose anything even now but we still would be so far ahead even if we did cancel one now. It is only the first 5-10 cruises (depending upon how costly your cruises) that you are most at risk for loss when you self-insure. After that you are past break even point where you start to be ahead due to premiums you didn't pay for those earlier cruises.

 

 

We always have coverage for medical evacuation. That can be hugely expensive.

[Who knew?]

Who or what is a Dolan?

 

Ken and Daria Dolan are a couple who have been giving financial advice on the radio and TV for ages.

 

Linda

[sail7seas]

They're sensible, down to earth 'speakers' and entertaining/interesting to listen to. They speak of financial issues in clear language and make sense to the average person. Many think they give sound advice.

 

[Jobeth66]

I always purchase trip cancellation & medical coverage for my adventures abroad, but I'm a risk manager so I am therefore risk averse - and spending $250 to insure $10,000 is a no-brainer for me, and gives me peace of mind.

 

If you book using a credit card, check with your provider to see if they have any coverage for trip cancellation/delay/luggage loss, etc., and if they do you can get by with just medical or just evacuation.

 

Otherwise, you are self-insuring, and you should always insure for the amount you're willing to lose. Me? I'm willing to lose about $250 per $10,000. :)

 

Now, if I was on a cheaper sailing from the states where my cancellation cost would be under $2k, I probably wouldn't bother. I'd still get medical/evacuation, because that can be ridiculously expensive, but I wouldn't bother with the cancellation coverage.

[sail7seas]

I always purchase trip cancellation & medical coverage for my adventures abroad, but I'm a risk manager so I am therefore risk averse - and spending $250 to insure $10,000 is a no-brainer for me, and gives me peace of mind.

 

If you book using a credit card, check with your provider to see if they have any coverage for trip cancellation/delay/luggage loss, etc., and if they do you can get by with just medical or just evacuation.

 

Otherwise, you are self-insuring, and you should always insure for the amount you're willing to lose. Me? I'm willing to lose about $250 per $10,000. :)

 

Now, if I was on a cheaper sailing from the states where my cancellation cost would be under $2k, I probably wouldn't bother. I'd still get medical/evacuation, because that can be ridiculously expensive, but I wouldn't bother with the cancellation coverage.

 

What kind of coverage are you getting for $250 for $10,000 insurance? Premiums we see for any kind of comprehensive trip cancellation, medical evacuation and medical coverage are much higher premiums than that.

 

Granted we stay in pricey cabins and our cruises are costly but whenever I checked on insurance it was a great deal more than $250 for anything worth much. That is why we chose to self-insure and we got lucky it worked out well for us.

 

I buy an annual medical evacuation policy and lately have begun purchasing medical coverage but never trip cancellation.

[fideauxdon]

 

 

What you say may be true for some people but Not for all.

 

Some people's health insurance pays world wide. Medicare does not.

 

We never insure the price of our trips/cruises and are way ahead for all those premiums we never paid for about our last 50 or so cruises. We have been very, very lucky to never have to cancel a cruise after final payment and would hate to lose anything even now but we still would be so far ahead even if we did cancel one now. It is only the first 5-10 cruises (depending upon how costly your cruises) that you are most at risk for loss when you self-insure. After that you are past break even point where you start to be ahead due to premiums you didn't pay for those earlier cruises.

 

 

We always have coverage for medical evacuation. That can be hugely expensive.

 

You're correct; you've been very lucky. However, you only need to break your hip on a tour and require medical evacuation, and you'll spend ten times what you saved in the past by not buying travel insurance.

[Who knew?]

You're correct; you've been very lucky. However, you only need to break your hip on a tour and require medical evacuation, and you'll spend ten times what you saved in the past by not buying travel insurance.

 

 

I guess you missed that sail7seas said they always buy medical evacuation insurance, and recently have also been buying medical coverage.:rolleyes:

[sail7seas]

What you say may be true for some people but Not for all.

 

Some people's health insurance pays world wide. Medicare does not.

 

We never insure the price of our trips/cruises and are way ahead for all those premiums we never paid for about our last 50 or so cruises. We have been very' date=' very lucky to never have to cancel a cruise after final payment and would hate to lose anything even now but we still would be so far ahead even if we did cancel one now. It is only the first 5-10 cruises (depending upon how costly your cruises) that you are most at risk for loss when you self-insure. After that you are past break even point where you start to be ahead due to premiums you didn't pay for those earlier cruises.[/b']

 

 

We always have coverage for medical evacuation. That can be hugely expensive.

 

 

 

You're correct; you've been very lucky. However, you only need to break your hip on a tour and require medical evacuation, and you'll spend ten times what you saved in the past by not buying travel insurance.

 

 

fideauxdon:

 

 

You MIS-read my post. Kindly re-read to make accurate comments.

 

I said "I always have medical evacuation and medical coverage." We buy an annual policy from MedJetAssist as well as duplicate policy by trip and we have medical coverage when out of the country. We are not on Medicare.

 

 

What we do NOT insure is trip cancellation. We never insure the price of the air or cruise. That is what boosts the price of the policy and for us, we are happy to save those premiums and self-insure.

 

Anyone who cruises without medical evacuation coverage is taking a very big risk.

 

[Jobeth66]

What kind of coverage are you getting for $250 for $10,000 insurance? Premiums we see for any kind of comprehensive trip cancellation, medical evacuation and medical coverage are much higher premiums than that.

 

Granted we stay in pricey cabins and our cruises are costly but whenever I checked on insurance it was a great deal more than $250 for anything worth much. That is why we chose to self-insure and we got lucky it worked out well for us.

 

I buy an annual medical evacuation policy and lately have begun purchasing medical coverage but never trip cancellation.

 

I have medical of $50k PP, trip cancellation for 100%, trip interruption for $150%, medical evacuation for $500K, delay with a 6-hour deductible for $250 pp/per day, $1500 PP total.

 

Open market the policy for $10k for someone my age with no pre-existing coverage is probably closer to $350-400, however, I do have an advantage that I'm an officer of a financial institution which owns an insurance brokerage, and our brokerage sells trip insurance, so my plan is definitely discounted off what many people could get it for.

 

Note - I just quoted substantially similar coverage on Squaremouth, and CSA Custom Comprehensive is $304, so my rate isn't too crazy cheap (I think my exact premium is something like $264.53, I'd have to pull my paperwork).

 

Even at regular rates, I'd purchase it.

[iheartbda]

Travel insurance helped my sister when she and her toddler son ended up in prison in Turkey and had to pay money "under the table" after her hearing that was in Turkish.:eek:

[Don P]

We are on Medicare and our health insurance is not covered outside the US. It is mainly for that reason we carry coverage. To us it is not optional. We are aware of a situation where friends of ours paid $35,000 to fly back from Aruba when the husband had a stroke. One bad roll of the dice we're not willing to take. It's also comforting not to worry about this potential problem. You can probably detect my actuarial background in this response.

 

QUOTE=sail7seas;28153056]

 

 

What you say may be true for some people but Not for all.

 

Some people's health insurance pays world wide. Medicare does not.

 

We never insure the price of our trips/cruises and are way ahead for all those premiums we never paid for about our last 50 or so cruises. We have been very, very lucky to never have to cancel a cruise after final payment and would hate to lose anything even now but we still would be so far ahead even if we did cancel one now. It is only the first 5-10 cruises (depending upon how costly your cruises) that you are most at risk for loss when you self-insure. After that you are past break even point where you start to be ahead due to premiums you didn't pay for those earlier cruises.

 

 

We always have coverage for medical evacuation. That can be hugely expensive.

[Hlitner]

Travel insurance helped my sister when she and her toddler son ended up in prison in Turkey and had to pay money "under the table" after her hearing that was in Turkish.:eek:

 

Please tell us more. There must be an interesting story behind this.

 

Hank

[Jobeth66]

You can probably detect my actuarial background in this response.

 

Yep - those of us in the industry are definitely risk-averse. I've noticed we also tend to walk through/by the casino without stopping. :)

[Hlitner]

Yep - those of us in the industry are definitely risk-averse. I've noticed we also tend to walk through/by the casino without stopping. :)

 

Actually, if you are truly risk averse you would avoid walking through the casino (except on Celebrity ships) due to the excessive second hand smoke :)

 

Hank

[iheartbda]

Please tell us more. There must be an interesting story behind this.

 

Hank

I hope this is not hijacking the thread and my sister was on a land trip but, I always think of the story when someone's reason for not buying insurance is they are young and healthy.

 

This was a number of years ago and I can't remember all the details. DS, BIL in their late 20's and toddler were travelling in Europe in a VW bus....no they weren't hippies, not that there's anything wrong with that.;) DS driving bus, hit by a work car on the railroad in Turkey. Bus rolls, no serious injuries but DS and son spend night in ill-equipped hospital.

 

Anything involving the rr is considered sabatoge so DS is put in prison with a hearing to follow. Local family befriended BIL and he stayed with them. They also helped him contact the insurance company which sent money to pay off officials at her hearing.

 

They were still not in the clear but the locals got back the bus, which had been ransacked of any valuables. The story also brings to mind something else. On the thread about carrying passports or leaving them in the safe, someone said they would want to have it if they ever needed to get out of a country fast. No one was checking for their passports when they were hightailing it out of Turkey under cover of darkness.:D

 

Even though this story is extremely unusual and unlikely for most, point is someone can be young and healthy but one never knows what can happen that has nothing to do with health.

[sail7seas]

Young and healthy is irrelvant when it comes to medical coverage. Accidents can happen to anyone. The strongest, most fit weight lifter can be hit by a car, slip on a wet deck etc

[iheartbda]

Young and healthy is irrelvant when it comes to medical coverage. Accidents can happen to anyone. The strongest, most fit weight lifter can be hit by a car, slip on a wet deck etc

Yep, that's my point.;):) Seemingly young and healthy can also have any number of medical issues surface at the most inopportune time.

[angel2wyld2]

Thanks to the good advice here on CC I purchased insurance separately from Carnival and saved about $50 and got a lot more coverage! Thank you all to your sound advice.

[Jobeth66]

Actually, if you are truly risk averse you would avoid walking through the casino (except on Celebrity ships) due to the excessive second hand smoke :)

 

Hank

 

That's why I'm sailing Celebrity. :)

[KirkNC]

The Dolan's, I did not even know they were still around.

 

We are (I think) in the minority, we have never bought insurance. I know some will disagree but hey, its our money, we want to keep it.

 

Kirk

[sail7seas]

I get it and mostly agree with you.

As I said, we never purchase trip cancellation but it's really low cost to get medical and medical evacuation. The prices are so moderate when you eliminiate the cost of air and cruise from the coverage that it's about what we spend for a lovely dinner out on a Saturday night.

 

Medical Evacuation can be hugely pricey..... can actually reach into $50,000 +. That we consider worth spending $130 (that covers all our trips/cruises) a year to cover. MedJetAssist sells an annual policy for very low premium. If you are eligible for AARP, there's a decent discount.