mamamia2

We're planning a 2 week trip in Europe, including several domestic flights purchased as separate tickets (we originally planned renting a car, then taking trains, than changed our minds again, switching to flights, so each segment was planned separately). I decided to purchase insurance, but at reasonable amount, so that if worse come to worse it WILL cost us money, but much of it will be covered by the insurance. I am always saying a person needs to take SOME risks in life... That way the insurance is not prohibitively costly, while it covers a nice portion of our trip cost, in the remote chance something happens...

uhoh_busted

We buy insurance if we are paying over $2K up front. Only time we've ever used it was when we were taking a long trip to South Africa, and two weeks before we were to leave our 33 year old daughter was diagnosed with Cancer. Obviously that's one of those things you don't anticipate. So it was clearly worth it.

This past fall, we spent a month in SW France. A friend and lent us their flat, so all we had initially invested was for our airline tickets. The car rental wasn't chargeable until we arrived in Europe. We didn't bother with trip insurance for that trip.

We're now making arrangements for a month in Italy this September. We had the option to purchase trip insurance when we bought our airline tickets, so I took it. (The total exceeds $2k and we will be paying 1/3 of two apartments we will be renting for a week in different locations, so it made perfect sense to get the insurance.)

latedaytraveler

Kim, thank you for your concern. Yes, my wrist healed very well and today I rebooked the same tour of Britain for this July. Be assured, I included trip insurance!

travelerjan

I hate these threads with the confusion between 2 kinds of insurance because of careless use of a descriptor (I am a retired editor, you will not be surprised to learn).

There is something called TRIP INSURANCE -- and this applies for people who have to put out money up front for a TOUR ... this covers you if for a VALID reason (read the small print!) you have to cancel going on the Tour, or the "package deal" on a "holiday." It also covers medical emergencies during the trip. This 2-part kind can be quite costly, perhaps 5% - 10% of your advance outlay. And they are picky about prior medical conditions. IF you are going on a package tour or cruise, however, this may be worth signing up for.

The other kind is TRAVEL MEDICAL INSURANCE. This is for pay-as-you-go independent travelers like me ... who don't put out much cash if any, ahead of time, other than my RT air ticket (and as u know, those tickets can be changed to later dates up to a YEAR later, to same destination). The MEDICAL insurance covers injury or illness during your trip, and even escorted flight back to USA in a body cast!! if you get hit by a Scooter on Santorini.

If u are still in the workforce, your current medical insurance may cover you overseas. But Medicare does not -- many retirees do not realize that. If you go to InsureMyTrip.com, you can compare the costs of up to 30 different policies. They even have an 800 phone number where a nice lady will walk you through the whole process. She will tell you how to fill out the online form --The key is to put "0" for the value of your trip -- then u will just see the quotes for MEDICAL coverage. For 2 weeks in Europe for a 65 year old, it can be as little as about €35 to get $50,000 in coverage plus a lot of other benefits.

jubilada

Travelerjan; We had trip insurance but did not have a tour or package and because we bought it within 2 weeks of buying airfare it did not have pre-existing condition exclusions. it covered loss of airfare, hotel or vacation home reservations , some medical expenses.

twk

travelerjan: Simply not correct that you only buy trip cancellation insurance for a tour package. I have bought, and made a claim on, trip cancellation insurance for a self-planned trip.

As to whether anyone should get trip insurance, the key factor is non-refundable, pre-trip costs. If your trip costs are largely composed of things that can be cancelled without penalty, or only with a minor charge, then trip cancellation insurance is not cost effective. So, if you are flying on an airline that you use frequently (and probably would be able to use a changed ticket by paying a small fee), are staying at hotels that don't require advance payment, and not prepaying for a rental car, buying trip cancellation/interruption insurance is probably not a good gamble.

On the other hand, if you're flying an airline you would likely never fly outside of this trip, if you are renting an apartment or house with a non-refundable deposit, or prepaying for a hotel room or rental car to get a lower rate, you might want to insure your trip with trip cancellation/interruption insurance.

Most cancellation/interruption coverage also has a medical component. Whether this is necessary or even desirable depends on your primary health insurace, and your ability to fund medical procedures while waiting for your insurer to reimburse you for an out of network claim, among other things.

bettyk

I don't consider a $250 per person fee to change an airline ticket to be a "small" fee. Maybe to some, but not to me.

Also, most airlines charge you to redeposit airline miles that may have been used for upgrades or for reward tickets. This can be an additional $150 per person. In our case, the $350 per person we paid for our upgrade to Biz Class on AA was non refundable.

Our trip insurance was trip cancellation/trip interruption and medical coverage.

elbegewa

I always used to consider insurance for travel a needless expense ... travelled many trips, many miles and never came close to needing it. And I'd always thought that if we had a medical emergency overseas, we'd just stay there until well enough to get home ... medical care in many countries is MUCH cheaper and just as good as in the US.

... until last year...

While travelling in Canada I had to have an emergency operation, hospitalized for 6 days, and not well enough to travel for another 3 weeks. Ouch.
Here are some of the surprises I found:

1. Luckily we had relatives there and I could convelesce with them. The first week after getting out of the hospital there is no way I could have taken care of myself in a hotel. If we had been elsewhere the bills for hotel, food, and some personal assistance would have mounted up fast.

2. I do have insurance that covers for medical emergencies outside of the US (a medicare advantage plan SAYS it covers med emergemncies outside the US). ... but ... my insurance i used to the US system of itemizing for everything (ranging from for each aspirin, ice pack, etc. up to each procedure and med. and each of the many physisians (ER doc, Radiologist, Surgeon, Anesthesiologist, etc.) In Canada they just lump the fees as a per diem. ... BIG PROBLEM... It took 6 months before we came to agreement what the insurance would pay for.

3. The hospital and docs wanted payment up front, then let me deal with the insurer on my own (6 months later) . Foutunately, my wife and relatives can be quite pleasantly assertive and worked it out that we'd pay after the insurer reimbursed us.

4. In the end, the medical care alone cost apx $18 grand (not incl. hotels and food that we didn't have to pay for, most of which was eventualy covered by insurance. If we'd been overseas to outlay would have been MUCH higher.)

5. My wife eventually drove us home in our SUV. We had been warned that the airlines might not have deemed me well enough to fly til many weeks later.

6. We were in the Ukraine the year before. We shudder what it would he cost to be transported to someplace with better medical facilities than there.

... as a result...

We've decided to at least get medical and evacuation insurance in the future, BUT BEWARE: we're finding that many (most?) travel insurance policies don't pay up front, they reimburse after you've paid ... that can mean a BIG temporary outlay ... look at the terms closely...

Lifeman

Gordon R..it appears that the main difference between us in the UK and the US is that most people in the US have health insurance of some sort. We here use travel insurance because we rely on the NHS to provide our health care. Apart from the basic cover in the EU that we get, it makes more sense for us to have annual travel cover, which I also have, if you travel regularly.

I pay around £90 per annum for myself and my wife on a world wide basis.

DonTopaz

<b>glenmd</b> response (the 2nd or 3rd in this thread) is 100% accurate: on average, trip insurance is a bad buy, because the insurance company will pay out a lot less than they take in.

For every one of the anecdotal stories that say "I'm glad I had insurance 'cause I collected $5000," there are dozens and dozens and dozens of other people who paid the premiums and collected nothing. And then there are the other dozens of stories of people who got insurance, had a problem before/during their trip, and discovered that the policy didn't cover their situation.

ekscrunchy

Glenmd: Would you mind sharing the name of the repatriation insurance provider? For the record, I have twice purchased coverage from MedJetAssist, before trips to a few destinations with poor medical facilities. This company promises to evacuate you to THE HOSPITAL OF YOUR CHOICE rather than the nearest hospital, which sets it apart from most of the other insurance plans that I have heard about here..

I am interested in having insurance to cover a medical emergency, and wonder about various options that might be less pricey than MedJet Assist, which costs $250 per year for an individual for international travel and does not cover the cost of treatment; it is only for evacuation.

http://www.medjetassist.com/


I also would like to hear from people who have actually had to file claims...do the companies try to weasel out without paying? Any tips for those who actually have to file a claim, other than keeping all paperwork?

qwovadis

ALWAYS get my own comp insurance $1-2/da well worth

insuremytrip.com and quotewright.com 2 best comp sites

Paid off in spades X 2 for me last year

for the Iceland Volcano and Ecuador Coup

got 100% of my money back.

Good recent experience with Patriot and Amex.

These days it is a must and cheap lets see

multiple revolutions war tidal wave earthquake nuke meltdown

all within the last 2 weeks...

Always wise for me to do this and be covered and safe.

Happy Safe Journey,

qwovadis

The new war just happened in Libya close to Maroc.

There is unrest in Maroc currently although the

king is more beloved and progressive than most

but civil unrest could flare there at any time

there have been a few demonstrations

monitor travel.state.gov Maroc and insuremytrip.com

for sure if you head there.

alihutch

Same as GordonR and Lifeman, although we are covered for care in EU countries.
My claims so far have been when I lost my money belt, so my money was replaced and also when my camera lens fell off a table and was broken, so insurance paid for a replacement. I hope that I'll never need the journey home with medical assistance, but you never know. It's pretty cheap £67 for myself and my partner for a year...if we want to ski, when we just add it if we are going...about another £12.
Also useful for baggage delay claims, missing a connecting flight etc etc etc

mamamia2

I must admit, some posters here make little sense to me:

Glenmd saying <i>"the insurance company is in business of making money. In order for them to make money, you (on average) have to lose money by purchasing it."</i> ...Not sure why a policy that cost me a hundred Dollars that's covering $2,500 is a losing proposition for me..... Of course, the company makes money 'cause only a SMALL percentage of travelers will have claims. No? Duh?

Or rizzuto claiming:

<i>For every one of the anecdotal stories that say "I'm glad I had insurance 'cause I collected $5000," there are dozens and dozens and dozens of other people who paid the premiums and collected nothing.</i> ...They paid for insurance but luckily enough never had to make a claim. So?

<i> And then there are the other dozens of stories of people who got insurance, had a problem before/during their trip, and discovered that the policy didn't cover their situation.</i> ...So? Like ANY product, there are good ones and bad ones, and like buying ANY service, one needs to be an educated buyer, do some research, read reviews, ask questions and read the small print.

...Or am I missing something fundamental here.

bettyk

Well, I'm one of those who purchased travel insurance and ended up needing it. Because of some scare stories I'd read, I was expecting a huge hassle. On the contrary, I supplied the information requested in addition to some add'l documentation that supported our claim and I received everything I requested in a couple of weeks.

zoneahead

We purchase travel insurance for international trips. I really don't have a problem paying what, for us, has ended up being about $50 per person per trip to cover flights and non-refundable portions of hotel reservations, car rentals, train tickets, etc. That peace of mind is worth it to us.

Also, it seems lately many hotels have been offering special "non-refundable" rates that are significantly cheaper than those with free cancellations. Having trip insurance, we take full advantage of those types of deals that we probably wouldn't risk otherwise.

thursdaysd

eks - when I fell and broke my wrist in Switzerland my US medical insurance covered the hospital bill, and my additional evacuation insurance got me home - car and driver to Geneva airport and economy class tickets home. Some hassle on the phone as they were changing underlying providers, but no paperwork required - or if it was the hospital faxed it.

That was with tenweb.com. Since they have a 90 day per trip limit, I am using (I think) Liaison Traveler for this trip - I bought through www.sevencorners.com who are now the providers for tenweb.

dreamon

I don't know where you live but here insurance is much cheaper to buy on the internet because travel agents earn up to 50% commission on travel insurance. Obviously, there are generally lots of insurance plans on offer so you need to choose one that gives you the benefits you're interested in and not pay for stuff you don't need.

Viajero2

Trip Insurance has been the BEST investment we have made on travel for a NUMBER of trips in the past years. With aging parents, unpredictable unusual weather patterns, natural disasters, lesser flights (cancellations), and so forth we have been beyond relieved on more than one ocassion by having purchased travel insurance.

As an example, this last winter we found ourselves stranded due to weather and resulting flights cancellations. The trip insurance we had (Access America) paid for every hotel, every meal, and every taxi we had to pay due to the change in plans. The refund checks were in our mailbox within 20 days of sending in the receipts. Another example? Three days prior to a cruise departure my husband fell ill and was hospitalized. The trip was cancelled. Within 2 weeks of sending the claim I had ALL the money back for the cruise and flights. Travel insurance is well worth every penny if you ask me....

I buy online, no commission to a Travel Agent, no need.