Going to Hungary - is travel insurance a good idea?
 

Hello,
My wife and I will be in Hungary Sept. 29 to Oct. 6, staying at at timeshare in the Lake Balaton area. We've read how Hungarian medical care is very good and inexpensive.
So, do we really need to purchase travel insurance? We're due to leave in about 17 days, and don't think we'll have to cancel on the trip for any reason. And it sounds as though if either of us becomes ill in Hungary we'll be in good hands.

We are renting a car from Steve's Rent-a-Car that we read about on this site. We will be visiting Budapest, and hope to visit Tihany, Keszthely, Heviz and Pecs. We'd appreciate any information about things to do and see in those areas and any information about the mineral baths and such.
We are also terrible over-packers, and if anybody has any insight on packing light for this area that would be great.
Thanks, this site is great!

I think travel insurance can be a good idea regardless of the destination <b>provided</b>

you remain aware of the conditions and exclusions, particularly those dealing with &quot;pre-existing conditions.&quot;

The health care may be cheap and ab fab where you are going but what will you do if you need to be evacuated home?

Whether or not to buy/not buy coverage depends on your own frame of mind, your own risks, whether or not you feel the necessity for the peace of mind it may bring, etc.

I wish I knew &quot;the&quot; answer to your question but I'm afraid I do not.

I thought everyone had annual travel insurance.

Carylspall:

You're joking, right?

In the US a lot of people don't have ANY medical insurance whatsoever, much less travel insurance.

if you can afford to travel, you can afford travel insurance

Also make sure you have medical evacuation insurance, so you can get home if something goes seriously wrong.

Personally, I wouldn't go anywhere without travel insurance. Not only would it cover medical expenses but also lost/damamged luggage, repatriation, personal liability and all manner of things in addition to healthcare. Maybe your travl insurance is different to ours in the UK?

Unfortunately I think insurance is generally one of those things that you spend money on that you end up not needing (although last November family illness meant we had to cancel a trip and the insurers paid up). I'd rather have the peace of mind at all times.

Sarge, If you do not take travel insurance going to other foreign destinations, there is no reason to take travel insurance now.

Travel insurance, like appliance and auto extended warranties, is generally not a good buy from a strictly financial point of view. I imagine Mrs. Fly and I will start buying travel insurance in another 10 years or so--unless our health starts to deteriorate before that.

UNLESS you have particular risk factors that have a higher than average chance of causing a problem; e.g., advanced age, poor general health, accident prone, elderly relatives likely to have problems requiring you to cancel your trip, etc.

Of course if you are a born worrier, the expense can be worthwhile just for peace of mind.

If you do opt for evacuation insurance, do read the fine print. Many policies will only &quot;evacuate&quot; you to the nearest capable medical facility--in most of Europe that's an ambulance ride.

I loved the Heviz spa..It was very nice and relaxful. In Keszthely, the museum is not only beautiful but very interesting. Here's their english website link: http://www.keszthely.hu/15-7506.html

In Tihany, the abbey is beautiful! Tons of great Hungarian restaurants and lots of walking trails.

Here's an interesting website for there.
http://www.balaton.net/24/24k1xxxe.htm

I am jealous that you are going there. Have a great time.

Regarding overpacking:
They now have stores in Hungary, where you can buy things which you forgot, or which bear only a slight chance of use (i.e., snow boots, umbrella, sweater)

We never go anywhere without travel medical insurance. You never know when you will get a bad meal or be in the wrong place at the wrong time. A couple of years ago my husband ended up with a bladder infection 5 hours before we were to board a cruise ship. His hospital bill for a 4 hour stay was $1500.00, a friend had a major heart attack on a South American cruise, he had a 6 week stay in South America and 4 weeks in the hospital. Had to have a doctor accompany him home when he was finally allowed to fly. In both cases there were no pre existing problems. You just never know. For the little travel insurance costs to me it is a no brainer. If you can afford to travel, you can afford the insurance!

Yes,Hungarian medical care is very good but you should ALWAYS have travel insurance. I ended up in hospital havng a minor operation so I could get home..to Australia. Never been sick in my life,or in hospital and I'm in my mid forties. I would have been about $2000 out of pocket.

Dukey
Your system in the US is obviously very different to ours.
Some people from the UK take out individual trip travel insurance, but if you travel a lot then its advisable to take out an annual policy.
We pay &pound;95(me and my huband) for the year and it covers us for a max.45 day
trip at a time.
The premium is higher as you get older and if you have any illness it will soar up in cost.
I think we get a good deal.

Sarge, do you have medical insurance in your country of residence? If so, will it reimburse you for medical costs abroad (mine does)? Can you afford to carry the cost until you are reimbursed? If yes, you do not need medical insurance.

This question has come up a few times before, and it always amazes me that people in the US have this debate. Is it very expensive in the US? Becuase it's incredibly cheap in the UK (compared with the cost of the whole trip) and few people here would dream of travelling without it. Mine even comes free with my current account.

Some people hit the lottery, but that doesn't make it a good investment.

And that's a ridiculous comparison, Rufus. I don't know anyone who's won the lottery, but I've been on plenty of trips with people who've lost their luggage, had to cancel portions of their trip for family circumstances, had their expensive cameras stolen, broken their legs skiing and had to be airlifted off a mountain, had their trips disrupted by industrial action, been hospitalised and flown home for illness and the list goes on. Considering the average policy in the UK costs something like the price of a coffee and a croissant per day, I'd say that's a pretty good investment.

With all due respect, it is odd to think of insurance as an investment. The purpose of insurance companies is to make money (same as any other private company), which means that they will take in more money than they dole out. And because the money they dole out includes not only payments of insurance claims but also salaries to their employees and also the operational costs of buildings, advertisements, etc., it is just silly to think of insurance as investment.

However, buying insurance can be a very good idea <i>if you cannot afford the economic consequences of the loss that the insurance covers.</i> For most people, this does not include lost baggage insurance, but it could very well include medical evacuation insurance.

(OK, so maybe you are someone who collected on lost baggage insurance. Suppose you collected $1000. That means that some group of other policy holders paid a total of roughly $2000 so that the company could pay you $1000. Not really such a good deal.)

Its a gamble.
Just like people who are visiting malaria infected areas and don't bother taking a course of those awful pills before they go.
We couldnt believe how some people never even thought about it!
I hated those darn pills! But I was too scared not to!