I Should Have Bought Travel Insurance - Reader Mistake Story

[MULTIZ321]

I Should Have Bought Travel Insurance - Reader Mistake Story.


https://thepointsguy.com/news/travel-insurance-mistake-story/


Richard

 

[isisdave]

The writer may be able to be reimbursed by his US health insurance.

And of course, it could have been much worse, or much farther from home. You can buy travel insurance to cover just emergency medical and transport, and it's pretty cheap. Kids are usually covered free with their parent.

 

[Passepartout]

A good cautionary story. These folks, who didn't want to spend an additional $200 on travel insurance ended up with an emergency room visit in a foreign country and a $700 bill. It could have been MUCH worse!

Another side of the coin:

I was removed from a river cruise in Germany last Summer with pneumonia and congestive heart failure. I ended up in a hospital there with a new pacemaker and unable to fly home! After 9 days, they cleared me to fly, but only with a rescue nurse, oxygen and a lie flat bed. I have to say, the price was a bargain at about $12,000 for the hospital bill and over $10,000 for the flight home. The good news: We had travel insurance that paid every penny of the cost.

To borrow a phrase: DON'T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT IT!

Jim

 

[VacationForever]

I am still working on putting a claim to my credit card company after a recently cancelled cruise. I got back about $6K through various refundable cancellations plus points back for hotel stays in Amsterdam and Fort Lauderdale. My claim to my credit card company will be for about $8K. Other than relying credit card for trip cancellations, we also buy an annual multi-trip GeoBlue Trekker Choice emergency medical and evacuation plan for international travel.

 

[andysnovel]

The writer may be able to be reimbursed by his US health insurance.

And of course, it could have been much worse, or much farther from home. You can buy travel insurance to cover just emergency medical and transport, and it's pretty cheap. Kids are usually covered free with their parent.

US Health Insurance will not cover foreign travel. When I was a travel agent, I insisted all my clients purchased cruise insurance, made it part of price. Med Vac off of ship costs in the $20,000 to $30,000 range. I fell in Bahamas, required stitches on my nose etc, close to $1,000 bill by cruise ship doctor, got 100 percent reimbursed!!!! Buy Insurance, worth every penny!!!

 

[VacationForever]

US Health Insurance will not cover foreign travel. When I was a travel agent, I insisted all my clients purchased cruise insurance, made it part of price. Med Vac off of ship costs in the $20,000 to $30,000 range. I fell in Bahamas, required stitches on my nose etc, close to $1,000 bill by cruise ship doctor, got 100 percent reimbursed!!!! Buy Insurance, worth every penny!!!

Various Medicare Supplement Plans and Advantage Plans do cover something like 80% of emergency/urgent care medical costs when travelling outside of the US.

 

[rboesl]

I seem to remember that travel insurance, including medical, can be purchased for an entire year rather than by the trip. Don't remember what company offered that but I do remember it was quite affordable.

 

[andysnovel]

I seem to remember that travel insurance, including medical, can be purchased for an entire year rather than by the trip. Don't remember what company offered that but I do remember it was quite affordable.

https://www.allianztravelinsurance....content=&utm_campaign=Travel Ins Category ATI Here is a link to Allianz Travel Insurance, there are others as well

 

[Passepartout]

https://www.allianztravelinsurance.com/lp/ppc/annual.htm?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI5svEztiH4gIVmojICh3miwxnEAAYAiAAEgLE__D_BwE&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=yearly travel insurance plans&utm_content=&utm_campaign=Travel Ins Category ATI Here is a link to Allianz Travel Insurance, there are others as well

Note that coverage is secondary. if you have other insurance, YOU must submit a claim to the OTHER insurance and what you receive from them will be deductible from the Allianz claim.

 

[Pompey Family]

I have never travelled without travel insurance, even within Europe where there is reciprical medical care between EU countries. A family, annual, multi trip insurance costs £135 last year and considering I developed appendicitis whilst in California a few years ago and had to undergo an emergency appendoctomy I'm certainly glad that we had that insurance.

 

[pedro47]

Suggestion only anytime you are leaving the United States and the U.S. Territories , always purchase travel insurance and not just a basic policy.

Especially if you are traveling to Europe, Asia, Africa or South America. IMO.

 

[jehb2]

My sister works for a big health insurance company. Every so often she get a call from someone who is vacationing abroad. They get sick or injured. Sadly they are not covered by their US health insurance company.

 

[VacationForever]

From my experience, a full travel insurance is not cheap as it is based off a percentage of the cost of travel and ages of the insured. We used to buy for all overseas trips. Now we opt to only buy Emergency Medical and Evacuation insurance (costs us $420 annually) and rely on a good credit card with trip cancellation/interruption protection. If we had bought full travel insurance on our most recent trip that was cancelled due to medical issues, the cost to buy would have been $1K to 2K.

 

[WinniWoman]

From my experience, a full travel insurance is not cheap as it is based off a percentage of the cost of travel and ages of the insured. We used to buy for all overseas trips. Now we opt to only buy Emergency Medical and Evacuation insurance (costs us $420 annually) and rely on a good credit card with trip cancellation/interruption protection. If we had bought full travel insurance on our most recent trip that was cancelled due to medical issues, the cost to buy would have been $1K to 2K.

Excellent idea.

 

[rboesl]

Just made an owners reservation with Vidanta. They offered travel & medical insurance that covers up to 10 people with MAPFRE Solutions for $99. the coverages are:

Trip Interruption due to death of an immediate family member Return fare
Medical assistance for accident or illness Up to $6,000 USD
**Coverage for accidental death Up to $2,000 USD
Emergency medical transport Up to $6,000 USD
Emergency dental assistance Up to $300 USD
Outpatient medication Up to $200 USD
**Repatriation of remains of bearer Up to $3,000 USD
Flight delay Up to $200 USD
Baggage loss Up to $600 US
Baggage delay Up to $200 USD
Medical referrals Included
Legal assistance Included
Travel concierge Included
Advance of emergency funds Up to $10,000 USD
Accompaniment of minors Included
Assistance in case of loss of documents or bank cards Included
Urgent message assistance Included
Lodging for one family member in case of emergency Up to $500 USD ($100 USD per night up to 5 days)
Hotel costs in case of emergency convalescence Up to $500 USD ($100 USD per night up to 5 days)
Trip Cancellation (hotel costs) Up to $3,000 USD
Trip Cancellation (airline tickets) Up to 800 USD*

 

[Passepartout]

Just made an owners reservation with Vidanta. They offered travel & medical insurance that covers up to 10 people with MAPFRE Solutions for $99. the coverages are:

Coverages are not much. This policy's only strong point is it's low cost. And I'd bet you a 6-pack of your favorite beverage that coverage is secondary to whatever other insurance you have.

 

[cerralee]

Back in March I received notice that a biopsy done before I left for a 5 week Hawaii trip came back positive for cancer. I had to return early to have surgery. Usually I don’t click the little box for insurance but for some reason this time I did. It took me awhile to file the claim, I didn’t know exactly what to ask for. I was hoping to at least recoup my airline ticket additional expenses and am happy to say that shortly after filing my claim I was able to recover Almost all of my additional airfare charge. There was only a .26 cent difference in the amount I asked for and what I received as it “exceeded the coverage amount”.

I am very satisfied with the reimbursement. I Had to shop around to get a comparable return ticket as I was uneasy with the customer service reps answers to my questions and rightfully so. I was limited to the cost of the original tickets which was not communicated to me by the customer service rep. He had given me the impression that any flight back might be eligible for reimbursement. Very glad I followed my gut instinct on that one...

I’ll be clicking that button on more trips in the future.

 

[easyrider]

We add trip insurance to all International destinations which for us is Canada and Mexico. Our medical insurance seems complicated regarding care providers and network so basically we look for a policy to cover medical to most destinations. The trip cost doesn't really concern us too much.

Bill

 

[WinniWoman]

I use trip insurance for domestic trips and for our domestic timeshares!