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Travel Insurance

tiger1210

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I am going on a trip to Israel and I think I need travel insurance. I don't want to buy the one offered by the travel company our church is using for the trip. Can I go anywhere to buy the insurance and does anyone have a good recommendation who is legit and most reasonable?

Thanks
 

Passepartout

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You need to ask yourself what it is that you're insuring? Your trip costs? Health, delay, cancellation? evacuation? You can get accidental health and evacuation pretty reasonably- We got that through Good Sam (RV) Club. You can get refunded airline ticket cost through the airline. Full-on coverage with cancellation for any reason, trip delay, coverage for terrorism, natural disaster, no exclusion for pre-existing conditions, is MUCH more expensive. There is a sticky with a site that features side-by-side comparison at the top of this forum. We've just filed a claim on CSA for cancelling a $10,000 trip we cancelled due to medical situation. So far, no check, and the file of stuff they asked for for verification was nearly an inch thick. Invoices from hotels, flights, cruise line, group leader, vouchers, passports (to verify age), doctors' statements etc. etc. It isn't easy getting what you pay for. DW says she found this through a site called www.squaremouth.com

Jim
 

The Haileys

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You need to ask yourself what it is that you're insuring? Your trip costs? Health, delay, cancellation? evacuation? You can get accidental health and evacuation pretty reasonably- We got that through Good Sam (RV) Club. You can get refunded airline ticket cost through the airline. Full-on coverage with cancellation for any reason, trip delay, coverage for terrorism, natural disaster, no exclusion for pre-existing conditions, is MUCH more expensive. There is a sticky with a site that features side-by-side comparison at the top of this forum. We've just filed a claim on CSA for cancelling a $10,000 trip we cancelled due to medical situation. So far, no check, and the file of stuff they asked for for verification was nearly an inch thick. Invoices from hotels, flights, cruise line, group leader, vouchers, passports (to verify age), doctors' statements etc. etc. It isn't easy getting what you pay for. DW says she found this through a site called www.squaremouth.com

Jim


Thank you for this. I am just starting to research this very topic. We have a trip booked in March and a situation recently arose that could throw a pretty big wrench into our plans.
 

Passepartout

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Allianz Travel Insurance
We had Allianz insurance on the airfare on a timeshare trip to Mexico (where we were expecting to be right now). We bought this through the airline. Got their check last week after about a month. RCI refunded our Points, but kept the exchange fee, and VRBO refunded half of what we paid for a rental in PV.
 

cargo13

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Which insurance provider is your church suggesting?

Via one of those comparison insurance websites (InsureMyTrip) we found CSA Travel Protection http://www.csatravelprotection.com/plan-details . On those comparison sites, you really have to drill into the coverages--the price comparison is superficial /not apples to apples.

Hands down, we found that CSA had the most coverage in each category--trip cancellation, trip interruption, trip delay, baggage lost, baggage delay, medical/dental but the major coverage benefit of CSA is their medical Emergency Assistance & Transport. Even the base plan (Custom) has $250,000 in coverage. Allianz coverage was much less. Price is comparable /better--depending on your age, trip cost, destination, etc. CSA's trip cancellation includes other family members beyond just the travelers/insureds, so if a close family member in the US causes you to cancel your trip, they cover.

Insurance can be intricate and its taken us years to figure it out so call for advice. CSA has good customer service.
 

WinniWoman

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Thankfully never had to file a claim, but we use CSA for all our travel insurance, including our timeshare weeks and rentals. (Trading Places International also offers them as their provider of travel insurance for their exchange weeks)
 

Timeshare Von

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Be sure if you use Allianz to fully understand their exclusions. I had a FF ticket on United Airlines and paid the $16 for the travel insurance largely because I had prepaid lodging (through AirB&B) and knew that over the holidays, weather could through a wrench into my travel plans.

Sure enough, my departure was delayed nearly 18 hours and I missed my first night's lodging. I assumed the travel insurance would cover the lost night's lodging, but they reported there was no coverage for prepaid expenses, although I couldn't find it anywhere in the policy provided to me for review after purchase. For the $16 premium and/or $40 lost on the lodging that first night, it wasn't worth the added time and frustration to fight or appeal it.

Lesson learned . . . NEVER again with Allianz!
 

GetawaysRus

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Do you have a Chase credit card that offers travel insurance if you pay with the Chase card? Examples might include the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve, and Ink Plus. Read the benefits of your credit cards. Then consider calling the credit card company (they will likely transfer you to the appropriate office) to verify the information. You may be pleasantly surprised.

I can't vouch for this, because fortunately I've not had to collect on this benefit in the past. But I do have an upcoming trip this May which I will be paying for with a Chase Sapphire Reserve, so I did make that phone call to check my benefits. As an example, here is the link for the page that covers the travel benefits of the Sapphire Reserve: https://www.chase.com/card-benefits/sapphirereserve/travel. This page also has a link that allows downloading the entire Benefits Guide.

Enjoy Israel. It's a wonderful place to visit.
 

erm

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I have used insuremytrip.com for a side by side comparison of various companies. I purchase travel insurance for every trip and seem to use a different company for each trip based on the information on insuremytrip.com.
 
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