Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance for multiple back-to-back tours overseas

[audreyh1]

I’m planning some Europe travel this fall which will include two different tours spaced about a week apart, one of which is rather pricey, and of course the international air fare.

Our main concern is an elderly parent - whether they got suddenly seriously ill requiring our presence or worse. But of course if something happened to either of us that would for cancellation or needing to interrupt the trip and return back to the states early.

How doesn’t one do this piecemeal? - You are supposed to buy insurance within a few days of your initial deposit to get the most benefit. But we will be buying this in parts - one tour, and then the other, each with their own deposit schedule I assume, and then much later purchasing the nonrefundable airfare which we generally do just about two months before the trip. Do they just keep updating the quote or adding to it?

I’ve been reading some of the material at insuremytrip.com, but they don’t seem to discuss the actual mechanics of buying the insurance. Do you end up communicating with an individual and they walk you through various quotes? This doesn’t seem very cut and dried. I supposed it's easier if you are just going on one cruise with attendant air fare.

We’ve never bought insurance before as we only pre-pay the airfare (which can be used later) and usually do our own hotel booking, always cancelable. Also, the parent is much more frail now than in the past.
_______________

FWIW Here are some threads I recently collected from the past few years. Most discuss medical travel insurance.

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f46/trip-insurance-95893.html
http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f46/trip-reimbursement-insurance-88310.html
http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f46/trip-interrupted-how-does-trip-insurance-work-92297.html
http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f46/blue-card-worldwide-travel-health-insurance-85552.html
http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f46/travel-insurance-74082.html
http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f46/travel-insurance-79192.html
http://www.early-retirement.org/for...chase-sapphire-reserve-credit-card-88382.html
http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f46/travel-insurance-questions-91175.html
http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f38/pre-medicare-insurance-travel-nearly-full-time-92091.html
http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f46/travel-insurance-review-92608.html
http://www.early-retirement.org/for...insurance-as-a-periodic-supplement-88164.html
http://www.early-retirement.org/for...u-know-travel-insurance-exclusions-95273.html

 

[nwsteve]

We have been relying on Chase Sapphire's travel coverage (buy with their card) for most of the types of spending you described. (You still have?). Be sure to read their latest coverage provisions since they seem to change at least annually. I believe parents are/were considered part of your family and covered. So far we have been only buying travel insurance for medical. You may want to be sure they have a policy specially for them.

 

[ohyes]

You may want to try https://www.squaremouth.com/contact_us/

You can talk to a human who will be knowledgeable and helpful. We have only used them one time, but were pleased and felt like we understood what we were purchasing.

 

[audreyh1]

We have been relying on Chase Sapphire's travel coverage (buy with their card) for most of the types of spending you described. (You still have?). Be sure to read their latest coverage provisions since they seem to change at least annually. I believe parents are/were considered part of your family and covered. So far we have been only buying travel insurance for medical. You may want to be sure they have a policy specially for them.

I've looked at similar coverage with my United Club Mileageplus card also by Chase which is at the same level, but there are too many holes. They leave themselves a big out on "preexisting conditions". They have a limit on the coverage. I may use it for the airfare but I don't think it's enough to cover the tours. I use it to buy airfare and rental cars for primary coverage, but prefer not to use it for the entire trip.

 

[Scuba]

I believe several companies offer annual travel policies. Would purchasing one of those make sense?

 

[bingybear]

First CALL insuremytrip and talk with them. They should be able to help you understand the process. I've used them on several trips. Some of the answers may depend on the insurance you choose.
If you are getting a health insurance benefit with the trip insurance, make sure you follow the requirements if you have pre-existing conditions.

Our last trip I bought no change airfare (after 24 hours) over 6 months before. These are covered under trip insurance.

Things that you book, but do not pay until you are on the trip are not covered as you can cancel them instead of being reimbursed.

If this is multiple trips that you are setting up at separate times, then I wonder if you would buy insurance for each trip? This may be another option.

I typically buy the trip insurance for medical/evacuation (get hurt mounting hiking) or have to get back to deal with aging parent.

I figure out all the details before buying the insurance (or most). So it is not hard to get it done in the required time frames.

 

[Scrapr]

We purchased from Insuremytrip 2 years ago. Parents were (as it turned out) about a year from death. They were in Assisted Living at the time.

My recollection was that we just inputted "a number" based on the money that we would be out of pocket. The higher the number the higher the rate. So cancellable hotel rooms you would not want to put in there. Presumably you would cancel them. TBH I just kinda rounded and guessed on a bit of it. It turned out to be a lot smaller number than I would have guessed.

I sort of remember the cut off date. But I really decided for trip coverage about 3-4 weeks prior to the trip. So that was when we bought it

 

[audreyh1]

It’s just one trip even though two different tours close together. I’m not really worried about medical coverage while traveling in Europe, just reimbursement for serious illness for us or immediate family member causing trip interruption or cancellation.

I would only insure the tours and airfare as the other stuff - hotels and ground transportation - would not be prepaid.

 

[nwsteve]

You may want to try https://www.squaremouth.com/contact_us/

You can talk to a human who will be knowledgeable and helpful. We have only used them one time, but were pleased and felt like we understood what we were purchasing.

+!
We have used Squaremouth a couple of times and also found them helpful.

 

[cathy63]

How doesn’t one do this piecemeal? - You are supposed to buy insurance within a few days of your initial deposit to get the most benefit. But we will be buying this in parts - one tour, and then the other, each with their own deposit schedule I assume, and then much later purchasing the nonrefundable airfare which we generally do just about two months before the trip. Do they just keep updating the quote or adding to it?

Yes, this is exactly what people do. Each time they incur a new non-refundable cost, they update the trip insurance policy and pay the new premium. This is where having a person you can call at Squaremouth or TripInsuranceStore can be really helpful.

Or you can do it the lazy way, which is what I do. When we buy trip insurance -- which we only do if it would be very expensive to get home in an emergency -- I just put the full amount I expect to spend on non-refundable items on the initial policy. I'm paying for coverage before we need it, but I don't have to worry about remembering to update it as I add new reservations. Of course this won't work unless you have a pretty good idea of the total trip cost up front.

 

[MuirWannabe]

It’s just one trip even though two different tours close together. I’m not really worried about medical coverage while traveling in Europe, just reimbursement for serious illness for us or immediate family member causing trip interruption or cancellation.

I would only insure the tours and airfare as the other stuff - hotels and ground transportation - would not be prepaid.

Just remember, you may wish to cancel the trip in the middle of it. Should a worse case issue arise back home. In that case, all expenses including non pre-paid ones could be in play.

 

[Sunset]

We buy annual trip insurance at insuremytrip.com.
We are primarily interested in medical emergency coverage and evacuation, whatever our regular health insurance does not cover.

We have relied on CC to cover cancellation, which we have never tested.

I do know that when looking on the above website, after going through the questions of
Where, who , age, cost of trip (this is what triggers cancellation policies),
You see some plans,
Click plan info.
There you will see: like the image below and if you click on the "View Certificate" it has all the legal fun stuff to read.

 

[Moemg]

I buy travel insurance often . I but it on Insure my trip . I just input the costs I want covered .I check to make sure there is enough medical & evacuation insurance included.You will then get several quotes and be able to contact the specific company for more information . I have used Travel Guard several times .I have had seven travel insurance claims mostly due to illness or death of elderly parent and they have all been paid promptly .

 

[Lsbcal]

How much does it cost to insure a trip?

We've never done this. Also have Chase Sapphire Preferred and I understand, although I'm the only one on the card it, covers DW too.

 

[Sunset]

I buy travel insurance often . I but it on Insure my trip . I just input the costs I want covered .I check to make sure there is enough medical & evacuation insurance included.You will then get several quotes and be able to contact the specific company for more information . I have used Travel Guard several times .I have had seven travel insurance claims mostly due to illness or death of elderly parent and they have all been paid promptly .

That is our big concern. Already happened once on a road trip, so just turned around. However if we were overseas, that would be a big expense.

 

[Sunset]

How much does it cost to insure a trip?

We've never done this. Also have Chase Sapphire Preferred and I understand although I'm the only one on the card it covers DW too.

You could go to insuremytrip.com to input your last trip or next trip to get an idea.

However, to save you, we pay $200/yr to cover 2 people for up to 70 days per trip, multiple trips. However, it only covers health and evac up to about $100K.

To reimburse for canceling a trip due to parent/certain relatives, getting sick/death, it is a lot more, usually about 6%-10% of the trip cost. We don't get this coverage.

 

[audreyh1]

Just remember, you may wish to cancel the trip in the middle of it. Should a worse case issue arise back home. In that case, all expenses including non pre-paid ones could be in play.

Not sure I understand this. Something causes the trip to be interrupted. Say I have already completed one of the tours and we've spent some nights at hotels on our own. We haven't prepaid any additional hotels. Or even a mid-tour interruption.

Why wouldn't trip interruption insurance take care of the remainder? Which would be all I care about. Getting back home with whatever air changes need to be made, cancelling the second tour, and cancelling any remaining reservations that haven't been paid yet. If we forfeit a couple of days in a hotel that we are already booked into - I don't really care about that.

 

[MuirWannabe]

Not sure I understand this. Something causes the trip to be interrupted. Say I have already completed one of the tours and we've spent some nights at hotels on our own. We haven't prepaid any additional hotels. Or even a mid-tour interruption.



Why wouldn't trip interruption insurance take care of the remainder? Which would be all I care about. Getting back home with whatever air changes need to be made, cancelling the second tour, and cancelling any remaining reservations that haven't been paid yet. If we forfeit a couple of days in a hotel that we are already booked into - I don't really care about that.

Usually there is a 2-3 day cancellation policy on hotel reservations. At least that’s often been my experience. So, if you are in the middle of a trip much of your hotel and activities costs could be in play. On top of the return travel cost changes of course. That’s all I was thinking of.

 

[OldShooter]

We buy only evacuation insurance, not trip cancellation. So we're not much help but ...

If you go to https://www.intltravelnews.com and search on "Wayne Wirtanen" you will find a series of articles on travel insurance, including information on an independent agency who specializes in this kind of coverage. The articles are worth a careful read. If some are behind a paywall, the pittance you'll have to pay for an ITN subscription is well worth it.

 

[audreyh1]

Usually there is a 2-3 day cancellation policy on hotel reservations. At least that’s often been my experience. So, if you are in the middle of a trip much of your hotel and activities costs could be in play. On top of the return travel cost changes of course. That’s all I was thinking of.

Well I’m not worried about a hotel reservation within a couple of days. In most cases I would only be charged for one night. I’m just trying to cover the more expensive tours and airfare - the remaining unused portions if we did enjoy part of the trip.

 

[Gotadimple]

Well I’m not worried about a hotel reservation within a couple of days. In most cases I would only be charged for one night. I’m just trying to cover the more expensive tours and airfare - the remaining unused portions if we did enjoy part of the trip.

So you want a cancel for any reason clause? You can buy that, but you need to read the fine print. Most often it is not a refund of your tour payment, but a voucher to use on a future tour.

And yes, do an annual policy as most policies are limited in the number of days away (and you'll find they are cheaper too.).


I have used World Nomads and Allianz Global in the past. All done online with quotes and an opportunity to read the policy before paying.


- Rita

 

[Scrapr]

How much does it cost to insure a trip?

We've never done this. Also have Chase Sapphire Preferred and I understand, although I'm the only one on the card it, covers DW too.

Just looked at the trip a couple years ago. $454 for $15k

Trip Cancellation 100% of the trip cost ($15,000)
Trip Interruption 150% of the trip cost ($22,500)
Hurricane & Weather Common carrier delay for any length of time, Mandatory evacuation conditionally covered, Accommodation made uninhabitable, Must be purchased before storm is named
Terrorism Covered for foreign and domestic
Financial Default No coverage
Employment Layoff Covered after 14 day wait, If employed for 1 continuous year
Cancel For Medical Reasons Included in Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption
Cancel For Work Reasons No coverage
Cancel For Any Reason No coverage, This benefit is separate from Trip Cancellation
Emergency Medical $50,000 policy limit, Secondary coverage
Pre-Existing Condition No coverage, Pre-existing look-back period 180 days
Medical Deductible No Medical Deductible
Medical Evacuation & Repatriation $250,000 policy limit
Travel Delay $1,000 per person, $150 daily limit, Covered after 6 hour delay
Baggage Delay $200 per person, Covered after 24 hour delay
Baggage & Personal Items Loss $1,000 per person
Missed Connection $500 per person, Covered after 3 hour delay, Cruise and tour only
Flight Only AD&D $50,000 per person, $100,000 policy limit
Rental Car Damage Not selected
Money Back Guarantee Free look up to 10 days after purchase
24 Hour Assistance Service 24 hour assistance provided
Identity Theft Covered for 180 days after departure
Additional Benefits Concierge Services Coverage

 

[MuirWannabe]

Well I’m not worried about a hotel reservation within a couple of days. In most cases I would only be charged for one night. I’m just trying to cover the more expensive tours and airfare - the remaining unused portions if we did enjoy part of the trip.

Well, when I was using insuremytrip.com recently, you just put in a total trip cost and that reflects the cancellation/interruption coverage you have. So I included the costs of my hotels just to have it covered should I be overseas when something unexpected calls me home. Some of our hotels are prepaid, or partially prepaid. Some require a few days notice to cancel. Some require no notice.

FWIW, my trip insurance coverage was for $6000 and cost me $250. I’ve no idea really if that’s good or if I got hosed. This was my first experience buying trip insurance. But I do like the peace of mind given aging parents, little grandchildren, and a troubled son.

Muir

 

[audreyh1]

So you want a cancel for any reason clause? You can buy that, but you need to read the fine print. Most often it is not a refund of your tour payment, but a voucher to use on a future tour.

And yes, do an annual policy as most policies are limited in the number of days away (and you'll find they are cheaper too.).


I have used World Nomads and Allianz Global in the past. All done online with quotes and an opportunity to read the policy before paying.


- Rita

No, actually, I’m not looking for cancel for any reason coverage. I’m only looking to cover specific events normally covered. Illness for either of us with no prexisting conditions excluded, illness or death of an immediate family member requiring us to return or stay home, maybe weather disruptions/delays would be nice if normally included.

 

[Moemg]

A few years ago I had a trip booked that was insured but my Mother got sick . I was able to cancel the trip without any loss so since I did not make any insurance claim I was able to extend the insurance coverage an additional year at no charge. I had to call for that option.