Trip insurance
What about trip insurance?
Charles
WESTPHALIA, Michigan USA 1/9/13
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Sorry, not sure what is your question? How to buy it, where, etc.
Have you read http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/tips/travel-insurance.htm ?
You can compare policies at www.insuremytrip.com. If you need other information, perhaps you could clarify your question?
I'm all for it. Get you some...
I think it usually costs us about $75 and it is worth the peace of mind.
The cost varies depending on what, exactly, you are insuring - health, repatriation, med evac, trip cancellation, car rental, etc. - and how old you are. There is no approximate cost that would be accurate for all policies and situations. You should buy just what you need to cover unreimbursable expenses. Things like airplane tickets that are not used because of a cancelled trip are probably not covered because they can be used on a different trip. Both squaremouth.com and insuremytrip.com can help you compare policies so you can find what you want without paying for something you don't need.
I know I'm in a minority here, as happens many times, but I(we) have never bought any kind of insurance for our journeys and probably never will. Wife is sixty-six and I am pushing up hard against seventy-three, and we don't have any problems except for getting old. I believe any insurance that is not required, god bless Medicare, is one of the impedimentias of society. Say what you will, that's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.
Insurance YES even if your in great health. What if a family member became very ill before your trip, but after you purchased air---so now your unable to do the trip. With out insurance you now lost the price of the air and rooms you may have booked.
Not to mention becoming ill or getting injured once you arrive in Europe. It doesn't matter how good your health is, people can still get sick. And injuries happen. See the thread in the Trip Report section about Italy in a Wheelchair and read all the comments from people who hurt themselves on their trips.
Definitely get trip insurance. Only ignornant peple who like to take risks don't buy it. You need to have insurance, even if you are on a cruise ship. You might have to be flown off the ship, from God know wherever the ship might be. You want to be covered if you have to fly back with a nurse too. Medicare doesn't cover anybody out of the U.S. It is very reasonable insurance. You can ask your travel agent for the insurance, or go on-line. A friend of mine knew a couple who went to Paris with another couple. After the couples landed one of the husband's up and died. Would you believe it cost almost $60,000, yes $60,000 by the time she got his body back to the U.S. The one wife thought she had proper insurance, but she didn't.
I think most trip insurances are optional - with one exception: I'd never travel abroad without proper medical insurance. I'm healthy, I'm not a risk taker. But who is to say that I might not fall and break my leg? Most medical insurances that cover you at home in the US/Canada will not cover those medical bills in Europe. Not to mention the cost of flying you home. It's not uncommon to get to the 6 figures once everything is added up.
If you are able to cough up the money to cover those kinds of bills good for you. Don't bother with insurance. For the rest of us this could mean financial ruin without medical trip insurance.
One thing for sure, us "ignornat peple" are likely to stay that way.
That should be "ignornant".
I have insurance for the costs that would bankrupt me, or at least mean I had to re-mortgage my house. So I don't insure for aeroplane tickets because if I've already bought them then clearly I can afford to lose the money (annoying though that would be). But I always insure for medical evacuation costs and, if going outside the EU, I insure for other medical costs (but if I was American, I would include that when in the EU too).
I agree with Kieth. Taking a risk with fixed-cost items as airfares, pre-paid hotels and the like is one thing because there is an upper limit to your loss. Things like medical coverage, evacuation, repatriation and rental car claims are open-ended with no upper limit. Those risks need to be insured.
Those of us who spend three-quarters of the year outside of the U.S. just have to be iggnorint on account of we canit affird it and will have to be satisfied with being rolled into any hole available when we stop sucking air.
We alway purchased our own travel insurance, "Travel Guard". It was about $130 per person due to age. We did use it in Florence when my husband had to be hospitalized over night and also for expences due to flight delay. Now this year when I booked airfare to Italy they asked if I wanted the insurance with then. It was half the price I had paid myself and covered everything except that the medical would be the secondary insurance. For some reason I never thought we could use our reqular insurance out of the country. With that being said my main concern was covering the trip if I was unable to take it so I now I have the insurance I need at a much cheaper price. Hope this helps.
Okay, my tongue is getting sore from biting it so here goes. No matter what the topic and no matter what the response, I think calling anyone on this board (or their ideas and/or responses) ignorant is uncalled for. Thanks Monte and Ed for responding humorously.
As for insurance, whether it is medical, trip cancellation, trip interuption, evacuation, rental car CDW, whatever; it's not ignorant to not get it but it is risky. Whether you're young or old, in good health or poor, one never knows when one will have need of some kind of services that can be mighty expensive and potentially devastating financially. If someone wants to gamble and take that risk to avoid paying a small percentage of their total trip costs for the insurance then that's up to them. Personally I feel much better when I splurge for the insurance so, for my peace of mind, it's worth it and I almost always get it all. Most of the time I ended up not needing it but once or twice I did and was glad I had it.
I agree Nancy. I have taken many trips without insurance but I almost always
take insurance now. Maybe it's because I am getting older and feel more secure
with insurance. Having said that, I think we are all here to offer suggestions
and give personal observations and I don't think we should be into name calling
especially to someone who has provided so much information on this site.
Charles, my father was hospitalized last fall and I had to cancel 2 trips - 1 in the US (no trip insurance) and 1 RS trip (purchased insurance through Travel Guard). Both were eventually settled but it was much easier with the insurance. I made one phone call, completed the paperwork and got the check in the mail versus numerous phone calls and e-mails to get the other one straightened out. I still probably won't get it for travel within the US but I'm definitely getting it for my next trip out of the country.