Trip Cancelation insurance

[SharonD]

How is your dog doing? What kind of surgery did s/he have? I can only think of a couple really pricey surgeries that cannot be delayed, bloat being the first and that is probably the worst medical emergency...other than GI block, heart, back...oh, the list is longer than I originally thought

Please give your fur child a gentle hug from us in Va.

We have never bought insurance and have luckily never had to cancel a vaca in 20ish years. We too arrived immediately after hurricanes and during the height of swine flu and lived to tell about it! Ha ha! I am thinking that from now one it is something we will probably purchase, life circumstances have changed and it's probably a good idea if I remember to do it.

[Shammy]

I also do not purchase cancelation insurance, because I typically don't have any money invested in the hotels I stay at (assuming it's a hotel, not a condo), and my airfare tends to be booked with FF miles. But I NEVER, EVER, travel without purchasing medical coverage. Sometimes they are wrapped up into one plan, other times they're not.

[hollywood65]

Originally Posted by SharonD

How is your dog doing? What kind of surgery did s/he have? I can only think of a couple really pricey surgeries that cannot be delayed, bloat being the first and that is probably the worst medical emergency...other than GI block, heart, back...oh, the list is longer than I originally thought

Please give your fur child a gentle hug from us in Va.

We have never bought insurance and have luckily never had to cancel a vaca in 20ish years. We too arrived immediately after hurricanes and during the height of swine flu and lived to tell about it! Ha ha! I am thinking that from now one it is something we will probably purchase, life circumstances have changed and it's probably a good idea if I remember to do it.

Flaco is doing better, finally starting to walk with his bad leg. He tore all the ligaments and stuuf in his hock(ankle). He has had arthritis in there for years also. He had a bone graph, metal plate and 6 screws put in. It wasn't neccesarily an emergency, but he was miserable and in alot of pain. He's a frisbee dog so he's going crazy just sitting around.

[Sol]

Originally Posted by hollywood65

Flaco is doing better, finally starting to walk with his bad leg. He tore all the ligaments and stuuf in his hock(ankle). He has had arthritis in there for years also. He had a bone graph, metal plate and 6 screws put in. It wasn't neccesarily an emergency, but he was miserable and in alot of pain. He's a frisbee dog so he's going crazy just sitting around.

I hope Flaco has a speedy recovery! We've spent a lot of money on our dawgs. They're our kids. We would have done the same thing as you.


We bought trip insurance one year and luckily for us, we did not use it. A few years ago, a month before we were supposed to take a trip to Playa and Guatemala, I broke my leg. Delta let us reuse our tickets without a penalty and TACA airlines gave us a refund. All Delta wanted was the name of my surgeon and TACA took my word for it.

[DavidB]

Originally Posted by Rissask

Good point- many people too often confuse the two.

I would never leave the country with good out-of-country emergency medical insurance. A major car accident or medical emergency could conceivably break you (especially in the US- as Mexico is comparatively cheap.) We just don't need to buy any, as we are both covered by our work benefits plan-includes evac. Also a good idea to have a credit card with a very high limit just in case you have to pay up front and get reimbursed by the insurer-very common.

That's the way it's worked for us both times. Just put the ER bill on the credit card. It usually takes 4-5 months and several phone calls to get our work insurance to pay their share. Then about 10 days for the trip insurance to pay the balance.

[SharonD]

Originally Posted by hollywood65

Flaco is doing better, finally starting to walk with his bad leg. He tore all the ligaments and stuuf in his hock(ankle). He has had arthritis in there for years also. He had a bone graph, metal plate and 6 screws put in. It wasn't neccesarily an emergency, but he was miserable and in alot of pain. He's a frisbee dog so he's going crazy just sitting around.

So glad he's better, ACL surgery takes 6-8 weeks of strict slow leash walking and in high energy dogs, that's not easy...not to mention keeping him quiet in the house. Hang in there, you guys are awesome pet parents to do all you have for him!

[TAPPY]

Always buy it....had to cancel twice, both times due to family medical emergencys.

Of course after reading Actrans trip report a few years ago, I will always buy it.

[cb1]

We have been buying ins. for many years. In 20 plus trips we've used it 3 times. I'm glad we had it. Also, Medicare can not be used, or billed later outside the U.S.A.

[Sol]

Originally Posted by TAPPY

Always buy it....had to cancel twice, both times due to family medical emergencys.

Of course after reading Actrans trip report a few years ago, I will always buy it.

That's what convinced me to start buying insurance.

[mominplaya]

We always buy trip cancellation and trip interruption insurance. All you have to do is check the cost of booking a last minute flight if you have to return home because of a family emergency - then you won't leave home without trip cancellation and interruption insurance. Also make sure that your insurance covers medical insurance in case of an accident.

[mexipat]

Originally Posted by mominplaya

All you have to do is check the cost of booking a last minute flight if you have to return home because of a family emergency - then you won't leave home without trip cancellation and interruption insurance. .

I've never bought it and don't plan to start. The air fare back for a family emergency wouldn't add up to the saving over 40 years of not buying it.

I'd reconsider if I bought non refundable travel packages but I don't travel that way.

[WaterRat]

Originally Posted by mexipat

I've never bought it and don't plan to start. The air fare back for a family emergency wouldn't add up to the saving over 40 years of not buying it.

I'd reconsider if I bought non refundable travel packages but I don't travel that way.

So how much extra have you paid over 40 years of travel in paying for refundable travel packages vs. non refundable?

[mexipat]

I wasn't very clear on that. I meant to say I don't buy travel packages, just a flight and a hotel reservation.

[WaterRat]

Originally Posted by mexipat

I wasn't very clear on that. I meant to say I don't buy travel packages, just a flight and a hotel reservation.

OK, that makes more sense.

We travel the same way, although condo rather than hotel, which increases my potential loss more than a hotel. With a hotel, your maximum exposure is probably a night or two, while with a condo, I could easily lose a $1,000 - $2,000. If my guesstimate on the hotel loss is incorrect, I will happily stand corrected.

In addition to the condo financial loss, we buy it for the following reasons:

1) Because as I mentioned, we're divers, and lost luggage would be very expensive.

2) Should we be in an accident and require hospitalization, money would be forwarded immediately, and I would avoid talking to my bank, which is worth $48.75 per conversation.

3) The parents are all in their 80's.

4) We fly in and out of Portland Oregon. A missed flight might mean a night in the airport (especially the return leg). The Rats do not sleep in airports.

5) I can buy an insurance policy that adequately protects my most important interests for $175.00 or less, for a family of 4. I usually spend about $110.00, but felt that the upgrades were a good value, given what was going on in our lives prior to our last trip 2 weeks ago.

[MRSHOLLYWOOD]

Here are a few pictures of Flaco our boy that had major surgery on his leg and needless to say is wearing our vacation and that is why we had to cancel. But he is one of our babies and we would do whatever we possibly could for him or any of our 4 babies.

1st day home after surgery 4-3-12


ham bone posing for the photo


his favorite place to sit and watch the world