Do you buy travel insurance?

One thing for certain: Having a DL in your new state is THE most important way to prove you no longer live in your old state.
This is only true if the new state requires changing your license. Not all states do. There are some states, South Dakota for example, that make it easy to avoid changing licenses and residency to avoid taxes in other states.
 
This is only true if the new state requires changing your license. Not all states do. There are some states, South Dakota for example, that make it easy to avoid changing licenses and residency to avoid taxes in other states.
Yeah, it's not the NEW state you worry about. It's the old one trying to come after you and "claiming" you even though you no longer physically live there. Never give them an excuse to come after you. Get your new license as soon as possible, change your address on every thing you can. Contact your old state if need be. If you do visit your old state, spend as little money as possible and document your time there and in the new state in some manner - even if it's to buy a pack of gum in your new state (with your credit card) every few days.

As mentioned, my old state seemed to have no interest in me once I left though I did still have to pay a little bit of tax there because of my continued involvement in the family business. Very much a YMMV situation when it comes to state "greed."
 
Yeah, it's not the NEW state you worry about. It's the old one trying to come after you and "claiming" you even though you no longer physically live there. Never give them an excuse to come after you. Get your new license as soon as possible, change your address on every thing you can. Contact your old state if need be. If you do visit your old state, spend as little money as possible and document your time there and in the new state in some manner - even if it's to buy a pack of gum in your new state (with your credit card) every few days.

As mentioned, my old state seemed to have no interest in me once I left though I did still have to pay a little bit of tax there because of my continued involvement in the family business. Very much a YMMV situation when it comes to state "greed."
I'm 10 years post Arizona. They don't seem to want to claim me. Taxes were lower there so if they did I would not complain.

My biggest issues is that in Kona almost all the formerly free parking is now pay (and expensive). They say locals get it free with their Hawaii DL. But I'm screwed because the morons who set up the system do not understand that transplants do not qualify. I contacted them to educate them but they basically said "sorry, your problem." So I contact the merchants I used to patronize to tell them why I no longer do. Hopefully they put pressure on the morons to come up with a fix.
 
Yeah this seems odd to me. Most AZ licenses expire at age 65. HI doesn't require you to get a HI license, but I've never heard of them not allowing someone who is a resident to have it.
That's correct. I am 59 so my AZ license is still valid. In 2014 when I moved here they would not give me a HI DL but they did give me a state ID which has since expired. Things may have changed because we now have "star" licenses for homeland security. Once I retire and have some free time I will try again for a HI DL.
 
I'm 10 years post Arizona. They don't seem to want to claim me. Taxes were lower there so if they did I would not complain.

My biggest issues is that in Kona almost all the formerly free parking is now pay (and expensive). They say locals get it free with their Hawaii DL. But I'm screwed because the morons who set up the system do not understand that transplants do not qualify. I contacted them to educate them but they basically said "sorry, your problem." So I contact the merchants I used to patronize to tell them why I no longer do. Hopefully they put pressure on the morons to come up with a fix.
Yeah, I still don't understand the DL thing in Hawaii. I'd ask again (and again.) Don't give up.
 
I use the Chase Sapphire cards to book the travel etc. and it has pretty extensive coverages for travel. As well, as a Chase customer, I think I have extra leverage with them in case of issues (versus buying online a generic policy). Note there is alot of fine print, so a "deeper" relationship might be of value (but I have not had to test it). I did extensive work on this less than a year ago, for biz and home travel, and it left me comfortable that if I do all trip expenses on the card I have great family coverage. Either card is way cheaper than a few per trip insurances. And WAY easier to understand, as once it's done its the same for every trip.
 
I'm considering if we should start buying an annual travel insurance plan. Cost is about $750 each for $10,000 annual trip cancellation and interruption (annually), $50,000 for medical insurance and $250,000 emergency evacuation per trip.

We do quite a few cruises each year, and will likely be doing 1 international trip a year.

We currently have GeoBlue emergency medical insurance (I made sure it covered cruise ship medical!) That runs us about $260 a year for both of us. It "only" pays $50,000 for medical expenses, but I'm conformable with that amount.

My husband is inclined to have us not get trip insurance. Our travel budget (per year) is about $40,000 per year. If the worst happened and we lost some of what we paid for an individual trip, I'd be bummed, be it wouldn't be catastrophic to us. Equally, if I had to make emergency arrangements and pay a lot to get home, I could do it. We have a pretty large amount of credit card limits, so we'd have money available if needed.

I was actually thinking we should get the insurance, although I do understand his reasoning. I am 62 and he will be 66 in the fall, so we are also hitting those ages where medical issues are more common.

So, just curious what other people do in terms of insurance. I'd appreciate any input.
We have found the main goal of trip insurance companies is to find a reason to not pay you. We travel extensively and have a 3 part strategy:
- trip insurance on Chase Sapphire card is free and matches most of what you can buy
- out medical insurance overs us “out of network”. Some have to pay out of pocket and seek reimbursement. Outside the US, the few times we got sick (nothing major) the local feed were minimal.
- we buy an annual subscription to Medjet which provides medical evacuation insurance ($400/year for 2 of us)
 
The small-group tour operator that we use requires travel insurance and recommends trip insurance. The annual policy that we buy meets their requirements.

OP, our annual policy premium is $485 for the two of us at ages 63 and 69 - $2000 trip interruption/cancellation, $50,000 medical, $500,000 emergency medical transportation, and $2000 bag delay/loss. Seems like a reasonable balance between self-insuring the trip costs while offering peace of mind while on our trips.
It also includes $45,000 rental car damages. We went with the same annual policy when we started cruising more. We also make trips to see our granddaughter and sometimes rent a car. Allianz seemed like a good option for us, with evacuation coverage being the main component.

One thing the annual policy did for me was peace of mind. We had a cruise planned months before and a few days before the cruise, a hurricane hit Florida. I had no worries as I figured the insurance would cover any losses. It turned out not costing us anything as I was able to change our plans, arriving the day of our cruise (instead of 2 days before). Any cancellations were fully refunded or not charged to us.
 
I'm considering if we should start buying an annual travel insurance plan. Cost is about $750 each for $10,000 annual trip cancellation and interruption (annually), $50,000 for medical insurance and $250,000 emergency evacuation per trip.

We do quite a few cruises each year, and will likely be doing 1 international trip a year.

We currently have GeoBlue emergency medical insurance (I made sure it covered cruise ship medical!) That runs us about $260 a year for both of us. It "only" pays $50,000 for medical expenses, but I'm conformable with that amount.

My husband is inclined to have us not get trip insurance. Our travel budget (per year) is about $40,000 per year. If the worst happened and we lost some of what we paid for an individual trip, I'd be bummed, be it wouldn't be catastrophic to us. Equally, if I had to make emergency arrangements and pay a lot to get home, I could do it. We have a pretty large amount of credit card limits, so we'd have money available if needed.

I was actually thinking we should get the insurance, although I do understand his reasoning. I am 62 and he will be 66 in the fall, so we are also hitting those ages where medical issues are more common.

So, just curious what other people do in terms of insurance. I'd appreciate any input.
As we travel more, we find that several companies are requiring us to have travel insurance, to include emergency medical and evacuation. Depending on your travel style and how you book it this may not apply to you (we do a lot of small group tours). We've found it cost effective to get an annual plan, rather than get insurance for each trip. Ours also covers only travel outside the US. You might want something that includes US travel as well.
 
I'm considering if we should start buying an annual travel insurance plan. Cost is about $750 each for $10,000 annual trip cancellation and interruption (annually), $50,000 for medical insurance and $250,000 emergency evacuation per trip.

We do quite a few cruises each year, and will likely be doing 1 international trip a year.

We currently have GeoBlue emergency medical insurance (I made sure it covered cruise ship medical!) That runs us about $260 a year for both of us. It "only" pays $50,000 for medical expenses, but I'm conformable with that amount.

My husband is inclined to have us not get trip insurance. Our travel budget (per year) is about $40,000 per year. If the worst happened and we lost some of what we paid for an individual trip, I'd be bummed, be it wouldn't be catastrophic to us. Equally, if I had to make emergency arrangements and pay a lot to get home, I could do it. We have a pretty large amount of credit card limits, so we'd have money available if needed.

I was actually thinking we should get the insurance, although I do understand his reasoning. I am 62 and he will be 66 in the fall, so we are also hitting those ages where medical issues are more common.

So, just curious what other people do in terms of insurance. I'd appreciate any input.
We get comprehensive travel insurance for expensive trips with cancel for any reason. We also get refundable airfare. We don’t get separate medical insurance. We have Medigap Plan G.
 
Only problem with Plan G there is very little coverage if traveling internationally--50K lifetime
We always buy primary medical insurance so any bills are paid directly to provider and you do not havce to wait to Medicare clears through their International coverage
 
I'm considering if we should start buying an annual travel insurance plan. Cost is about $750 each for $10,000 annual trip cancellation and interruption (annually), $50,000 for medical insurance and $250,000 emergency evacuation per trip.

We do quite a few cruises each year, and will likely be doing 1 international trip a year.

We currently have GeoBlue emergency medical insurance (I made sure it covered cruise ship medical!) That runs us about $260 a year for both of us. It "only" pays $50,000 for medical expenses, but I'm conformable with that amount.

My husband is inclined to have us not get trip insurance. Our travel budget (per year) is about $40,000 per year. If the worst happened and we lost some of what we paid for an individual trip, I'd be bummed, be it wouldn't be catastrophic to us. Equally, if I had to make emergency arrangements and pay a lot to get home, I could do it. We have a pretty large amount of credit card limits, so we'd have money available if needed.

I was actually thinking we should get the insurance, although I do understand his reasoning. I am 62 and he will be 66 in the fall, so we are also hitting those ages where medical issues are more common.

So, just curious what other people do in terms of insurance. I'd appreciate any input.
We used to buy insurance on most trips through AAA. But we finally held our breath and tried our Chase Sapphire reserve and it's travel insurance plan. We've actually been using it for about 5 years and we end up tapping it for reimbursements on average once a year. Maybe one out of four trips there's a weather delay or something similar,. They make you jump through some hoops but I've got the system all figured out and it's fairly effortless now. And they're very generous, they've paid back our meal reimbursements including a couple of cocktails and tip. Now this thread though has me wondering about really good insurance for the unthinkable mishap in a foreign country, like having to be airlifted from a cruise ship or something similar. I haven't scanned the whole thread but will, and maybe do a little research on that need.
 
We shop policies sometimes at insuremytrip.com and use our Chase Sapphire to make all travel purchases due to "free" insurance provided. We sometimes buy Travel Insurance | C&F Travel Insured International annual plan because it is cheap (about $100 per person) and provides nice foundational coverage that you can add to on individual trips. We have had air carrier / luggage claims with both Chase and Travel Insured and had no problems. We keep our receipts and understand what travel insurance does and does NOT (more than you think) cover.

I am a cheap b8st8rd, but given how chaotic travel is today and the relatively low price of travel insurance available, I think it is a smart protection.
 
FWIW, I purchased three years of coverage at a discount during a Black Friday sale around Thanksgiving. IIRC, it was five years of coverage for the price of four. So far I have not used the MedJet service and I hope it ends up buying me nothing but peace of mind.

Once you hit 72, they have ‘special’ rates if you medically qualify, but I bought the service at the ordinary rate and it will take me a few years past 72. In this case not being special is cheaper.
I was mistaken about the deal highlighted above.

MedJet Assist was selling three years of coverage for the price of two years. It’s only medical evacuation services. Nothing else is covered. And MedJet is not legally insurance from what I understand.
 
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This thread helped me make a decision. I had been buying Insurance for every trip. Then I read here about yearly policies and Credit Cards. It looked like the top tier credit cards have similar Travel insurance. I didn't realize that my current card had some and I had been wasting insurance on flights. Though the levels on my current card would not cover our trips like the one to Iceland in August. I have fully refundable air fare and a $700 trip cancellation policy with Medical on that trip

Turns out any of the top tier credit cards would have come close to coverage at less $$ short Medical.

I also found out USAA sells travel insurance and they seem to have good products and even stand alone Medical Travel policies for $112 or full coverage with better limits for the same price I paid earlier

I also found out that my current medical (63 years old) covers International care and even has a web site to find places that are covered or ways to file claims if none are available

I am a lifetime Gold Elite on United from all the business travel I did so I always fly them when I can. With that, the United Club card seems to be the best for me vs the United Explorer I currently have.

I am planning on getting the United Club Card (w/80K Bonus miles). I had it when working but canceled it when I thought the primary reason was the Club and I don't travel enough to justify that. However, the Travel Insurance it comes with is less than I would pay for a single trip for equivalent coverage and the club would just be a bonus.

I think the only time I will buy a stand alone full coverage policy in the future is if we have a pre-existing condition for us or my in laws that would impact the cancelation reimbursement.

For Medical, I will need to consider it as a separate policy. It has better evac limits, plus no deductibles as what my insurance would come with. Still, my current Health Insurance will cover and limit risk for any emergencies that may come up while traveling. That may be a case by case basis. From what I can see, will need to revaluate when I go on Medicare in two years as some supplements you can add it, others you can't

I would be interested in learning more about what folks have learned when filing claims against these Travel Cards to see if there is something I need to consider when planning our next trip.

Too late to use this for our Iceland Cruise in August, but there is always the next one :)
 
The big problem I have with travel insurance is that WA state seems to have regulated a lot of such policies out of existence. IOW, if you live in WA state they won't sell you the policy. Some of the cheaper medical insurance policies were just not available.
 
We have been traveling A LOT since retiring.
We got the Chase Sapphire Reserve mostly because it had medical evac insurance (after a cousin had a $30K med evac from the Caribbean). But it also has fairly comprehensive travel insurance.
When we travel overseas, we add an international rider for that time period to our Blue Cross.
 
I was mistaken about the deal highlighted above.

MedJet Assist was selling three years of coverage for the price of two years. It’s only medical evacuation services. Nothing else is covered. And MedJet is not legally insurance from what I understand.
I agree. They're very clear about not being insurance but they're a good add-on to solid medical and cancellation insurance for the worst-case scenarios.
 
I'm considering if we should start buying an annual travel insurance plan. Cost is about $750 each for $10,000 annual trip cancellation and interruption (annually), $50,000 for medical insurance and $250,000 emergency evacuation per trip.

We do quite a few cruises each year, and will likely be doing 1 international trip a year.

We currently have GeoBlue emergency medical insurance (I made sure it covered cruise ship medical!) That runs us about $260 a year for both of us. It "only" pays $50,000 for medical expenses, but I'm conformable with that amount.

My husband is inclined to have us not get trip insurance. Our travel budget (per year) is about $40,000 per year. If the worst happened and we lost some of what we paid for an individual trip, I'd be bummed, be it wouldn't be catastrophic to us. Equally, if I had to make emergency arrangements and pay a lot to get home, I could do it. We have a pretty large amount of credit card limits, so we'd have money available if needed.

I was actually thinking we should get the insurance, although I do understand his reasoning. I am 62 and he will be 66 in the fall, so we are also hitting those ages where medical issues are more common.

So, just curious what other people do in terms of insurance. I'd appreciate any input.
I'm considering if we should start buying an annual travel insurance plan. Cost is about $750 each for $10,000 annual trip cancellation and interruption (annually), $50,000 for medical insurance and $250,000 emergency evacuation per trip.

We do quite a few cruises each year, and will likely be doing 1 international trip a year.

We currently have GeoBlue emergency medical insurance (I made sure it covered cruise ship medical!) That runs us about $260 a year for both of us. It "only" pays $50,000 for medical expenses, but I'm conformable with that amount.

My husband is inclined to have us not get trip insurance. Our travel budget (per year) is about $40,000 per year. If the worst happened and we lost some of what we paid for an individual trip, I'd be bummed, be it wouldn't be catastrophic to us. Equally, if I had to make emergency arrangements and pay a lot to get home, I could do it. We have a pretty large amount of credit card limits, so we'd have money available if needed.

I was actually thinking we should get the insurance, although I do understand his reasoning. I am 62 and he will be 66 in the fall, so we are also hitting those ages where medical issues are more common.

So, just curious what other people do in terms of insurance. I'd appreciate any input.
We use Chase Visa Sapphire Reserve, It cost us ~$550, but it gives back $300 in travel credit (Uber, flights etc.). For the remaining $250 we get the usual trip cancellation, accident, lost luggage, extended warranty, medical, and most important the medical evacuation (up to $120K) and access to the airport Passport Lounges. So far, we have not had a need to use, but it is a peace of mind. This is valid for as many travels in a year. Other medical evac expect you to be back after 90 days before they will cover second trip.
 
I'm considering if we should start buying an annual travel insurance plan. Cost is about $750 each for $10,000 annual trip cancellation and interruption (annually), $50,000 for medical insurance and $250,000 emergency evacuation per trip.

We do quite a few cruises each year, and will likely be doing 1 international trip a year.

We currently have GeoBlue emergency medical insurance (I made sure it covered cruise ship medical!) That runs us about $260 a year for both of us. It "only" pays $50,000 for medical expenses, but I'm conformable with that amount.

My husband is inclined to have us not get trip insurance. Our travel budget (per year) is about $40,000 per year. If the worst happened and we lost some of what we paid for an individual trip, I'd be bummed, be it wouldn't be catastrophic to us. Equally, if I had to make emergency arrangements and pay a lot to get home, I could do it. We have a pretty large amount of credit card limits, so we'd have money available if needed.

I was actually thinking we should get the insurance, although I do understand his reasoning. I am 62 and he will be 66 in the fall, so we are also hitting those ages where medical issues are more common.

So, just curious what other people do in terms of insurance. I'd appreciate any input.
 
That’s a highly individual decision based on risk tolerance, type of trip and activities planned and of course your health plus preexisting conditions.

We’re coming to the end of a 6 week meander through Spain. Both in late 60s. No travel insurance.

A 7 years ago on trip to Machu Pichu I got travel insurance because of some extreme activities planned.
 
Last year I got an annual policy through Allianz. I had multiple trips planned. The price range was $138-510. The higher prices mostly translated to higher reimbursement for medical evacuation. Given I was planning to ski on one of the trips and the other trip was to Hawaii with lots of activities, it was worth it. We got the medium plan which was $280.
 
Thanks for everyone's input on this thread, it has been helpful. We've used single-trip insurance in the past, but this thread has lead me down the path of the annual (and higher-end credit card) options. With a trip to Greece in October and a major trip being planned for 2026 this was going to be relevant soon.
 
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