How much would you pay for trip cancellation insurance?

[cl.klink]

I've been quoted a policy that amounts to about 8% of the cost of the cruise and flight costs that the insurance is covering? The terms are OK. It still seems steep to me?

 

If the chances that a trip had to be cancelled was more than 8%, then this would be worth it. But, the chances are almost certainly less than that, I think.

 

What would you do?

 

- Joel

[david,Mississauga]

When we were purchasing insurance for each individual trip, we never paid more than 4% of the value of the trip for cancellation insurance. We always took a comprehensive policy that included medical and baggage insurance as well. The portion attributed to cancellation insurance was always the most expensive part. Fortunately we now have a reasonably-priced annual policy that includes generous coverage for cancellation and trip interruption. The insurance situation may be different in the U.S. from Canada, but one thing we are always reminded of is that trip interruption insurance should be included as well as cancellation.

[jegoodman]

There's a travel insurance website that compares plans and prices.

 

www dot insuremytrip dot com

 

You put in your dates, amount needed to be insured, age, etc. and you will probably get comparisons from 20 companies.

 

Since most travel insurance is age rated it's hard to say what % you should be paying. I usually pay 4 or 5 % and it's worth every penny. I was supposed to go to Thailand on a land tour in February. 6 days before I got appendicitis. Of course I was at 100% penalty and with insurance I got my money back. You never know what can happen!!

[cruisevers]

It all depends on your particular situation. Is their a chance you may have to cancel because of your health, health problems with a family member, job issues..etc. You have to look at all things that can happen including weather delays. Anything can happen.

 

We personally usually buy it if our investment is large enough and nonrefundable. There is a site that you can put in your info and it will bring back available policies and their prices. It can vary greatly and you have to look at each one and what they cover. Not sure I can mention it here but just google trip insurance comparisons and it should come up.

[cl.klink]

Good thoughts.

 

I found a website (insuremytrip dot com) that compares different polices and found a better deal with good terms, 5% of trip cost. If I take 20 trips and insure at this rate, I'd need to have one cancelled trip out of 20 to make it "break even." I kinda think I'd beat those odds, but I always loose at Vegas and my last NCAA bracket was something like 2nd percentile on the ESPN thing, so my predictive powers stink.

 

- Joel

[IndyDenise]

Good thoughts.

 

 

 

I found a website (insuremytrip dot com) that compares different polices and found a better deal with good terms, 5% of trip cost. If I take 20 trips and insure at this rate, I'd need to have one cancelled trip out of 20 to make it "break even." I kinda think I'd beat those odds, but I always loose at Vegas and my last NCAA bracket was something like 2nd percentile on the ESPN thing, so my predictive powers stink.

 

 

 

- Joel

 

 

We didn't take any type of trip insurance for our last HAL cruise. This was the first time EVER that we risked doing this. With the money saved we booked a side to side with Carnival .

 

We really lucked out with the travel gods, but we were willing to play roulette with our money.

[take us away]

8% does seem a bit high - but as previously said, it is age related with most companies. It also depends on what is covered like medical. If it is only trip interruption / cancellation, you should be able to do better on price ut check the web site. We always get fare and medical insurance, especially now that we are getting older as one never knows what will happen. My DH says 'what price for peace of mind'.

[janmcn]

The costs, when you look at the FINE PRINT, usually vary because of particular coverage: pre-existing conditions (and their "look back") usually adds the most, also the varying medical costs (we find it cheaper to buy a comprehensive annual medical coverage for all trips within a year), what other conditions will trigger your coverage (will it cover you if your family member is critically ill and you must stay? )

We've used our insurance twice: we had bought "cancel for any reason" for a safari which would have paid 75% of non-refundable costs, but it also would pay 100% of non-refundable costs if it was necessitated by a medical problem...which it was. Even though my husband had pre-existing hip problems, his hip needed to be replaced in the end, so that allowed us to get 100% of our costs back (significant.) Another time, my father became critically ill the day before a cruise that we had to cancel (using HAL Platinum)...no problems with canceling.

 

 

You do need to pay attention to the coverage you feel you need and just buy that. We usually budget 5-8% of TOTAL costs of the trip.

[cbr663]

We have always self insured against trip interruption and cancellation, but I am starting to wonder whether this is a good idea. Because of the risk of missing the ship, we always fly in a day early, but this adds costs to our overall cruise. We have an extra day of parking at the airport, pet sitting, transportation to the hotel, hotel room, meals and incidentals...it all starts to add up.

 

I am wondering if we should simply add HAL's Platinum Cancellation service to our reservation and fly in the day of? It seems that you can cancel for any reason with HAL's Platinum Cancellation service - can you actually cancel the day of the cruise, or is there a limit?

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

I am wondering if we should simply add HAL's Platinum Cancellation service to our reservation and fly in the day of? It seems that you can cancel for any reason with HAL's Platinum Cancellation service - can you actually cancel the day of the cruise, or is there a limit?

 

 

I believe with HAL Platinum you can cancel up to departure time on the day of the cruise.

[Randyk47]

We have always self insured against trip interruption and cancellation, but I am starting to wonder whether this is a good idea. Because of the risk of missing the ship, we always fly in a day early, but this adds costs to our overall cruise. We have an extra day of parking at the airport, pet sitting, transportation to the hotel, hotel room, meals and incidentals...it all starts to add up.

 

I am wondering if we should simply add HAL's Platinum Cancellation service to our reservation and fly in the day of? It seems that you can cancel for any reason with HAL's Platinum Cancellation service - can you actually cancel the day of the cruise, or is there a limit?

 

Personally the problem I have with flying in the day of the cruise has nothing to do with whether or not we've insured the cruise. For me it's the potential stress or angst of going through the whole hassle of delayed flights and potentially getting into the departure port late. Been there done that and vowed never to do that again. Sure having insurance takes away the threat of complete or partial financial loss and in that sense it helps but after months and months of researching, planning, booking, anticipating, etc., no amount of insurance is going to compensate.

 

I will say that our view of and use of insurance has changed. We rarely insured our Caribbean cruises. Things change. For one we've moved our focus to more distant itineraries and with that the cost of our vacations has gone up pretty significantly. Secondly, and it beats the alternative, we've gotten older and while our relative health is still pretty good it's quite frankly not as good as it was 20 years ago when we started cruising. The insurance we get now pretty much covers the whole spectrum of potential health, work, transportation, etc., problems and runs about 5% of our total costs.

[iancal]

We only insure for medical, evac. We self insure for the rest. In some instances, depending on which credit card we use, we do have some limited coverage. The only loss so far has been one night of a prepaid hotel.

 

We would never buy trip cancellation or health insurance from a TA or from the service provider. We prefer to deal directly with the carrier or with an insurance agent.

 

Depending on how far we are from the port or how difficult it is to get there, we always arrive at least a day early. We typically book 45 days or less, so that also serves to reduce our risk.

Edited April 9, 2015 by iancal

[RuthC]

We have always self insured against trip interruption and cancellation, but I am starting to wonder whether this is a good idea. Because of the risk of missing the ship, we always fly in a day early, but this adds costs to our overall cruise. We have an extra day of parking at the airport, pet sitting, transportation to the hotel, hotel room, meals and incidentals...it all starts to add up.

 

I am wondering if we should simply add HAL's Platinum Cancellation service to our reservation and fly in the day of? It seems that you can cancel for any reason with HAL's Platinum Cancellation service - can you actually cancel the day of the cruise, or is there a limit?

Keep in mind, though, that the HAL Platinum coverage will only pay 90% under the cancel for any reason. If the 10% that is not refunded exceeds those incidental costs of going a day early, then there is no savings.

[InTheWASide]

Depending on if there were pre-existing conditions allowed and if it was cash back or a "voucher" I would be willing to pay up to 10% of the trip cost if there weren't any predicted exclusions and it was money back in my pocket

[trout62]

4% last time and the time before at the website mentioned above. Hate to buy it but started doing it because I have parents and parents in law that are getting on in years...if I have to cancel, I suspect it will be because something happens to them.

 

FYI, cruise before last, my wife had a minor medical issue that required we go see the ship's medical folks. The cost was surprisingly low, but I thought what the heck, let's submit it.

 

The trip insurance paid but only after we filed with our regular BC/BS, and then they picked up what BC/BS did not cover.

 

I did not realize going in that it would work that way nor do I know if that is typical of most policies. YMMV.

 

Trout

[serendipity1499]

Years ago we travelled without insurance as both our medical costs were paid by our company insurance.. We never worried about cancellation or baggage insurance..

 

However, for the past 10 years, we've been purchasing insurance for Medical, trip interruption, baggage, cancellation etc..

 

Since most policies are age related & DH is over 80 we've had to purchase insurance through our Travel Agents.. Travel Agents are not required to divulge the ages of their Psgrs., but agree the policies are more expensive..

 

The Policies we normally purchase are Travelex/Travelnet policies & they run approx. 5.5 % to 7% of the fare paid depending on the itinerary & number of days..

 

However, the last policy for our 68 day cruise on the Prinsendam into Antarctica was 9%, the most we've ever paid.. :eek:

 

BTW we both were ill on this trip & required going to the ships medical Dept.. When we got home we submitted our claims to Old Republic on March 29 & received payment promptly on April 12, 2013..

 

Excellent service..

Edited April 9, 2015 by serendipity1499

[Hlitner]

How much would we pay for trip cancellation insurance? Zero! (well, you did ask). DW and I carry annual Travel Medical Insurance (costs us $350 a year total and covers the first 70 days of every trip we take) since we cannot gamble on medical emergencies. But we self-insure our trips (we are over $100,000 ahead having not paid for cancellation insurance over many years) since we can afford to take the risk of cancellation. Worst case on cancellation is that we lose the money we were going to spend anyway.

 

And by the way, we think many folks take a crazy risk with many cancellation policies. Unless you have a good medical insurance plan that will cover you when outside the country, your potential liability for medical is unlimited! And yet, many of the cancellation policies sold by the cruise lines only cover medical up to about $10,000. Not sure why anyone would pay lots of money to cover the trip cost and gamble on only 10 grand of medical coverage. So if you are determined to buy cancellation insurance you might want to look at non-cruise line private policies that offer better medical coverage. There are some decent web sites like insuremytrip.com, squaremouth.com, etc. where you can compare policies.

 

Hank

Edited April 9, 2015 by Hlitner

[iancal]

Agree completely. This is what we do.

 

Cannot imagine anyone seriously believing that $10K of medical insurance is sufficient. Our travel medical is direct with the carrier with a 5K deductible that serves to substantially reduce the premium.

 

We are not overly concerned about a 5K bill, it is the hundreds of thousands that concern us (especially for travel in the US) or the cost of medical evac. In either case 10K would not get us to the corner so to speak.

 

It is surprising though to experience medical care and the cost in a different country. In Feb, my spouse spent a day as an outpatient in a KL, Malaysia hospital as an outpatient. Absolutely first class medical treatment. She was a nurse. X-rays within an hour, MRI within 2 hours, 2 consults, prescriptions and a final goodbye bill of $625 USD (along with the X-ray, a CD of the MRI, and a hard copy consultants report). Would hate to know what it would cost in more expensive countries.

Edited April 10, 2015 by iancal

[holacanada]

Hello fellow cruisers !

 

From my part, the insurance is «included» in my job convention.

As a teacher here in Quebec province . This is an important privilege we have.

This include : Interruption/Cancellation/Lose luggages/Medical like body repatriated to Canada in case of sudden death.

 

Holacanada

Edited April 10, 2015 by holacanada

[brentp]

For those using insuremytrip dot com to find comparison pricing, you may also want to do the insurance pricing dance to get the optimal option for you!

 

To do that, add up the 'at risk' cost for a cancellation. This is not simply the total cost of the trip, it is only what would be non-returnable to you. In the case of most cruiselines, if you cancel prior to the cruise, taxes and port fees are refunded, so the 'at risk' cost is less. Airfares depends on the carrier. Southwest for instance offers a credit for a future trip which may or may not be useful to you.

 

Most of the insurance options have various base coverages that are independent of the trip costs (medical, evac, baggage, etc.). Look at the options with the 'at risk' trip amount and find the underwriter and option you feel best meets your needs.

 

Then, the pricing dance is done by trying different trip cost scenarios as many of the insurance options are priced in tiers (usually either at $500. or $1000 total trip cost points). You need to find the price points for that underwriter & option. You can insure for any coverage amount you want, the insurance company will only payout for claims what you can support with documentation up to the insured amount for the issued policy.

 

For instance, if there is a price break $50 less than your 'at risk' total, most times it will make sense to insure at the top of the lower tier and self-insure the $50. (as the insurance cost will be lower and in some cases may even cover the $50.). The flip side, if we are near the middle of the tier, we usually bump to the top of that tier for it doesn't cost anymore and gives us flexibility (like if we later decide to switch to pre-paid hotel bookings that are non-refundable).

 

Anyway, I wanted to point this out, for I don't think it is obvious at first.

 

In answer to the OP's question - we always insure our cruise vacations, but not for cancel for any reason (if we decide to book, we are going). We purchase for two reasons; medical/evac in foreign countries/sea and to cover for family emergencies that might require us to cancel or leave the trip early. Cost for us is ~3.5%. which is quite small for the piece of mind.

Edited April 10, 2015 by brentp

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

We pay 6.5% times the amount we are 60/61

[agabbymama]

I only worry about the amount of money I have invested at the time I purchase the insurance, not the full cost of the trip.

 

I recently booked a HAL 14 day cruise with air. The airfare was $257 pp. When I checked the mentioned insurance website, the cancel for any reason insurance was $275 pp. I opted to forego insurance as I was sure we were going. As others have stated, if I book a trip, I plan to go.

 

However, my husband had a stroke and the doctor advised no travel so when I cancelled I lost the paid airfare. First time in 8 cruises that I didn't buy the insurance and trusted to self-insure, but I figured I would lose that amount of money either way.

 

Everyone has to choose for themselves, the same plan doesn't work for everyone.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

I've been quoted a policy that amounts to about 8% of the cost of the cruise and flight costs that the insurance is covering? The terms are OK. It still seems steep to me?...What would you do?...

 

First, I would make sure that you are not comparing apples and oranges if comparing policies. Is it a cancel for ANY reason policy, or just for medical reasons? Does it cover just the traveler, or others? In other words, if a close relative became ill, would you be able to cancel? Or only if you became ill?

 

I paid approx. 8% for a combined medical and cancel for any reason policy through Princess for an upcoming cruise through them, just for reference. It provides a full refund for cancelling for medical reasons, and credit towards a future cruise if cancelling for any other reason.

Edited April 12, 2015 by SoCal Cruiser78
clarity

[Hlitner]

First, I would make sure that you are not comparing apples and oranges if comparing policies. Is it a cancel for ANY reason policy, or just for medical reasons? Does it cover just the traveler, or others? In other words, if a close relative became ill, would you be able to cancel? Or only if you became ill?

 

I paid approx. 8% for a combined medical and cancel for any reason policy through Princess for an upcoming cruise through them, just for reference. It provides a full refund for cancelling for medical reasons, and credit towards a future cruise if cancelling for any other reason.

 

Princess is a good example of why we do not recommend using cruise line cancellation policies unless you already have very good medical coverage (for outside the USA). The cruise lines generally stress cancellation provisions (which have a very limited liability) and provide inadequate medical coverage. The two Princess Vacation Protection packages only provide $10,000 or $20,000 (in the more expensive package) in total major med. And even their trip evacuation limits are somewhat low ($25,000 or $50,000). So perhaps a typical Princess cruiser pays X number of dollars to get $8000 (just an example) of cancellation protection. And then assume that person gets seriously ill in a Columbia and quickly racks up $80,000 in medical bills. Well guess what, if they do not have their own medical insurance they are going to be out $60,000 or $70,000 in out-of-pocket medical expenses. And yet folks will pay several hundred dollars to get that $8000 of coverage with little concern about the UNLIMITED liability of medical emergencies.

 

Hank

[iancal]

This is one reason, and the main reason, why we would never consider cruise line insurance coverage. The medical portion is often essentially useless. It provides a false sense of security similar to the warm and fuzzies that people get with cruise air. The high price/low coverage is another.

 

It really pays to understand exactly what you are buying. There are large commissions payable on these packages. These commissions can only be funded in two ways...higher premiums or a lower level of insurance coverage.

Edited April 12, 2015 by iancal