Need some guidance with travel insurance..

[Pichu21]

We didn't buy travel insurance on our first cruise last May but for our next cruise we've thought it through and want to have travel insurance from now on, on all of our cruises. Just in case anything happens, having travel insurance wouldn't hurt. Hotwire has a decent deal on travel insurance, $55 per traveler, and it's pretty much full coverage, but I'm almost sure it's only if you book the cruise with them, and I booked directly with Royal Caribbean International. I don't know, I just want some opinions and help from people who have had travel insurance first hand. What company do you use and how much does it cost?

[emilygrace]

Try insuremytrip.com and you can do a comparison of various plans. You can even purchase the insurance right there at no extra cost. It's the best way to see all the different plans. We always try to go with a plan that is primary, not secondary. That way we don't have to deal with our own medical or homeowner's first.

[COMBOY]

Buying trip insurance is no different then buying homeowners or car insurance. There are a multitude of companies offering travel insurance. I agree that Insuremytrip.com is the best source to compare companies and policy and you can purchase a policy that meets your specific needs and not just a basic policy through the travel provider. You can shop online and they have a 800# is you need more help. It's generally recommended that you don't buy the insurance through the cruiseline or the travel provider, but by a independent 3rd party because the coverage is usually far more comprehensive. Why would you purchase car insurance through Ford, or GM? You wouldn't. Also, read the policy and know actually what you are buying, what the coverage is, is it primary or secondary coverage? Access America and TravelEX are well known companies, but there and many other reputable companies. Prices can vary widely bases on many factors...the total cost of your trip, where you are going, number of days, your ages, type of vacation, etc.

[green eyed lady]

We always use CSA and have never had any problems with them. The insurance cost is based on the cost of the trip.

[Maya57]

I always use Travelex and never had a problem. Underwritten by Nationwide. Claims paid fast and easy.

 

Beware of RCI insurance, they will only cover what was booked with RCI. In other words if you booked your own air or excursion, etc it is not covered. It is underwritten by Berkely Insurance

 

Also beware of Insurance Waiver as full insurance

[saleandsail]

It's based on cost of the trip and age if you're including medical insurance.

[theoaks39]

We have cancelled 2x's. First insurance was with RCCL. I believe the name is Berkley. They made us jump through hoops. I must say it was a nightmare. We had to cancell again this past April because of a serious illness with my brother. We were insured with CSA and it was so much easier. Sent in the necessary documentation and received a check in full within a month. I would highly recommend CSA. We have another cruise scheduled for October and will definitely chose CSA.

[Merion_Mom]

Try insuremytrip.com and you can do a comparison of various plans. You can even purchase the insurance right there at no extra cost. It's the best way to see all the different plans. We always try to go with a plan that is primary, not secondary. That way we don't have to deal with our own medical or homeowner's first.

 

After you look at their website, and still have questions, give them a call. They are VERY VERY VERY helpful, and know their insurance products.

 

We have cancelled 2x's. First insurance was with RCCL. I believe the name is Berkley. They made us jump through hoops. I must say it was a nightmare. We had to cancell again this past April because of a serious illness with my brother. We were insured with CSA and it was so much easier. Sent in the necessary documentation and received a check in full within a month. I would highly recommend CSA. We have another cruise scheduled for October and will definitely chose CSA.

 

And I only had to make a claim once, and it was with CSA, and you haven't seen HOOPS until you have seen the ones that CSA put me through! :eek:

 

Just goes to show that experiences vary a lot, even with the same companies.

[mousemom11]

After you look at their website, and still have questions, give them a call. They are VERY VERY VERY helpful, and know their insurance products.

 

Ditto this. My DH has a pre-existing condition and they walked me through exactly what I needed to do to buy a policy with a pre-exisiting condition waiver and which company and policy would work best for us.

 

I currently have a claim in to Travel Guard for the medical charge when my daughter got sick on our last cruise. All it took was a 10-minute phone call, they emailed me the form and list of documentation, and I mailed it back to them. Check should be arriving soon.

[music]

I am looking at travel insurance and did not want a secondary one also. Everything I look at shows that it is secondary. Is there an easy way to find a plan that is not secondary?

[pcur]

I always use Travelex and never had a problem. Underwritten by Nationwide. Claims paid fast and easy.

 

I had a very pleasant experience with Travelex just two days ago. We decided to switch our upcoming cruise from this October to next April. Well, British Airways treated me like dirt, but I expected that. The Italian hotel was wonderful and refunded our money immediately through PayPal. And, of course RCCL moved the money over to the new cruise.

 

I was worried about the travel insurance, and figured I'd have to eat the cost of that. Travelex was great! I sent them all the docs showing cancellations, new ressies, etc., stated I was NOT filing a claim, but wanted to transfer the policy over.

 

Well, they approved it!! I had to buy a new policy for the upcoming trip, and they refunded me all the $$ for the old policy, which was MORE than the new one!! So, I came out with a $24 credit on my credit card.

 

I will probably stick with Travelex from now on. Great customer service!!

[NeuroQueen]

Make sure it covers pre-existing problems and has emergency evacuation included! We booked the oasis next April and I took the berkerly offered by RCCL. Now I'm rethinking that due to all I have read on this site. I think I'll supplement with another policy because the pre-existing is only covered if you book within a short time of booking the cruise. I agree it is very confusing as they are all written in Legalese!! Good luck! You are very smart for purchasing the insurance.

[jmf123]

I am looking at travel insurance and did not want a secondary one also. Everything I look at shows that it is secondary. Is there an easy way to find a plan that is not secondary?

 

I have had excellent experience (customer service as well as claims) with TravelGuard for over 16 years and get their Gold Plan. It is a comprehensive policy and offers an option that will double the medical and evacuation coverage at very little cost. If you purchase a policy within 15 days of making your initial trip deposit, you'll have both pre-existing medical coverage and financial default of the airline and/or cruiseline. Children 17 years of age and under are covered at no additional cost on your policy. Check them out at travelguard.com or you can call them at (800) 826-4919. It's great peace of mind to have this coverage. :)

[LongTimeTvlr]

We have used insure my trip dot com many many times and have been completely satisfied.

 

We filed two claims I can think of.

 

First one was when we missed the sailing of the Solstice from Rome on an Eastern Med cruise due to whether delays in Chicago in August of 2009. We had to hop over from Rome to Athens to Santorini to catch the ship 2 days later.

 

They paid to cover extra air, hotels and meals. Turned a bad experience into a great one. We arrived in Santorini at 7 AM by air and had the whole place to ourselves until the cruise crowds starting arriving about noon. Actual insurance company we used was travelinsured dot com. They were very helpful when I called them from Chicgo to tell them of our problem. They worked with us and Celebrity to make the connecting arrangements, all through an 800 number, which was very helpful given we went from Chicago to Rome to Athens to Santorini and had to keep making adjustments due to continuing travel issues.

 

Second time was for a medical issue taken care of on board the Queen Mary 2. Made the mistake of not buying a primary policy and had to file with our medical plan first, they rejected and then we filed with travel company. They paid per policy.

 

I have had very good experiences with travel insurance. Just keep good records and keep your receipts. Write down what you are doing as you are doing it so you have the documentation trail when you need to file the claim. They do ask for lots of documentation, rightfully so.

 

Just to be clear, we don't have a problem on every trip. We have had 16 completely claim free cruises. Loved every one.

[falltex]

I had a bad experience with Travelguard on our first (attempted) cruise in 2001. It took 4 months of bickering (lots of calls and documentation). Finally, we were fed up and threatened to file a complaint with the state insurance board and they reimbursed us. It was a pretty cut and dry claim.

[mtsnd1900]

I always get the travel insurance, in the past with the overpriced version through the cruise line, now, i go through INSUREMYTRIP.COM

 

After spending an hour going through all the different policies online, i just called them - and I am so glad I did. the associate was polite, helpful and very informative. Recommended the perfect plan for me and was well under anything I had looked at with all the same perks, and an A+ rating backed by nationwide.

 

Buy it immediately after putting the down payment down on your cruise, you will get the most out of it.

[Pichu21]

I put the down payment on the cruise about a week ago. Seems like I have lots to research and decisions to make! Thanks everyone for your opinions and anecdotes they are great help in making this decision! I'm definitely gonna start by using the insuremytrip.com website to compare my choices but at least some of these posts can help me narrow down my choices right off the bat about which ones are better, and which ones not so much... Again, thanks everyone who has replied to this thread!

[mousemom11]

Make sure it covers pre-existing problems and has emergency evacuation included! We booked the oasis next April and I took the berkerly offered by RCCL. Now I'm rethinking that due to all I have read on this site. I think I'll supplement with another policy because the pre-existing is only covered if you book within a short time of booking the cruise. I agree it is very confusing as they are all written in Legalese!! Good luck! You are very smart for purchasing the insurance.

 

Debbie, there are one or two policies that will cover pre-exisiting conditions as long as you buy them before you make the final cruise payment. The caveat being that you must be healthy enough to travel at the time you buy the policy. Call insuremytrip.com and ask them about it.

[Ginnyfyr]

If you are putting your cruise on a credit card, check with the CC company to see if they offer any insurance just for being a cardholder. My husband has a card that he pays a yearly fee for and we just found out it comes with medical insurance for any trip we book on the card. We wouldn't use it for a cruise since it doesn't include lost luggage or cancellation, but it's enough to make us feel comfortable for when we want to make a weekend trip over the border. You might be pleasantly surprised and find that your credit card offers a decent comprehensive package, or maybe something you could build on to through them. Just a suggestion!

[rncruiser]

You not only want to make sure it covers emergency evacuatuion, but up to how much it covers. My TA gives us free travel insurance. The plan used to cover up to $100,000 for evacuation. Now it only covers up to $10,000. We pay extra for the upgrade. Last year my nephew had to be medivaced from Bermuda. It cost $16,000. Luckily he had the policy with the higher coverage.

[Pichu21]

You not only want to make sure it covers emergency evacuatuion, but up to how much it covers. My TA gives us free travel insurance. The plan used to cover up to $100,000 for evacuation. Now it only covers up to $10,000. We pay extra for the upgrade. Last year my nephew had to be medivaced from Bermuda. It cost $16,000. Luckily he had the policy with the higher coverage.

 

This is the kind of stuff I'm talking about. I'm very sorry to hear that your nephew had to be medivaced. One doesn't know when something like this can happen, and us being a low-budget family (we always get the inside stateroom ;) ) if someone in our family had to be medivaced without travel insurance, it would be like waving goodbye to a least some 4 or 5 cruises. It would be devastating. This is exactly the reason why I'm getting the travel insurance.

 

Now, I just have a small question. What's the difference between primary and secondary insurance?

[kc320]

This is the kind of stuff I'm talking about. I'm very sorry to hear that your nephew had to be medivaced. One doesn't know when something like this can happen, and us being a low-budget family (we always get the inside stateroom ;) ) if someone in our family had to be medivaced without travel insurance, it would be like waving goodbye to a least some 4 or 5 cruises. It would be devastating. This is exactly the reason why I'm getting the travel insurance.

 

Now, I just have a small question. What's the difference between primary and secondary insurance?[/quote]

 

Primary insurance is the company that will pay First when a claim is filed...Secondary Pay's after either the Primary has rejected the claim or paid whatever portion they cover.. My current Medical Insurer does not cover me out of the country..but with Secondary Travel Ins. I would still have to file the claim with them...then file with the travel ins. after my claim was rejected...

 

So far I have been lucky with ins. the only claim I've had to file was in 2004 when my husband died 2 weeks before our cruise from San Juan..I called the insurance company..the faxed me the claim forms..and once the dr. completed his portion I had a check for the cruise & airfare within a month..would never consider booking a cruise WITHOUT ins....

[okimot]

I know most of these replies relate to USA travel insurance. I am from England and have an annual world wide travel insurance policy which covers pre-existing medical conditions and seems better than those issued to USA citizens.

[searaider]

In the comments, I read one Canadian response regarding insurance through their credit card, but my question is regarding the insuremytrip.com companies. Do they cover non US residents? Has anyone out there that is non US resident made a claim at Access or Travel? with good results.

 

thanks