Do you buy travel insurance?

[PandaBear]

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.

 

[2017ish]

This comes up frequently, and you'll get different answers from folks.

We also have Geoblue, as well as DAN insurance for dive-related emergency treatment and evacuation.

Other than that, we don't get travel insurance. We travel ~6 months of the year; it is a six figure expenditure every year and accounts for over half of our post-tax spending. We feel that insurance (other than US health insurance) is to prevent catastrophic, unexpected losses. IF we had to eat the cost of a trip, we could (by definition) handle it--otherwise we wouldn't be making the trip to start with.

So far, so good. At some point, our number will likely come up--but after nearly seven years of traveling like this, we have avoided a fair number of premiums. ($10,000 would not cover airfare on many of our international trips, so we would be looking at policies other than the one that you are considering.)

Good luck on the decision!

 

[Luvtoride]

We have been purchasing travel insurance on all international trips over the past few years, primarily for Medical coverage and evacuation costs to return to the US if a major medical issue occurred. We are both turning 67 this year. We do know of people who have gotten sick while abroad and the prospect of being treated in a hospital in some of these countries/ places is scary.
Fortunately we have not had any serious medical issues ourselves but god forbid if we do.

 

[mystang52]

We've been buying trip insurance or years, because I had a pre-existing condition..........and now have 2 . It's not cheap, but not expensive. Normally we book our travel months ahead of time so want that peace of mind.

 

[Surewhitey]

DW sometimes does, sometimes doesn't. Usually it's for the bigger European trips.

 

[DuluthGA]

geoblue for medical combined with a good credit card for travel delays, cancellations etc. Good balance of costs v/s risk for us

 

[Lewis Clark]

We do for our international trips. Partly in case we get sick or need medical evacuation. But a larger reason is because of our parents. Our surviving parents are all in their late 80's with health trending downwards. The trip insurance will help cover the cost of cancelling a trip in progress and getting home quickly.

 

[Koolau]

The "theory" is to insure against losses that would actually affect your living standard. I think I would probably consider emergency evacuation insurance if I were to fly/travel internationally - especially to areas where medical can be sketchy. Of course, due diligence on the plans and their records of service would be the watch-word. I can imagine some insurance company saying "No, you don't really need to be air lifted from a mountain village in Outer Paprickastan. You're only a 5 mile mule ride to the witch doctor who is well thought of in the area."

 

[OldConch]

Premium credit cards for actual trip purchases and an annual plan that includes medical and emergency evacuation but minimal trip interruption and cancellation.

 

[Aerides]

Premium credit cards for actual trip purchases and an annual plan that includes medical and emergency evacuation but minimal trip interruption and cancellation.

One of the reasons I keep an expensive credit card is I find I use more benefits than the fee. And they are usually geared towards frequent travelers. So getting the Cancellation Insurance included, as well as other perks, really pays off for me.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I buy travel insurance for the trips I take to Europe which are tours. They are expensive so I feel that paying 500 a trip instead of losing all my money is worth it.

 

[Lsbcal]

The reason I buy insurance has to do with a major hit to our finances hence house insurance and umbrella insurance make sense. Travel health problems would unlikely fall into that category. I do use the Chase Sapphire card which gives us some insurance plus points benefits.

In all the years we have traveled we would not have used travel insurance. All those times have easily payed for what might unfortunately happen on a future trip -- but hopefully will not.

 

[mountainsoft]

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.

We don't do cruises or travel internationally, and rarely take vacations that cost more than 3-4K, so we usually don't bother with insurance. Our regular health insurance covers medical emergencies when traveling in the US anyway.

However, for bigger road trips, I have purchased one time trip insurance. We took a trip to California last year and I paid about $110 through SquareMouth to get a plan that covered the $3000 trip cost and 30K of emergency medical (on top of our regular health coverage). It also included coverage for baggage delays and whatnot, but that didn't apply in our case. I mostly just wanted coverage for the lodging expenses.

 

[sengsational]

It's a challenge for me to buy travel insurance because it's complicated to know what you're actually buying and how likely it is that you can get through all of the exclusions and actually get the insurance to pay.

If the trip is way off in the future, and you have a medical condition that might prevent the trip, that seems like a good bet. But if your reservations can be refundable, you might not get any benefit from the cancellation protection.

 

[OldConch]

I buy travel insurance for the trips I take to Europe which are tours. They are expensive so I feel that paying 500 a trip instead of losing all my money is worth it.

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.

 

[wearefinishedworking]

No we do not purchase it. We are attending a destination wedding this fall in hurricane season so did for first time (actually a credit with travel company is all we would get).

 

[jj]

One of the reasons I keep an expensive credit card is I find I use more benefits than the fee. And they are usually geared towards frequent travelers. So getting the Cancellation Insurance included, as well as other perks, really pays off for me.

Which credit card do you use for this? Thanks

 

[jj]

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.

Which company's annual policy do you use? Thanks

 

[Souschef]

Absolutely! On one occasion my wife broke her foot a few days before leaving on a cruise. On a cruise some time later, my wife caught a nasty pulmonary infection and was hospitalized at the end of the cruise for 3 days.
In both cases. travel insurance covered most of the costs.

 

[OldConch]

Which company's annual policy do you use? Thanks

Allianz.

 

[OldShooter]

I view any insurance as a decision to transfer a risk that I cannot afford to take or that I prefer not to take. It is not some kind of lottery ticket.

Accordingly we never buy insurance for the cost of a trip. If something goes wrong we can easily take the hit.

I do buy evacuation insurance to transfer the logistics risk of having to manage a medical emergency and consequent transportation and logistics challenges. Companies that write evacuation insurance have expertise in coordinating and in making things happen and I want to tap that expertise if we have an emergency. I have bought from Travelex in the past, though have never had to test the service.

Accordingly I buy evacuation insurance for trips to third-world countries and places where English is not commonly spoken. Think Ethiopia, Myanmar, Vietnam, etc. For some trips (Road Scholar for example) I trust the travel company to be at the ready and to be experienced with the logistics.

I never buy from companies that are not regulated insurance companies. There are companies that are organized as associations or other forms and which are careful to not use the word "insurance" in their advertising --- a dead giveway ("Global Rescue" for example).

 

[Golden Mean]

For a cruise, I wouldn't go without it. (Air) Evacuation can be criminally expensive. I've used https://www.aardy.com in the past. Super easy and fast. Of course, if/when you have to submit a claim is when it becomes work.

I typically make sure not to buy/pay for no-reason cancellation, esp for trips where I can get a refund/credit on flights and lodging.

 

[Gotadimple]

If you travel out of country 2-3 times a year, an annual policy is far more affordable than buying trip insurance for each trip. Especially if you tend to buy insurance through a tour provider. What makes your current insurance costs so high is the cancel for any reason feature. I use an aggregator (an insurance agent) like Squaremouth to pick a plan that meets my needs. I don't have a premium credit card that could provide some coverage, so have no experience with that.

Most important are the medical benefit followed by evacuation, and travel delay (if an airline gets stopped due to bad weather at connecting airports, the airline is supposed to provide a voucher for hotel and meals. Trip Delay covers costs that the airline doesn't provide. Also, some countries require a minimum medical limit. Using an aggregator you can specify where you travel and they will offer policies that meet the limits required by that country.

Finally as you age, you will find that when you reach 70, sometimes 75, the number of choices for coverage go down and the premium cost goes up.

 

[athena53]

Yes. My Medigap covers the first $50K out of the country but of course expenses can mount quickly, even outside the US. I also have MedJet Assist, an evacuation plan that states emphatically that they're NOT insurance but will pick you up anywhere in a private plane with a medical person in the crew and take you to any hospital. A friend's brother languished in a hospital in St. Kitts after he had transient ischemic attacks on a cruise and was airlifted there. Four days- no phone, internet, TV or PT. Friend had to fly in from KC to get him. Brother needed a wheel chair and had lost his ability to read. He never did fully recover.

Right now my only pre-existing condition is a leaky heart valve, unlikely to create an emergency, but you never know, and I do like hiking long distances, climbing up steps, getting lost in interesting cities, etc. So far all I've needed is Imodium and I'm grateful.

I'm pretty control freak-y about long layovers for my connections and arriving for tours the day before the tour starts but I still find it reassuring that I have coverage in case something goes wrong with the flights.

 

[disneysteve]

We buy insurance for cruises. We also bought insurance when we went to Mexico in February partly because of my wife's recent medical issues and partly in case anything happened with my mom and we had to cancel or come home early.