Travel insurance

Old Feb 5th, 2009, 06:26 AM
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Travel insurance

Is travel insurance recommended? If so, which company is best to use with good rates?

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Old Feb 5th, 2009, 06:46 AM
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If we book vacations several months out or during hurricane season we always include trip/hurricane insuracne. We usually go with Travel Guard. Check the fine print and pay the extra money to cancel for any reason, not just if the airline cancels your flight or the hotel closes.

If we book 4-6 weeks out and know we are going unless some kind of tradgey happens within those weeks, we chance it and don't purchase the insurance. Luckily, to date, we've never had a problem.
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Old Feb 5th, 2009, 08:42 AM
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IF YOU ARE NOT WORRIED ABOUT ILLNESS FROM A PRE-EXISTING CONDITION THEN MAYBE YOU WANT TO TAKE THE CHANCE. BUT, THE COVERAGE FOR HAVING TROUBLE WITH A REAL BAD BACK FOR WHICH YOU HAD PRIOR DOCUMENTED TRATMENT WOULD NOT BE COVERED UNLESS YOU TAKE OUT THE COVERAGE WITHIN 15VDAYS OF PUTTING DOWN YOUR FIRST DEPOSIT. ALSO, IF YOUR GOING TO A REMOTE AREA IN ASIA, SAY CHIANGI MAI, AND YOU BECOME SERIOUSLY ILL YOU WANT MAXIMUM MEDICAL AND EMERGWENCY EVACUATION INSURANCE TO SELECT TAKING A MEDI-JET TO BANGKOK OR HONK KONG FOR TREATMENT. SUCH A FLIGHT ON YOUR OWN COULD COST $10,000-$50,0000.
I EVEN HAD AN EVACUATION PROBLEM ON TORTOLA THAT WOULD HAVE COST ME $14,000+ IN MEDICAL AND FLIGHTS AND I PAID NOTHING.
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Old Feb 5th, 2009, 10:05 AM
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Travel insurance is like any other insurance you have to weigh the cost of the insurance againt the amount of financial loss you would incur if you had to cancel your trip. only then can you determine if it is right FOR YOU.

Figure out how much you lay out in non-refundable deposits, airfares, etc than price out insurance which covers the type of risks you wish to insure against.

Keep in mind that nowadays many resorts require only a credit card (and no actual money) to reserve a room and/or have liberal cancellation policies so your financial risk of loss might be small if you had to cancel. Also , most non-refundable airline tickets can be used at a later date for a chage fee of around $100PP so again your potential loss may not be as big as you think.

Do the math to find out if trip insurance is right for your particular situation.

Lastly, read the policy terms carefully to find out if the policy you are considering covers the types of losses you wish to insure against. Not all travel policies cover all risks.

You can compare policy terms and premiums for almost every major travel insurance policy available at: www.insuremytrip.com

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Old Feb 6th, 2009, 04:38 AM
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Well, I actually have first hand experience on this matter in the last 3 days.
We were supposed to be in Maui right now. We booked our trip through American Express and took out cancellation insurance that was written by Berkely. They told us that we could cancel even if I woke up Tuesday morning and decided I was having a bad hair day and we would be covered. Well, instead, I ended up in the emergency room on Tuesday morning - the day we were leaving. The doctors grounded me for at least 7-10 days and then I was told I needed to see a specialist.
We are currently waiting for the claims forms to be sent to us and they told us they would review them to see if they wanted to cover it or not! I called the Fairmont Hotel to cancel some things that we had set up and the front desk mentioned that it is their policy to charge us for the first two nights. So, we don't know how that will play out. Additionally, we assumed they were covering the airfare ($4,000.00) and others who have had travel insurance have indicated that airfare has not been covered under ther plans. So, we are waiting to see how we actually end up.
Also, you nedd to call them right away and if you forget or don't do it, they accept no responsibility.
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Old Feb 6th, 2009, 04:46 AM
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If you can afford it, buy it. We've had to use it & would have lost thousands of dollars without it. However, our travel agent told us there is a big difference betw coverages...so check out what they cover ahead of time. We've gone on plenty of trips without travel insurance though too & been fine. It isn't cheap to buy so it's always tempting not to.
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Old Feb 6th, 2009, 10:16 AM
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Like I said read the policy terms to be sure the travel policy insurance you purchase covers the risk you wish to insure against. Do not rely on what someone, especially a sales rep, tells you and do not ASSUME certain things will be covered. Make sure YOU read the fine print and policy terms carefully as that will determine what is and what is not covered. When it comes to getting reimburse for a loss it matters little what people told you or what you assumed. to borrow a quote from an All State Insurance TV commercial "Don't hope so, know so!"
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Old Feb 6th, 2009, 01:12 PM
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I have bought travel insurance several times and had to use it twice so I was glad we had it. The last time I went to www.tripinsurancestore.com where you can compare companies and get very easy to compare policy coverage and rates so you can select what you really need. I spoke to them by phone also and they were very nice and very helpful. I will use them again.
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Old Feb 6th, 2009, 01:42 PM
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RoamAround is correct about re-using your air tickets if you cancel prior to departure for a change fee that ranges from $75-$150 based upon the airline. But you have one (1) year from the date of purchase of the ticket NOT from the date of departure. I once purchased a ticket 8 or 9 months in advance because of an attractive air fare. Had I had to cancel it I woukld have had to use the ticket within 3 or so months of my cancellation, something that is not always feasable and that for that reason and coverage of pre-existing conditions it most often is worth it if it is an expensive flight and to a remote area as mentioned earlier.
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Old Mar 19th, 2009, 09:30 PM
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Travel insurance is the vital thing. so it is really need.
It is not stop the damage but it cover the losses in damage.
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Old Mar 21st, 2009, 01:38 AM
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By buying insurance, we are securing our life. so It is vital required.
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Old Mar 24th, 2009, 05:26 AM
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I don't have insurance. It is the biggest scam around. Ever notice that the insurance buildings are the largest in any large city?

You get better odds in Las Vegas.
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Old Mar 24th, 2009, 07:09 AM
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gb944; How much of a rip-off was it when TravelGuard covered my emergency evacuation costing slightly over $14,000 on a trip that I insured for $6500?
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Old Mar 25th, 2009, 07:16 AM
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Our trip that we booked to Maui in February was almost $15,000. We DID read the fine print and knew we should be covered. We just had some people that apparently didn't know what they were doing or talking about after we cancelled the day we were supposed to leave. We got all of our money back except the $368 we put out for travel insurance. It hurt way less to lose a few hundred than almost $15,000. We're very happy that we had travel insurance. I just got the ok to fly, so we booked another trip for next week to Antigua. With travel insuarnce, of course.
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