Selective Travel Insurance

Have you checked whether your credit card has a travel insurance benefit? Some do, as long as you book the trip entirely on that card. If it's too late for this trip, you could evaluate travel cards for a future trip.

Have you looked at the Squaremouth and Insuremytrip websites to compare different policies?

In reply to CWSocial, the credit card I am using is not forthcoming with the information about trip cancellation, etc. Some locations on the Web say yes, others do not mention trip coverage. the Visa site, itself, does not provide this information. I will have to go to the bank to find out.

As for Squaremouth and Insuremytrip, neither offer trip coverage without medical and repatriation. Insuremytrip has a very low rating online, a one star at BBB. I can get very low coverage for those benefits, but the average cost is about $1200, which I think is exorbinant. I may, unless my Visa does cover these benefits, I just risk it.

C.Gardener

Hello,

Would you be able to 'self insure' your hotels? That is what many folks do by booking hotels that are cancelable. The rooms often cost 5-10% more.

You can do this with your flights too. Buy Refundable fares. OR, if you're flying Delta, for example, if you buy a Main or higher fare and cancel, they will give you a credit which is usable for a year.

As for baggage, many credit cards include that.

Cancel for any Reason insurance is difficult to buy in the state of Washington. Usually costs 10% if available and read the fine print....they usually require that you insure the Entire Trip Cost or they won't pay out.

Whatever you decide, I understand your frustration. Travel insurance is not fun :)

Another idea is to buy refundable plane tickets, cancellable hotel rooms that don’t require money up front. That only leaves baggage which can’t be too much to self-insure in comparison.

Also look at Allianz Basic single trip insurance. Comprehensive for low amounts. Do a quote so you can compare. https://www.allianztravelinsurance.com/find-a-plan/onetrip-basic.htm

I also had a hard time finding online the details of my credit card coverage. I had to call the company and request that they mail me the benefits booklet.

Look at Trawick International - they offer a number of options, including a "renters" package that covers air and land arrangements, bot no medical or evacuation.

You don't mention ages of travelers or how much you want covered for trip cancellation, but a basic policy may be less than booking all refundable or cancellable arrangements, as being suggested above. And if you find a policy that includes a small amount of medical coverage at a decent price, a small amount of duplicate coverage won't hurt.

Thanks to all of you for these suggestions! I will pursue them and see where they lead, including contacting my bank about credit card trip coverage and investigating the travel insurance companies that you have all mentioned. I appreciate the wealth of knoweldge that a only a group of travellers can bring to this issue and I am grateful for your advice.
C. Gardener

Hi there, not sure what airline & class of service you're flying, but I know United has no change fee, the price of ticket may change, good for a year, it's a credit on your account unless you booked basic economy. (I think this is the case with all major US airlines.) I agree with CWSocial, and had the same issue so called my credit card company (not the bank) to get them to send me a detailed prospectus on what's covered. And we don't book non-refundable hotels, it's just not worth it to us for the price difference. Good luck!

Just to clarify a point, Insuremytrip and Squaremouth are not direct providers of insurance. They provide options to purchase from specific companies. You can search there and go directly to the provider to purchase if you don't want to buy from their website.

The quotes you are getting are affected by a number of things, including age of travelers, costs you are anticipating having covered, duration of trip, etc. Prices for trip insurance have gone WAY up in the past few years after COVID and the a couple of seasons of major worldwide travel drama. As has been noted, if you pay for everything using a credit card with some coverage that may provide some benefit, as will booking refundable options for everything.

Many thanks to everyone who replied to my request for help finding "selective" travel insurance! As you can read, there were many very helpful suggestions and information about this topic shared. I learned much about how to lessen my risk by using self-insurance, paying a bit extra (which I have) for refundable air travel, etc. This has been an education as the saying goes!

I did find a reasonably priced insurance package for my upcoming visit to Europe and it was very cost effective at about 15% of the cost if the most highly rated insurance. The product is: TravelCare "Get Me Home" Evacuation and Assistance Plan + International Medical Insurance Plan and the company is part of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.

This insurance was a bit hard to find on-line and it took the expert search skills of a librarian friend to find it, but it exists and it covers the items I wanted without adding in things I did not want or need. Since I have medical insurance that provides services while I am outside the US, this policy's benefits are enough to cover most copays and extras that I might be subject to if injured or if I become ill on the trip. Note: this policy does not cover pre-existing conditions, so as in all of life, the risk for those is yours alone.

The policy I purchased covers repatriation, medical evacuation, lost bags, trip delays and trip cancellation. You can add or subtract days from your trip up until the time of your travel. If all goes well I will never need this but for me peace of mind is worth the price.

OP. Your first and recently last post are at odds. You wanted selective insurance since you already had coverage for medical and repatriation and yet you then bought insurance that includes those things.