any tips would be great.
TIA
You buy your insurance in your home country before you depart- assuming it's the US, then you buy it from a US insurance company. So yes of course they will speak English.
In terms of limits, I usually pick unlimited for medical, and $10k for travel/trip rebookingz as part of an annual policy. But for your own cover, think about how much you're spending on the trip.
Re medical, it's different for the US if you have your own US medical insurance - this may provide cover overseas as well. But consider whether you need cover for evacuation.
Look at Squaremouth and Insuremytrip to see how insurance works and decide what you need and want.
Also Medjet for medevac.
Are you based in the US?
Take a look at Insure my Trip. The site lets you comparison shop different companies before you purchase. Very easy to get clarification of questions with their online chat.
There have been several posts here lately regarding successful claims with Allianz. Do a search on this site.
trying to check what would be appropriate for 3 people
the limits can be less....i just do not have any idea.
The two important things are medical insurance with a high limit and insurance for return by air ambulance if needed. Many travel insurance policies do not include the latter. We have an annual policy with a 10K coverage which covers are unreturnable expenses for our trips. We also have a medical transport policy.
Check your medical insurance -- it might cover emergency care abroad -- ours always has including our medigap policy for medicare. That might be enough. I personally don't think insuring the trip costs and luggage is worth doing and so we didn't have trip insurance for decades -- as we were covered for medical. Not paying that for 30 years of travel probably paid for one of our trips.
We have used Allianz and the only time we had a medical claim they paid the hospital directly and reimbursed us for subsequent care and so our experience with them has been excellent. We now have an annual policy with them which iwe hope to never test.
I've used Allianz and Chubb for travel insurance. I've never had to file a claim (knock on wood) so I don't know how truly good the companies are.
You want something that provides 500k for emergency medical evacuation, and 100k for medical treatment. The trip cancellation coverage is what really makes the price differ. You want to get a policy that covers the total of your trip. So if your trip is costing $5,000 dollars - get that much coverage.
If you take more than 2-3 trips per year than it usually saves money to get an annual policy. I usually do 1 or 2 cruises a year, a trip to Europe, and maybe another couple places I have to fly to, so my $800 annual policy is well worth it.
I have an annual family policy - was USD800. Covers medical, cancellation, and additional expenses (ie extra accomodation, meals etc). Evacuation also covered. No limits on claim amount. Luggage covered with a US8K limit.
