Trip Insurance

[NUTSY]

Does anybody have any thoughts on whether or not to purchase an are any companies better than the others?

[DavidB]

We use Travel Guard. You can buy them through travel agents and maybe on-line. They were highly rated by Consumers Reports. We had to make a claim once when the kids came down with chicken pox right before a trip. They paid up with out a problem. Remember the important thing to look for is the medical emergency part of the insurance.

[Shammy]

Yep, Travel Guard or Access America are the two top companies. Both can be purchased online on their web sites. But they do allow cancellations for medical reasons only, and those reasons have to be documented. Well that, or jury duty or job loss I think...put it this way, you can't cancel because "we don't feel like going anymore" or "because I ran out of money and can't make the final payment" or "something came up"....all reasons I have been given when people have contacted me and want to cancel their trips.
When you get your insurance through a vacation company, such as Apple or Funjet however, they'll usually extend a "cancel for ANY reason" clause so there's much less worry.

[Nerak936]

I always book with Travel Guard. Had to use it in 1999 when my father took a turn for the worse while he was in the nursing home. I only lost about $100 (the cost of the insurance) rather than the $1,400 which I had paid for the cruise. The paperwork process was relatively simple, and they paid me in a very short time. I never book a vacation without it. To me it's worth the peace of mind it brings for the little amount it costs.

Check out their web site (I was on it the other night). Shows the different plans and pricing structure.

[Avalon]

We use travelguard too, got it for this trip and for our group of 10 trip to Hawaii. Almost used it, Father in law was hospitalized two days before the trip and released 10pm the night before the trip. But phew he made it!

[Mark in STL]

One more vote for Travel Guard. As they used to say...don't leave home without it!

[denisea]

Guess we live on the wild side because we never purchase trip insurance.

[Beachnutt719]

We did not purchase this time but will definitely for the next trip. I did not realize it provided emergency medical. Mi fiance spent three days back and forth to clinics in Vegas 2 years ago with a nasty sunburn. The medical cost us almost as much as the trip as his HMO would not cover.

[Nerak936]

The cost of our trip insurance for next February (estimating total trip cost of around $1600) will be $110 for the two of us. A small price to pay in my opinion.

[Page]

Any Canadians out there with insurance info? We purchased through RBC Insurance last year and used the trip interruption portion when my elderly mother broke her arm and I went back early.

The cost of the ins. per person was about C$300, and my claim was only $325, which included a night in Atlanta (U.S.$94) because the ins. co. couldn't make better arrangements. If I had made my own arrangements I would have come out at less than $200, so I wouldn't bother with that portion unless it was bundled in this next year. (This may not be comparable to others' experiences, because we were gone for 4 months.)

I'd be interested in the experience of other Canadians -

[Rissask]

Canadian here- we have international travel insurance through our work (we both work at the same company) so we never buy extra insurance- sorry! We also never live on the wild side like Denisea as we never buy cancellation insurance, reason being you have to pretty much be on your deathbed personally for it- if one of our parents were ill (which is the likelier scenario) then we would't qualify.

Does Thomas Cook have travel insurance? Seems to me I know some people who used that.

[zelda]

Originally Posted by Page

Any Canadians out there with insurance info? We purchased through RBC Insurance last year and used the trip interruption portion when my elderly mother broke her arm and I went back early.

If you have any kind of extended health benefits through your work, you probably have travel medical insurance. If you don't, I think the extra insurance is worth it; a broken foot can cost *a lot* in another country.

Because I have those work benefits, the only extra insurance I have to consider is cancellation insurance (also called non-medical insurance). RBC is the company that covers most travel agents I believe, since my agent didn't give me a choice of companies. The premium is based on the cost of your trip. As an example, for a $2000 trip, insurance is about $100 (Canadian dollars).

The further away your trip is, the wiser it is to have insurance (in my opinion). Ya never know what's going to happen 5 months from now.

[Nerak936]

Originally Posted by zelda

.......Ya never know what's going to happen 5 months from now.

Right on, Zelda. What I like about it is that it not only covers the subscriber (me) and if one of my close relatives becomes ill, but it also covers my "traveling companion" (David) and his relatives. So if David's son gets hurt like 12-year-olds are known to do from time to time (heaven forbid!), and David needs to cancel, then I'm covered too. There are just too many unknowns that can derail a planned, expensive vacation.