*Look* - can anyone tell me what I have to insure?

[KyleClark]

I want to buy cruise insurance but only want to cover the non-refundable items. which of following are non-refundable? This is my TA's breakdown of costs.

 

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Port charges, taxes and fees are refundable in the event of a cancellation. Also, if you pre book and pay for excursions, dining, beverage packages, etc. that is also refundable.

[KyleClark]

Port charges, taxes and fees are refundable in the event of a cancellation. Also, if you pre book and pay for excursions, dining, beverage packages, etc. that is also refundable.

 

So It is safe to say in my example the $1058.68 is the only non-refundable portion of my price? What does NCCF stand for and how does that mean Port Charges?

 

Thanks.

[klfrodo]

Google can be your friend

 

http://travelindustrytoday.com/index.php?type=article&thisid=10779

[KyleClark]

Google can be your friend

 

http://travelindustrytoday.com/index.php?type=article&thisid=10779

 

So, according this quote I should be insuring the NCCF as it is part of the cruise fare?

 

"Speaking to an American audience in a Webinar sponsored by the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA), Vicki Freed, senior vice president of sales for Royal Caribbean International, said about non-commissionable fees, “It is what it is. It is the portion of a cruise fare on which we don’t pay commission.”

[6rugrats]

If you have a TA, you should be able to ask them. Make sure you include any nonrefundable fees your TA may add to total charges if you cancel.

[diane.in.ny]

And don't forget your air if you have any.

 

You probably don't have to insure that now but can insure after you have paid for your flights and you know the exact number

[GeezerCouple]

So It is safe to say in my example the $1058.68 is the only non-refundable portion of my price? What does NCCF stand for and how does that mean Port Charges?

 

Thanks.

 

You need to check the exact terms of YOUR trip.

 

Some costs are fully refundable until a "final payment" date.

 

In that case, get an insurance policy that only charges incrementally for the "non-refundable" costs, as they are added (or become non-refundable on different dates).

So IF you cancel and can still get a refund, then you won't waste the insurance premium for that amount.

 

Suggest you call

TripInsuranceStore.com

 

to get the specific type of policy that is best for you.

They don't charge the customer any commission; cost is the same if you buy policy from them or direct from the insurance company you select.

 

We've had them help with two relatively large claims.

[calvins5]

You are insuring your trip.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[PartyAllDaTyme]

I recently retired from Travel Guard, and would be speaking about TG retail policies, specifically.

 

You can insure whatever you choose to insure, but would likely want to insure all your nonrefundable trip costs, of course. If you want the pre-existing medical condition exclusion waiver, or the Cancel for Any Reason option, you MUST fully insure ALL nonrefundable prepaid trip costs. Double check to make sure port charges are refundable-- my understanding was that there may be certain situations where they are not. Taxes should always be refundable.

 

Shore excursions always presented an interesting problem. If you had to cancel, it should be no problem getting a refund, but if you had to interrupt the trip and couldn't give enough notice? It might turn out it was a nonrefundable cost. (That's if you book in advance. If you book during the cruise, it's not a prepaid nonrefundable cost.) So if you prebooked a shore excursion, had to cancel because you're leaving the cruise (say a family member with a pre-ex condition is now on their deathbed) and you didn't include the cost of the excursion and now won't get that back, you do not have the pre-ex waiver for any portion of the trip.

 

Precruise hotel stay? Did you actually pay in advance, or did you just provide a credit card to hold the room? If the latter, it's not a prepaid cost, so not necessary to insure it. If the hotel has a 24 hour cancellation policy, you can weigh the likelihood that you have to cancel and will lose the money against the higher premium. And, for longer stays, if the penalty is only one night's stay and not the entire booking, just include the cancellation penalty-- that's all that you'd get back in a claim, anyway.

 

Airfare? If you can and want to be able to change the tickets for another flight sometime and you're out a change fee, that's all you need to insure. It's the only portion of your airfare that's truly nonrefundable. Of course, that's all you get back then if you do have to cancel. Note that if you opted to purchase the insurance the airline offered, it's not necessary to also insure it on your TG policy, even if you need to cover pre-ex or CFAR-- all nonrefundable prepaid trip costs need to be insured, but not necessarily with the same company. No need to double-insure it.

 

Another thing to note is that the premiums go up in brackets. If the total per person trip cost is $2002.64, round it up to $2500-- it won't make a penny's worth of difference in the premium. This may automatically take care of those things that you weren't wanting to insure, anyway. If you don't have concerns for pre-ex conditions or CFAR, round it down to $2000-- the premium will be less than the $2.64 you might potentially lose.

 

So when do you have to insure these costs? Not until they're nonrefundable, right? Wrong, if you need the pre-ex waiver or for CFAR. They must be insured within a certain time (typically 15 days) of when the payment was actually made. Get the policy started for what's been paid so far; you can always modify the policy as you add additional trip cost and then pay the additional premium, if any. If you include those subsequent trip costs within the same timeframe as what the policy had to purchase in the first place, that keeps the pre-ex waiver and/or the CFAR option active.

[GeezerCouple]

I recently retired from Travel Guard, and would be speaking about TG retail policies, specifically.

 

You can insure whatever you choose to insure, but would likely want to insure all your nonrefundable trip costs, of course. If you want the pre-existing medical condition exclusion waiver, or the Cancel for Any Reason option, you MUST fully insure ALL nonrefundable prepaid trip costs. Double check to make sure port charges are refundable-- my understanding was that there may be certain situations where they are not. Taxes should always be refundable.

 

Shore excursions always presented an interesting problem. If you had to cancel, it should be no problem getting a refund, but if you had to interrupt the trip and couldn't give enough notice? It might turn out it was a nonrefundable cost. (That's if you book in advance. If you book during the cruise, it's not a prepaid nonrefundable cost.) So if you prebooked a shore excursion, had to cancel because you're leaving the cruise (say a family member with a pre-ex condition is now on their deathbed) and you didn't include the cost of the excursion and now won't get that back, you do not have the pre-ex waiver for any portion of the trip.

 

Precruise hotel stay? Did you actually pay in advance, or did you just provide a credit card to hold the room? If the latter, it's not a prepaid cost, so not necessary to insure it. If the hotel has a 24 hour cancellation policy, you can weigh the likelihood that you have to cancel and will lose the money against the higher premium. And, for longer stays, if the penalty is only one night's stay and not the entire booking, just include the cancellation penalty-- that's all that you'd get back in a claim, anyway.

 

Airfare? If you can and want to be able to change the tickets for another flight sometime and you're out a change fee, that's all you need to insure. It's the only portion of your airfare that's truly nonrefundable. Of course, that's all you get back then if you do have to cancel. Note that if you opted to purchase the insurance the airline offered, it's not necessary to also insure it on your TG policy, even if you need to cover pre-ex or CFAR-- all nonrefundable prepaid trip costs need to be insured, but not necessarily with the same company. No need to double-insure it.

 

Another thing to note is that the premiums go up in brackets. If the total per person trip cost is $2002.64, round it up to $2500-- it won't make a penny's worth of difference in the premium. This may automatically take care of those things that you weren't wanting to insure, anyway. If you don't have concerns for pre-ex conditions or CFAR, round it down to $2000-- the premium will be less than the $2.64 you might potentially lose.

 

So when do you have to insure these costs? Not until they're nonrefundable, right? Wrong, if you need the pre-ex waiver or for CFAR. They must be insured within a certain time (typically 15 days) of when the payment was actually made. Get the policy started for what's been paid so far; you can always modify the policy as you add additional trip cost and then pay the additional premium, if any. If you include those subsequent trip costs within the same timeframe as what the policy had to purchase in the first place, that keeps the pre-ex waiver and/or the CFAR option active.

 

No surprise, the above is very good information, and would apply to many - BUT NOT ALL - other insurance company policies.

 

We'd suggest that you contact Steve [not the same Steve posting above] and his crew at

 

TripInsuranceStore.com

 

But please CALL them, don't rely upon the online summaries, which are just that... summaries.

The folks there can quickly narrow down the suitable policies after just a bit of time hearing what your concerns are (do you want medical? cancellation? etc.)

 

One major addition to what was posted above has to do with the "waiver of pre-existing condition exclusion", meaning "you want coverage for health conditions that might otherwise not be covered".

 

We need that, in part because given our complicated medical histories, we are pretty sure that an insurer would search through our medical histories in case of a claim, and find *something* to quarrel about :(

More importantly, we likely would have had something that would be uninsurable, due to treatment/med change within the previous x months.

[Just one of the blessings of aging, and we ARE blessed, in that we can travel like this!]

 

There is at least one company (CSA) that will allow "waiver of pre-existing condition exclusion" if one waits until FINAL PAYMENT (but be careful, as this is defined specifically!) of the largest trip amount (e.g., cruise or airfare, typically).

 

However, it will NOT allow the CFAR if coverage isn't started until that late date.

 

In any event, just make sure that you understand the specific terms of your specific policy.

 

We almost always get the insurance started immediately upon paying the first deposit (and we use Travel Insured, because the terms/costs are best for us; it might be different for you).

 

IF we waited until the 14 or 21 day deadline after initial deposit, it MIGHT be the case that one of us was not "fit to travel" on the day we needed to start the coverage.

 

In that case, even though the deposit was refundable... we probably wouldn't want the refund; we'd want to take the future trip.

So if we already had the insurance started, then there'd be no problem if there was some temporary medical situation... we'd still have the coverage in place.

 

We found this out "almost" the hard way.

We had a last minute emergency cancellation, for an insured trip.

We did get all of our money back.

 

However, when we went to reschedule the trip and get insurance, Steve (of TripInsuranceStore.com) quickly asked if DH was fully recovered yet.

DH was *not* fully recovered yet, so we could NOT take out the insurance.

We had to cancel that trip and get our deposit back.

As SOON as DH was "okay to travel", we got a written note from the physician that day to document his condition ("just in case" it would ever be needed in the future), and we planned the next trip, made a deposit, and started the insurance coverage.

 

NOTE: Had we been doing this online, we probably would NOT have realized the potential problem, which could have resulted in a total denial of any claim. Steve "caught" that, and that's when we knew even more that we had a great resource in his knowledge, and also how he paid attention to our situation.

As he's gotten to know us, there have been times that he's suggested something different to consider about our coverage, given the specifics of a particular trip.

And he's assisted with both of our [rather large] claims. I'm sure we would have been paid anyway, but his input made each a smoother and faster claim.

[PartyAllDaTyme]

Correct, there are (with most TG policies) three requirements for the pre-ex waiver. Purchase within the proper time frame, everyone on the policy must be healthy enough to travel when the insurance is first purchased, and fully insure all nonrefundable prepaid trip costs within a certain amount of time of incurring those costs.

 

All the information regarding policies is contained in the Description of Coverage (sometimes referred to as the Certificate of Insurance), which you must acknowledge having read and understand prior to purchasing. If you purchase over the phone, you're strongly encouraged to read it, noting any exclusions that may apply. The language is written as plainly as possible, but it still is worth calling and talking to a licensed agent to explain things.

 

As far as "searching for something to quarrel about", I can tell you that Travel Guard took the position of paying a claim if at all possible, and even looking for reasons to pay a claim that the insured may not have thought of. They wanted people coming back to buy more insurance. I had one where a couple had to cancel because her cousin died. "Cousin" is not in the list of family members, but when I asked if anyone else was traveling with them, her parents were. I noted that the definition of "family member" included the insured's or traveling companion's grandchild, so in this case the cousin would be considered a family member. I could have simply said "Cousin is not a family member," but we were trained and encouraged to look for things they may not have thought of. It doesn't surprise me that your Steve asked if DH was healthy enough to travel when you went to get the new policy-- I would've asked that, too. Having said that, not all agents are equal, though, and some may not have thought to ask.

 

As far as what a pre-existing condition consists of, my description was always this-- "In the past 180 days [some plans or states have different periods], has anyone been diagnosed with something new, treated for something they had been diagnosed with in the past or treatment was recommended but they declined (check-ups are not treatment), had any changes to a prescription or medication, or had symptoms that would have prompted a reasonable person to see a doctor and they ignored them? If the answer is no to all, there is no pre-existing condition to be concerned with." Someone could have had a heart attack seven months prior, but as long as they recovered right away, did not need any followup treatment or changes in a prescription, that's no longer considered a pre-existing medical condition. Not exactly the language in the DOC, but I was never marked down for explaining it that way. From what you described, it sounds like there was a pre-ex condition. Not quibbling, but you either meet the criteria or you don't.

 

BTW, with the My Travel Guard policy (available in most states, terms can vary with other states), it has the "purchase before final payment" option for both pre-ex and CFAR, but there's no limit on the size of the final payment or what it's for. If someone was beyond their final payment, I'd suggest small things that they could still book-- a cheap shore excursion, a Gray Line tour of a city, even hiring a limo to take them to the airport or cruise port. As long as there was some paperwork showing a payment made on the same date or later as the insurance was purchased (and before the trip started or something occurred for which they needed to file a claim), they were good. I had some folks accuse me of digging up a loophole, but that's exactly what it was, and we were encouraged by Travel Guard to suggest it.

 

I want to make clear that I no longer work for Travel Guard, don't own stock, am not here to promote them-- there are many other companies out there that may meet your needs-- but since I have personal experience, I'm happy to pass that along.

[richmke]

>*Look* - can anyone tell me what I have to insure?

 

You insure what you can't afford to loose. IMHO, it is pretty expensive to insure $1,500 of trip cost. If you had to loose it, would it really "hurt" you?

 

What I am getting at is: Medical.

 

Most regular health insurance policies you have through work do not cover outside the United States (or whatever your home country is). If you have an accident or illness in a foreign country, the costs can be huge. That is a low probability, high cost event. Exactly what you want to insure - something you can't afford to pay, and is relatively inexpensive to insure.

[Flatbush Flyer]

Whatever you are thinking of doing, at least compare it to Travelex comprehensive policies (e.g., Select Traveler), which are among the very few "primary payer" travel/Int'l med/medevac agencies.

 

Also, consider a credit card with good travel perks. For example, United's Explorer VISA will cover travel related purchases (e.g., airfare, hotels enroute, etc.) made with their card (max is about $10K).

[SeasideMemories]

Going to add my recommendation to at least check out the TripInsuranceStore.com website.

 

You enter in your trip information and they have a great comparison chart showing several different carriers with their associated details, including links to the actual policies so that you can look them over. Also a great Q and A blog that may be able to answer many of your questions about when you need to buy and conditions you need to meet for pre-existing waiver, what you need to insure, what will be a waste to insure because it won't be covered anyway, etc. You can give them a call and they will get your information and assist you in choosing a company they think is a best fit or gather your own info and give them a call with questions or to book!

 

We have used them twice now and they have been great! The first time they answered our numerous questions before we booked. Second time we still had some questions but are finally getting the hang of it! Costs no extra to go through them and has been a very positive experience for us!

 

And I would agree to call them rather than just booking through them online as they can give you advice that is better tailored to your individual circumstances!

Edited March 7, 2016 by SeasideMemories

[Happy2cruise]

Going to add my recommendation to at least check out the TripInsuranceStore.com website.

 

You enter in your trip information and they have a great comparison chart showing several different carriers with their associated details, including links to the actual policies so that you can look them over. Also a great Q and A blog that may be able to answer many of your questions about when you need to buy and conditions you need to meet for pre-existing waiver, what you need to insure, what will be a waste to insure because it won't be covered anyway, etc. You can give them a call and they will get your information and assist you in choosing a company they think is a best fit or gather your own info and give them a call with questions or to book!

 

We have used them twice now and they have been great! The first time they answered our numerous questions before we booked. Second time we still had some questions but are finally getting the hang of it! Costs no extra to go through them and has been a very positive experience for us!

 

And I would agree to call them rather than just booking through them online as they can give you advice that is better tailored to your individual circumstances!

We use them for all our travel insurance and agree they can advise you for the best coverage for your own particular needs. IMO, they are the best;)