Travel Insurance

Sharon, it really depends on what you buy. As with most things, there are a lot of variations and you have to do your homework. Check out the thread "So What Happens if Your Flight is Cancelled due to Volcano?" Frank II posted an excellent summary.

It also depends on what you've already booked and what you are willing to accept as an alternate if your trip does not go as planned. If delaying/rebooking your trip is not a good option for you and you want to have the flexibility of a full refund for everything, then you will want to look into an insurance policy that covers anything and everything. Otherwise, you have to balance out the risks and costs.

I've never done it either since 10-15% of value insurance with deductibles and limits doesn usually make very good financial sense especially if there is the ability to cancel plans.

I doubt any company would be willing to issue insurance at this time on pre-existing trips to Europe.

It depends on the plan. Once you're on your trip there might be three coverages that apply; 1. trip interruption, 2. missed connection, or 3. travel delay. Most plans will cover weather conditions or natural disasters that cause your common carrier to cease operations. The travel delay benefit is designed to reimburse you for additional living expenses because of the delay. If you do have additional living expenses there are two things you should remember to do; 1. get documentation as to what caused the delay because you will have to prove to the insurance company that it was delayed due to a covered event; and 2. get receipts for all delay expenses because the insurance company will not reimburse you without a receipt.

I get travel insurance which also covers medical, medical evacuation, dental and more. I wouldn't go to Europe without it. Insuremytrip.com is a great website, it compares many different companies, what they cover and cost.

Sharon, if your medical policy doesn't cover care abroad (and most don't) then you've been running a big risk. Maybe you're in good health, but some kid on a Vespa runs into you and you still might end up with significant medical expenses! And if you need to fly home and can't go commercial due to your injuries, medical evacuation back home can run $50K or more. Its a risk I don't want to take, that's why I always buy a travel insurance policy.

I agree with the above posters. We insured $4000 of our trip costs for $180 which includes the "cancel for any reason" clause. With aging parents, and living in an area of the country known for hurricanes, we didn't want to take any chances. Plus, the out-of-country medical coverage is a good deal too. You never know! I don't think it's much to pay for peace of mind.

Regarding emergency medical coverage, our primary medical insurance does pay for emergency care outside of the US at the same levels as they would in the US. Obviously, they won't pay for a physical or plastic surgery abroad but if we are run over by a VESPA (God Forbid) we are covered.

Medicare does not typically pay for services outside of the US however.

Travel insurance is up to the individual. I've found that most third party insurances (extended warranties, travel insurance, etc) tend to be a poor value for the consumer and usually end up being a hassle to file a claim against. I usually book my trips so that I can easily cancel if the worst happens and figure the out of pocket expenses on things I can't cancel would still be less than the amount of $ I spent on policies over the years.

You may want to check your credit card benefits for built-in travel insurance as well. They often offer worse-case coverage (evacuation, travel disruption, lost baggage allowance, etc) as a value added incentive

Let me start by saying I work for an insurance company (not travel) so I'm a bit biased on why to purchase insurance in the first place. I typically use purchase Travel Guard's Savvy Traveler policy. It covers, up to a certain limit, the types of items you are referencing. Make sure to print the policy coverage document and read it for exclusions prior to purchasing.

I would like to add that I've noticed that some tend to focus on travel insurance only for trip interruption or medical coverage. But there are additional things that travel insurance policies cover that are not covered in other insurance policies you may have. For example, I used to purchase primarily because I had an HMO that wouldn't cover me outside the US. Now I have medical coverage, but, it does not cover medical evacuation or repatriation of remains. Yes, it's unlikely to happen, but the costs for medical evacuation and repatriation are astronomical. Medical evacuations to the US from Europe cost about $25,000 last time I checked and that was a few years ago.

Just like any other insurance, you need to gauge your risk and your personal situation.

I'd definitely grab it - it may not cover you for the Volcano, as most insurance companies are calling that a "pre-existing condition" now (Wish I was kidding.) It would cover you for other things.

I would grab it, even if your covered. Posters who don't buy it do to "value", and "being covered by my own insurance" forget that Medical Transportation is usually NOT covered by most health insurance policies. This can easily cost $50k from Europe.

Example: A friend of mine's older brother was injured out of state, and the medical flight home was 10's of thousand of dollars (not covered), the cheapest they could find was almost $10k for a days long ambulance ride, also not covered. (All of this while of course he wasn't working, and his wife took a leave to care for him.)

They wound up selling bracelets, taking donations, and holding a raffle.

Further - they were told it was 60 days before anywhere local would have a bed for him (he's still semiconscious, 2mos out). Most health insurance plans would have hit some kind of limit by then. Nice to have the back up of the trip insurance.

A friend's uncle went to Puerto Vallarta a couple years ago, and as they were boarding a boat for a day's excursion, he had a massive heart attack and died! He was only 53 years old, in perfect health (or so he thought). No travel insurance, so they wound up paying thousands to have his body shipped back home.

I have travelled without (2006) and spent a month in Europe. Everything went well, but after reading this board, I have been buying travel insurance for each trip. I do need to look over what I am purchasing next time though because we had a problem with Travel Guard in December when our train connection in Paris was missed due to Eurostar problems. The woman we spoke to had no idea what Eurostar was!