The Last Straw?

[ARandomTraveler]

27 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

What company do you use that gives a cash refund for cancel for any reason?  The company the cruise line sells issues a FCC, not a cash refund.  Jetblue sells Allianz and is cancel for any reason insurance but does not pay out if there is a declared pandemic.  Why not share the name of the company you use so we all can actually look at the policy since it pays out during a known pandemic.

I got it from a company through insure my trip dot com. It’s called the iTravel Insured Travel LX plan. You can read the 30 page terms and conditions here:

[reallyitsmema]

8 minutes ago, ARandomTraveler said:

I got it from a company through insure my trip dot com. It’s called the iTravel Insured Travel LX plan. You can read the 30 page terms and conditions here:

 

Your link is broken.  I did go to their website and they are not even selling this plan currently.

[ARandomTraveler]

37 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

What company do you use that gives a cash refund for cancel for any reason?  The company the cruise line sells issues a FCC, not a cash refund.  Jetblue sells Allianz and is cancel for any reason insurance but does not pay out if there is a declared pandemic.  Why not share the name of the company you use so we all can actually look at the policy since it pays out during a known pandemic.

 

9 minutes ago, ARandomTraveler said:

I got it from a company through insure my trip dot com. It’s called the iTravel Insured Travel LX plan. You can read the 30 page terms and conditions here:

For some reason when I click on that it looks dark. Here’s a screenshot of the cancel for any reason clause, showing that if you cancel at least 48 hours before the trip, you can get 75% of your money back. You can also visit the insurers website which states the same thing. 
 

https://www.travelinsured.com/news-resources/current-events/2020/02/24/coronavirus-2020

 

[ARandomTraveler]

9 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

Your link is broken.  I did go to their website and they are not even selling this plan currently.

Yeah it looks like they stopped selling it, that’s unfortunate. I bought mine back in 2019 the day I booked my trip. They are still offering coverage to currently insured people who want to reschedule a trip they’ve already insured. I did look at insure my trip to see if there are other cancel for any reason policies available from other insurance companies, and there are.

 

I never buy the insurance policy offered by the cruiseline, I always buy my own 3rd party policy. 

Edited April 9, 2020 by ARandomTraveler

[reallyitsmema]

2 minutes ago, ARandomTraveler said:

Yeah it looks like they stopped selling it, that’s unfortunate. I did look at insure my trip to see if there are other cancel for any reason policies available, and there are.

 

From what I could find, this was a primary insurance, typically booked for adventure trips and missionary trips.  Minimum covered cost was $5,000 from what I could find.  Not applicable to many cruises in my experience.  What was the cost of this policy?

[ARandomTraveler]

7 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

From what I could find, this was a primary insurance, typically booked for adventure trips and missionary trips.  Minimum covered cost was $5,000 from what I could find.  Not applicable to many cruises in my experience.  What was the cost of this policy?

Mine was bought specifically for the cruise and air portion of our trip. It does have a lot of coverage for adventure activities though, which I liked because we do a lot of excursions on cruises. It even covers damage to jet skis. It’s one of the better policies I’ve seen offered. It only cost me $251 total to cover 2 people. Only about $4500 of our trip was non-refundable (and that’s the amount I bought the coverage for). The rest was either still in “refundable” phase or was hotels and stuff that could still be cancelled without a loss. We were taking a trip to Asia, land based for 2 weeks that would end with a cruise. We’re not taking any portion of the trip anymore, but didn’t have to make a claim on the cruise portion because I cancelled before final payment, and the deposit was refundable.

Edited April 9, 2020 by ARandomTraveler

[reallyitsmema]

3 minutes ago, ARandomTraveler said:

Mine was bought specifically for the cruise and air portion of our trip. It does have a lot of coverage for adventure activities though, which I liked because we do a lot of excursions on cruises. It even covers damage to jet skis. It’s one of the better policies I’ve seen offered. It only cost me $251 total to cover 2 people. Only about $4500 of our trip was non-refundable. The rest was either still in “refundable” phase or was hotels and stuff that could still be cancelled without a loss. We were taking a trip to Asia, land based for 2 weeks that would end with a cruise. We’re not taking any portion of the trip anymore, but didn’t have to make a claim on the cruise portion because I cancelled before final payment, and the deposit was refundable.

 

So, you keep posting on threads that you got everything back under this policy and you never even filed a claim?  How do you know they would cover you fully with a declared pandemic if you never even filed a claim?

[nbsjcruiser]

On 4/8/2020 at 2:18 PM, mayleeman said:

I believe the cruise lines did everything they said they did, and I believe they relied heavily on experts. But how foolish does any passenger have to be to think anyone could guarantee they could not get sick on a cruise? Did you see all of the "I refuse to lose my money" and "I won't let the threat of getting sick stop me" posts throughout CC in Feb and early March?

 

I would love for a single one of those who got sick or quarantined to come back and admit, "My God was I dumb!" Not to ridicule them, but so that they can serve as a lesson and caution for future guinea pigs deciding to test the virus-proofing ability of cruiselines after this is over.

 

Was not losing a deposit, or even a full fare, worth 3 weeks of misery?

 

 

I posted this the other day in another thread : Guess I wasn't too far off when I said to DW the other day that if cruise lines decided to open tomorrow and start cruising out of FLL, there'd be a lineup of morons as far as the eye could see waiting to get on a ship.
 

Someone responded  almost immediately with: "we would". You cannot fathom the stupidity in that response. Mind you, they'd be the first one interviewed on TV whining and crying that the mean old cruise ship is letting them suffer needlessly and they'd be begging for help.

 

 

[MoniMommy]

9 minutes ago, nbsjcruiser said:

I posted this the other day in another thread : Guess I wasn't too far off when I said to DW the other day that if cruise lines decided to open tomorrow and start cruising out of FLL, there'd be a lineup of morons as far as the eye could see waiting to get on a ship.
 

Someone responded  almost immediately with: "we would". You cannot fathom the stupidity in that response. Mind you, they'd be the first one interviewed on TV whining and crying that the mean old cruise ship is letting them suffer needlessly and they'd be begging for help.

 

 

I really don't know when I will cruise even after they open. What would make you feel uts safe to go? Just curious as I really have no idea. 

[nbsjcruiser]

2 minutes ago, MoniMommy said:

I really don't know when I will cruise even after they open. What would make you feel uts safe to go? Just curious as I really have no idea. 

I can only see one scenario for cruising - a vaccine. Once they have a working vaccine, I'll line up and get one. In fact, later this spring I will probably book a cruise for summer or fall 2021 in the hopes that there will be a vaccine by then. If there is then maybe I get a really good price on a cruise. If there isn't, then I'll cancel it before final payment date. I can't even see myself getting on a plane again unless there is a vaccine. 

[ARandomTraveler]

52 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

So, you keep posting on threads that you got everything back under this policy and you never even filed a claim?  How do you know they would cover you fully with a declared pandemic if you never even filed a claim?

That’s not what I said. What I said was that I didn’t have to use it for the cruise portion.  I said I covered my cruise and my air, which was about $4500 (which I stated because you said it looked like the policy was only good for vacations above $5,000, which isn’t true because my coverage was for less).

 

I don’t know why you’re so adamant about refusing to believe that an insurance policy exists that actually pays back cash.

 

 

Edited April 9, 2020 by ARandomTraveler

[reallyitsmema]

2 minutes ago, ARandomTraveler said:

That’s not what I said. What I said was that I didn’t have to use it for the cruise portion.  I don’t know why you’re so adamant about refusing to believe that an insurance policy exists that actually pays back cash.

 

I never said the policy didn't exist.  I do know I had two policies with cancel for any reason coverage and one only paid a FCC and the other would not pay during a declared pandemic and had the date of the declaration at the top of their website, basically saying not to bother.  You have told everyone how prepared you are for everything and had yet to provide any information to actually help people book a better policy in the future.  The policy you booked isn't even being sold currently, who knows about the future, but you keep telling people that this policy is out there, when in fact, it isn't.  Other policies with similar coverage are also not currently available to purchase as they have also been pulled.  Just trying to get some actual, factual information for others to make informed purchases in the future.

[ARandomTraveler]

13 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

I never said the policy didn't exist.  I do know I had two policies with cancel for any reason coverage and one only paid a FCC and the other would not pay during a declared pandemic and had the date of the declaration at the top of their website, basically saying not to bother.  You have told everyone how prepared you are for everything and had yet to provide any information to actually help people book a better policy in the future.  The policy you booked isn't even being sold currently, who knows about the future, but you keep telling people that this policy is out there, when in fact, it isn't.  Other policies with similar coverage are also not currently available to purchase as they have also been pulled.  Just trying to get some actual, factual information for others to make informed purchases in the future.

They might not be available right now, but they were available when these people booked their trips (assuming they booked them prior to the pandemic). Anyone booking a trip right now, if they can’t find or buy insurance for it, does so at their own risk. I’ve offered MANY times that insure my trip dot com offers these policies. Last I looked, I was still able to find one. Not the one I bought specifically, and they were more expensive, but that’s to be expected. 
 

I learned about this insurance by reading cruise critic several years ago during hurricane Maria. That was in 2017. There was plenty of information available to anyone who reads cruise critic before they booked these trips for this year. It may not be helping anyone whose already lost their money right now, but other people can learn for the future. That’s how I learned - by reading story after story after story from people crying about how it wasn’t fair that all they could get was an FCC, if anything at all. And then reading post after post after post from people, who, like I am now, made it clear there was an insurance option that would have covered the majority of those people.
 

For the airfare portion of my trip, I actually had to call and speak directly with the insurance company because my airline was offering a credit and I wanted the cash back instead of the credit.  Since the airline was offering a credit, I was worried it made my airfare “refundable” and ineligible for the cash from insurance. But that didn’t turn out to be the case. The insurance company gave me a form where I declined the airline credit (and it actually states in my policy that I can choose one or the other) so I could get the cash. Yes it’s only 75% but it’s still cash. 
 

They don’t cover pandemics or viruses as a covered reason where I could get 100% back, but it’s not excluded under the cancel for any reason portion where just have to say “I don’t want to go anymore” and get 75%.

Edited April 9, 2020 by ARandomTraveler

[ARandomTraveler]

19 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

I never said the policy didn't exist.  I do know I had two policies with cancel for any reason coverage and one only paid a FCC and the other would not pay during a declared pandemic and had the date of the declaration at the top of their website, basically saying not to bother.  You have told everyone how prepared you are for everything and had yet to provide any information to actually help people book a better policy in the future.  The policy you booked isn't even being sold currently, who knows about the future, but you keep telling people that this policy is out there, when in fact, it isn't.  Other policies with similar coverage are also not currently available to purchase as they have also been pulled.  Just trying to get some actual, factual information for others to make informed purchases in the future.

And actually - I created a whole post warning people to buy cancel for any reason insurance, but it got moved over to “ask an insurance question” by the moderator of  the royal Caribbean board. I tried. People are more inclined to argue about why it’s too expensive or why New Yorkers can’t buy it than to actually go and just buy it. 

Edited April 9, 2020 by ARandomTraveler

[reallyitsmema]

9 minutes ago, ARandomTraveler said:

They might not be available right now, but they were available when these people booked their trips (assuming they booked them prior to the pandemic). Anyone booking a trip right now, if they can’t find or buy insurance for it, does so at their own risk. I’ve offered MANY times that insure my trip dot com offers these policies. Last I looked, I was still able to find one. Not the one I bought specifically, and they were more expensive, but that’s to be expected. 
 

I learned about this insurance by reading cruise critic several years ago during hurricane Maria. That was in 2017. There was plenty of information available to anyone who reads cruise critic before they booked these trips for this year. It may not be helping anyone whose already lost their money right now, but other people can learn for the future. That’s how I learned - by reading story after story after story from people crying about how it wasn’t fair that all they could get was an FCC, if anything at all. And then reading post after post after post from people, who, like I am now, made it clear there was an insurance option that would have covered the majority of those people.
 

For the airfare portion of my trip, I actually had to call and speak directly with the insurance company because my airline was offering a credit and I wanted the cash back instead of the credit.  Since the airline was offering a credit, I was worried it made my airfare “refundable” and ineligible for the cash from insurance. But that didn’t turn out to be the case. The insurance company gave me a form where I declined the airline credit (and it actually states in my policy that I can choose one or the other) so I could get the cash. Yes it’s only 75% but it’s still cash. 
 

They don’t cover pandemics or viruses as a covered reason where I could get 100% back, but it’s not excluded under the cancel for any reason portion where just have to say “I don’t want to go anymore” and get 75%.

 

2 minutes ago, ARandomTraveler said:

And actually - I created a whole post warning people to buy cancel for any reason insurance, but it got moved over to “ask an insurance question” by the moderator of  the royal Caribbean board. I tried. People are more inclined to argue about why it’s too expensive or why New Yorkers can’t buy it than to actually go and just buy it. 

 

See, the more I ask you about the policy, the more actual information we are getting about what it covers.  Whether you said go to insure my trip or not does not tell us what policy you have, so no one was able to try to find the actual policy until now.  Now, we know it is no longer for sale, so if someone wants to book this policy, they can't currently.

 

As far as arguing, people asking for information is not arguing.  You may chosen to get very argumentative with anyone who doesn't have the policy you bought or corrects you because they live in NY and can't even get what you are telling them they should have purchases.

 

It comes down to empathy and understanding.  People are stressed out over everything that is going on in their lives and are trying to get the most cash back from all of these cancellations as FCC are not accepted at the grocery store.  Telling people they should have been better prepared adds nothing.  None of us know each others situation and it is no ones business anyway.  Offering factual information and not generalizations helps people as they try to deal with all of their cancellations.  

[ARandomTraveler]

23 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

It comes down to empathy and understanding.  People are stressed out over everything that is going on in their lives and are trying to get the most cash back from all of these cancellations as FCC are not accepted at the grocery store.  Telling people they should have been better prepared adds nothing.  None of us know each others situation and it is no ones business anyway.  Offering factual information and not generalizations helps people as they try to deal with all of their cancellations.  

I get what you’re saying. And it’s true, I have been getting annoyed and less empathetic the more complaints I’m reading from people, mostly because a good majority of them are refusing to accept any responsibility for their part in losing money.
 

People who chose FCC over cash and now are mad that the FCC has an expiration date, people who are saying they knew they could buy insurance but chose not to because they’ve “never needed it before” and think that they should get something other than what they contracted for just because a lot of people are in the same situation...No.

 

People need to take some ownership and admit they took a gamble and stop expecting someone to come in and save them and blaming a “big corporation” for their choices. Maybe I’d maintain a bit more sympathy than I have anymore. I do feel for people who are struggling, but I also hold people accountable for spending money on a trip that they might need back if they lost their job because they don’t have enough money in their savings account to cover them. It’s just irresponsible. Plain and simple. Empathy, sure, but humoring excuses from people who refuse to take ownership...I’m over it.

Edited April 9, 2020 by ARandomTraveler

[mugtech]

Damn.  Read the title, thought we were having a good old fashioned argument about the last plastic straw.  Turns out just to be another boring insurance thread.  We now return to our regular program.

[MoniMommy]

1 minute ago, mugtech said:

Damn.  Read the title, thought we were having a good old fashioned argument about the last plastic straw.  Turns out just to be another boring insurance thread.  We now return to our regular program.

I hate paper straws

[mugtech]

I never use straws, they put extra air into the digestive system.   I have no preference as to which straws I don't use.