Trip Insurance Recommendations

[Al Horner]

Any recommendations for or votes against any particular trip insurance companies or plans? Thanks!

[twangster]

That's not an easy question to answer because we all have different needs and different reasons for buying insurance. 

You need to research each plan and look at the items covered and the amount of coverage for each.  Some want medical coverage, some don't need that.  Some want trip interruption coverage, some don't need that.    Some want medical evacuation coverage, some don't want that.  Etc. and so on.

[princevaliantus]

Before deciding on travel insurance,  make sure you do your due diligence as they are all not the same. Below is a brief pros and cons synopsis and is not all inclusive:

The pros: Travel insurance is for emergencies. If your flights are cancelled or you miss them, your insurance can help you get your booking costs back. If you lose your baggage, or if the travel company you’ve booked through goes bankrupt, you may be compensated. Be sure to save the original copy of your airline ticket, hotel booking etc. for filing your claim. If you contract malaria on holiday or have a gall bladder attack while feasting on Peking Duck on your Chinese vacation, your medical insurance policy may not cover you out of network. That is where your travel insurance company can step in to help with your treatment costs. This can greatly lessen your financial load. Cancelled trips due to natural disasters, bad weather or faults in cruise ships can also be covered by travel insurance. If a tsunami causes your hotel to close or if an earthquake causes flight cancellations, you can find yourself paying out of pocket. But if you have travel insurance, it can help you meet most of the costs, if not all of it. Many policies will also provide coverage for stolen, lost or damaged luggage, which can otherwise set you back by hundreds of dollars. Consequently, when you’re buying travel insurance, it’s always a good idea to make sure that your luggage is covered in the policy.

The cons: However travel insurance can be costly. Despite its benefits, if you have a smooth holiday you will have spent a small fortune on insurance that you won’t need. Sometimes, the price you pay for insurance may not outweigh the cost of your trip. If your trip costs $3000, you spend $150 on travel insurance and then don’t file a claim you’ve already spent 5 percent of your trip budget. If you hadn’t bought the insurance, you could have spent that money on your holiday instead. As a result, many people don’t find the cost worthwhile, and take a chance with the weather, illness or lost luggage. After all, if you are reasonably healthy with no existing medical conditions, a truncated weekend holiday to California or cancelled flights from Amsterdam will hardly be a financial blow. In fact at times, travel insurance may be completely unnecessary. You may not need it if you’re on a weekend golfing trip to Florida. Another problem with travel insurance is that it may not cover everything that you need coverage on. The cheapest insurance usually provides the least cover, and it may not make sense to spend a hundred dollars on coverage that can’t protect you when something goes wrong. Therefore it’s important to read the policy carefully and make sure that the particular issues you want coverage for is covered in it. For instance, if you’re carrying expensive equipment on a policy that only covers $500 worth of it you need to look for another policy. Sometimes, it may make more sense to purchase insurance at lower rates through your credit card company if you’re paying for your holiday with your credit card. If you’re booking through online travel websites, you’ll find that many of them throw up a trip insurance check-box. You can use these, or you can go to other companies online like Allianz Travel Insurance or Travel Guard and get quotes to compare.

The trick is to shop around as you would any other insurance, so you get the best prices and the most coverage. Therefore when you plan your next holiday, decide whether you can afford to lose the cost of the trip if you have to cut it short at the last minute. Does the policy cover what you need, can you afford the premium or is there anyone in the group or family you are traveling with liable to be sick on your holiday? Ask yourself these questions, and then decide whether you need travel insurance or not.

[KJ1231]

I would add that depending on how much you travel, there may be some other options. We caught the cruise-bug last year and booked a cruise for the holidays in December. Then I booked a surprise cruise for my wife and I that we just returned from AND was thinking about a cruise for the entire family which I eventually booked. On top of that I knew we were going to rent a house on Isle of Palms in South Carolina at Easter. I ended up getting an annual plan which was a whole lot cheaper than individual policies for each trip.

[copteacher]

I booked a cruise on HOS in April 2020 and thought about purchasing travel insurance since it was so far away and there is plenty of time for things to happen. As I was researching my options I came across a discussion (sorry but I can't remember the site it was on) that spoke about certain credit cards offering cardholders travel insurance as a perk of having their card. I always use the same card to book my travel so I called their customer service line and was informed that not only do they provide travel insurance simply because I use their card, but the coverage was better than the plans I was considering. I use the Chase Sapphire card but I have seen that many other cards offer this perk. Just a thought! 

[SolariumSnoozer]

I posted the following previously, but its worth posting it here again:

There is some good information at this site that explains some of the differences in travel insurance and directs you to different companies depending upon your priorities.  It's not a one stop site but I found it a good place to start.

https://www.reviews.com/travel-insurance/