crefloors

The problems of the web...I wasn't trying to be snotty either. It's just everyone has their own circumstances. My older brother fell off his bike about a week before they were scheduled for a trip...old fart thinks he'e Lance Armstrong...but anyway, he broke his color bone and cracked a few ribs. If the had canceled they would have lost a lot of their money so he went and was miserable..and THEN..sorry, I'm laughing as I type this...he was barefoot and dropped a full bottle of wine directly on his big toe. So NOW he can't walk!!!!! His toe nail turned black and fell off... LOL..can't help it..sorry. So anyway, I probably would get most of my money back on this trip..not a tour...but with my schedule, my chances of getting another shot at this trip just aren't good. So, gee....THIS is a new line...what ever makes you feel comfortable...AND, if anyone was a candidate for trip insurance, it would for sure be my brother.!!!!!! hmmmmm..wish I'd been there....

Neopolitan

Do they offer Klutz insurance?

jetset1

Timely post chasechow~ Alaska has a charter airline for Hawaii travel(most popular anyway), and my family has always purchased it for spring travel trips because you never know..and you have to agree to the contact terms which are fine.
Right now, one of our brother-in-laws has had some health issues, and the norovirus has been reported, along with flu variations, so for my solo upcoming trip, I purchased the insurance more for peace of mind than anything..
That little amount of money could be spent on mai tais I guess, but it's still worth it to me. J.

hunterblu

LOL cref,- my husband thinks he's Lance Armstrong too-- he actually watched the tour de france or whatever its called for hours, as if it were the final four or something...

LaRee1L

I purchase the insurance for cruises and when traveling to Europe. Haven't had to use it, but would rather have it than not - there is always a first time. Usually get Travelguard through our travel agent.

Pilates

Kerry392: I was thinking that I should start to buy the same type of coverage.

I remember speaking with a woman who had to fly her husband home after he became gravely ill. He needed to get home but the airlines won't let you fly in his condition. They had to pay something like 12 grand for a private flight. This happened many years ago. I can only imagine what a private jet would cost nowadays. About how much do you pay for this type of insurance?

matnikstym

I bought travel insurance through insuremytrip (travelex) for my two trips to Zambia, and had to file a claim. on the first trip our duffels were stolen (along with our tickets, passports and cash, we were canoeing among hippos and crocs and didn't want to risk having them fall in the river) from a tent camp on the Zambezi River causing us to miss our flight to Victoria Falls, 1 night in another lodge and having to pay a taxi for an 8 hour drive to meet up with our next flight. Our duffels were found unopened (they were locked with tsa locks) but travelex did reimburse us for everything we lost out of which more than paid for the policy. so for a trip like that i'd recommend travel insurance but for a trip to the mainland where everything can be rescheduled or credited, i wouldn't buy it.

mykidssherpa

My Aunt was planning a Rhine cruise trip to Germany with her best friend. They are both in their late 60's. One week before the trip, best friend fell and broke her ankle. As they had nonrefundable tickets, buying ~$120 in travel insurance totally paid off.

My cousin's father has terminal cancer. In the event he has a turn for the worse or passes away, she has purchased travel insurance so that she can jump on the first plane home possible, for her trip to China in Oct 2006.

The only time I buy travel insurance is when traveling abroad. If we need to be evacuated for a medical emergency and the standard airlines refuse to let us fly, or put onerous conditions on (e.g. you must fly with a nurse) I don't want to be on the hook for potentially ruinous expenses.

hunterblu

looks like a good time to have travel insurance

OldSouthernBelle

I agree with Matnikstym in general, but
But I have another question:

If you are not sure on initial booking, and realize nearer to departure that a family member's health is more 'iffy'( or just change your mind), when is too late to get the insurance?
I guess you get it any time prior to departure, right?

JJ5

OSB, on the one definitive time I needed it, just as you state, they would only "let" me buy the type I wanted to buy at time of booking or within a certain period of time afterwards. I think it was only 30 days or so. After that I would have had to buy an entirely different and much more expensive type and even then it would not have been "all" covered on a cancel.

Moongoddess

I've bought it twice, and have had to use it both times.

Last August I had planned to take my elderly parents on a trip to the UK, and I had purchased nonrefundable business-class airfare for the trip. That July my father was unexpectedly diagnosed with an abdominal tumor and had to undergo major surgery, so my parents couldn't go. TravelGuard promptly reimbursed the cost of their tickets. That policy saved me $6000!

This spring, the three of us went on an Alaska cruise, followed by a post-cruise tour of Canada. My father wound up in the emergency room in Banff; turns out he couldn't take the altitude in the Canadian Rockies. He had to be discharged on portable oxygen and needed an oxygen tank for the return flight home; arranging for the latter required several days' additional stay in Banff while we sorted things out with the airline. We've got a claim pending now with Travelex; assuming all goes well, I'll again be reimbursed several thusand dollars.

I know I'll never travel overseas or take an expensive trip in the US without coverage. You don't need the insurance benefits often, but when you do, you need them badly.

lifelist

Neopolitan - I don't know that you would have spent "tens of thousands" on trip insurance despite the amount of travel you do. The amount of insurance you purchase is basically the amount in non-refundable money you would be out for any of the covered reasons. If you have a lot of refundable costs for your trips, then the amount you need to insure is relatively smaller. Also, you can pick and choose the coverage you need - there are medical only policies, trip cancellation/interruption policies, etc... A lot of credit cards offer some form of lost baggage and trip interruption insurance built in.

So, while I'm sure it's more cost-effective to self-insure, I'd probably do a risk-reward analysis for various trips and see if I need to fill in any gaps, and simply address those gaps. And, only for the non-refundable portion.

Lastly, there are annual policies that one can purchase that covers your for the entire year rather than on a trip by trip basis. Those are probably cheaper as well.

For myself, the only coverage I'm really concerned about is medical evacuation insurance. I've been in wilderness areas where the only real option for an emergency evactuation is by helicopter - and that can get very, very expensive - definitely in the tens of thousands of dollars. So, when I did the risk-reward analysis, I figured it was worth getting.