the Dolan's on whether to buy travel insurance

[Hlitner]

Ok, we will confess that we seldom buy any travel insurance. The reason is we spend about 6 months a year traveling and the trip insurance policies are very expensive. OUr personal medical insurance does cover us worldwide (we are not on Medicare yet) although it would be a hassle getting reimbursed. But we also buy an annual trip health insurance policy from AMEX that only costs about $150 per year (per couple) and provides us with secondary coverage and more then $100,000 in med evac. As to cancellation insurance, we are not big fans of this type of insurance since it is pricy and anyone who books a cruise can afford to lose the cost of the cruise (or they would not have booked in the first place). Having spent about 2 years on various cruises we are tens of thousands ahead by not buying trip insurance over the years. The only time we ever purchased cancellation insurance is when we had a very sick family member....that person did die right before we left for the cruise..and we collected. That policy was from CSA.

 

Hank

[Shorex]

Ok, we will confess that we seldom buy any travel insurance. The reason is we spend about 6 months a year traveling and the trip insurance policies are very expensive. OUr personal medical insurance does cover us worldwide (we are not on Medicare yet) although it would be a hassle getting reimbursed. But we also buy an annual trip health insurance policy from AMEX that only costs about $150 per year (per couple) and provides us with secondary coverage and more then $100,000 in med evac. As to cancellation insurance, we are not big fans of this type of insurance since it is pricy and anyone who books a cruise can afford to lose the cost of the cruise (or they would not have booked in the first place). Having spent about 2 years on various cruises we are tens of thousands ahead by not buying trip insurance over the years. The only time we ever purchased cancellation insurance is when we had a very sick family member....that person did die right before we left for the cruise..and we collected. That policy was from CSA.

 

Hank

 

In general we take the same approach. We buy post-departure travel insurance which is not expensive at all. Essentially, we self-insure for trip cancellation, but are insured for trip disruption and medical evacuation.

 

Unfortunately, Medjet is not authorized to sell insurance in our state, otherwise we'd be a subscriber. It's a bargain for frequent travelers.

 

We once witnessed a helicopter evacuation of a fellow cruiser with acute appendicitis. The chopper was sent from the Canary Islands to the Atlantic between the Cape Verde Islands and the coast of Africa. I don't even want to think about the cost of that.

[sail7seas]

The one thing that needs to be pointed out re: MedJet is they do not evacuate from ships. They will evacuate you to (in most cases) the hospital of your choice anywhere but you must get to shore. This why we use both MedJet and a separate policy. I want to know we will be evacuated from a ship, if necessary, but can then kick into MedJet for them to take us where we want. Most travel policies do not give the choice of where you will be taken for care.

 

MedJet serves us well for all land vacations being them domestic or international.

 

 

[Don P]

Wow! That's a terrific price for that coverage! As I mentioned before; for 8K each we're paying $930 for our river cruise coverage with basically the same coverage that you got for less than half our cost. Can I ask how old you are and is this just for one person or two.

 

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.

[oncruisecontrol]

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.

 

: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.

 

This is a cautionary tale. In some countries, the driving laws may be VERY different than in America. For example: a co-worker of mine was driving in Mexico, got into a car accident, and was hauled off to jail. The reason: because, at the time of the accident, it was not clear who was at fault. And since there was no compulsory liability insurance for drivers in Mexico (at the time, not sure what is the case now), all involved were taken to jail while they sorted out the details in order to determine on which party to lay blame. After my friend told me this story, I became determined NEVER to rent a car or moped in a foreign country. I'll take my chances with the cab drivers.

[Don P]

We spent a week in Las Vegas and did nothing but shows, dinners, golf and sun bathe. I am not against gambling. I just know the odds are against winning.

 

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. :)

[BillB48]

Back in the days when I was much smarter and knew everything:rolleyes: I never bought the insurance. I thought there was no way I would not be on that cruise and therefore would not need the cancellation coverage. I never gave any consideration to the medical/evacuation coverage whatsoever. Now that I am a little older (not really that much older in age) and realizing what the insurance covers, I think the premium is just a small cost of the cruise. Well worth it, even if you never need it!!

[Jobeth66]

Wow! That's a terrific price for that coverage! As I mentioned before; for 8K each we're paying $930 for our river cruise coverage with basically the same coverage that you got for less than half our cost. Can I ask how old you are and is this just for one person or two.

 

We're in our early & mid-40's respectively, and that's for two. Note that it doesn't include 'cancel for any reason' coverage, which is a much higher expense - but it does cover layoff, which is fine - unless I don't have a job, I will be on that ship. :)

[sail7seas]

Good, thoughtful comments.

 

It all comes down to how much you are okay about potentially losing.

If you feel your budget can comfortably absorb the loss of the price of your cruise if you must cancel, then you may consider not insuring for cancellation.

 

If you know your medical insurance pays worldwide, you may think you are adequately covered. You should carefully verify this. It would be a most unpleasant surprise to have a bad accident which runs up big medical bills only to learn your insurance will not pay in whatever country you were treated.

 

FEW would wish to be responsible for the price of medical evacuation. That can really do a number on a family's budget.

 

A poster here named Greatam wrote some fabulous posts re: travel insurance. Greatam is a very experienced traveler to all corners of the world and it it worth doing a search to find some of those posts on this forum. IMO