Where do you buy your insurance?

[joanne1]

After reading some of the threads today it looks like the topic of conversation but I have been meaning to ask this since our last cruise. We are in our mid 40's and have always bought insurance 'just in case'. Not only in case of a family member's illness but what if you injure yourself and need medical help off of the ship. Can you imagine $$$$$$ !!

 

We just booked our Spring Break cruise today, through KKruises again, and we usually just go to our local travel agent to buy insurance within the week. I know there are companies that I can buy through on the Internet but how are their reputations? Have you any recommendations? I didn't ask for a price this time and can't remember all of the details but isn't Princess Insurance really high?

 

Thanks for any info you can send my way!!

[waterrats]

I buy my insurance through TravelInsured.com. Your TA will most likely have a brochure for this company. I have purchased from them in the past and the rates are low. Have not had to make a claim so not sure how easy that would be.

[TWA4Ever]

We have always used Access America (either buy online or by phone). Have never really done a rate comparison, but do know that they pay claims promptly.

[LARGIN]

Check here for travel insurance rate comparisons..

 

http://www.insuremytrip.com/

[Desertbelle]

Joanne, Kim always includes insurance when we book. She recommends Global Alert through the M.H. Ross company. We haven't needed to use insurance, and I hope we never do, but their prices are reasonable and their coverage looks good.

 

Drop Kim an email or give her a call and tell her to add your insurance, and she will take care of it for you. :)

[Blackrobe]

Insuremytrip will give you a good comparison. We almost always use CSA Travel Insurance. The rates have been comparable and when we did make a claim they were virtually hassle free which is a big plus in my opinion!

[Crowsie]

We use Travelex.

http://www.travelex.com

[J18ktleo]

We use Access America...the first time we bought insurance was in 2001 and never ever anticipated needing it but it was after 9/11. Well, on our cruise my husband (perfectly healthy man) became deathly ill and almost bled to death internally...the ship was re-routed to Grand Caymen where he was hospitalized for a week and then we were flown home. Access America was FANTASTIC! They paid for everything including the $1200 one way home airfare/pp, the days missed on the cruise, hotel and taxi and meals for me...and said they'd cover any medical our insurance did not pay...that was and will continue to be the best $100 I spend for every single trip we take! :D

[Deluzy]

I just wanted to say thanks for sharing your experiences with insurance. That helps novice cruisers like myself. :)

 

J18ktleo, hope that your husband is alright - how scary that must have been!

 

~Suzy

[Coral]

We always purchase Access America. I had to use it once when my mom had bypass surgery and we cancelled a cruise a week before we were scheduled to leave. They paid the claim within 10 days of receiving it.

 

I thought filing the claim would be difficult - it wasn't. Very pleased with my one claim experience with them.

[Kallen]

I think that Canadians may be limited to other selections. Our TA recommends RBC (through the Royal Bank, if you can imagine), but it's also available at CAA and there might also be a Blue Cross package, among others.

[bostonlass]

WOW. I just did the insuremytrip quote thing and I'm getting quotes ranging from $105 to $215!!! When I purchased insurance for the cruise that I took with my daughters in April I don't believe I paid more than $125 and that was a more expensive trip than this one in October will be. Have you all notice that rates are on the rise lately??

[Pam in CA]

Rates vary, depending on the amount you pay for your cruise and the age of the people being insured. So, one person's insurance quote is not going to be the same as another's.

 

I do the Princess Care Gold since as a Platinum member, I get the "Gold" for the regular insurance cost. With 90- and 91-year old parents, I couldn't cruise without insurance.

[bostonlass]

Pam, (and next-door neighbor) do you find it's the same price purchasing through Princess as through other sites?

[Pam in CA]

I bet we really are neighbors since I live in Vinnin Square. :)

 

I don't know the prices of non-Princess insurance but if you purchase Princess insurance, it should be the same whether you buy it through your local TA, Kim, or anyone else. I've gotten quotes on the same cruise and cabin category from several TAs and the insurance was always the same.

 

Getting an average insurance cost is comparing apples to oranges unless you're getting the quote for the exact same thing. For instance, someone might pay $89 for a cruise in October but for a December holiday cruise, it might be double that since the actual cost of the cruise is a lot more. Doing a little math by dividing the cost of insurance by the cost of the cruise, I've come up with an average of about $0.08/cruise dollar for insurance for my Princess Gold insurance. I dont' know how that compares to other insurance brokers.

[Pam in CA]

OK... I've just gone to that insurance quote website noted above and the prices quoted range from $199 to $399 based on the cost of the cruise portion of my cruise. I'm paying $269 (don't faint, this is for a 21-day, 3-continent cruise) which is mid-range among the quotes but it's Princess Care Gold which should be the equivalent of the premium insurance policies. Access America mentioned above is quoted as $296. When I added in the cost of the flight to the quote, the insurance quotes were in the $400 - $500s. Since I'm including Princess air (flying from BOS to Manaus, Brazil and back to BOS from Rome) in my cruise price, then my Princess insurance looks like a Filene's basement bargain!

[amagar]

Hi,

 

I posted this earlier in response to a princess-gone-bad post, but this thread is specific to what I had to say, so here's another version.

 

I learned last month that insurance rates vary widely based on age. It was quite a bit cheaper for my husband and I (30s) to price and buy insurance through a private travel insurer. We're paying about $140 for a 10-night Princess cruise (for both of us). But the same company quoted rates for my parents (who are healthy and in their 70s) at twice that. They ended up taking the Travelocity insurance offered when we booked through Travelocity...apparently that company charges a standard $99 per traveler regardless of age.

 

Also: Read the fine print. If you wait to buy your insurance more than 14 days after you book, many travel insurance policies will not cover pre-existing conditions. That would include anything you take medication for, which could be pretty expansive. If you take cholesterol-lowering medication and you have a heart attack are you covered? I don't know.

[bostonlass]

Pam - OMG!!! I lived at Crowne Point from age 12 to about age 25!! I think we actually moved in when condo's first came of age and the thing was just built! I actually live about three blocks from the old Foodmaster, going towards Swampscott. (any idea what's going in there next?)

 

but I digress :)

 

Luckily neither of us have a preexisting condition so I think that we're ok there. I guess I'm over my sticker shock now. He of course is not the conservative type so he doesn't understand why we both need it. I'm just not the gambling type so I think I'll take the plunge and hope we won't have to use it since it's our honeymoon!

 

small world :)

[AmyinGA]

Joanne: Mike and I have used Travel Insured. Our TA sent us their form, but you can go online. She usually sells them because they have one of the better policies in dealing with issues related to terrorism.

[zurmoly]

Global Alert, through Kim

[J18ktleo]

I did check on the pre-existing conditions clause for a girlfriend that was going with me last year...Access America said (for them) it means that if there is any change in your health/condition/medications in the past 60 days that would qualify. However, for someone with a condition that they are on long term treatment for but have been stable for the past 60 days, it was not considered pre-existing! :rolleyes:

Suzy, thanks for the good thoughts, my hubby is o.k. and we've sailed quite a bit since then but always with insurance. We've been very lucky cuz our TA gets us amazing prices and we use frequent flyer miles for the air so our insurance costs have stayed around $120-150 for up to a two week trip.

:o

[BJS]

Sounds like it is similar to Princess.

 

For some reason people feel that Princess will not cover pre-existing conditions or is always more expensive. We like the 90% credit, for the non-refundable part of the fare, we'd get if we had to cancel for any uninsured reason. Having the Gold insurance upgrade, for being Platinum, makes it an even sweeter deal.

 

Princess words their coverage in a confusing way but ....

 

Princess insurance does cover pre-existing conditions but will not pay for Trip cancellation & interruption or Medical except for emergency evacuation or repatriation of remains if: Within 60 days before insurance begins (when premium paid) (a)the condition manifests itself, worsenes or becomes acute or symptoms develope causing a person to seek a diagnosis, care or treatment (b) required taking a prescribed medication, unless condition for which the medication was taken remained controlled without any change in required medication or © required treatment or treatment was recommended by a doctor.

 

If you want the total insurance coverage to be in affect, for a pre-existing conditon, just make sure when the premiums are paid for the insurance that none of the above have occured within the previous 60 days. If you want to wait for final payment or anytime between booking and final payment just remember the 60 day rule for pre-existing conditions.

 

Many healthy younger people never consider an appendicites, broken bones, etc. that might require them to be air-lifted at a huge expense without insurance.

[tispwisp]

My husband and I use TravelGuard. We've been very happy that so far we haven't had to use it...

[Hornet]

We use Travel Guard also. Their rates are based on the cost of your trip and your age. Rates start at $24 on up. Haven't had to use their insurance yet ~ thank goodness.

 

Five years ago we had a trip scheduled to Hawaii and bought insurance (don't remember from where). Three weeks before our trip my perfectly healthy DH had heart surgery and we had to cancel. We got all our money back minus the insurance cost. I would not go without it.

[Pam in CA]

Bostonlass... wow, small world indeed! I'm in the older condos off Loring Ave, across from Grosveneur (sp?) Park. I have no idea what's going into the Johnny's Foodmaster space. I'm sorry to see that fail. My company is in Marblehead, right next to where Tony's burnt down last year so we're waiting to see what goes in there and when the sports bar goes into the former Rio Grande.

 

Talk about insurance! Tony's was a long-time Italian/pizza restaurant in a 150 year-old brick building that housed several businesses on 3 floors. A fire started in a wall behind the ovens and the whole building went up. The mortar burnt out and they had to pull down the building. Only three businesses had insurance. The others lost a lifetime of work. One woman was re-doing her house and had stored all her home stuff at work. 18 months later, Tony is still fighting with his insurance company so he can rebuild. Apparently, he didn't take into account the building code changes if he had to rebuild in his insurance. Among the things that saved our (wood structure) building is that there was a foot of snow on the rooftop. By morning, there wasn't any snow within a block.

 

Talk about digressing! Well, it does have something to do with insurance. :)