My husband, young daughter and I will be traveling to Paris this fall and staying in an apartment. Because we're booking so far in advance, and the apartment has a stricter cancellation policy than a hotel, I've been looking into trip insurance. I'm really only interested in covering our airfare and apartment rental, totaling around $5000.

I've never purchased insurance before, and was wondering if there were companies that were recommended more highly than others. I called AAA, but the company they use, Access America, seemed to have a better plan on their website than what was offered by AAA (Access America family Basics).The quotes on insuremytrip.com really ran the gamut. Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

TravelEx probaby has the best coverage in the market, but make sure it will cover your length of stay.

I feel most comfortable with TravelGuard when I've compared prices on isuremytrip..they seem to have the easist recovery options.

To save a few dollars, would it be a good idea to cover just the part of your airfare that it would cost you to cancel or reschedule your trip?

We have taken many trips without insurance. Next we travel to Eastern Europe so for the first time I purchased the policy. It is hard to decide which is best but I picked TravelEX. No matter which coverage one selects, it seems to increase the trip cost 6-8% I think thats a lot.

I use TravelGuard whenever we travel. We actually had to cancel a trip and we got all the money back that I had insured for with no hassle or questions.

My US Airways Card has worldwide protection.

make sure your health insurance has repatriation. If it doesn't, I would suggest getting this in your travel ins. package.

Thanks for your suggestions. I'm comparing TravelEx, TravelGuard and Access America, which are all within $40 of each other (between ~$150-$190) and seem pretty comparable. It doesn't sound like anyone who's replied has had experience with Access America, so I'll factor that in as well.

I have used Access America several times--when I traveled to Egypt and it was fine--gave me peace of mind, however, I never needed to use it so I cannot say how their customer services dept is. I have since switched to Travel Guard--they are more user friendly.

Hi EuroJen,

I thought TravelGuard was the easiest to use as well, and ended up going with them. Their rates were also the best. Here's hoping we don't end up using the insurance!

I just bought the Travel Guard Protect Assist Plan for my trip to Munich next month. I had them email me the policy and I printed it out on my computer. I like the wallet size cards with all the 24/7 phone numbers...just in case..LOL I agree, I hope I do not need it!

I've checked several policies on insuremy trip and I always end up with Travelguard!

I had Travel Guard for my planned trip to Scotland in 2006 that got cancelled due to an injury suffered by my travel companion 28 days before we left. They were easy to deal with, and paid every penny of unrefundable costs.

If you've got "nonrefundable" air fare prepaid, they will pay you the full value, then recover whatever value they can on the ticket from the airline through their subrogation department. For an apartment, you will need to have the cost documented--an invoice or letter setting forth the terms, and then correspondence between you and the landlord advising of your cancellation and confirming what will and what will not be refunded.

It's probably best not to obsess over it.

Since you probably won't need it, go for the more deductible than premium.

And, be sure to read the EXCLUSIONS before purchasing.

How soon should you buy trip insurance? I bought my ticket I am leaving March 8th for Italy.

miz: With most trip insurance, it's best to buy as soon as you book your airfare (which is usually your first non-refundable expense). If you buy within a short time of booking the trip, pre-existing conditions are often waived. If you wait, and have your trip delayed by a pre-existing condition, you may not have coverage.

You don't have to have incurred all your insured expenses at the time you buy your policy--just make sure that your coverage limits are large enough to cover whatever amount of non-refundable expenses you expect to incur. That number will determine your premium.

I have a question about travel insurance. I have never purchased it but am thinking about it for an upcoming trip. If one plans a trip with friends, and decides to cancel because one of the friends cannot go due to illness or injury, would I then be allowed to cancel my own trip?

Yes. Take a look at insuremytrip.com
My upcoming trip is the first trip for which I have purchased trip insurance except for cruises. I really hesitated initially but feel much better now.

I've bought one from Travelex which seemed like a good policy, although I never used it. A lot of the main players have very similar premiums, so you need to check the limits on what is most important to you (trip cancellation, health, whatever).

As for friends -- probably, but you have to check individual policy rules, as they vary and you can buy some policies that will cover you if you cancel for any reason. Of course, those are a lot more expensive. But if not, most define who is considered in the policy as a legitimate reason for canceling, and I think most include a traveling companion regardless of who that is. However, most wouldn't cover cancellation if a friend died and that wasn't your traveling companion (but they would if your mother died, even though she wasn't a travel companion).

ekscrunchy: As mentioned above, it depends on what your policy says. But, the Travel Guard policy I bought charges one premium for your entire party (want to be sure and buy it that way, not individually), and, if a member of the party cannot go for a covered reason, then the entire party can cancel the trip and get a refund. Again, the reason for cancellation must be covered and you must buy it all under one premium, but it is possible to obtain this type of coverage.