Travel insurance for COVID 19

Like you I am not a "seasoned traveler". However I have done a lot of research for previous trips. The only time I had problems was when I trusted an unscrupulous travel agent. Have you looked at Squaremouth or insuremytrip for insurance quotes and information? If you are only looking for medical and evacuation, you can look at Geoblue and Medjet.

If you use the search feature on the forum, especially from June 2021, you will find lots of insurance inquiries and opinions. You will have to decide which is best for you. For my September 2022 trip/tour, in August I will be buying annual policies for Geoblue and Medjet, plus annual Nationwide trip insurance. My plan is return to Europe in June 2023. Most comprehensive plans have a tight window to buy travel insurance to cover pre-existing medical conditions so watch your timeline.

Forbes recently had an article evaluating travel insurance and covid. Here's the link:
https://www.forbes.com/advisor/travel-insurance/best-pandemic-travel-insurance/

You should also review any medical/travel coverage you already have through your health insurance and credit card that you used to pay for the trip. Also know the terms of coverage of the companies if you are using airlines, cruises, land tours. Most travel insurance must be purchased before the final payment, but there are a few plans that you can purchase at any time. Read the details carefully.

We will be traveling in January 2022. Our cruise allows us to cancel up to 48 hours before the start of the cruise for a 100% credit to use for 24 months. We plan to test to receive results just BEFORE the 48 hours so that if (heaven forbid!) we test positive, we can cancel before we even leave home.

Since the start of COVID I have been to Europe/Mexico 4 times totaling 9 countries in about 9 weeks. Trip number 5 begins next week.

I got the policies by researching Squaremouth; and have used a few companies, the latest was Generali Global Assistance; but never having collected on any I cant comment on how reliable they were.

As for the complexity and all the testing it all depends on where you go. There really are easy no-brainer destinations in Europe but they have to be places you are interested in.

The pre-departure test is always a bit unnerving .... but the return to the US test is the one that makes me sweat; so far, so good.

Yup, there is some risk but its good to know everyone on your flight also passed the test; I got my vaccine, the booster and follow my doctor's advice on what I can do to keep my immune system up and hope for the best.

OH!!! Look at the policy cancelation timing requirements BEFORE you pay for anything on the trip.

James E., did any of the policies you bought include coverage of trip costs if you came down with COVID before or during your trip? Did you get "cancel for any reason?"

I always got cancel for any reason.

Lori, I bought a policy through World Nomads that included coverage for cancelling because of Covid pre-departure, as well as hospitalization for or quarantine costs because of Covid before coming home. Can’t remember but I am pretty sure it also included medical evacuation. However, I didn’t realize (I am sure I didn’t read carefully enough) that if the country was a Level 4 “Do Not Travel”, then the policy would not pay. Next year, I will be looking for a yearly policy like horsewoofie.

I just came back from a vacation where I bought travel insurance through Trawick International, which I had found through Squaremouth. I cannot comment on their insurance/claims honoring process because I ended up having an "uneventful" trip in that I didn't need to use their insurance.

I will say, however, that I had an EXCELLENT time w/ their sales associate when trying to pick/buy insurance. He answered all my questions very patiently and thoroughly. I presented quite a few hypotheticals to him to fully understand the different terms of travel insurance, and what would be covered under what (i.e. trip cancellation vs delay vs interruption), ESPECIALLY as it pertained to COVID.

For example, I learned that if my traveling companion (i.e. wife) got COVID and got a doctor's letter recommending her to not travel, then this would be covered under trip INTERRUPTION and I would be able to stay with her. However, if she tested positive and didn't see a doctor, and the positive test didn't allow her to return to the US, then that would be covered under trip DELAY, but then only she would be covered and not me.. so I would have to fly home and leave her alone at our destination country. The sales associate actually gave me an example of a church group that recently had this problem, where some of the chaperons/parents were not covered but the teenagers/young adults (who were covid positive) were.

Trawick also sells "travel" insurance vs "travel medical" insurance. Travel insurance includes the pre-trip cancellation coverage, while medical insurance focuses around trip delay/interruptions due to medical reasons. Since my personal concern was catching COVID DURING the trip, I actually only bought the medical coverage. I also did this super last minute -- like 2 days before my actual trip -- so my risk of canceling was already quite low.

Also, a number of the travel insurances (at least most of the ones I looked at) have updated their terms to INCLUDE specific trip cancellation coverage for COVID related issues. But it's not as comprehensive as "cancel for anything," so you'll have to be careful if it meets your case. Most of the nuance is in you needing actual proof that you can't travel, versus you not wanting to travel.