When do you buy travel insurance?

[wanderlustessence]

How soon before your cruise date do you buy travel insurance? I recall reading once that there is no need to buy it any sooner than 1 week before your sail date. Then, I also recall reading that it must be bought before the cruise is paid for or else it won't cover pre-existing medical conditions. We're going to contact our medical insurer, homeowner's, etc. before purchasing ours, but should we be waiting? Of course, we've already put down the deposit. Thanks for your help on this matter.

[Marysunshine]

I use Travelguard and if you don't buy the insurance within 7 days of purchasing your trip you are not covered for pre-existing conditions. I buy as soon as I book.

[just4kixx]

It is my understanding that you must purchase insurance within 10-15 days of your initial cruise deposit (individual policies will vary) in order for pre-existing conditions to be covered.

 

If that isn't important to you, I believe you can purchase insurance up to the date of sailing.

:)

A~

[trabucocruiser]

We normally get our when we put the deposit down, but my folks get theirs about 2 weeks prior to the cruise and they've been on over 30 cruises.

[Dorothy]

I use insuremytrip.com. It has several different policies to choose from at different rates. Normally, you must purchase your insurance within 10 days of deposit. The purpose of this, is it eliminates pre-existing conditions. It proves to the company that you were not ill at the time you made your arrangements. Otherwise, someone can purchase if they become ill a few days before the cruise and then get a refund.

 

However, I do remember purchasing Access America Insurance without having a time limit from the time of deposit.

 

My recommendation is to purchase sooner than later and shop insuremytrip.com. I have found great rates with them.

[Dorothy]

I have used my insurance for unexpected illness onboard and most recently, I nearly had to cancel when I had to have some unexpected minor surgery. Luckily, I was recuperated enough to travel. So things do happen.

[MBeamTX]

Travel insurance is complicated! There's trip cancellation, trip interruption, trip delay, medical coverage, lost/delayed baggage, emergency medical evacuation ...

 

You really have to do some research so that you buy the right policy and are covered for the things that matter to you. We always buy a comprehensive package that covers all of the above, and we purchase it within the pre-existing conditions waiver period. This can be as long as 15 days from time of deposit for some policies.

 

It's important to understand that the pre-existing conditions provisions apply not only to you and your traveling companion(s), but also to your family members. Suppose that you have to cancel your cruise just a few days before departure because an immediate family member (as defined by the policy) is hospitalized. If it's due to a pre-existing condition, you likely won't get reimbursed for your cruise costs if you didn't purchase your policy soon after making your deposit. Policies have differing pre-existing condition periods, also. I've seen some as long as 180-days. If you've got elderly parents, they likely have some pre-existing condition. If something unfortunate happens to them and you need to cancel, you're going to want to have that waiver of pre-existing condition limits - whether your parents were planning to travel with you or not.

 

I should emphasize that I'm NOT an insurance expert by any means. This is all based on what I've read in researching our own travel insurance purchases. insuremytrip.com has been tremendously helpful in comparing policies and understanding the various coverages. (I'm not affiliated with the web site in any way, either.)

 

It's worth taking the time to understand what you're buying with travel insurance - or what risks you're taking if you decide to go without.

 

Happy cruising,

Susan

[wanderlustessence]

Thank you everyone! Well, I guess we are going to start looking into this all immediately. We'll find out what our current policies cover and then look on insuremytrip to find what additional coverage we can buy that will fit our circumstances. (We booked and put down the deposit a couple months ago with the understanding we could by insurance just before we sailed!) Thanks again! :)

[dougp26364]

It is not necessary to buy your travel insurance when you book your cruise or shortly therafter. The only reason for doing such is if you have pre-existing conditions and the policy you are buying requires immediate purchase to cover such (most do).

 

In our case, we have no pre-existing conditions that would cause us to miss a cruise. Therefore I have always purchased our travel insurance a couple of days before making final payment on our cruise. It is only after final payment that penalities start for cruise cancelation and a need for travel insurance is there.

[toolongnocruise]

or if you have some non-refundable arrangements. If you DO have non-refundable arrangements, then you should get the insurance right away in case something unforseeable happens.

 

I have just booked 5 family members for a cruise on 12/10/05, but because of the proximity to the holidays, I had to go ahead and get our air now. (The return on 12/17/05 is just the week before Christmas and some airlines have higher rates beginning 12/15. Although I could find low fares for our outbound trip on the 9th, the return date of the 17th is a different story - many seats are already taken and there are no low fares .) Three of us are using air miles to San Juan and two of us are using non-refundable fares that I got through a well-known website. I also booked non-refundable hotel rooms for a pre-cruise night. So I have just now purchased the insurance for everyone.

 

I might add, the insurance was a blessing for me on a cruise last Sept 27th when Hurricane Jeanne caused a delay in sailing. I filed the paperwork and all my documentation and had absolutely no problem collecting for extra meals and extra hotel expenses when the sailing was delayed.

 

I concur that insuremytrip.com is a great place to compare policies. Even though I have used the same company repeatedly, I always go to that site first to check prices and compare. It is while comparing that I am reassured that the company I have used still provides the most coverage for my money.

[beachchick]

I want to second the previous poster who mentioned that the pre-existing covers immediate family members. If you have elderly parents, it is well worth considering buying the insurance in the time frame to get the pre-existing coverage, especially if you know a family has a medical condition that could be an issue for you. So, even if you don't have any medical problems, it's still worth considering. Plus, it's not like the insurance is going to cost less if you buy it later.

 

beachchick

[stillfrantic]

O can't remember which policy I had for a cruise a few years back....I think it was CSA...anyway, the policy had to be purchased prior to the final payment. They would not cover if the policy wasn't in place before you entered the penality period.

[wanderlustessence]

I wish I could give everyone a warm hug for all your help. :) (Yes, I'm a touchie-feelie type of gal...look out if you ever meet me on a ship! ;) ) Can you please help me with a few more additional questions?

 

It is not necessary to buy your travel insurance when you book your cruise or shortly therafter. The only reason for doing such is if you have pre-existing conditions and the policy you are buying requires immediate purchase to cover such (most do). In our case, we have no pre-existing conditions that would cause us to miss a cruise. Therefore I have always purchased our travel insurance a couple of days before making final payment on our cruise. It is only after final payment that penalities start for cruise cancelation and a need for travel insurance is there.

Great to know! We are 39, 37, 17, 16, 12, and 5 with no pre-existing conditions.

 

or if you have some non-refundable arrangements. If you DO have non-refundable arrangements, then you should get the insurance right away in case something unforseeable happens.

We are not purchasing airfare. Our hotel is non-refundable after we enter the 24 hour window of our expected date of arrival, in which we'd be out almost $200. Of course you all know RCI's refund policy. Is it true that trip cancellation refunds are next to impossible to get, even with insurance? This particular cruise is costing $1679.30 for the six of us.

 

I want to second the previous poster who mentioned that the pre-existing covers immediate family members. If you have elderly parents, it is well worth considering buying the insurance in the time frame to get the pre-existing coverage, especially if you know a family has a medical condition that could be an issue for you. So, even if you don't have any medical problems, it's still worth considering.

We have no immediate family members that we would have to rush back for in case of emergency, so this doesn't have to be a factor in our case.

 

the policy had to be purchased prior to the final payment. They would not cover if the policy wasn't in place before you entered the penality period.

Figuring this all out before our final payment in July is our top priority now! We do not want to travel without proper insurance coverage and want to purchase in the wisest way possible.

 

Do we call ALL of our insurance policies…not only medical & homeowner’s, but accident, life, etc. as well? What questions do we ask? Out-of-country medical expenses, evacuation, lost luggage…what else? I don’t want our inexperience here to get the best of us here and your wealth of knowledge is such a tremendous help.

Again, thank you so very much!

[Honey's Gal]

Another reason to purchase early was posted above. If you purchase your insurance very close to sailing, and there is already a named hurricane in that vicinity or heading that way, prior to your purchase, I do believe you will not be covered if your trip is delayed because of that hurricane. You may want to check on this, but I think that is what I read. Of course that is only if you are sailing during hurricane season.

[Lokalona]

In Nov. of 2004 my DH and I took a cruise on HAL Zuiderdam (worst cruise I have ever been on for many reasons) We gave this as a gift to our moms for Mother's Day. We bought the usual Pack and Go insurance and since both moms are old but healthy we figured Good Enough....WRONG!! On Halloween night our 16 year old niece was involved in a tragic car accident that landed her in ICU for 9 weeks. She came into the ER dead. My mother in law immediately booked a flight to be with her son and family. We were not going to go on the cruise either, but the family begged us to go ahead, nothing we could do to help even though my DH is an ER doc. We rented a global cell phone for $200.00 and kept in constant contact. We had checked all airlines out of all the ports just in case we had to leave mid cruise....we ate my mother in laws fare, but the airlines gave her credit for one year. So on this last cruise we bought the top insurance policy and it was about $260.00 for all 5 of us...never will I travel again w/o the coverage of the better policy, Pack and Go is not for me!

[TexasDH]

We typically book through our TA when we deposit for the cruise. This past year, we had a cruise planned during Thanksgiving... my husband had a medical condition that had been ongoing since about a month after booking. When it was apparent that he wasn't going to make the cruise, we called and cancelled about 2 weeks out. We had purchased our insurance through Berkley Leisure Care (our TA offered it...) and were pleasantly pleased with the claim process. We chose to book with them rather than through the cruiseline due to the 100% cash payout as compared to what I recall was a 90% 'credit' that the cruiseline offered in the event of cancellation.

 

They required signatures from his doctors and a brief description of the condition, but we received our check for complete reimbursement for the cruise and airfare (less the approx. $250 policy charge) within the month.

 

That having been said, we will continue to purchase their insurance (which I also understand -- and would KNOW, if I read all the documentation ahead of time -- includes baggage loss, trip delay, etc.) for all our cruises.

 

disclaimer: I am NOT in the travel industry OR affiliated with ANY insurance company or anything even close! ;)

[cruiseco]

O can't remember which policy I had for a cruise a few years back....I think it was CSA...anyway, the policy had to be purchased prior to the final payment. They would not cover if the policy wasn't in place before you entered the penality period.

 

Things have changed. All of the major plans, including CSA ,can be purchased at any time up until the day prior to your departure. However, as has been noted, by waiting you may lose some benefits.

[cruiseco]

It is not necessary to buy your travel insurance when you book your cruise or shortly therafter. The only reason for doing such is if you have pre-existing conditions and the policy you are buying requires immediate purchase to cover such (most do).

.

 

There can be other reasons. For example, with CSA if you need coverage for financial default you have to buy within two weeks. Same with most of the Travel Guard plicies. And with the Travel Guard CT&T plan you have to buy within 15 days to get the "change of mind" coverage. With Global Alert you get extra benefits if bought within 15 days. Buy the CSA Advantage plan within 14 days to get their "refund of premium" extra benefit and so forth.

[FinelyCruising]

I am leaving Saturday and for the fist time waited until the last minute and only purchased last week, probably since it was just my husband and myself this time. In all that, I found that I have probably been buying the wrong policy all the other times with Travelguard since this time I checked the compare box and found that the cruise policy has better coverage for lost luggage. Since most everything expensive is in the luggage I happlily learned something new. Pre-exisiting conditons are so dicey, my only concern these days are lost luggage for clothing I will always need to replace and medical evacuation help if it gets out of hand and my medical plan doesn't cover it. I can handle a flight back home if a loved one needs me no matter what, and since I have already paid for the cruise by the time I am on it, I guess I can afford to write it off if I had to. Hopefully I will never have to know of these things, and I hope the same for you too.

[dougp26364]

Another reason to purchase early was posted above. If you purchase your insurance very close to sailing' date=' and there is already a named hurricane in that vicinity or heading that way, prior to your purchase, I do believe you will not be covered if your trip is delayed because of that hurricane. You may want to check on this, but I think that is what I read. Of course that is only if you are sailing during hurricane season.[/quote']

 

That would be some huricane if it's a named and hanging out in the ocean for 30 to 45 days waiting on your cruise. ;)

[cruisebliss]

I purchased cruise insurance at the time of deposit. Unfortunately, I had to cancel my cruise 8 months prior to cruising. My travel agent told me that cruise insurance is nonrefundable due to cancellation. I wish that I had known that at the time of booking since I would have never bought the insurance so early. :(

[Happy ks]

You have to check it out, case by case. We also have no pre-existing conditions and no elderly parents to worry about. Therefore, we wait until the final payment has been made to buy any trip insurance. For exactly the reason above, you are many times out the insurance premium if you have to cancel before final payment is due. So, if you fall into this category, just purchase it after the final payment is made.

[travellady]

I now buy at time of final payment. And for Princess, Holland America, and RCCL, I purchase the cruiseline insurance. With Princess and Holland America, I can cancel for any reason and get 90% back. With RCCL, I can cancel for any reason and get 75% back. I like this option, it's hard to find with most any 3rd party agency. Therefore, at minimum, pre-existing conditions or not, I will get at least a good portion of my money back if I have to cancel within the penalty phase.

 

When I booked one of my first cruises, my TA had me purchase the insurance up front. I had to cancel and lost the insurance money, 200.00. So, until I know I am definitely going (which to me means the day I pay the final payment barring any unforeseen circumstances), I am not willing to plunk my money down and potentially lose it.

[DJHere]

I am cruising on RCL in June with a friend, bought travel insurance and now my friends son has been in a accidnet and she may not be able to go on cruise.

 

Has anyone had the experince of insurance paying for single occupancy???

 

I have other friends traveling with me in other cabins...

 

Also have a hotel booked thry RCL for the 2 of us.

[toolongnocruise]

If you bought travel insurance, go back and read the policy. The insurance I buy DOES cover the additional costs of a single supplement should one cabinmate drop out.

 

To add further comments to purchasing travel insurance in general: some policies allow only 2 adults on a policy; some allow multiple passengers with different last names ONLY if they are in the SAME CABIN; some allow grandparents to cover grandkids ONLY if the parents are not going along; and some policies have AGE LIMITS for medical coverage. BE SURE TO READ EVERYTHING BEFORE YOU PURCHASE !!!!

 

If you go to insuremytrip.com you will note that some policies have a little red asterik next to their names. On the right had side in the information and "key" area you may get a message saying "requested coverage exceeds limits". To get the exact reasons for the asterix and the limits be sure to READ DOWN AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE!!!

 

I just booked 3 policies for our group of 5. (In our case, for the initial coverage I was selecting, the individual amounts add up to the same total amount as listing all 5 together would have.) But I decided that since I needed to buy mulitple policies to meet their name/cabin rules, I might as well go ahead and tailor the insurance to each of the different sets of needs for each of the travelers. I was also then able to up the amount of medical insurance I wanted for my mother and brother. My mother is 81 and has medicare of course. Well, medicare does NOT cover out of the country and her secondary does not either. So I purchased a policy for her with a lot of medical insurance and I had to be sure to purchase from a company that does not have an age limit! Some companies have limits of 70 others 75 and other 79. Be sure you read what you are getting. For my brother, he is younger of course, but also does not have a policy that covers medical out of the country. So I purchased extra medical for him. My immediate family has good coverage already so I bought a policy for us that covers well, but is more economical for the three of us. In addition, I had decided to go on this cruise while on my last one on March 20 and I put down deposits at that time. So I could use the 21 day time frame to get default and pre-existing coverage for my immediate family. I could not use the 14 day limit policies. (I didn't buy the insurance sooner because I did not get my air until this week so I did not know just how much total coverage I was going to need -- but I could have guessed and gone ahead and bought the insurance. Just didn't cause I knew I would get it in the 21 day time frame.) But for my mother and brother - I added them to the vacation later and therefore I could get the 14 day limit policies for them. Even at that, as long as nothing goes medically wrong for them in the next 60 days, they will still be covered for any pre-existing conditions. (Our cruise is in December).

 

My point (again) is that insurance can and should be tailored to the needs of the travelers. Buy what you need for YOUR individual (or family) situation. That is why I do not care for purchasing the "standard, blanket" policies offered by TAs, Travel companies and Cruise Lines. I can get more cost effective insurance and can select various coverage amounts in the areas where I need them by investigating the different policies on my own.

 

Those who posted above and said they were "out" the cost of the insurance when they cancelled and were not going to buy early again....well, that may be the case for the reasons why THEY cancelled, but for someone who may have to cancel because of a Pre-Existing condition or because of another covered reason, the costs they would recoup for cancelling could far outweigh the costs of what they would be "out" for having purchased the policy. (Consider what you would be "out" if you had a pre-existing condition AND non-refundable arrangements.) INSURANCE is a VERY INDIVIDUAL thing -- everyone's circumstances are different. CHOOSE WISELY for YOUR OWN NEEDS!!