Question: Travel Insurance - Yes or No?

[lowflyer]

We are planning a cruise for March 2007. We've never purchased travel insurance before and have apparently never needed it. Thinking about it for this trip. Cost is about $200 on a $3800 cruise and air package. Any suggestions?

[rs0460a]

DW/me normally take two trips each year. One in the US, one outside.

Since our (normally Europe) "outside" trips are more expensive, my DW (who "sponsors" our travel) gets the insurance for the "outside" trip. An exception to this was when she got it for our French vacation in the spring of '05 and our Alaska trip (rail/cruise) in the fall of '05.

Is it worth it (financially)? - probably not.
Would I get it? - no.
Have we ever used it in the last 10+ years? - no.
Does it bring some "piece of mind" to my wife (and also eliminates a "what if", which may become a "point of argument" - YES!!! (that's why we get it... )...

- Ron

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

I agree with Ron'Da.

When we take a big vacation trip, we buy the trip insurance. We get the best price we can on the tickets first, though. Hope we never need it.

[modlair]

I am surprised at the response.

I always get it. My medical insurance won't pay for treatment overseas. Travel insurance does. If you're on medicare, it won't pay for treatment overseas.

It's not just trip cancellation coverage that you get with travel insurance.

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Quote:

My medical insurance won't pay for treatment overseas. Travel insurance does.

Oh, yeah. I knew there was another reason.

Thanks, rodmail.

[JDARNELL]

I booked a cruise for my wife's 40th birthday. Son got sick and was in the hospital. I was able to get UA to refund the tickets and the cruiseline took 1/2 . I did not have insurance. I rolled the dice and lost on this one.

Tomcat98

[Sheryl]

Here: http://early-retirement.org/forums/i...p?topic=9958.0
is another discussion we had on this topic recently.

I would never have considered trip insurance prior to having some medical issues. Now I am considering it for my upcoming trip - I really don't want to find myself needing any sort of serious medical care in Honduras.

[linkerbink]

A few years ago my mother, sister and I had booked a cruise to Alaska. We had the entire trip paid for but about 3 weeks before we were to leave, my mother ended up in the hospital for a week and then on to rehab for a month. She had been in perfect health so this episode was a complete surprise to us. Because we had trip insurance, we recouped the entire cost for the cruise and plane fare. Without it, we would have been out about $6,000. Personally, I think it's worth the cost. But hey, that's me....

[lowflyer]

Thanks for the replies. I'll review the previous thread too. Looks like insurance might be a good idea for this trip.

Thanks again.

lowflyer

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lowflyer We are planning a cruise for March 2007. We've never purchased travel insurance before and have apparently never needed it. Thinking about it for this trip. Cost is about $200 on a $3800 cruise and air package. Any suggestions?

If you're going into the water, not just on it, then consider Diver's Alert Network. Their trip insurance isn't just for divers!

[BarbaraAnne]

If you book your cruise through Costco they include insurance. We paid the same price as we would have with our travel agent and insurance was included, as were some very nice cabin gifts.

[Sheryl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords If you're going into the water, not just on it, then consider Diver's Alert Network. Their trip insurance isn't just for divers!

After our other discussion, and some additional research, I decided to sign up with DAN - we are divers, but it seemed to be good coverage even if you are not.

[eriter]

The odds are very much against using it or the insurance companies wouldn't be offering it. We have been travelling for 40+ years without travel insurance and have probably saved thousands of dollars. I can't recall one time we lost money or had to have extensive medical attention in a foreign country.

I suppose if you are only going to travel once every year or two and spend several thousand dollars on a packaged trip then it might let you sleep better knowing that your are insured; other than that, I would rather save my money.

Don't forget, just because you purchase insurance doesn't mean they are going to pay a claim--it isn't unusual for an insurance company to fight a claim even though you think it is obvious that your claim is valid.

[Moemg]

Travel insurance is a gamble but well worth it for expensive trips .I've collected on it three times .Twice when a death made us cancel plans at the last minute.Once when I lost an expensive ring while snorkeling .No problems collecting .They paid in full and relatively quickly.
You can usually find inexpensive travel insurance on the net rather than through the travel agency.Last time I bought it I paid $32.00 to cover a cruise to Bermuda.

[magellan_nh]

My personal model is to use insurance only to protect against catastrophic loss. If the loss would be a bummer but wouldn't seriously impact our finances, we self insure. If a loss would affect our finances in a meaningful way, we buy insurance.

That means high deductibles for auto, home, and health and no trip insurance.

One exception was when I did a month-long volunteer stint in Cambodia and I purchased medical insurance. However, in that case I was buying expertise as much as insurance, since I had no idea how I would get myself evacuated out of the rural provinces of Cambodia where I was working without some outside help.

Jim

[Meadbh]

About 10 years ago a colleague of mine was visited by his English parents while working in the US. They obtained comprehensive travel insurance prior to the trip. While in the US, the father suffered an acute coronary emergency and ended up in the ICU with a quadruple bypass and an aortic balloon pump. He survived and did well. His hospitalization cost $50,000.

The following year, he wanted to visit his son again. Couldn't get travel insurance! I wonder why?

[Sparky]

A friend of mine was on a cruise in the Caribbean when another passenger had a heart attack and had to be airlifted to the US...

That guy did not have travel insurance and paid about $30,000 for the helicopter.

DH and I were in the Dominican Republic when he got very ill... the doc at the resort was fresh out of medical school and really didn't know what was the matter with him (maybe dengue fever?). We had travel insurance, and used it to fly home (first class, BTW) the next day. DH may have been at death's door but he was gonna drink that free champagne!

In my opinion, travel insurance is well worth the $200.

[BarbaraAnne]

On the first cruise we took 5 years ago we were not going to purchase travel insurance. Why spend the extra money? Our parents were in good health and our kids would be with us on the cruise.

We opted to purchase insurance at the time we made our final payment for the cruise (about 60 days prior) because the travel agent told us that if one of our kids fell on the ship and broke a bone and had to be airlifted it would be 25K. That alone convinced us...

Just to show how things can change...

In that 60 days after purchasing the insurance for the cruise, my father, who was in good health, died unexpectedly. My mother, who was in excellent health, ended up in the emergency room near death, unbeknownst to us, as we boarded the ship on the day of the cruise. We were on the ship for about an hour when the phone call came that they didn't expect her to survive. It was totally unexpected! We had to leave the ship immediately and the insurance covered the cruise and all transportation, including last minute airfare during the Christmas season (imagine the cost!) It was well worth it and convinced us to never cruise without insurance!

Life is unpredictable!

[Rich]

Today I booked a trip to the island of Saba (near St. Marteen). I spent around $250 dollars on a travel insurance/medical protection policy. Total trip cost for the two weeks will be around $4,000 dollars (rough estimate), and I believe getting the insurance is simply a prudent thing to do.