WHo does everyone use for Travel Insurance? Hurrican season & 93 year old traveling this time

[Tink113]

In the past we have used insuremytrip.com but shopping around as I want to make sure we have good coverage for my 93 year old Grandmother going and it sounds like hurricane season is going to be back this season. Cruising early-mid Nov.

12 people total are going ranging in ages from 7-93.

Also how much should I be looking for for medivac coverage? One policy I looked at was $500,000 and the more expensive one was $1 million.

 

[Mommb]

I book the Cruise insurance through Nationwide. It has 3 different levels -- I usually go with the middle tier or top tier depending on the price differencial.

Looking at a site such as Insure My Trip and then looking further at some policies is a good idea.

For someone who is more likely to have health issues, I'd go with $1 million in evacuation if you'll be across the ocean from home. If you'll be closer (for example, in the Caribbean if you live in the US), $500,000 might be enough.

You need to make sure transportation to and from the port is covered. If the cruise is cancelled due to a hurricane, you'll get a refund of your fare even without insurance, but that won't cover flights, hotels, and ground transportation.

If anyone traveling has a pre-existing condition (anything being treated by a physician in the past year or so), you'll need to check whether the insurance will cover treatment if that condition flares up during the cruise, and reimbursement if the condition flares up before the cruise and causes someone to cancel.

Some cruise policies cover children for free, so if you have several kids, that's also something to look at.

 

[Mango7100]

We use Allianz One Trip Prime for cruises or overseas trips where we have to pay for everything upfront. Our policy covers pre existing condition, but you must have purchased the insurance within 15 days of your first payment on the cruise. The deposit is the first payment, so if you booked the cruise more than 2 weeks ago it will not over pre-existing conditions. If traveling with your 93 year old grandmother, it is pretty imperative to get coverage for pre-existing conditions since I would assume she has been to the doctor or on medication for something within the last year. on our policy our child was free, but it will be more expensive the older the travelers are.

 

[fla4fun]

This article from USA Today has some interesting items to think about when looking for travel insurance, especially what different terms mean when it comes to a medical evacuation.

https://www.usatoday.com/money/blueprint/travel-insurance/medical-evacuation-insurance/

 

[Girl of the South]

The only thing I can add, and this is going back quite a few years, is our travel agent at the time suggested getting the DCL cruise insurance as it was much cheaper for my Mom, who was 'getting up there' in age. I agree about the Medivac for your Grandmother and $500,000 would be more than enough for the Caribbean. Do 7 year olds need insurance? I don't know . . . I tend to insure the ancient members of the family . . . . And check your credit cards - some of them extend insurance to 'family' members on a trip. Mine even covers nieces and nephews.

 

[lanejudy]

I suggestion making a list of your concerns - what you want insurance to cover. Are there any existing health issues? Are there potential health problems? Which individuals? If more than one are they in different staterooms or the same stateroom? (DCL insurance is sold by stateroom, many private insurers will cover the whole party or part thereof, but rates may be based on age.)

The above questions are really regardless of "hurricane season" -- but since you've mentioned that specifically it must be a concern at some level. Pre-cruise flights and/or hotel stays? Post-cruise flights and/or hotel stays? DCL is unlikely to cancel, so 99.9% expect the cruise will take place even if that means different ports. If you might decide to cancel, consider the reasons why?

Narrow down your travel insurance options at a comparison site. THEN CALL THE AGENTS DIRECTLY to discuss your specific concerns. Don't just assume you've picked coverage that will fit your needs. The worst waste of money is insurance coverage that doesn't end up covering what you need covered.

 

[JWG]

We've purchased the Trawick International Safe Travels Voyager a few times now. We had to file a claim a couple cruises back and they, while slow to respond, made getting our payout easy. Online form, provided a bit of supporting detail, had our reimbursement within 3 weeks.

We'll keep using them moving forward.

 

[mjkacmom]

The only thing I can add, and this is going back quite a few years, is our travel agent at the time suggested getting the DCL cruise insurance as it was much cheaper for my Mom, who was 'getting up there' in age. I agree about the Medivac for your Grandmother and $500,000 would be more than enough for the Caribbean. Do 7 year olds need insurance? I don't know . . . I tend to insure the ancient members of the family . . . . And check your credit cards - some of them extend insurance to 'family' members on a trip. Mine even covers nieces and nephews.

All 5 of my children have been to the ER here in the US, 2 have broken bones, 1 had his appendix removed, 1 was taken to a trauma center after a car accident. Insurance premiums for kids are low.

 

[Elizakapeka]

I used insuremytrip.com. heads up most of the "cancel for any reason" policies require you to book the insurance within so many days of initial payment. It might be 10 or 15 days, each policy has different rules. insuremytrip makes it easy to compare policies.

 

[tvguy]

In the past we have used insuremytrip.com but shopping around as I want to make sure we have good coverage for my 93 year old Grandmother going and it sounds like hurricane season is going to be back this season. Cruising early-mid Nov.

12 people total are going ranging in ages from 7-93.

Also how much should I be looking for for medivac coverage? One policy I looked at was $500,000 and the more expensive one was $1 million.

Sounds like you are talking about a Caribbean cruise. Coast Guard handles most evacuations of Americans from cruise ships in the Caribbean and there is no charge. They are really the only ones trained to do those evacuations.
Medicare, does not cover medical care outside the U.S. but if your Grandmother has a private Medigap plan, check what if any coverage it offers. Mine does cover me.

 

[ironz]

Do keep in mind that evacuation from the ship (often done by Coast Guard), is NOT the same as, got transferred from the ship to a local hospital and now needs to be transferred to a larger medical center in the U.S. or elsewhere for further treatment/recovery.

 

[ironz]

The only thing I can add, and this is going back quite a few years, is our travel agent at the time suggested getting the DCL cruise insurance as it was much cheaper for my Mom, who was 'getting up there' in age. I agree about the Medivac for your Grandmother and $500,000 would be more than enough for the Caribbean. Do 7 year olds need insurance? I don't know . . . I tend to insure the ancient members of the family . . . . And check your credit cards - some of them extend insurance to 'family' members on a trip. Mine even covers nieces and nephews.

If a 7 year old gets appendicitis on the cruise, they may want to have insurance (and it's sometimes free or very low cost with coverage from the parent's travel insurance, depending on who you get the insurance from).

OR, if the 7 year old has a significant injury, illness, or other catastrophe PRIOR to the cruise that causes the booking to have to be canceled-- I guess at least someone in that kid's family needs insurance that covers it. Or the family plans to be able to absorb the cost of the cruise and doesn't mind tossing several thousand dollars out the window (what we would refer to as self-insured).

These are good questions to ask the company providing the insurance.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record-- we have had to use travel insurance when my DH had an accidental injury less than a week prior to the cruise that put him in a situation where we couldn't travel, and the entire cruise fare would have been nonrecoverable, had we not had insurance. Could we have afforded to toss $2500 out the window? Maybe, but I don't like losing money like that. So the travel insurance isn't just for illness/injury/travel snafus during the dates of your travel, but also in the dates leading up to your travel.
Within a year of that incident, another family member had an accidental injury prior to traveling, and didn't have travel insurance... they lost over $10,000. I'd be less comfortable losing that than $1500.

Another thing to consider is-- if something happens along the way on the cruise, and the ship gets you to a hospital (or clinic) at the port town, what if that facility cannot provide all the care you need (illness/injury) and you need to be transported somewhere else for definitive care? That's a good thing to have coverage for. (Alaska cruisers-- pay attention-- places like Hoonah, Sitka, and Skagway do not have major hospitals.)

 

[Chemist]

We nearly had to scrub an expensive trip to Hawaii because my then 8 year old was sick. She ran a fever for 4 full days up to the day before our date of travel. Viral, but BAD viral.

Thankfully her fever broke the evening before our 9 am flight and we went on our trip.

Not sure it was good parenting, but it beat eating thousands of dollars. And she was fine the day after we arrived.
It was pretty darn stressful, and if we'd had insurance we could have rescheduled. or something.

 

[meliscan]

I shop at Insuremytrip and compare coverage. I have purchased Battleface for my 2 cruises this year. (We didn't realize that we would be doing 2 cruises this year or I would have purchased a year long policy and probably saved a bit.)

 

[Cfabar1]

American Express cardholders can receive some travel insurances built in - and they offer supplemental coverages you can purchase to augment those policies.

For us, as we live close enough to drive to the port - we have tended to just buy the DCL plan for the convenience and ease of it as we aren't really affected by the additional factors that make it less than ideal coverage.

 

[insureman]

Insuremytrip is who we use. Lots of carriers. Don't depend on the Coastguard to evacuate you as another poster has mentioned.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

The only thing I can add, and this is going back quite a few years, is our travel agent at the time suggested getting the DCL cruise insurance as it was much cheaper for my Mom, who was 'getting up there' in age. I agree about the Medivac for your Grandmother and $500,000 would be more than enough for the Caribbean. Do 7 year olds need insurance? I don't know . . . I tend to insure the ancient members of the family . . . . And check your credit cards - some of them extend insurance to 'family' members on a trip. Mine even covers nieces and nephews.

If there's a death in the family the morning of the cruise, and you decide to cancel, wouldn't you want to be reimbursed for the 7 year old's cruise fare and airfare? Our kids were included in with our insurance for no extra charge with IMT. This might vary from state to state.

My MIL had a heart attack the day before we sailed on a B2B on the Dream. It happened in early am and our flight was at 6pm ish. She ended up being fine; they placed a stent in the occluded artery, and she kept insisting we take our trip. I was prepared to cancel and left it up to dh. If it were my mother I would have cancelled, even if it were just to sit in the hospital room with her.

Another time, the day before a 3-nt quickie, a huge tree fell on our house while we were waiting for a table at Ohana. I couldn't sit and relax on a cruise knowing we had so much to do, so many phone calls to make. We were actually relieved that we hadn't already sailed away or it wouldn't have been more complicated to return home. Ds27, then 19, was home and asleep when it happened. He said he thought it was an earthquake. That was one time that I didn't bother getting insurance because it was only 3 nights, which of course feels inexpensive if you usually sail 7 nights.

Now I get insurance for all trips. Stuff happens that forces people to cancel a vacation with a potential to lose thousands of dollars. Travel insurance isn't just about getting sick or injured while on vacation.

 

[CarolynFH]

American Express cardholders can receive some travel insurances built in - and they offer supplemental coverages you can purchase to augment those policies.

We don't have an AmEx CC, but we've taken advantage of their supplemental coverage several times. The CC we do use has good coverage for trip interruption, baggage loss, etc., but not enough medical and evacuation coverage for us (we're seniors). We're able to purchase medical and evacuation coverage from AmEx at very reasonable rates.