Travel Insurance Advice

[CalGalTraveler]

Has anyone tried Zurich insurance via Costco for a trip (not annual) that includes cruise protection?

What does cruise protection mean anyway? We need to cover cruise and land portion.

I have a quote from Square Mouth and it is $100 higher than Costco/Zurich. I am trying to figure out why it is more expensive or what the Zurich is missing. Not easy to compare when working with 2 different provider systems.

BTW...I have looked at annual policies. In general they don't seem as robust and don't include cancellation refunds for cruises that require payment up-front. It seems that it would work great for just medical and evac if you can get cancellable reservations.

 

[WinniWoman]

We just booked a tour to Italy that is next October 2024- later in the month. We only had to put $950 down for the two of us and it is totally refundable up to 95 days before departure. (The balance of the money is due in July, so at that time)

Part of me thought since it's so far away, why get travel insurance right now? But then I started thinking about the pre existing condition clauses (my back, my husband's high blood pressure, or whaever else could come up, yada, yada, yada), plus I wanted Cancel For Any Reason included. You never know what crazy thing could occur that would prevent you from taking a trip. Think the pandemic. And this trip is very expensive.

The only thing is now the Cancel For Any Reason policies only cover a portion of the trip. We went with our travel agency's Travelex since we couldn't go with the tour company's because we are not using their airfare as we are flying in the day before the tour begins. (why that matters I don't understand). The Travelex policy reimburses 50%. Better than nothing when it's a large amount.

I went online to check into other travel policies with cancel for any reason options and they are way more expensive than what we got. Generali pays out 60% and Allianz I think pays out 80%, but considering those crazy high premium costs I don't think those would be worth it.

The cost for our policy: $849- insuring the land only portion (not including the extra hotel night, transfer cost (which we have to lay out ourselves- again because we are arriving the day before. And again- I don't get why. Have to wait until it get's closer to arrange those and add to the policy - probably when the agent does the airfare).

When the agent does the airfare, she will try for refundable airfare or we will tack it onto this Travelex policy.

So much to think about with travel insurance that's for sure. The devil is in the details.

 

[ScoopKona]

The cost for our policy: $849- insuring the land only portion

When Warren Buffett releases his annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders report, he usually includes a line in there that reads, "Let's start with insurance, because that's where all the money is."

As with most things, I tend to agree with the Wizard of Omaha.

I have health insurance, auto insurance, and an umbrella policy which covers basically everything else which might keep me up at night. I wouldn't bother with trip insurance. An $850 guaranteed loss to perhaps recoup a potential, larger loss is not a good wager. If Las Vegas was offering this bet, I'd decline in a heartbeat -- it's a worse deal than blackjack or craps.

I would instead spend that $850 on coffee, gelato, and extra cheese courses when dining. It is absolutely simple to make your trip so easy that it would be no different than your routine at home. If you can handle going out and about in New England, Italy should be an absolute breeze. The terrain is basically New England (unless you ski), but with superlative public transportation. The area you're probably interested in visiting probably isn't much larger than a trip from where you are now to Rhode Island. And unlike Amtrak, Italian trains are fast, convenient and inexpensive. (And just like New England, the roads are slow, crowded, and full of one-way streets going somewhere you don't want to be.)

If you don't know how to travel Europe on "easy mode," you can find a copy of Europe Through the Back Door. It's available for free on the Internet Archive. Doesn't matter which edition because the operational philosophy doesn't change -- only the names of this year's recommended hotels and restaurants. Fifteen minutes after a new guide is published, all of that is obsolete. I go out of my way to avoid the places Rick Steves recommends. (Not that I have anything against him. It's just that once he annoints a place, it's ruined.) His "this is how I travel around Europe" advice is absolutely solid. My wife and I just take it to the next level so that when we're there, it's no different than being at home -- just with a different language and a change of scenery.

 

[Talent312]

IMHO, travel insurance is good for pre-paid multi-day tours
& cruises becuz at some point, you're locked in w-no refund,

Also, you may need coverage for foreign medical expenses,
if you don't already have a policy that covers it.

Otherwise, I see no need for nit-picky stuff, like delays,
interruptions, and luggage. Those claims can be covered
by your carrier (or CC). Hotels can be cancelled, and
non-refundable flights can be credited to future flights.
.

 

[WinniWoman]

When Warren Buffett releases his annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders report, he usually includes a line in there that reads, "Let's start with insurance, because that's where all the money is."

As with most things, I tend to agree with the Wizard of Omaha.

I have health insurance, auto insurance, and an umbrella policy which covers basically everything else which might keep me up at night. I wouldn't bother with trip insurance. An $850 guaranteed loss to perhaps recoup a potential, larger loss is not a good wager. If Las Vegas was offering this bet, I'd decline in a heartbeat -- it's a worse deal than blackjack or craps.

I would instead spend that $850 on coffee, gelato, and extra cheese courses when dining. It is absolutely simple to make your trip so easy that it would be no different than your routine at home. If you can handle going out and about in New England, Italy should be an absolute breeze. The terrain is basically New England (unless you ski), but with superlative public transportation. The area you're probably interested in visiting probably isn't much larger than a trip from where you are now to Rhode Island. And unlike Amtrak, Italian trains are fast, convenient and inexpensive. (And just like New England, the roads are slow, crowded, and full of one-way streets going somewhere you don't want to be.)

If you don't know how to travel Europe on "easy mode," you can find a copy of Europe Through the Back Door. It's available for free on the Internet Archive. Doesn't matter which edition because the operational philosophy doesn't change -- only the names of this year's recommended hotels and restaurants. Fifteen minutes after a new guide is published, all of that is obsolete. I go out of my way to avoid the places Rick Steves recommends. (Not that I have anything against him. It's just that once he annoints a place, it's ruined.) His "this is how I travel around Europe" advice is absolutely solid. My wife and I just take it to the next level so that when we're there, it's no different than being at home -- just with a different language and a change of scenery.

I don’t want to lose what could end up being over $12,000 once airfare and the extra hotel day and transfer are factored in. This is a 16 day small group Odyssey Unlimited tour to Sicily and Southern Italy we are going on. Never mind the medical part since we will be overseas and we are on a Medicare.

 

[WinniWoman]

IMHO, travel insurance is good for pre-paid multi-day tours
& cruises becuz at some point, you're locked in w-no refund,

Also, you may need coverage for foreign medical expenses,
if you don't already have a policy that covers it.

Otherwise, I see no need for nit-picky stuff, like delays,
interruptions, and luggage. Those claims can be covered
by your carrier (or CC). Hotels can be cancelled, and
non-refundable flights can be credited to future flights.
.

We don’t have credit cards that cover those incidentals.

As for flight cancellations being credited to future flights, we aren’t ones that fly a lot and that’s an understatement. This could be our last fly to vacation.

I always have another place in mind where we’d have to fly to but as we get older and time marches on less likely. But never say never I guess. I’d just rather have our money back so we can have choices.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

AFAIK Medicare does not cover International medical.

We pay with the Chase Sapphire Reserve for travel costs because it covers travel cancellation and saves on travel insurance. You don't have to pay for the entire trip with the credit card to have this insurance apply.

We buy travel insurance for medical and medical transport back to the US that can cost upwards of $250k. We usually buy a policy within 15 days of payment of travel to cover for pre-existing conditions. Because it is medical only it is not very expensive. Usually about $150 - $300 for two people. $50 for two for Mexico

 

[ScoopKona]

I don’t want to lose what could end up being over $12,000 once airfare and the extra hotel day and transfer are factored in. This is a 16 day small group Odyssey Unlimited tour to Sicily and Southern Italy we are going on. Never mind the medical part since we will be overseas and we are on a Medicare.

Unless you're expecting to cancel, or think it's more than a 40% probability, I still wouldn't bother. But if it is going to keep you up at night, it's $850 well spent. (Which is my only yardstick for insurance. Does having it mean a better night's sleep? Because usually it's money down a hole.)

I looked up the tour -- wow, that is spendy.

 

[zentraveler]

We don’t have credit cards that cover those incidentals.

As for flight cancellations being credited to future flights, we aren’t ones that fly a lot and that’s an understatement. This could be our last fly to vacation.

I always have another place in mind where we’d have to fly to but as we get older and time marches on less likely. But never say never I guess. I’d just rather have our money back so we can have choices.

You might look into Ripcord – Redpoint Travel Protection. My husband got this for our international trip last fall and when I got covid (2022) they were extremely responsive and would have evacuated us back to the US from Europe if needed (which thankfully was not, and I am fine). Someone else we ran into on our trip had their insurance on another trip, needed to use it, and said they were really great. (And love the name, not that it is any reason to buy their insurance.)

Normally, we also "self-insure" but for certain trips we do get insurance for evacuation and recovery of sunk costs past a certain point.

 

[WinniWoman]

Unless you're expecting to cancel, or think it's more than a 40% probability, I still wouldn't bother. But if it is going to keep you up at night, it's $850 well spent. (Which is my only yardstick for insurance. Does having it mean a better night's sleep? Because usually it's money down a hole.)

I looked up the tour -- wow, that is spendy.

Yes it is expensive. $8200+ for land only.

We always traveled independently even when we went to Scotland. Rented a car, etc. and did our thing.

As for tours, we did do a 10 day family safari with Alaskan Wildland Adventures when I turned 40 (my dream). Pricey as well but worth it.

And I didn’t want to do independent this past year for South Dakota so we did a Collette tour and it cost us money but I was happy to be able to do it. I wasn’t up to planning and all the logistics as I was still recovering from my spine surgery and I still am actually. It was attractive to me since we stayed in one hotel the whole time and they did all the driving. Plus was nice being around other people. ( I’m social)

And we definitely don’t want to do Italy ourselves for the first and only time. As I’ve mentioned in other posts my husband does not handle the trip planning so it all falls on me and I’m just not up to it. I don’t travel easily when it comes to a big trip like this with flying and language and money conversion, etc, forget it. I’m OCD.

We have always taken out travel insurance. Even for our timeshare vacations- drive to or fly- in some cases just to cover our maintenance fees. The cost was minimal and I thought it was worth it. Yea- helps me sleep at night.

It would be the one time we don’t take it out that something will go wrong. That’s our luck. And again- this is so expensive no way I would chance it. Plus- medical coverage is important.

On top of everything else we even pay a car service to get us to Boston. When we went to South Dakota this past June just that alone cost us $600 round trip with tip.

I guess it’s good we don’t travel that much! Lol!

Next years plans:

April: one week to see and stay with my brother and his wife in Florida. (not sure about flight insurance yet)

June: one week in Vermont at Sterling Ridge Log Cabin Resort to get away from bike week here ( no travel insurance as good cancellation policy) Drive to! Yay!

August: one week at our timeshare in the White Mountains Innseason Pollard Brook
( no travel insurance). Drive to. Yay!

October: 16 days Sicily and Southern Italy (travel insurance)

 

[WinniWoman]

You might look into Ripcord – Redpoint Travel Protection. My husband got this for our international trip last fall and when I got covid (2022) they were extremely responsive and would have evacuated us back to the US from Europe if needed (which thankfully was not, and I am fine). Someone else we ran into on our trip had their insurance on another trip, needed to use it, and said they were really great. (And love the name, not that it is any reason to buy their insurance.)

Normally, we also "self-insure" but for certain trips we do get insurance for evacuation and recovery of sunk costs past a certain point.

Thanks. Good to know but we already paid for the Travelex one. You only have 15 days from day of deposit to get cancel for any reason and preexisting conditiins.

 

[ScoopKona]

And we definitely don’t want to do Italy ourselves for the first and only time. As I’ve mentioned in other posts my husband does not handle the trip planning so it all falls on me and I’m just not up to it. I don’t travel easily when it comes to a big trip like this with flying and language and money conversion, etc, forget it. I’m OCD.

The only thing I love more than planning a trip is actually traveling. Having someone else do it for me takes away a great deal of the "fun" for me.

 

[WinniWoman]

The only thing I love more than planning a trip is actually traveling. Having someone else do it for me takes away a great deal of the "fun" for me.

I get it.

But actually even with this tour I had fun researching different companies and areas within Italy and finally deciding on one. I’m reading a Discovery book on Italy.

And being that there is a nice amount of free time on this trip I will have the pleasure of deciding what to do during those times and where to eat. Will be nice to walk around on our own sometimes as well.

I will also be happy having someone educate us on the things we are seeing and driving us around.

 

[Luanne]

Maybe off topic, but still related to travel insurance. We have a trip planned next March to Maui. We will be renting two weeks in a condo to go along with the timeshare week we own. We have to make final payment beginning of February and after that no refunds. So I will take out travel insurance at that point just to cover the cost of the rental. I priced it out for 2 people, my husband and I, and then for three as our daughter will join us for part of the trip. When I add her the insurance goes down quite a bit. I was surprised. Any idea why that would happen?

 

[ScoopKona]

I will also be happy having someone educate us on the things we are seeing and driving us around.

I'm sure it will be great -- Agrigento alone is worth the price of admission for the entire trip. It's like going to the Parthenon, except in much better condition with far fewer people.

For your free time, I highly recommend googling off-the-beaten-path churches in the areas where you'll have free time. Some of the best art in Italy is located in churches that aren't part of tourist agenda. The last time we were in the Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria in Naples, we had the place all to ourselves. There is no admission fee. My favorite Bernini sculpture (and one of my favorites by any artist, ever, including Rodin) is located there. Best of all, a dozen of the best pizzerias in the world are located within easy walking distance of this church.

 

[WinniWoman]

Maybe off topic, but still related to travel insurance. We have a trip planned next March to Maui. We will be renting two weeks in a condo to go along with the timeshare week we own. We have to make final payment beginning of February and after that no refunds. So I will take out travel insurance at that point just to cover the cost of the rental. I priced it out for 2 people, my husband and I, and then for three as our daughter will join us for part of the trip. When I add her the insurance goes down quite a bit. I was surprised. Any idea why that would happen?

I don’t know but what was weird with ours is at first the dates on the policy were wrong. Only two days on the trip! Our travel agent says she didn’t know how that happened- computer glitch?- so she had to modify the policy.

Before it was modified the cost came to just under $800 for 2 days! But when she added the additional 14 more days to it the extra cost was only about $48!

( meanwhile she told me it would be the same price but that obviously wasn’t the case).

I called Travelex and the representative told me that’s because the insurance is sold as a package.

Beats me.

 

[ScoopKona]

Beats me.

I dated a woman in college who left me for an actuary. (And good thing for me that she did. And bad thing for her that she did. Her new boyfriend made the news for all the wrong reasons 10 years later.)

Insurance companies employ an army of mathematicians who make Las Vegas sports books look like amateur hour. If you think the house edge in Vegas is bad, you should see how insurance works from the inside. They know to the penny how much you will cost them, your likelihood of making a claim, and how much you're willing to pay. They've studied this inside and out. They know more about you, statistically, than you know about yourself. And when you get to enormous pools of large numbers, the math always wins.

Surely you know some people who work in Hartford. (And promptly leave at 5pm.) They'll gladly tell you all about it.

EDIT -- Circling back to Warren Buffett. That man could own anything he wants. He could own the entirety of the Las Vegas Strip if he wanted. He owns insurance companies.

 

[WinniWoman]

I dated a woman in college who left me for an actuary. (And good thing for me that she did. And bad thing for her that she did. Her new boyfriend made the news for all the wrong reasons 10 years later.)

Insurance companies employ an army of mathematicians who make Las Vegas sports books look like amateur hour. If you think the house edge in Vegas is bad, you should see how insurance works from the inside. They know to the penny how much you will cost them, your likelihood of making a claim, and how much you're willing to pay. They've studied this inside and out. They know more about you, statistically, than you know about yourself. And when you get to enormous pools of large numbers, the math always wins.

Surely you know some people who work in Hartford. (And promptly leave at 5pm.) They'll gladly tell you all about it.

Oh I know all about it. I actually worked in commercial lines for a non profit health insurance company for a few years and both my mom and my husband worked for a national home/ auto insurance company.

My mom was in fraud and claims and a big advocate for having insurance. She was on the volunteer team for Hurricane Andrew and saw the devastation and heartache people went through. She sat under a tent with flood water under her chair writing out emergency checks to policy holders. Very stressful and she was diagnosed with breast cancer after coming back from there and I swear it was the stress. She literally would cry when telling us the stories.

My husband also volunteered to be on the Hurricane Ivan Team in Destin, Fla. But he generally did auto claims. As much as insurance companies operate to win, he had plenty of stories to tell of the fraud people engage in to collect money they aren’t entitled to.

I live in a state where auto insurance isn’t required. Do I have auto insurance? You bet. And also home insurance, though we have no mortgage. And umbrella insurance because the world is crazy these days with lawsuits. And medical insurance though we’ve been thankfully fairly healthy. Exception being my back which suddenly became an issue.

No dental or vision insurance though. Those are clearly not worth the premiums.

Insurance is one of those things you hate until you actually need it and then most often you’re glad you have it.

 

[ScoopKona]

Insurance is one of those things you hate until you actually need it and then most often you’re glad you have it.

I don't hate it. But I use it very judiciously. For instance, I don't carry any insurance at all on this farm. Hurricane smashes the farmhouse to flinders? GREAT! Saves me the trouble of tearing this place down myself. If it were up to me (and if I could get the county planning commission to do their job), I'd burn this place to the ground and rebuild. I'm living in a tear-down. It's been a serviceable domicile for the past five years. But I'm not going to put a single penny into this place -- not even an insurance policy. Even when I finally start building structures which are worthy of this location, I won't insure them. I'd rather self-insure. The structures really aren't a big deal. Only the land is worth real money. And if Mauna Loa destroys this place (unlikely, but more than a zero-percent chance), no insurance will ever make me whole.

But health/auto/umbrella? I cheerfully buy the best money can buy every year. Especially umbrella. If someone wanders onto my farm and manages to injure themselves, I want that to be someone else's problem. The other thing insurance companies have in abundance besides mathematicians is attorneys.

 

[AnnaS]

We are in Italy now. I could not decide which plan to go with. Comparing on-line. My husband has medical/heart issues. Had to have ablation a month ago also. I finally picked up the phone with AIG/Travel Guard and our policy is mostly for medical. Price was reasonable for it. The trip total was low - $3,000 to $4,000 maybe. I was not concerned with losing a few dollars here and there - but wanted medical and we went over with what I was comfortable with. I think it was about $300.

 

[zentraveler]

I dated a woman in college who left me for an actuary. (And good thing for me that she did. And bad thing for her that she did. Her new boyfriend made the news for all the wrong reasons 10 years later.)

Insurance companies employ an army of mathematicians who make Las Vegas sports books look like amateur hour. If you think the house edge in Vegas is bad, you should see how insurance works from the inside. They know to the penny how much you will cost them, your likelihood of making a claim, and how much you're willing to pay. They've studied this inside and out. They know more about you, statistically, than you know about yourself. And when you get to enormous pools of large numbers, the math always wins.

Surely you know some people who work in Hartford. (And promptly leave at 5pm.) They'll gladly tell you all about it.

EDIT -- Circling back to Warren Buffett. That man could own anything he wants. He could own the entirety of the Las Vegas Strip if he wanted. He owns insurance companies.

Like Willie Sutton, Buffett figured out years ago that's where the money is.

 

[Talent312]

AFAIK Medicare does not cover International medical.

True. However, some Medicare Supplement plans do.
The plans that we have ("F" +"G") provide such coverage.
,

 

[JudyH]

You might look into Ripcord – Redpoint Travel Protection. My husband got this for our international trip last fall and when I got covid (2022) they were extremely responsive and would have evacuated us back to the US from Europe if needed (which thankfully was not, and I am fine). Someone else we ran into on our trip had their insurance on another trip, needed to use it, and said they were really great. (And love the name, not that it is any reason to buy their insurance.)

Normally, we also "self-insure" but for certain trips we do get insurance for evacuation and recovery of sunk costs past a certain point.

I used Ripcord in 2019 for our Antarctica photography trip. We were fine but on the year before our trip one of the passengers fell and broke bones. He had to be evacuated and Ripcord made the arrangements. Expensive but in some circumstances you need it.

 

[zentraveler]

I used Ripcord in 2019 for our Antarctica photography trip. We were fine but on the year before our trip one of the passengers fell and broke bones. He had to be evacuated and Ripcord made the arrangements. Expensive but in some circumstances you need it.

We paid $600 for a year of coverage, and after that experience with them we will just use that and our credit card travel insurance to cover all of our annual travel.

They were impressive when I got covid overseas. Near immediate responses, they talked to the medical team where we were (on a small 230 person cruise) and stayed in regular contact with us. If I had needed it they would have medivac'd me home. Reassuring to have and we travel enough to make it worth it.