Should I buy travel insurance for a 5k cruise?

[cargo13]

Given your cruise is so far out, I would buy the trip cancellation coverages just in case something causes you to have to cancel.

 

But if its the IN TRIP coverages that are most important--medical, evacuation, trip interruptions, etc. anything that can occur once you depart your house....we found CSA TRAVEL PROTECTION does have a post departure plan but you have to call to speak with a sales agent. Its not on http://www.csatravelprotection.com

 

But I dont think the cost is radically different so we went for the comprehensive plan. Here is info on CSA: http://www.toptenreviews.com/services/insurance/best-travel-insurance/

[caroak]

I've never heard that Medicare pays for evacuation off a ship especially when at sea or in a foreign country which would be thousands of dollars. Our Medicare supplement pays for medical out of the county but it would not pay for evacuation other than maybe just an ambulance to a hospital.

 

Our Chase Sapphire card covers trip cancellation or interruption up to $10,000 per trip but not if was due to a pre-existing condition. It also does not cover evacuation which is why we buy a small policy which would cover that situation.

 

Carole

[rockdoctor]

I have seen reference to credit card trip cancellation coverage but never paid any attention to it - didn't want to be bothered. Downloaded Barclay's card benefit PDF and still don't think it's worth bothering with. Trip cancellation/Trip interruption is $1500 max.

[RachelG]

We never buy trip insurance. At this point ,the amount we have saved is considerable. If you have an am ex platinum card, the need for extra travel insurance is minimal. And our homeowners insurance covers catastrophic things (like death abroad and shipping home remains).

[azam71209]

cover you anywhere in the world...unlike "regular" Medicare...it also includes cost of evacuation off the ship. Because we have this type of medical coverage we have chosen not to buy trip insurance but "self insure" as mentioned by some other CCers. We also charge our cruises on credit cards that provide trip insurance. Obviously our personal decision. LuAnn

 

I would check this very carefully. Suppose you break your hip or have a heart attack on a shore excursion in a small coastal town in some far flung place. Medicare advantage plans may cover your trip to an emergency room but what then? The ship has left for the next port, you are alone in a foreign country, you don't speak the language and it looks like you may need surgery. That is not a good time to pull out your medicare advantage plan documents and figure out who will pay for what and where. How will you decide whether to let the local doc at the small hospital do the recommended surgery or whether to go by ambulance to the nearby big city that has English speaking doctors? How near is the closest American embassy? Do you know how to reach them?

 

And "covering" doesn't mean that the local hospital or doctors will be content to accept your word that your insurance will pay at some future date. You will need to pay each provider upfront and then seek reimbursement later. Be sure to get all bills translated into English before you leave the hospital or clinic and also make sure that the correct ICD codes are used in billing. Otherwise, your insurance back home won't pay.

 

Having been in that situation with travel insurance when my husband had a heart attack in Russia, I would say the "concierge" services actually mattered most. Travelguard got us to the American Medical Clinic in St. Petersburg, made the hospital and air ambulance arrangements from Russia to Finland when he was stable enough to travel, got us safely to a hospital that specialized in cardiac surgery, called my family, called me every day to check on whether we were getting what we needed. Paid for my hotel room, business class tickets home, arranged for an extended visa in Russia, notified the American Embassy in both Russia and Finland.

 

Maybe you could handle this sort of emergency without help but I certainly couldn't.

 

Mary

[mafw]

INSURANCE is a must.....never mind cancellation...Think if accident and need to ber AIRLIFTED..........Buy INSURANCE

[Petoonya]

Mary,

So sorry for your husband's heart attack and all that went along keeping him safe, but happy to hear that you got all the support you needed and then some. It boggles my mind when I hear of someone who is not interested in it. Maybe some are wealthy enough to afford being airlifted from a faraway destination. My retirement account couldn't take the hit.

Best to you.

Nancy

[floridatravelersforlife]

Mary,

So sorry for your husband's heart attack and all that went along keeping him safe, but happy to hear that you got all the support you needed and then some. It boggles my mind when I hear of someone who is not interested in it. Maybe some are wealthy enough to afford being airlifted from a faraway destination. My retirement account couldn't take the hit.

Best to you.

Nancy

 

 

That's the whole point of insurance. To avoid catastrophe. I had heart surgery. $200k. Pre medicare insurance paid for it although I was paying $1200 per month until I reqched medicare age. I was $80 k ahead by the time I reached 65. That was a good gamble.

[LHT28]

That's the whole point of insurance. To avoid catastrophe. I had heart surgery. $200k. Pre medicare insurance paid for it although I was paying $1200 per month until I reqched medicare age. I was $80 k ahead by the time I reached 65. That was a good gamble.

 

Where were you travelling to when you had your heart attack?

[buggins0402]

There are two components to travel insurance...medical and cancellation. Medical can run into figures that are many times more than $5K. You have to check against your current medical coverage to see what is covered (be sure to check for evacuation). This is your greatest potential economic loss....but some people have amazing coverage overseas.

 

As for cancellation...you loss is limited at $5K, so only you can ascertain whether you want to underwrite that risk. As mentioned some credit cards can mitigate this risk, if you don't have pre existing medical condition that are the reasons for your cancellation (but you have to dig into terms and conditions to make sure what is considered a pre-existing condition).

[Paulchili]

We are on Medicare but for travel we have GeoBlue annual policy for health insurance abroad and MedJet Assist for evacuation (2 year policy). Both are very reasonable.

Between those 2 and the CC cancellation policy ($10K max X 2 people for a total of $20K) I feel adequately covered. Splitting the cost of a cruise between Chase Sapphire and Citi Thank You cards this will add another $5K X 2 coverage for cancellation.

Fortunately I have not had to put it to a test yet and hope never to have to.

[Bowie MeMe]

MedJet Assist is a great insurance policy. Thankfully never tested it but from the experiences of others. This insurance can be bought through AARP and a couple on the same policy (family plan) is much cheaper through AARP than directly. Policy is the same. Best to get this insurance before you are age 70/

Edited September 6, 2016 by Bowie MeMe

[buggins0402]

We are on Medicare but for travel we have GeoBlue annual policy for health insurance abroad and MedJet Assist for evacuation (2 year policy). Both are very reasonable.

Between those 2 and the CC cancellation policy ($10K max X 2 people for a total of $20K) I feel adequately covered. Splitting the cost of a cruise between Chase Sapphire and Citi Thank You cards this will add another $5K X 2 coverage for cancellation.

Fortunately I have not had to put it to a test yet and hope never to have to.

 

We do something similar. We aren't yet fully retired, so we don't spend as much time on the road, so we buy a trip by trip Geoblue. I'm looking at adding a Medjet for our next trip, because an evacuation under Geoblue probably wouldn't get us to best available care from some pretty funky medical care countries.

 

For cancellation and other I'm willing to let the CC take care of that. We had one small test for luggage delay after the Insignia fire. Chase Sapphire paid.

[Caroldoll]

for the price of your cruise. They have told me they cover $10,000 each person. We only insure very expensive cruises. Soon, this December we have a very expensive cruise and one in June of next year. I will get the Med Jet evacuation insurance for that, which is one year, very expensive, but I think when you are going out of the country it is worth it.

[avalong]

If you have an AARP membership you can get a pretty decent discount with Medjet.

[PaulMCO]

We are on Medicare but for travel we have GeoBlue annual policy for health insurance abroad and MedJet Assist for evacuation (2 year policy). Both are very reasonable.

Between those 2 and the CC cancellation policy ($10K max X 2 people for a total of $20K) I feel adequately covered. Splitting the cost of a cruise between Chase Sapphire and Citi Thank You cards this will add another $5K X 2 coverage for cancellation.

Fortunately I have not had to put it to a test yet and hope never to have to.

 

Paul what policy do you have. Most Geo Blue plans require a primary plan (not Medicare)

[Paulchili]

Paul what policy do you have. Most Geo Blue plans require a primary plan (not Medicare)

 

Trekker - eligible under spouse's primary

Edited September 6, 2016 by Paulchili

[Jacqueline]

If it were me, I would not insure a trip that was priced at 5k. My chase sapphire card covers that.

I would get medical and evacuation insurance regardless. Usually less than $100 pp.

I just had $100,000 in medical expenses because I fell! Needed a helicopter and then a medjet. Two surgeries. A travel nurse and a $7k flight home.

And I am a very healthy fit person. Had been trekking but fell in a temple. You never know.

[titong]

If it were me, I would not insure a trip that was priced at 5k. My chase sapphire card covers that.

I would get medical and evacuation insurance regardless. Usually less than $100 pp.

I just had $100,000 in medical expenses because I fell! Needed a helicopter and then a medjet. Two surgeries. A travel nurse and a $7k flight home.

And I am a very healthy fit person. Had been trekking but fell in a temple. You never know.

 

Did MedJet Assist pay for your flight home? If so, did you have any problems with them? I notice that most of the people that post state that they have them for peace of mind, but that they personally have never had to use them. If you have used them what recommendation would you give them?

[Jacqueline]

Sorry for any misunderstanding. I did not use medjet assist . Based on my research,I would not recommend them. There is a lot that they do not cover and they have a rule where a cruise ship passenger must be hospitalized in the port of call before they consider the evacuation. Then it can take them several days. So you are stuck in a place with probably third world care. They also don't cover helicopters.

Twice we have used medical travel insurance and chose our hospitals. And once we were stable we were flown home ( hubby fell off a horse and broke six ribs).

I used RoamRight and they paid up. On Call is their provider for overseas emergency and they are much better than the other company.

Test for yourself for any company you choose. Call the claims department and see how quickly you can get to a live person. Do the same with their assistance company.

There is also useful information on the insurance board on cruise critic.

Edited September 6, 2016 by Jacqueline

[buggins0402]

Paul what policy do you have. Most Geo Blue plans require a primary plan (not Medicare)

 

I went to the Geoblue website and clicked what constituted a primary health plan and it showed that Gov't health plans, including Medicare were included. It also showed that VA and Medicaid did not constitute a primary plan.

 

Am I missing something? DH is on Medicare with a supplemental and I want to make sure I haven't been buying something that wouldn't cover him.

 

One thing I did learn is that if you have a small ER visit in a European country, don't let on that you have a travel policy and just see if they charge you.

 

I needed stitches in Spain last year and couldn't access my email where I had stored my travel insurance information (dumb of me), before going to the hospital ER. They asked for an insurance card...gave them my US health card, but told the admissions person it wouldn't cover it, we'd just pay cash. Instead she just hugged me and said "Today it's free".:). As side note, it cost me to have the stitches removed in the US, since I have a high deductible policy.

[lillyb]

On our cruise in January, my husband came down with "walking pneumonia." He was down in the infirmary twice a day to receive IV antibiotics and breathing treatments. Final cost for about 6 days of treatment--over $10,000! This was fully reimbursed by our travel insurance--Travel Insured through USAA. We never leave home without it.

[PaulMCO]

I went to the Geoblue website and clicked what constituted a primary health plan and it showed that Gov't health plans, including Medicare were included. It also showed that VA and Medicaid did not constitute a primary plan.

 

Am I missing something? DH is on Medicare with a supplemental and I want to make sure I haven't been buying something that wouldn't cover him.

 

 

Again it depends on the state and the policy. There is a Medicare section in each policy, with exceptions.

[titong]

If it were me, I would not insure a trip that was priced at 5k. My chase sapphire card covers that.

I would get medical and evacuation insurance regardless. Usually less than $100 pp.

I just had $100,000 in medical expenses because I fell! Needed a helicopter and then a medjet. Two surgeries. A travel nurse and a $7k flight home.

And I am a very healthy fit person. Had been trekking but fell in a temple. You never know.

 

I thought that there was no charge for the patient to be transported from the ship to the closest hospital by helicopter. Is that right?

[buggins0402]

Again it depends on the state and the policy. There is a Medicare section in each policy, with exceptions.

 

Thanks for clarifying Paul, I was scared for a while I was missing something.