Planning of a trip to Scotland on Monday. BUT --- have a bad sore throat and been at home for 3 days. We have trip insurance (Travel Guard) and am wondering if anyone has used them and cancelled because of sickness. Did you need a doctor's note (like at school)? Di they want you to get one on the day of the flight, or before?

Of course, I hope I'm well enough to go - but in case I'm not. . .

We had trip insurance for a trip to Europe in 2005.
We purchased the insurance several months before our trip within so many days of our first payment.
Ten days before the trip, my husband had to have surgery. The doctor said do not go on this trip.
There was paperwork that had to be filled out by his office documenting the reason we were cancelling.
Had no problem collecting.
Good luck.

I don't have any experience with Travel Guard but AIG paid for our cancellation last September when my husband had to have emergency kidney stone surgery.

You will have reams of documents to be filled out by your doctor and they required printouts of doctor's notes, proof of hospitalization, copies of all documents showing what had been prepaid for our trip.

Hopefully, for your sake, it won't come to this and you still will be able to take your trip. Go to the doctor now and get well!

Hope everything worked out for you two with the surgeries.

At this point, my sickness seems to be a sore throat - albeit a painful one, and fatigue because of the virus causing this. So, no surgery (I hope!). Wonder if my less severe health problem would be cause for them to NOT pay up.

I don't think it has to do with severity. I think it has to do with your health professional's opinion on your ability to travel.

And you will need documentation from the doctor.

Hope you get better soon.

Read your policy, esp the fine print. I would tend to think that severity has everything to do with it....but I could be totally wrong!

And of course, I expect you will need to provide documentation. Otherwise, the abuses of the coverage would be widespread.

OK - Got the policy:

Sickness, Accidental Injury, or death of You, Your Traveling
Companion, Family Member, or Business Partner; which results in medically imposed restrictions as certified by a
Physician at the time of loss preventing Your continuedparticipation in the Trip. A Physician must advise cancellation
of the Trip on or before the Scheduled Departure Date.

Sounds like I just have to get a doctor's note.

I don't remember which company I had, but they paid up, no problem. The dr's office had a few simple forms to fill out. Severity was NOT an issue.

Cimbone - Thanks.

Was yours a cold, or something like that? (Sorry to pry, just curious.)

What made you decide not to go? Did you regret your decision? (Again, I'm prying; I know. Obviously, you don't have to tell me!)

Oh, no problem. It was just some kind of cold or bronchial thing.

I was supposed to be going to Costa Rica for a few days on my own at the end of the summer. I had just finished a hellish stint as a teen travel camp counselor, and this was to be a quick trip before I returned to teaching. Well, I had this cold, and I was just plain exhausted and all I wanted to do was stay home and rest.

So the fact is that, if I had been going with someone else and I was REALLY looking forward to it, I would have gone ahead with the trip despite the cold. Just don't tell my insurance company

<i>Just don't tell my insurance company</i>

That's fraud to my way of thinking.

You will absolutely need medical records to substantiate any insurance claim - including the MD saying that you are too ill to travel.

Nor sure how bad your sore throat is - but if the MD says it's a cold there's no way they would pay off on your canceling.

nytraveler, you're wrong. All it takes is the doctor to say you're too ill to travel. I had a cold and I was refunded.

Wasleys, I hope you're kidding. Fraud would mean the doctor lied for me (she didn't) and that I wasn't really sick (I was). All I said is that, had I truly wanted to go, I would have gone despite my sickness. More importantly, had I not been sick, I would have wanted to go.

And don't forget, in medical speak, a cold is never just a cold. Bronchial infection, sinus infection, etc. is what the doctor will write on the form.

You are canceling your holiday because of a sore throat? I'd have to be in Hospital not to go.

I once travelled to Paris with horrible bronchitis. I felt sorry for the woman who sat next to me on the plane. But, once I walked down the Champs Elysee, I felt like a million euros.

I only had to use trip insurance cancellation (it was through Expedia) for a death.

The Great and Powerful Thingorjus

Cimbrone,

The Common Cold is just a 'cold', not bronchial or sinus infection. It is not generally regarded as something requiring other than home treatment unless lasting for more than 7-10 days. My own GP would give short shrift to anyone trying to claim cancellation insurance because of a cold unless there were special considerations to take into account.

I am with Thing on this,, I would have to need a limb amputated before I would cancel out on a trip..
Seriously, get to a drugstore, buy lots of drugs, and go.. better sick there then here, especially if its just a cold.
If however you feel you are getting a real sinus infection get to your doctors and get a prescription for an antibiotic and a good decongestant, it would NOT be fun to fly with stuffy ears or nose.

I had to cancel a trip to Italy last year due to my husband being hospitalized with food poisoning. My insurance was with Travel Guard and I had no problems collecting. As others have said, there is a lot of paperwork to be filled out. You don't just get a note from your doctor - that doctor will have to complete paperwork from Travel Guard also.

After reading some of these posts, well, now I AM nervous.

I'm in real throat pain and have headaches and fatigue. How could I enjoy myself? We are to go to Edinburgh, Glasgow and then rent a car and drive to Isles of Mull and Skye and then back to Trossachs and fly out of Edinburgh.


If this throat thing moves to my ears (which it sometimes does) that would be extremely painful flying. I think most doctors don't think you should fly with a cold. This is not just a runny nose. AND, I don't want to be sick in a foreign country and spend my time in bed. But I also don't want to disappoint my husband by canceling.

Short story: My husband and I flew from Paris to Barcelona last year and two girls behind us were coughing, hacking, sniffling. I moved to an empty seat away from them. My husband stayed. VOILA! Two days later he was very sick in Barcelona. Wish those girls hadn't flown! Wish my husband had moved his seat!


Anyway, hopefully, it will all work out and I'll be well enough to go to Scotland.

I have a chronic problem with sore throats, it is not always strep but the pain in my throat and tonsils is excrutiating.
I had travelguard insurance and we were leaving for Ireland, my throat started to hurt and I was in great pain 2 days before my trip. I went to the Dr., a day before he advised not going, I contacted traveguard and sent my dr. all the paperwork that he needed to fill out and voila, got my money back.