catania

Hello: We have planned a trip to italy independently (without a travel agent), however, i'm worried about the possibility of having to cancel at the last minute and then being stuck paying the hotel per their cancellation policy. In the past, we've booked with a travel agent and always had travel insurance which protected us for cancellation costs. Has anyone gotten trip insurance without a travel agent. Do you have any recommendations. Appreciate any comments you have.
Regards.

jame

I've used Travel Guard several times and have been very satisfied with them. Their website is www.travelguard.com. You can buy insurance on their website or call the 800 number and order it over the phone.

Ingenieur

Try insuremytrip.com
This website will let you compare policys & prices of several travel insurance companies.

sandi

You can only insure your trip for the money you have prepaid - airline tickets, hotel rooms, tours, transfers, car, etc. If you've only put a deposit on any of these (except the airlines tickets), you can't insure for more than you've paid.

Unless something unforeseen happens a day before departing, I believe you can cancel any prepaid hotel charges and not be responsible. But do check what the specifics of the cancellations policies for anything prepaid - that is all the insurance is good for.

And do read the specifics of all policies you are considering, as they are all different.

Singletail

and it is helpful to pay everything that you do pay in advance with a credit card which may give you some additional "protection" depending on circumstances.
I agree with reading CLOSELY the fine print in any policy you might buy to include the "exclusions" which can be numerous and the reasons for cancellation that are NOT covered.

catania

Thanks so much for the feedback. It sounds like the trip insurance will only come into play if i've prepaid for my hotel, etc. I'm not worried about airfaire (frequent flyer) but hotel is a little scary. We've just reserved with a credit card. Any other comments are greatly appreciated.

cparris

I recommend travelex. I have had to file a claim with them after visiting a few hospitals in a few countries and they were excellent.

sandi

If you've only reserved your rooms with the credit card, then if you have to cancel (again check what the cancellation policy is - 24 hr, 48 hrs) be certain to fax the cancellation so that it is dated and you have a copy. Simply by calling is not enough.

And since you're flying on FF tickets, you can't take out trip insurance for something that you haven't paid for. So I would check with any of the companies offering insurance - for medical and evacuation only.

By using the www.insuremytrip.com site you can compare the various policies and each company provides a phone number to call with specific questions and clarification.

bookchick

This is another vote for insuremytrip.com. A policy I bought there came in very handy when I had to postpone a trip last year due to my mother's hospitalization; I got a credit from the airline, even though I cancelled the flight the day I was supposed to leave for Italy. The credit was for 100% of the price I'd paid for the ticket, so when I rescheduled, it was very nice to have that covered!

Happy Travels,
BC

kybourbon

bookchick - I thought insuremytrip was just a site to compare various travel insurance companies. Do they sell insurance or did you actually purchase from one of the companies they have listed?

bookchick

I purchased insurance (on a couple of occasions now) from one of the companies listed after doing a "comparison".

BC