Traveling to London and France in late 2015. I have a very small policy that I bought when booking my ticket and am wondering if we need another policy. Any tips?
Also if you think YES do you have any suggestions of a company to use? Any help is appreciated.
Start with:
https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/trip-planning/travel-insurance
The medical/evacuation component on travel insurance covers the biggest risk. Low probability but high, very high cost.
Keep in mind on average, insurance companies sell plans because they make money. Comes down to what can you afford. Can you afford an extra night or two stuck in Paris or London? Can you afford a trans Atlantic medivac flight staffed with doc and nurses?
If you do buy insurance check the fine print on exclusions. Some policies exclude activities you consider normal.
Thanks Edgar that was a great help!
If you bought a policy when you bought your ticket, but want more coverage, start by seeing what they would charge to upgrade the coverage. It's probably cheaper than buying a second new policy.
Here's a good discussion about foreign medical/evacuation coverage:
http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2014/chapter-2-the-pre-travel-consultation/travel-insurance-travel-health-insurance-and-medical-evacuation-insurance
We (other skiers) had to pass the hat to help a Bulgarian skier who had to be helicopter medivaced off the trail when he had an apparent stroke in Austria.
Whenever I travel abroad I get insurance from, Travel Insured, https://www.travelinsured.com.
Thanks all!
After learning the hard way, I always buy it now. I also always try to buy within the timeframe that covers pre-existing conditions. For our upcoming trip, we have spent a substantial amount of money and the extra coverage I obtained (in addition to the very minimal coverage included with the tour) was well-worth it if something happens to one of us, someone at home, travel delays, lost bags, etc.
And the real bummer I have right now, is that I am worried I might have to use it for my travels. My father was admitted to the hospital on Friday and has some pretty serious issues going on. We will know more tomorrow or Tuesday, but we travel on Friday and I am just not sure which way this will play out.
We tend to use Travel Guard when we get coverage. And I usually have the travel agent I'm booking with get me the info and quote. For this tour, I used a local TA not connected with the tour because the tour group did not offer any additional coverage.
Oh Advocatecare I do hope that everything works out ok for you. Thank you for taking the time to answer!
Thank you! I talked with my travel agent today to make sure I understood all my options and if I have to cancel, most likely it will be a covered item. But, my dad was looking better today and his hospital team is taking very good care of him - so at this moment I'm still packing and grabbing odds and ends as I'm helping my mom get back and forth to the hospital. I feel better knowing my options and what I can do - just nervous that I need to decide by Thursday or early Friday morning.
Hopefully I will be posting an Au Revoir post on Friday (and he will be stable and better of course)!!
