Help! Travel insurance
 

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 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 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.

For people your age who are in decent health, insurance is a bad buy. If you take 10 trips, it's virtually certain that you'd spend more to pay for insurance policies than you'd collect in payouts.

Now I am certain that people will chime in telling how they've collected when this or that happened. And it's equally certain that no one will chime in to say that they've bought insurance for every trip but haven't yet had to use it.

The math is simple. For every dollar of travel insurance that companies take in, they pay out between 35 and 55 cents. You've already got coverage for medical care in the unlikely case you need it; don't waste your money.

Start by deciding what coverage you want/need. Insurance companies will sell you anything, so make your own decision on this.

Personally, I only buy coverage for things I can't cover myself - so think med evac which can be very costly - $10,000 - $50,000 depending on what you need.

It sounds like you are both covered for medical - you really only need urgent care coverage. In general, I do think it is wise to have medical evacuation coverage, but I tend to travel to off-the-beaten-track places where there is little/no medical care available. You will be in Europe. And do you want to pay to be flown home if you are in an accident? I wouldn't but then we are all different. You don't need anything separate called repatriation.

You mention an annual plan - do you live in Europe? Europe is the only place I know of that offer annual travel insurance policies. Med Evac can be purchased on an annual basis in the US and Canada.

Check to see what your credit card coverage offers. Some of these policies are fine, some cover almost nothing.

(I'm with Don - in your shoes, I wouldn't buy insurance.)

I agree, although it depends on how high your prepaid costs are and how much it would hurt to "eat" the outlay if you had to cancel. Also, unless you have immediate relatives who are old or ailing, how likely are you to cancel?

On the other hand, I do think medical evacuation/repatriation is worthwhile and I don't travel without it. I think Kathie is low-balling the possible cost, and it only takes an unlucky step to cause an accident (just ask Kathie about her recent trip to Hawaii - hope the PT is going well, Kathie). For people your age, in good health and not buying medical insurance as well, it should be pretty cheap. I have only used mine once, but I was very glad I had it then.

(Thanks for asking, thursdays, I'm doing well)

As Thursdays says, start by looking at what costs you have already paid. Flights? Lodging? Are these non-refundable or not? Many times, airlines will allow you to cancel a trip and they will just charge you a rebooking fee of maybe $200 to take the trip at a different time. If you are staying in hotels, many hotels have no charge as long as you cancel 24 hours (or even less) in advance. Check into that before you decide you need travel insurance.

I was recently in Kauai, where we spend a month each year. I slipped and fell on a tile floor and shattered my shoulder and needed a partial shoulder replacement. I was just fine with having the surgery in Kauai and having recovery time where it was nice and warm. Not everyone feels that way, so assess how you would feel. Would you feel you had to be flown home for surgery? If so, then you do want Medical Evacuation insurance. If you would be fine with having surgery in Spain, France or Amsterdam, you may not want/need insurance. After all, your medical costs are covered by your medical insurance (and medical care is more usably priced in Europe than in the US).

While Thursday's accident was in Europe, she was traveling alone, which does make a difference.

As I said in the other thread, there is no one size fits all answer to the question of travel insurance. I will admit that in all of my years of traveling, I have never purchased travel insurance.

Just to be clear, Kathie, by travel insurance you mean trip cancellation/interruption, right? Neither have I, although it has been provided for me a couple of times when I've booked a tour.

[Glad to hear you're doing well! Had never heard of a shoulder replacement before, just knees and hips. Friend had a knee replacement in Dec, seems to be taking a looong time for recovery.]

The OP also posted separately on the Europe forum:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...e-551219-2.cfm

Yes, thursdays, I meant trip cancellation/interruption insurance. Thanks for clarifying.

I had only a partial shoulder replacement - there is also a total shoulder replacement if the socket is damaged - mine was not. Full recovery is expected to take a year.

A year! Will that affect your travel plans for the rest of the year?

I readily admit that I didn't always get insurance to cover medical evacuation or evacuation to a hospital of my choice or repatriation of my remains, partly because my early trips were to places in Europe where I had confidence in the level of care I would receive if needed. And then a friend's father died abroad, and she had to spend a small fortune -- which she really didn't have -- to "bring him home." I checked with my family, and learned that they would do the same, no matter the resultant financial burden. Since then, I've always gotten insurance to make sure that THEY don't have to bear the cost if I die abroad. Just something to consider....

BTW, I have purchased cancel-for-any-reason trip insurance a few times, depending on the total costs I've paid in advance. I did so a few times because I had elderly relatives who were not well, and I simply didn't want to find myself weighing my chance to see them for what could, but would not necessarily, be a last visit against the loss of my opportunity (as a person of limited means) to reschedule an expensive trip if a small fee would let me cancel. Too, my place of employment once tried to claim that I hadn't actually been approved for leave. My evidence won that time, and I became much more savvy about ensuring clear documentation of approval, while they became much more savvy about giving themselves wiggle-room.... Sigh.

Again, hoping none of us ever (or ever again) needs any of these insurance options....