Annual travel insurance vs. per trip insurance

[jlawrence01]

We will cruise for five weeks this year as well as 5-6 weeks of travel per year, mostly domestic.  At what point should we start to consider just buying an annual plan??

[JAVinKC]

I would think the annual policy would be way more cost effective.  A few years ago I purchased thru Alinaz.  I thankfully did not use but went on 2 cruises and 3 domestic trips and felt it was worth it.  The cruise insurance for those 2 cruises were almost as much as buying per cruise.  This is a good subject to learn from each other.  Looking forward to what you find out.

[InsureMyTrip]

 We don't currently offer annual comprehensive travel insurance plans on InsureMyTrip.com -  but there are annual medical plans which will only cover you while traveling internationally - if you need to seek emergency medical attention or emergency medical evacuation.  If traveling domestically, or if you're looking to cover the cost of your trips, one thing to think about is what your main concerns are.  If you're going to be traveling with kids on one trip, or taking a few expensive trips, it may be best to insure with separate single trip plans to cover the adequately.  One thing to look out for on annual plans is that the trip cancellation amount may be an aggregate limit.  This means the limit shown is the total amount covered for all trips - not per trip.  So, it's important to know how much your trips may cost from the get-go.

[Guest Dbld022]

I have purchase an annual plan for the past 5 years.  They basically cover you anytime you travel more than 100 miles from home.  I also purchase trip insurance through my travel agent for long trips since the annual insurance doesn't cover over 90 continuous days.  Also annual doesn't cover all of flight costs if the flight is over $1000 per person.  I have felt pretty well covered and can lose a couple of grand if it comes to that.  The largest hazard for us old folks is medical and medical transportation or body return.  You have insurance for major expenses & catastrophic incidents.

Don

[Morecruisesplz]

On 1/6/2024 at 10:21 PM, Guest Dbld022 said:

I have purchase an annual plan for the past 5 years.  They basically cover you anytime you travel more than 100 miles from home.  I also purchase trip insurance through my travel agent for long trips since the annual insurance doesn't cover over 90 continuous days.  Also annual doesn't cover all of flight costs if the flight is over $1000 per person.  I have felt pretty well covered and can lose a couple of grand if it comes to that.  The largest hazard for us old folks is medical and medical transportation or body return.  You have insurance for major expenses & catastrophic incidents.

Don

Can you suggest a company for 75 and 77 year olds. We mostly cruise.

[SubmarineMark]

Following

[Plum Happy]

On 1/8/2024 at 10:51 PM, Morecruisesplz said:

Can you suggest a company for 75 and 77 year olds. We mostly cruise.

I found this on google, I hope it helps.  https://www.usatoday.com/money/blueprint/l/best-senior-travel-insurance/?utm_content=154328613326&utm_term=kwd-299221184075&utm_campaign=20780998028&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIndDfwMPWgwMVIWtHAR2CggMcEAAYAiAAEgKSxPD_BwE

 

and this one.  https://www.marketwatch.com/guides/insurance-services/senior-travel-insurance/

 

 

Edited January 11 by Plum Happy

[GeezerCouple]

On 1/2/2024 at 3:01 PM, jlawrence01 said:

We will cruise for five weeks this year as well as 5-6 weeks of travel per year, mostly domestic.  At what point should we start to consider just buying an annual plan??

 

When we were first learning about travel insurance, we realized something very important about the annual plans with annual $$$ limitis, regardless of their terms.

IF one used up the coverage limits before the year was up, but while there were still trips to take during that coverage year, it would have been very likely that it would have been too late for us to get the coverage we wanted for a "per trip" policy for any trip(s) remaining in that coverage year.  And it would probably be too late to cancel the trip and get a full refund.

Not good...

This was pointed out when we were speaking with Steve (of TripInsuranceStore.com) rather early in our travel insurance experience.  I doubt we would have realized this otherwise.  There were other reasons why an annual policy was not going to work for us back then, but this reason wasn't obvious to us, at least not to us at that time.

 

GC

[rcrabb1513]

On 1/11/2024 at 6:18 PM, GeezerCouple said:

 

When we were first learning about travel insurance, we realized something very important about the annual plans with annual $$$ limitis, regardless of their terms.

IF one used up the coverage limits before the year was up, but while there were still trips to take during that coverage year, it would have been very likely that it would have been too late for us to get the coverage we wanted for a "per trip" policy for any trip(s) remaining in that coverage year.  And it would probably be too late to cancel the trip and get a full refund.

Not good...

This was pointed out when we were speaking with Steve (of TripInsuranceStore.com) rather early in our travel insurance experience.  I doubt we would have realized this otherwise.  There were other reasons why an annual policy was not going to work for us back then, but this reason wasn't obvious to us, at least not to us at that time.

 

GC

Read the policy carefully.  Some coverage's are per occurrence and others are capped for the life of the policy.  Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption covered by our policy is for the annual life of the policy whereas Rental Car Damage and Theft coverage is per trip. 

[CDNPolar]

Canada here which may have different rules and packages to those in the USA and other parts of the world.  

 

I am also ONLY referring to trip cancellation and interruption plans as we have medical insurance through our work.

 

We have purchased and looked at many annual plans, but for us in Canada this is a hedge decision and I will outline below:

 

One year - two trips

 

Trip A - Total Cost - $14,000.00

Cost of single trip cancel/interrupt policy $900.00

 

Trip B - Total Cost - $16,000.00

Cost of single trip cancel/interrupt policy $1,050.00

 

With the single trip packages above, the FULL cost of the trip is refundable.

 

Purchase an annual plan to cover both of these trips:

 

Cost for annual plan for 2 people $1,200.00 which constitutes a savings for sure.

 

BUT, the annual plans we have access to - that we have found to date - ONLY PAY OUT $5,000.00 per person max.  We would be out 4K or 6K or 10K if we had to cancel both.

 

The annual plans are simple and easy, but if your price per person is above 5K, then you are risking not getting the full cost back.

 

This is our experience but we have purchased annual plans with the exact restrictions.

Edited January 15 by CDNPolar