Travel insurance questions

[WestUniversity]

Ditto on insuremytrip.com. We have used them for years. We generally only use it for international travel. The cancellation insurance is great to have but I really want it for the medical insurance as I am sure everywhere in Europe is out of network for me...[emoji41]

 

[Scuba]

Update - I went to insuremytrip.com and compared several policies. Then I googled the companies I was considering to independently check reviews. Turns out the independent reviews were quite different than those on insuremytrip or travelinsurance.com. Based on all of my research, I selected a basic policy from Allianz. Hopefully won’t have to use it but they had solid reviews from all of the sources I checked.

If we do have to make a claim, I’ll update as to what our experience was. Thanks to all who made a suggestion.

 

[ivinsfan]

I shopped squaremouth and insuremytrip today and discovered I really don't like how these sites work. They ask you to put in the price of your trip, your age, the duration and the country you're going to. They don't ask (up front) about what you would like to insure against.

Say your tour costs $1500. Say also you are doing something active, so you need that option. A sample price for that was $150. If I add-in the airfare the price jumps to over $200. The benefits and the limits for what I care about insuring don't change a bit, but the price leaps up. The price drops to $50 if I set the price of the tour to $500. Again, same limits for medical: Medical Evacuation $500,000 - Medical $50,000 Primary.

Be careful not to underestimate the cost of your trip, it can cause problems if you need to make a claim...

 

[SoReady]

What a timely topic!

We have had Allianz for the last year. It is a $250 annual policy and has a $100k medical transport coverage (plus other stuff, but medical is my primary reason for getting it). We selected this based on someone who had it and needed their services and was very happy.

Again, since it is up for renewal I thought I'd see what else is out there. Another referral we got was to look at Nationwide travel insurance. They have a $79/yr (deluxe Pro version) coverage with $250k medical evacuation. A big difference! I will need to read the fine print more, but I am wondering if anyone has any experience or knowledge of this company and their travel insurance policy.

Thanks,

Bob

 

[davebarnes]

I have friends who have traveled extensively for 20+ years.
They swear by Allianz. https://www.allianztravelinsurance.com
I recently purchased the an Allianz Basic Plan for $250/yr which covers 2 people and provides for Emergency Medical Transportation up to $100K.
I have zero claims experience and hope to keep it that way.

 

[sengsational]

Be careful not to underestimate the cost of your trip, it can cause problems if you need to make a claim...

I think it would only be a problem if you wanted trip cancellation insurance. Like one smart poster advised me, you can put $0 if you don't want trip cancellation.

This gets me wondering, though. What if your tour $2K is fully refundable, but air $1.5K is 0% refundable. I'd only want to buy $1.5K, not $3.5K. How are they to know what you'll be spending at your destination. Obviously you're not going to collect more than you insure for, but I think you insure the bits you want?

 

[bingybear]

I think it would only be a problem if you wanted trip cancellation insurance. Like one smart poster advised me, you can put $0 if you don't want trip cancellation.

This gets me wondering, though. What if your tour $2K is fully refundable, but air $1.5K is 0% refundable. I'd only want to buy $1.5K, not $3.5K. How are they to know what you'll be spending at your destination. Obviously you're not going to collect more than you insure for, but I think you insure the bits you want?

I actually asked insuremytrip and was told not to include things that were refundable/or able to be cancelled. My plane tickets could be canceled/changed for 24 hours after purchase... effectively not refundable since the trip was 6 months out.

Note sure what would happen if you had a claim and they found you lied about what "the cost was". Would that effect medical/evacuation? If your airline fare was not in there, would the air related benefits be available to you? I've not asked that.

 

[Scuba]

I have friends who have traveled extensively for 20+ years.
They swear by Allianz. https://www.allianztravelinsurance.com
I recently purchased the an Allianz Basic Plan for $250/yr which covers 2 people and provides for Emergency Medical Transportation up to $100K.
I have zero claims experience and hope to keep it that way.

I didn’t know about this $250/year plan ... will check this out. I paid $157 for one trip which is about a $3,500 cost but we are doing another big trip later this year so perhaps the annual one is a better value.

 

[Chuckanut]

Again, since it is up for renewal I thought I'd see what else is out there. Another referral we got was to look at Nationwide travel insurance. They have a $79/yr (deluxe Pro version) coverage with $250k medical evacuation. A big difference! I will need to read the fine print more, but I am wondering if anyone has any experience or knowledge of this company and their travel insurance policy.

Do you know if the medical evacuation will take you to a hospital of your choice or just to the nearest one on USA territory?

 

[SoReady]

The terms related to Medical Evacuation are:
Emergency Evacuation means:
(a) Your, or the Traveling Companion’s, medical condition warrants immediate Transportation from the hospital where You, or the Traveling Companion, are first taken when injured or sick to the nearest Hospital where appropriate medical treatment can be obtained;
(b) after being treated at a local Hospital, Your, or the Traveling Companion’s, medical condition warrants Transportation to the United States where You, or the Traveling Companion, resides to obtain further medical treatment or to recover; or
(c) both (a) and (b), above.

so it doesn't seem to be relegated to a USA territory.

 

[OldShooter]

Just an update: I previously mentioned International Travel News as an insurance resource. In the April issue that arrived yesterday, their insurance columnist (Wayne Wirtanen's column "Eye on Travel Insurance") does a nice recap of tactics and issues.

Usually the current issue is posted on the first day of the cover date month and its contents doesn't require payment. So, try https://www.intltravelnews.com/ at the beginning of April for the new Wirtanen column. You can also search now for "Wirtanen" and get a hit list that includes many of his past columns.

 

[Sunset]

I didn’t know about this $250/year plan ... will check this out. I paid $157 for one trip which is about a $3,500 cost but we are doing another big trip later this year so perhaps the annual one is a better value.

We bought a GeoBlue annual plan, (entered $0 for trip costs) as we wanted the medical coverage and evacuation coverage, not the missed trip coverage.

It was only $200 and covers outside USA for up to 70 days.
It's secondary coverage, as our medical plan claims to cover outside USA.

We did 4 trips with it, so it was much cheaper than a per trip coverage.

If anyone wants to comment on how good/bad GeoBlue was, I'd like to know before renewing

 

[Scuba]

The trip cancellation part is our major concern. I checked out the Allianz plan and it seems to be focused on medical evacuation as opposed to covering trip costs. If anyone knows of an annual plan that covers trip cancellation for multiple trips, please post. We’d be looking for something to cover $25-$30k of cancellation costs.

 

[Luvdogs]

We have bought Medjet Assist for medical evacuation only. It was around 300-400 for a year for two of us. The one thing I like is that they say (at least as of a couple of years ago) that they will fly you to the hospital "of your choice" in the US. Of course this is only for extremely serious conditions.


I know firsthand that med evac is super expensive. I know someone that was flown about 500 miles ( this was about a week after the accident and was stabilized) and it cost $10,000. Insurance doesn't pay for that.

So imagine how much it would cost to fly across the Atlantic (probably six figures).

Husb is on SS now so I will need to get a different policy that includes regular medical while in Europe. The supplement plan max is 50K and that does not go far at all.

 

[SoReady]

Scuba-

I went here to Nationwide Travel Insurance. They appear to have "Cruise Plans", "Single Trip Plans" and "Annual/Multi-Trip Plans".

I too just look for the medical & medical evacuation for the plans. We travel multiple times in a year, so I am contemplating the Annual plan. This plan is $59/year! And for an extra $20 they will up the coverage ($250k evacuation)! There has a trip cancellation option as well but then the price goes up considerably. I do not select that option.

I have not used Nationwide. As mentioned previously we had Allianz for the last year and did not need them - luckily. But we originally went with them based on a friend using them and being satisfied with how everything was handled.

I did look at reviews of Nationwide and sifting through the responses it seems like those that have actually used the insurance appear to be satisfied.

But I am still wondering if anyone on the forum knows or has had experience with Nationwide Travel Insurance.

Bob

 

[Sunset]

Some credit cards cover trip cancellation and have a list of reasons that qualify. (illness, death of family member, house uninhabitable, etc.. )

We just go with (this time) Barclay arrival +, it covers up to $5K cancellation cost, but remember some costs will be partially recoverable anyways, so I don't need full coverage.

Some credit cards cover a huge amount, a lot more than $5K, so it maybe be more cost effective to pay for a travel CC than to pay for insurance, as the card come with a lot of other benefits.

 

[ivinsfan]

The trip cancellation part is our major concern. I checked out the Allianz plan and it seems to be focused on medical evacuation as opposed to covering trip costs. If anyone knows of an annual plan that covers trip cancellation for multiple trips, please post. We’d be looking for something to cover $25-$30k of cancellation costs.

There's trip cancellation and trip cancellation, some of the cancellation policys are so tight you'd have to die and other will cover you if you just wake up one day and decide you don't feel like going. Be sure you know what you are paying for when you buy this.

 

[mystang52]

There's trip cancellation and trip cancellation, some of the cancellation policys are so tight you'd have to die and other will cover you if you just wake up one day and decide you don't feel like going. Be sure you know what you are paying for when you buy this.

Yes, it's super-critical to read and understand the policy terms and the policy definitions. You have a time frame (10 days, usually) to review policy and get refund if it's not to your liking.

 

[sengsational]

Just an update: I previously mentioned International Travel News as an insurance resource. In the April issue that arrived yesterday, their insurance columnist (Wayne Wirtanen's column "Eye on Travel Insurance") does a nice recap of tactics and issues.

Usually the current issue is posted on the first day of the cover date month and its contents doesn't require payment. So, try https://www.intltravelnews.com/ at the beginning of April for the new Wirtanen column. You can also search now for "Wirtanen" and get a hit list that includes many of his past columns.

I've discovered that if you stay on the site "a while", it will start prompting you to subscribe (without showing you content), so hit the most important topic first!!

 

[Sunset]

The trip cancellation part is our major concern. I checked out the Allianz plan and it seems to be focused on medical evacuation as opposed to covering trip costs. If anyone knows of an annual plan that covers trip cancellation for multiple trips, please post. We’d be looking for something to cover $25-$30k of cancellation costs.

Are you saying each trip is $25-$30k , or are you saying your annual traveling costs are $25-$30k ?

You might only need $5-$8K cancellation coverage for the one trip affected, in a year of traveling.

 

[audreyh1]

This is an informative thread.

I have never purchased trip cancellation insurance. I know that my airfare, although non-refundable, can be applied to another air trip so I don't worry about that too much.

I almost never book non-refundable hotel rooms. I go out of my way to make sure they are cancelable within a few days of arrival.

But I haven't bought cruise trips or other large ticket items in the past few years when you have to commit months ahead. I rarely commit more than 2 months in advance.

I have thought about medical evacuation type insurance. And will likely purchase something if we start traveling to Central and South america.

We used to carry an American Express Travel insurance product, but dropped it when we were only traveling to Europe overseas, and we otherwise had some coverage over there until the past year or two.

 

[Brat]

We will buy travel insurance but I want a policy that covers the death of a family member (SIL is a concern). Do any of you know of such a policy?

 

[nwsteve]

We will buy travel insurance but I want a policy that covers the death of a family member (SIL is a concern). Do any of you know of such a policy?

I am pretty sure Chase Sapphire Reserve card covers trip cancellation due to death of any direct bloodline relative (eg your DH's sister). I have not read fine print recently so you would want to review their current details for sure.

 

[Brat]

Actually the person I had in mind is my son-in-law, my daughter's husband.

 

[braumeister]

Medical evacuation cost is the most expensive possibility IMHO, so I have had a policy for that for years.
Haven't needed it yet, but there are tons of good reviews on them.
I have their Platinum plan which covers me worldwide. Costs me $390 a year for the two of us (higher if you join today, and I have a discount as well).
Benefits are listed here:

MASA Assist is the premier provider of pre-paid medical transportation assistance. We are about assisting each of our members in any way possible. We do not raise our rates to existing customers, and all transportation decisions are made by doctors, not insurance adjusters. People all over the world trust MASA Assist to fly them during a medical emergency, because our members are like family to us.