Trip Insurance- To get or not to get

[fridaythe13th]

Hey All,

 

Any advice on Trip Insurance? Trying to decide if this is something worth getting or not getting. Can anyone share any experiences that they have to help sway me one way or another. I am a bit of a "worrier" by nature and could use some advice, since this is all new for me and have never had to think or plan to get insurance when traveling. :o

 

Thanks in advance for the advice.

 

In order to have the insurance cover "pre-existing conditions" you must purchase it within 10-14 days of your initial deposit. You may be able to find that coverage if you call customer service at insuremytrip.com, though I'm not positive. I have piece of mind when getting insurance otherwise I would be constanting thinking something was going to happen just because I don't have insurance. I use http://www.STATravel.com as it is $48pp (regardless of age) for 8 days of coverage. I will check http://www.quotewright.com as another poster mentioned as they are even cheaper.

[angeljt]

Yes, we always get the insurance. You never know if you'll need it, but it's good to know you're covered if you do.

[garycarla]

We never buy the travel insurance. We also have a $1,000 deductible on home and auto policy to save money. We look to insurance for MAJOR problems, not the small ones. In the end, it saves us lots of money.

 

As to medical evacuation - we do have an annual policy for that.

 

I know most people prefer to buy it and that is their choice. I also know lots of people will buy the insurance but take a long flight the same day of the cruise and risk missing the ship. The logic is that insurance will cover them. WRONG - if you miss the ship, you still miss the ship. Sure, they will cover expenses, but you can not get back that lost day or days on the ship, ever.

[Pickels]

HOLD THE PHONE!! Is the trip insurance thru NCL the same insurance that you guys are talking about? Or, do we need to take additional insurance to protect ourselves. :confused: Thanks.... bob pic

[garycarla]

HOLD THE PHONE!! Is the trip insurance thru NCL the same insurance that you guys are talking about? Or, do we need to take additional insurance to protect ourselves. :confused: Thanks.... bob pic

 

You do NOT have to buy it from NCL and as most people have found, the insurance THEY offer is the most expensive and will only cover cruise type issues. Your own flights or hotels will not be covered.

 

Refer to the sites mentioned in earlier postings for other options.

[GMWT10A]

A Perfect example....we were booked to travel for Christmas and New Year's 2008 on Oceania...leaving Boston on 12/23/08...on 12/9/08 I had unexpected and unplanned Heart Valve replacement!! Had to cancel EVERYTHING!! Insurance ended up payment EVERYTHING including flights...to a total of almost $7,000!!

 

Who could just let insurance go with those expenses?? Best of all, the insurance company was so organized that as soon as they got my forms and a letter from my doctor, we got the check!! Less than 60 days total from time I entered the hospital to time the check showed up!!

 

AND, it is only in the past 3 years that we've been buying this...I thought all along we were saving money by going without it! :p

[bullydogsmama]

DH caught the dreaded norvirus on our last cruise and spent 1 and half days in the infirmary and the bill was 1,100.00. We would never travel without insurance. God forbid if you ever have to be medvac off a ship.

[Dukegirl5577]

Depends on the situation for me...for instance I am more likely to get insurance for a cruise than a land trip. I am more likely to get insurance for an overseas land trip than a domestic land trip.

Absolutely. I've never gotten trip insurance for a domestic land trip, nor for an overseas land trip (although my parents did get a rider that extended coverage abroad for me for medical on their health insurance when I spent a semester in Paris while in college, but the trip part was not insured).

 

I have, however, sometimes gotten trip insurance for cruises (although we didn't this time, for whatever reason). Why the difference?

 

Well, we don't take land-based packaged tours. When we take a land-based trip, we fly to the location, then check into a hotel, then take a train if we go to a different location in that country (or to a different country, assuming Europe). We do it all on our own. All of that can be canceled with minimal cost-penalty...generally less of a penalty than the cost of the premium. We can cancel our airfare and get credit on that airline (either full credit with some airlines or full credit minus a small penalty). We can cancel the hotel up to 4 pm the day we check in. We don't generally buy our train tickets until right before we use them.

 

So for that type of trip, we probably wouldn't take out travel insurance. But cruises don't allow you to apply the unused fare towards a new cruise unless you really, really luck out and get someone super nice in customer service, but they don't have to. That's what trip insurance is for.

BTW If you're not worried about trip cancellation, there are medical/evacuation-only plans as well

Yup. We have an annual policy/rider/whatever on our health insurance that covers this. We're not concerned about missing the trip, but rather protecting oursevles while on the trip. So we save a lot of money by insuring for what we're concerned about...and nothing more.

[Mrs. H.]

I always purchase insurance for cruise or land vacations.

We had to cash in about two years ago. DH threw his back out

in March (I think) so we canceled our trip to Florida for my birthday

in early May. When he was back on his feet, we grabbed a quickie

cruise for his birthday in mid June. We got all our money back for

our canceled air and timeshare.

 

I read here recently a guy who's father died a week or so before

scheduled cruised. No insurance. He was trying to get his money

back from cruiseline but to no avail. As much as people felt sorry for

his loss, they explained to him that he was not entitled to it since

if that was the case then nobody would buy the insurance and just

cancel knowing they would get their money back. There's a reason

why we purcse it. I read where people have bought it anywhere from

$50 to $250 pp. I pay $109 pp.

 

One more thing. I remember a girl while on a cruise to Bermuda fell off a moped and the ship charged her a lot to patch her up.

 

We both got the noro-virus on last year's cruise (our 25th anniversary),

but were too sick to leave the room. Way to weak to make a call

to the infirmary. We both just kept passing out in between running to the bathroom.

DH thinks that the noro-virus has a lot in common with the date rape pill.

[cruisechic50]

I would never leave the country without travel insurance! It costs a fortune to be airlifted for medical reasons. Also you never know what could happen to you or your family that would cause you to cancel before or in the middle of your trip. It is cheap for the piece of mind. Most travel companies invoke a pre-existing conditions clause if you don't book insurance within a specified time after your first deposit. cruisechic50

[Ms belp]

Hey All,

 

Any advice on Trip Insurance? Trying to decide if this is something worth getting or not getting. Can anyone share any experiences that they have to help sway me one way or another. I am a bit of a "worrier" by nature and could use some advice, since this is all new for me and have never had to think or plan to get insurance when traveling. :o

 

Thanks in advance for the advice.

 

Get it!!! For our next cruise we didn't purchase it and now I am facing maybe not being able to go (end of March).

 

The peace of mind is worth it, believe me.

[angeljt]

I would never leave the country without travel insurance! It costs a fortune to be airlifted for medical reasons. Also you never know what could happen to you or your family that would cause you to cancel before or in the middle of your trip. It is cheap for the piece of mind. Most travel companies invoke a pre-existing conditions clause if you don't book insurance within a specified time after your first deposit. cruisechic50

I totally agree that it's worth the peace of mind....

[bullydogsmama]

I recieved a check today for $1,107.77 from Old Republic insurance company. My husband got sick with the norovirus on the Jewel during our 14 day cruise in January and ened up in the infirmary for a day and a half. I filed the paper work on the 10 of feb and 14 days later I have a check! So was the $83.00 for the medical part of the insurance worth it? You betchua!:D

[cmh]

Hey All,

 

Any advice on Trip Insurance? Trying to decide if this is something worth getting or not getting. Can anyone share any experiences that they have to help sway me one way or another. I am a bit of a "worrier" by nature and could use some advice, since this is all new for me and have never had to think or plan to get insurance when traveling. :o

 

Thanks in advance for the advice.

 

I am thankful I bought the insurance for my cruise to South America in April. A week after making my final payment, I was given notice after working with my company for 40 years, that our jobs were being moved out of state. I cancelled the cruise and if I did not have the insurance, I would have lost $1000. I would definitely get it for longer cruises and those traveling great distances in case of sickness also.

[suzyed]

Trip insurance is like our AMEX cards - we don't leave home without it:D.

 

God forbid either DH or I had an illness or injury while cruising and needed to be medevac'd that alone can set you back over $25K:eek:.

Which is what happened to a friend of mine last year on a Panama Canal cruise. :eek: And he was only 39 years old at the time.

 

He was taken off the ship by the coast guard and then airlifted from Key West to Miami! He would have been dead in the water-literally-if he didn't have insurance!!

[suzyed]

Best money you will ever spend for something that you will (hopefully) never use. The medical evacuation portion alone makes it worth the cost. I take great satisfaction in throwing out those 50 pages of policy after a trip. (and yes, I DO print it out and take it with me!)

 

So do I!!!!