karens

Hi all. We never purchase any kind of insurance before we travel (not even extra rental car coverage), but I am looking into emergency medical evacuation insurance.

I read the book The Travel Detective and he highly recommends this insurance.

Do you all purchase any insurance before you travel? If so, what kinds?

ggnga

Yes, yes. Go to insuremytrip.com and put in your info. You can then pick the most coverage for your money.

Patrick

No, I don't. Sooner or later I may have a really major problem on a trip and it will cost me lots of money. I'll use the thousands I've saved over the years by not buying ANY travel insurance for months and months of trips.

metellus

The reason that companies offer insurance is that it is a good bet for them and a bad bet for you. I'm always amazed when people take compresensive auto insurance for $14/day. Who in his right mind is going to pay the equivalent of $5110/year for insurance?

clevelandbrown

I think most of the costs of traveling can be self-insured. However, the cost of medical evacuation is so high that few of us could self-insure that. When you realize that medical evacuation involves the cost of a private plane (probably capable of trans-oceanic flights), a flight crew, and medical caregivers, the cost can easily exceed $35,000 (and that is a dated figure; today's costs are probably much higher). This type of insurance is well worth buying.

cmt

It depends on the trip. I do if I'm going to be walking in somewhat remote areas far from any town. I don't if I am just visiting cities and towns.

mztery

re insurances:

while I owuld save money not buying insurance, it doesn;t mean I would HAVE the money to ecacuate, or pay for a rental car accident at the time of my trip. But i have found some ways ot save $$ on the insurances I care about:

in CA, AAA Has a service which is a premium AA - for $110 a year we get medical evacuation back to the States if our medical condition warrants it, extra towing, a a couple of other goodies that makes it worth it for us.

I carry the DIners Club card for any car rental, as it is the only charge card that is PRIMARY auto insurance (except for Italy and Ireland) AND that covers the charges for loss of use that rental companies now charge fo rhte time the car is spent out of service in an accident. $95 a year but I haven't taken extra rental car insurance in over 5 years...

I always buy supplemental health insurance for going abroad - given our ages (mid 50's) and potential for accident etc it's worth the $75 or so for a trip.I don't want to have to fight w/ my health insurance carrier for paying back expenses AND since we belong to a small group plan I don't want thte risk of jacking up the premiums or cancelling the group.

suze

No, I don't, never have.

I'm not advising this for others, only replying to your posted question.

bt1

I'm going to europe for 3 weeks next week. The only insurance I purchased was medical evacuation. I am an RN, and an RN friend is a flight nurse. It costs between $50,000 and $100,000 to be evac'd home. I also got the more expensive policy that leaves it to MY discretion whether or not to be evac'd home. Lots of the policies leave it to the discretion of the evac company and the doctors where you are. It's about $350, but well worth it from my perspective.

RufusTFirefly

No, we don't. Maybe when we get a bit older.

maryanne1

I realize now I need health insurance when traveling abroad as I am 65 and insurance(medicare) not covered out of the US. I had to cancel a cruise and fortunately got all money back except the original deposit. I had insurance through Access for the cruise,but due to this was a preexisting condition( a bad knee I had seen the Dr. in too short of a time for the policy. The policy should be taken out when you book the trip if there is money paid up front like for a cruise. I had a good friend(much younger than I am) who was in Ecuador who had to be evacuated out due to a fall from a vehicle going down a mountain. She had a horrible time gettting her own insurance to pay,but they finally did. She had taken out no travel insurance. From there it was $30,000 to be evacauated.
My summary with all of this is I know I need insurance taken out in the beginning when I plan a trip.

wtggirl

Have the same view as Patrick. I travel often, never take insurance and when something does happen I have my own insurance by using all money saved on the policies down through the years to expense it out and probably still be ahead. But, I don't always recommend others not to take insurance. Believe it or not it is not the cost of the trip that will kill in case of cancellation, but an emergency evacuation that would do it. You're looking at at least 25,000 at least. So, in the case of someone elderly or in poor health I would recommend insurance that covers pre-existing medical conditions. Check out www.travelguard.com. Many of their policies offer pre-existing coverage as long as the insurance is booked within 2 weeks of deposit of trip.

hdm

My employment benefit plan has travel health insurance built in but I have bought airline cancellation insurance and I've had to use it. I think anyone with elderly parents has to be cognizent of the possibility of last-minute emergencies.

kamahinaohoku

I always purchase travel insurance, especially because I've had to use it a couple of times. I'm in the travel business and know way too many horror stories about accidents and deaths, repatriation of remains, and other assorted traumas...so I consider it an inexpensive way of covering my assets.

Trust me, the coverage doesn't seem expensive when you've ever had the reason to use it.

That being said, there's a wide range of opinions on this topic:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34479137

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34501365

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34492684

rex

No, I don't

Best wishes,

Rex

francophile03

If it's an air/hotel package I opt for the travel insurance the airline offers. We will be purchasing trip evacuation insurance from now on due to a very bad health issue one of us had earlier this year. We had to travel after this bad event and hoped for the best as we were ineligible to purchase the insurance at that time. We have the typical medical insurance coverage from our employers in addition.

karens

I have to become more knowledgeable about the types of medical evac insurance. I went to insuremytrip.com before posting here, and I noticed some just evac you to the nearest hospital. I'll be in Italy, and while I know the quality of care isn't poor, if I'm going to be in a hospital for a week or two, I'd rather it be here than there.

I sprained my ankle in the Grand Canyon. (I'd like to say I did hiking back up the Bright Angel, but in reality I was just walking back from using the bathroom at Indian Gardens!) Anyway, I had never sprained an ankle before, so I had no idea about the severity of the injury. (I was riding the mules, so it wasn't like I had to hike out). We visited the Phantom Ranch ranger and he told me that if it was bad, I could be helicoptered out, but I would have to pay for it. Being in the helicopter scared me more than being on the back of a mule, so I stayed and I was fine - I realize now it was just a minor sprain that healed within 2 weeks.

The Travel Detective says that that the flight insurance you can buy at the airport is a rip-off, and we never get extra rental insurance, either. After reading the fine print, I don't buy trip cancellation insurance b/c there are too many exceptions. I would probably buy this if I was going on a cruise, though. I can't imagine how frustrating it would be to have an airline delay make you miss your cruise! (and still having to pay for it!)