kbmtravel

I am looking into getting travel insurance for the first time and, even after reading other posts on here, I could still use some advice from all of you! We will be taking a trip in September for 3.5 weeks to Spain, France, and Amsterdam and we are 25 and 27 years old. I am interested in getting insurance for trip cancellation, as we have prepaid the flights and apartments, and possibly medical coverage.

I called my insurance and I have international coverage as follows: emergency care is covered as in-network and they pay 90%, and non-emergency as out of network, where they pay 70% I pay 30%.
My fiance's medical insurance: He has international coverage for emergency care only.

Our credit card says it will cover lost luggage, accidental death, loss of limb.

I have begun looking at a variety of websites, (squaremouth, insuremytrip, Travel Guard, Allianz), but just want to get some feedback on what I should be looking for. With my own medical insurance, is that enough or should I obtain additional medical insurance? How much should I be insured for/what should I look for?

Should I skip additional medical insurance and instead get insurance for medical evacuation, one that will allow me to be brought to any hospital of my choice such as Medjet Assist? (I know that I need to read the fine print on this ) Should I also get medical repatriation?

I am not looking to get insurance for preexisting conditions as we are both pretty healthy and we made our first deposit a few months ago.

I don't think we are going to get an annual plan because we may only take one other international trip this year.

Thank you in advance, I am quite unknowledgable about insurance in general so this process is daunting.

Christina

Trip cancellation is a completely different topic than the rest of your post. So that's up to you to assess that risk. Why do you think you might have to cancel? Is your airfare really totally nonrefundable or can you cahnge it with only a change fee? Apartments often are, though, after some date. I would guess if you think the only reason you might cancel is some really very unlikely event (ie, you get hit by a bus at home and can't go), I probably wouldn't buy it, and wouldn't have at your age. Because that is the part that is going to cost you a lot, the premium will mainly be based on the amount of money you put in to cover those things.

Your medical seems pretty good to me, mine won't cover anything abroad. Yes, I'd say the only thing you need is medical evacuation. A typical policy seems to cover fees of abotu $50-100K, it seems to me. But that is only to the nearest appropriate facility--it won't cover you saying I want to fly to the US because I don't want to be here, if you are in an advanced country with good medical care.

The thing left out if you don't have insurance is some costs for delays, I guess. Hard to assess the worth of that.

If you just buy a policy to cover the medical evacuation on demand to wherever you want to go, it will probalby cost you about $75. If you want to cover your airfare and apt costs, that is what will cost you a lot, probalby about 10% of the amount you want to cover.

I never buy medical evacuation on demand myself to wherever I want to go. If I really really had to do that, I could pay it myself but I'd just as soon stay in Europe. YOu may feel differently, of course. The basic medical evacuation does cover repatriation BTW.

kja

Unfortunately, I don't think any of us can answer as it really depends on what risks YOU are willing and not willing to take.

BTW, many of the policies that I've reviewed that cover medical evacuation do NOT necessarily cover repatriation -- which, depending on the policy, could mean either return of your remains OR transportation to a hospital of your choice while still alive -- and that is, IMO, a rather important distinction! You absolutely MUST read the small print to get that information.

Good luck -- and hoping you never need whatever insurance you end up getting!

kja

The OP also posted separately on the Asia forum:
http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...m#last-comment

Gary_Mc

We bought travel insurance for several years, mainly for medical coverage. I finally had an accident in Germany and needed an ambulance ride plus ER care. I got some surprises. The ambulance (including emt care) and the ER were less than a 1/10th what it would have been in the states. My travel insurance was reluctant to pay for any of it. My wife's plan seemed thrilled to pay so little, no problem there. In the end I decided that I had been wasting money on travel insurance.

GinnyJo

For the past few years we have bought travel insurance through insuremytrip.com. I'd suggest you try to work through their website a bit -- checking off on the left margin the coverage items that are important to you. You'll get a better feel then for the language and some of the issues. I suggest that you then call and talk with one of their agents. We always have a good experience -- they are licensed, patient and knowledgable, and I am told they do not work on commission. We have only had one claim for cancellation for a work issue, and it was covered without any trouble.

alaskadiver

My insurance covers emergency treatment overseas but that's not the issue. Normally the way it works is that you pay out of pocket and then send the insurance the receipts. Most countries won't take a US based insurance upfront. Therefore, I also buy comprehensive travel insurance that covers medical care, including advancing the hospital money to cover an inpatient stay. Evacuation and repatriation is important if you are doing adventurous activities.

I second the recommendation to check out insuremytrip.com. or squaremouth. They are great comparison tools and they also have descriptions of what different terms mean if you are not sure.

flpab

kja, op stated why.
I realize that I have crossposted this on the Asia board, but I read in one post that the Asia board is an expert on the subject. I am interested in getting insurance for trip cancellation, as we have prepaid the flights and apartments, and possibly medical coverage.

I go to insuremytrip but have been very happy with https://www.allianztravelinsurance.com/get-quote

I insure my apartments and hotels if prepaid and enough to cover plane and train tickets. I don't get a ton of medical insurance because we are retired military and if I can get to a US base I am covered. I never buy through the airlines. I had to use it once for a death and the airline charged me change fees and day of flight price for the return ticket. I think my original ticket was 1200 and they charged me an extra 600. I had enough for the hotel the night before departure but not enough for anything else. If you buy through the site they will add more. Just save receipts.

kja

@ flpab -- right, and there's certainly no problem with crossposting. Because some of us find it very helpful to see what other advice a poster is getting, I linked the threads.