Travel Insurance question please?

[Amy from Delaware]

insuremytrip.com is a broker for several different insurance companies, and most of those companies have more than one type of policy. Go to their website and you'll see! I personally found it very confusing to try to compare all those policies. I called their toll-free number and told them what options I was looking for, and they told me which policies I should look at. They will NOT recommend one policy over another, but they WILL help you narrow it down so you can make the comparison yourself.

 

The customer service at insuremytrip.com was very helpful, I recommend anyone call them with their specific questions about policies.

 

As far as pre-existing condition waiver, some policies have it, some don't. You have to look at everything to make sure the policy you get has everything you're looking for.

 

MY DH does have a pre-existing condition, so we asked a lot of questions about what the waiver actually means. We were told by insuremytrip.com that if we did have a claim, the insurance company would look back to the day we purchased the insurance to see if DH was "fit to travel" on the day we purchase the insurance. Since DH's condition tends to fluctuate, we actually went to the doctor for physicals and had him write notes that each of us was "fit to travel" on that day. That way there can be no doubt if we do have a claim. After we had the notes in hand, we came home and purchased the insurance.

 

This whole discussion has reminded me that you never know what's going to happen. Once on a flight between Newark, NJ and Pittsburgh, PA, the flight attendant was doing the requisite emergency procedures talk at the beginning of the flight. I will never forget these words: "In the very unlikley event of a water landing between Newark and Pittsburgh...:eek: " and then she told us how to use our seats as flotation devices. All I could think of was that we might crash land in someone's pool! :D

[MAHA]

On insuremytrip.com, there is one policy that covers pre-existing conditions and you can purchase it within 24 hours of your final payment. There is a clause that the pre-existing condition has to be stable for 180 days. That includes no changes in medication dosages. I have done this twice now as my husband has high blood pressure and a son has a low platelet condition. This way, I am not paying for the insurance when I first book the cruise as I tend to book very early. If I then need to cancel the cruis prior to final payment, I'm not out the cost of the insurance. We have always taken out the insurance for a major trip as you never know what can happen. In 2003, 4 days prior to our first cruise, our youngest son, 12, was diagnosed with Idiopathic Thrombocytopenia Purpura or low platelet count of unknow origin. We were sent to the local Children's Hospital that evening for him to be seen in the ER as his platelet count was dangerously low. Luckily, it was higher that evening from the blood test the day before, but we still weren't sure we'd be able to go on our 11 night Galaxy cruise. We had to go back Sunday morning to have him rechecked before they'd give the go-ahead. It was upsetting to all of us, but we knew that we had purchased the trip insurance. His count was higher on Sunday and the doctor let us go, provided that if he got injured, we'd seek immediate medical attention as he could hemorrhage. We left as scheduled on Monday and had a great time. He was fine during the trip, but 4 years later, still has the condition, although it has stabilized. Because of this experience, I would never cruise without the insuarance as others have said, you never know what can happen. Our son was a healthy 12 year old prior to being diagnosed with his low platelet problem.

[tally10]

We just got off the Constellation's Transatlantic. We are in our 50's and took our 28 year old daughter. We decided to take the insurance this cruse as we are hearing many horror stories about sickness, etc. My daughter went ahead and took it because it was very cheap for the third person in the cabin. Well, she is the one that got sick on day two and for the next 6 days until we reached land. Her bill was near $2,000. I got sick on the last day (I think it was a bad lobster) and my bill was only $200. Good think we took the insurance. The cost is minimal and it is a gamble. But if you read the reviews, you will see that it is well worth the risk to take it and spend the small amount for the policy.

 

randy

[Amy from Delaware]

On insuremytrip.com, there is one policy that covers pre-existing conditions and you can purchase it within 24 hours of your final payment.

 

Ooooh, which plan is that? I would like to look at it for future cruises.

 

Thanks,

Three Rings

[MAHA]

It is by CSA and is called Freestyle Luxe. When comparing the plans, the note for pre-existing condition waiver varies by state. WE live in Maryland and when I've purchsed the insurance previously, you could buy the insurance within 24 hours of final payment and pre-existing conditions were covered that were stable.

[Micknmin]

It is by CSA and is called Freestyle Luxe. When comparing the plans, the note for pre-existing condition waiver varies by state. WE live in Maryland and when I've purchsed the insurance previously, you could buy the insurance within 24 hours of final payment and pre-existing conditions were covered that were stable.

 

Thanks for the information. I am definitely going to check into that one.

[Amy from Delaware]

Thanks MAHA :) that's good info to keep in our files for the future.