Should I buy trip insurance?

[Seas_Please]

It's almost time for me to make my final payment for my upcoming cruise in August. I'd like to know if it's worth buying the Oceania trip insurance which is about 10% of the cost of the trip. I'd like to have insurance in case of the unexpected, but is there a better way to buy trip insurance or is Oceania's a good deal?

 

Thanks

[pinotlover]

We never buy trip insurance. If we have to cancel a trip/cruise, it would mean that we are probably having far greater problems that make losing the cost of the cruise inconsequential.

[las313]

I ALWAYS buy insurance. If you booked thru a travel agent, ask them. The cruise lines insurance is usually much more. Google it and you will find others.

[Paulchili]

If you charge your cruise to Chase Sapphire Visa or Chase United Explorer card, you will receive trip cancelation insurance for $5/pp or $10K/pp resp. from the credit card for "free". Do a search on this forum for tis topic that was discussed extensively.

Caveat - this does not include health insurance.

PS Check out this thread (especially page 4 and on):

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1915571&highlight=trip+cancelation+insurance

Edited April 27, 2014 by Paulchili

[sitraveler]

Your age determines your rates. At 70 or over the insurance from other than the cruise company is more expensive, My major reason for insurance is out of country medical coverage is none.

[PaulMCO]

Also check the forum on insurance:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=635

 

By waiting until final payment date -- you have also lessened the number of insurance companies that waive the preexisting conditions clauses in their policies. So you now need to shop wisely..

[rawlr4]

google trip insurance--you can get some real good information on what is available and be able to compare rates

[Seas_Please]

I wonder if I paid for the trip with my American Express card, would it be covered if I had to cancel?

[LHT28]

I would read the fine print of any policy you are thinking of buying

 

We always buy trip cancellation/interuption as well as medical

 

Just depends on comfort level & bank account should things go wrong

 

I would check other policies as well as the one offered by Oceania

 

YMMV

[buggins0402]

If you charge your cruise to Chase Sapphire Visa or Chase United Explorer card, you will receive trip cancelation insurance for $5/pp or $10K/pp resp. from the credit card for "free". Do a search on this forum for tis topic that was discussed extensively.

Caveat - this does not include health insurance.

PS Check out this thread (especially page 4 and on):

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1915571&highlight=trip+cancelation+insurance

 

I want to thank those that worked on developing the information contained in the thread that is cited above - it was so very helpful! We're just buying a Geoblue travel medical plan, after charging the balance due on a United card to get the cancellation benefits.

 

As to medical - our regular insurance has a out of network that includes international, but the deductible is $20K. It would seem that we could go with a Geo Blue that basically fills that gap (and medevac issues) - correct or not? Or, in other words - we wouldn't need $500K of trip medical as our regular health insurance would cover the amounts over $20K - correct?

Edited April 27, 2014 by buggins0402

[orchestrapal]

We have never bought insurance by self insuring we saved more than enough to cover the cost of any emergency cancellation.

We do, however, have a yearly medical policy for out of the USA which easily pays for itself if you have to go to the doctor even once on any cruise.

 

Remembering the Renaissance fiasco why would you buy any insurance from the cruise line. Look on line for AAA rated policies if you do wind up buying travel insurance.

[Paulchili]

I wonder if I paid for the trip with my American Express card, would it be covered if I had to cancel?

 

Most likely no. Amex offers separate insurance that you have to purchase separately in order to have your trip covered - Chase offers this as part of your standard CC coverage.

I have checked on this with Amex (SPG card).

[Mura]

I'm late to the party but I will add that now that we are older we do get trip insurance. We didn't bother when we were younger, and we still don't bother if we're doing a trip on our own. (If we booked our own transportation and hotels there's rarely a need.) But if we're on a cruise or a tour (can't think of when we've done a tour but it could happen) we do get insurance.

 

We self insure for life insurance, for car insurance (i.e. we take high deductibles), and the like, but not for travel. I know there are several people here who do self insure in this connection, but if you haven't been doing so you could be out a lot of money if the worst happens. And it may take a while to build up the account.

 

When we were booked on a Renaissance cruise for January '02 -- which obviously we couldn't take -- the cruise line bellied up maybe a week before final payment was due, so we would only have been out the $500 deposit we had paid. Since we used American Express to pay the deposit, Amex DID return our money. But it took a while. (An email friend in the same situation had used Discover, although they had paid in full as I recall, and Discover did NOT refund the cost.)

 

It's not just in case something happens to you that will prevent your taking the trip, but also if a family member should fall ill and you need to cancel or leave the ship early. My husband and I are no longer in this situation but we were until a year ago, and that was enough reason for us to get trip insurance.

 

Mura

[Seas_Please]

Since posting my question about trip cancellation insurance I've checked online and it seems there are quite a few highly-rated companies that offer this type of insurance for about half of what Oceania charges.

 

But someone brought up an interesting point I hadn't even considered. I have health insurance with Aetna and my wife has Medicare. Are you saying if we had a medical problem outside the country, our health insurance wouldn't cover us? If not, do companies sell health-insurance on a per-trip basis?

[Travelcat2]

Since posting my question about trip cancellation insurance I've checked online and it seems there are quite a few highly-rated companies that offer this type of insurance for about half of what Oceania charges.

 

But someone brought up an interesting point I hadn't even considered. I have health insurance with Aetna and my wife has Medicare. Are you saying if we had a medical problem outside the country, our health insurance wouldn't cover us? If not, do companies sell health-insurance on a per-trip basis?

 

Some health insurance covers out of the country medical care and others do not. Check out policies to find a policy that will insure you out of the country. Note: Our policy covers 80% of the costs up to $50,000 lifetime but medical care out of the U.S. is a fraction of what it is in the U.S.

[DOJO466]

Since posting my question about trip cancellation insurance I've checked online and it seems there are quite a few highly-rated companies that offer this type of insurance for about half of what Oceania charges.

 

But someone brought up an interesting point I hadn't even considered. I have health insurance with Aetna and my wife has Medicare. Are you saying if we had a medical problem outside the country, our health insurance wouldn't cover us? If not, do companies sell health-insurance on a per-trip basis?

 

I do not think Medicare covers out of country. Your Aetna may (mine does) but you would have to check with them. We purchase primary coverage for DH and secondary coverage for myself. If you have any type of preexisting condition make sure to get coverage waiver. Where you are late to the game only a handful of insurers will cover you. CSA will cover you for pre-existing right up to final payment but it is more than others.

[GeezerCouple]

Since posting my question about trip cancellation insurance I've checked online and it seems there are quite a few highly-rated companies that offer this type of insurance for about half of what Oceania charges.

 

But someone brought up an interesting point I hadn't even considered. I have health insurance with Aetna and my wife has Medicare. Are you saying if we had a medical problem outside the country, our health insurance wouldn't cover us? If not, do companies sell health-insurance on a per-trip basis?

 

Medicare does *not* cover out-of-country (USA) medical costs.

You'd need to check about the coverage with Aetna.

 

Our health insurance only covers care in the USA or Canada.

So a BIG reason for our travel insurance when we are outside USA/Canade is for any medical coverage. If something really bad happened, that could add up to a *very* expensive trip.

 

We also now have an annual medevac policy, which isn't much compared with what the potential costs would be.

We have the type that will transfer us (air ambulance/etc. if needed) from inpatient status anyplace at least 150 miles from home, to ANY hospital of our choice, anywhere.

 

We are considering in the future looking into travel insurance that only covers medical, and not the cost of the trip (air, cruise, hotel, etc.) itself.

 

But we had to cancel a rather expensive special trip for emergency medical reasons with less than 2 weeks to go, and that happened to be the first time we took out travel insurance. (It was also the first time we had significant non-refundable costs for a trip. Hotels can usually be cancelled, or just one night might be forfeited, etc.)

 

I'd suggest you call TripInsuranceStore.com and ask about the different types of coverage, and compare costs of different policies to see if any meet your needs.

 

GeezerCouple

[NC&KY]

We buy insurance, not for ourselves so much as the possibility that my mother-in-law (the last of our parents to still be alive) might die or any of our kids or grandkids might get seriously injured or sick. I suggest you look at http://www.insuremytrip.com/ and compare coverages.

[Mura]

I agree with the others: when I had Aetna coverage on my own (DH was already on Medicare), Aetna paid for a hospital visit (out-patient) and meds. I had maybe a $50 deductible. But Medicare does not.

 

If you need to visit the doctor on board the ship, it's expensive!

 

 

Mura

[Travelcat2]

Medicare does *not* cover out-of-country (USA) medical costs.

You'd need to check about the coverage with Aetna.

 

Our health insurance only covers care in the USA or Canada.

So a BIG reason for our travel insurance when we are outside USA/Canade is for any medical coverage. If something really bad happened, that could add up to a *very* expensive trip.

 

 

There are Medigap policies that do cover medical costs out of the country. Blue Cross/Shield is one of them.

 

IMO, there is a big difference between travel insurance, health care insurance in foreign countries and worldwide ambulance insurance (known by several names). If you need to cancel your cruise due to a medical or family emergency, that is one case. If you are taken from the ship to a hospital in a foreign country it is a different scenario. And, there is insurance that will fly you home so you can be attended to by your local doctors/hospitals.

[canuck.qc]

I would never travel without cancellation in addition to medical insurance. As someone else mentioned, with parents in their 90's, 2children & 3 grandchildren...things happen. We've had a few instances for medical treatment while on vacation and were very happy to have it. We also thought that by paying with our Avion or World CC their insurance coverage would adequately cover our trips, not even close...especially in the price range of an O cruise.

[ronrick1943]

I always wonder why we pay travel insurance until last January, we booked the Owners Suite, plus air and hotels. Well a medical thing happened two days before the trip, and had to cancel. We did get a check for the trip for everything that wasn't refundable, a little over $30,000. Now I know why we buy it.

Rick

[I_r_a]

>We also now have an annual medevac policy, .....

We have the type that will transfer us (air ambulance/etc. if needed) from inpatient status anyplace at least 150 miles from home, to ANY hospital of our choice, anywhere.<

 

Not all insurance policies are this generous.

 

Make sure to read the fine print before purchasing .

 

Ira

[GeezerCouple]

>We also now have an annual medevac policy, .....

We have the type that will transfer us (air ambulance/etc. if needed) from inpatient status anyplace at least 150 miles from home, to ANY hospital of our choice, anywhere.<

 

Not all insurance policies are this generous.

 

Make sure to read the fine print before purchasing .

 

Ira

 

True.

 

There is another VERY important part of the medevac coverage we have, through MedJetAssist:

 

*WE* get to decide if we want to be transferred to "the hospital of our choice" if we are already an inpatient anywhere away from home.

 

There is NOT any need for a local doctor to declare their own facilities inadequate for the condition of the patient.

And the insurer doesn't "help" with the decision, either, other than to determine if the patient is too sick to be transferred.

 

They'll transfer someone by business class with a medical escort if that is warranted, or by air ambulance - whatever the condition of the patient warrants.

 

Hopefully we'll never use this. But if either of us ends up hospitalized away from home, WE want to make the decision about where the best care will be.

 

GeezerCouple

[JimandStan]

True.

 

There is another VERY important part of the medevac coverage we have, through MedJetAssist:

 

*WE* get to decide if we want to be transferred to "the hospital of our choice" if we are already an inpatient anywhere away from home.

 

There is NOT any need for a local doctor to declare their own facilities inadequate for the condition of the patient.

And the insurer doesn't "help" with the decision, either, other than to determine if the patient is too sick to be transferred.

 

They'll transfer someone by business class with a medical escort if that is warranted, or by air ambulance - whatever the condition of the patient warrants.

 

Hopefully we'll never use this. But if either of us ends up hospitalized away from home, WE want to make the decision about where the best care will be.

 

GeezerCouple

 

+1 That might be the most important part of ANY Trip Insurance policy.

Money, luggage and lost time are all incredibly incidental when you are faced with a health situation.