travel insurance
 

Booking flight and VRBO condo on my own. (not going thru travel agent). Thinking I should get travel insurance as we are planning the trip to Key West at the end of September, which is during hurricane season. Could anyone tell me if I can buy travel insurance for my flight and condo rental without using a travel agent and if so what is the best avenue to do this? Thank you, Nancy

Depends on what exactly is covered by the travel insurance.

This weekend, several hotels were waiving cancellation fees and airlines were allowing re-scheduling with no change fees, so you may not need it.
Here is some info on where to buy/ what to buy:
http://www.smartertravel.com/travel-...tml?id=4460059

<b>"Could anyone tell me if I can buy travel insurance for my flight and condo rental without using a travel agent and if so what is the best avenue to do this?"</b>

Yes, you certainly can. One good place to shop for policies is www.imsuremytrip.com However, if you have the assurances joesorce mentions, what else would need to be insured?

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Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie

You will not know definitvely unless you ask THE insurance company. It's in the policy what is covered. And you can ask an agent who really knows.

If Nancy wants to get a policy without using an agent, the problem with www.insuremytrip.com is that there is no "agent" and it's difficult (but not possible) to ask questions of a specific company via email. You are pretty much on your own to figure tings out. At least that was my experience getting insurance for my recent NZ/Australia/Bali trip.


_______________________________________________
Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie

Thank you for all the info. I will check out the websites given. Anything else someone has to share I'll gratefully read.

The travel writers for the Washington Post regularly recommend the following 3 sites to folks who want to purchase travel insurance: www.insuremytrip.com, www.QuoteWright.com and www.squaremouth.com
Of these three, I have only used InsureMyTrip. I found it easy to navigate the site and you can do a side-by-side comparison on several policies. If you have questions, you can call them or do a live conversation over the Internet, both of which I have done. I even cancelled a policy with InsureMyTrip (within the prescribed time) and it was easy to do.

During hurricane season, I'd always consider trip insurance. But you only insure your prepaid expenses. When it comes to flights, you often have the option to purchase insurance for a few dollars. So you'd then have to insure your lodging if it's been prepaid in full, but if only paid deposit, not much to insure. And, if as above there is a hurricane and airlines work in the travelers favor, you might not need/have anything to insure.

Be careful with timing: insurance must be purchased within a specific time frame for paying anything toward trip.

You can buy insurance outside of a travel agent. As Sandi says it is for prepaid expenses, but if you have a contract signed (judge Judy here) it may be "due". I think there are few even internet insurance agencies that don't give an 800 number.

Have used insuremytrip several times if we have prepaid lodging and/or something like prepaid lift tickets. It will also cover the fee for cancelling/changing your flights. You don't need to cover a rental car bcs you can cancel that with no fee. That being said, I compare many prices and coverages on the site and then compare to my expenses and make a decision. Had to use it once bigtime and they came through for even more than I had anitcipated, including my hotel expenses while my DH was in the hospital as well as the unused portion of our condo rental, with no hassles after we sent verifying documentation. As the saying goes - paying for insurance is always a waste until you need it. You can get quotes for cancelling for illness or injury only or for "any reason". Latter is, of course, more expensive. Just make sure you read the coverage carefully before purchase, esp pre-existing conditions.