Trip insurance

This is what Rick says about that (only the applicable portions are quoted and I have paraphrased slightly, from Europe Through The Back Door 2009, pages 40-41): "Policies purchased later than a designated cutoff date--generally 7 to 21 days from the date you make the first payment on your trip, as determined by the insurance company--are less likely to cover pre-existing medical conditions (yours or those of family members at home). You can avoid the question of what is and what isn't covered by buying a costly any-reason trip cancellation policy. These offer at least partial reimbursement (generally 75%) no matter why you cancel the trip. But the premiums are so hefty that these policies appeal mostly to...those who have a loved one at home in frail health, in which case you should probably get this coverage."www.insuremytrip.com is a good place to comparison shop for travel insurance under normal circumstances but I don't know if that site sells the "any-reason" policies--it's worth going there and checking.

There is optional coverage called "Cancel For Any Reason" - more information available here:
http://www.insuremytrip.com/cfar-1000-0-0-43.html

When you invest a lot of money on a vacation, it is wise and prudent to buy Travel Insurance. We never know what tomorrow will bring.

Buy at the time (or before) you book your tour or purchase the airline tickets.

Lynette,

There is an excellent article on www.Triphealthy.com that discusses different types of insurance and what provisions are necessary. They also link you to charts that compare different companies. I found this so helpful, when we recently visited Russia.

Eleanor

Lynette,

There is an excellent article on www.Triphealthy.com that discusses different types of insurance and what provisions are necessary. They also link you to charts that compare different companies. I found this so helpful, when we recently visited Russia.

Eleanor

get it! i have learned the most valuable lesson. after arriving for the first day of our tour we learned that my brother had been involved in a tragic accident and was killed. we immediately began making plans to return home. we had used air miles to fly from new york to frankfurt on luftansa and they now wanted over $3000. each (no, NOT euros!!!) to return home. we went on line and booked new tickets and paid $1,000 each.
i have to emphasize how kind and helpful our etbd tour director was.

i was deeply touched by her empathy and won't ever forget it.

Brenda, I'm very sorry for your loss, but I am unclear as to how this relates to travel insurance. Did you have travel insurance that covered the cost of the return tickets? If so, why did it matter how much they cost? Or did you have insurance that covered the cost of your tour?

thank you. we did not have trip insurance. we weren't aware that it needed to be purchased so soon after booking our trip.
the insurance would've added about $800. to the cost of our trip but that is less than the cost of one airline ticket us just to get home.
i'm suggesting the purchase of trip insurance.

Thank you for clarifying. But that was some expensive insurance! Mine for my two week trip to China was only about $150 through Travel Guard from www.insuremytrip.com. It depends on your age among other things, but you can get a variety of combinations of coverage there so you can customize your cost.

Thanks to all who posted a response. Shortly after I wrote the original message, my father in law got worse very quickly. And he passed away last week. We will not have to reschedule now, and it will be a good time for us to get away and hopefully do some healing.
But we've learned a lesson from this and will never schedule another trip without getting the insurance.
Thanks again-
Lynette