Trip Insurance Tips

I've never checked out that insurance offer. What does it cover? See some general insurance tips at http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/trip-planning/travel-insurance.

Not Lufthansa, but I bought some insurance with my upcoming SFO-CDG flight just for the medical evacuation coverage (about $55 for two for a month -- no trip cancellation or interruption, but most of our expenses are refundable and we have medical coverage already.)
Trip insurance is a broad term that can cover a lot or a lot less than you thought -- figure out what you need to cover and make sure you know what you're buying.

Pay close attention to the circumstances under which you can apply for reimbursement. Those can be very restricted.

Check insuremytrip.com. You can select exactly the type of insurance you want, and the site will give you prices from many different insurers. It also gives you the AM Best rating for each insurer.

I go to Europe for a month for 12 of the last 13 years and take out travel insurance from Travel Guard that I decided upon after researching insuremytrip. com and getting a flyer from RS. TG has a large menu from which you can pick and choose what ever coverage you want. I choose lots since my Medicare does not cover me in Europe. I also have chosen to choose medical evacuation and have added an umbrella option that did not add much cost but really increased my coverage. I fly out of Seattle and have always tried to fly on a European airline so that we get a non-stop (not direct) flight. We have flown Lufthansa a couple of times until we got caught in one of their frequent strikes - once here in Seattle and once on Frankfurt. I see they are on strike again. I will be checking out KLM and/or AF for this next summer. I would not buy travel insurance from any carrier that is providing me service, such as an airline or cruise line just incase anything goes bad for that carrier. Travel Guard also covers pre-existing conditions if you take out a policy as soon as you make your FIRST payment related to your trip. Since I make a deposit for our yearly RS tour early on so as to qualify for an "early bird discount", I take out the TG policy at the same time and just plug in some total cost amount that I can change later after getting plane and hotel reservations.

Charlie,

What airline is "AF"? I've had several people tell me they prefer a European airline - for their service and also so you can fly from Seattle to Europe, then change planes there (rather than somewhere in the US). Are those the reasons you like a European airline too? I didn't realize Lufthansa had so many strikes - that could be bad! Thanks for the advice.

Tracy

Charlie,

I see that AF is Air France?

We usually get travel insurance since we are seniors, you know....old!! This is what I did the last time: I bought the insurance from the airlines which was Alliance. After looking at the coverage, I increased it to the next level by calling them directly. What I really wanted was the insurance that if you are stuck in a hospital somewhere far away, they will get you home. Or whatever is left of you. And your traveling companion. I believe it was for $500,000 each. And I think it was a little over $100 for both of us or maybe a little more. That particular company was easy to work with. I called, they immediately canceled the old policy, refunded what I had paid and issued a new policy. Fortunately, we have never needed it but I do know people who have.

If you have a few trips planned for the year you can buy a policy that will cover you for the whole year. I found what "looks like a good one" at Travel Guard.
I have 3 foreign trips planned for 2015 and I'm going to get a 1 year policy.
It will average out to much less than I would pay for a single trip.

Tracy--in case Charlie doesn't see your question---AF stands for Air France. They fly direct from Seattle to Paris.

As for buying insurance from the airline, the one time I looked into that when I bought air tickets, it turned out the specific policy (offered by Allianz) was not available to Washington residents.

If you do find one that is, compare the price to policies offered at insuremytrip.com before you buy. Also consider whether you really need the insurance---how much have you invested in prepaid, non-refundable expenses? If all you have there is the airline tickets, look closely at the airline's change/cancellation policy. Although non-refundable tickets are exactly that, some airlines will give you credit for a future flight if illness causes you to cancel your trip. There is a change fee involved, but you do not lose the whole value of the ticket.

If you have other expenses involved, such as a prepaid tour, or apartment rental, then trip insurance may be worthwhile.

FWIW, Air France no longer operates those nonstop flights from Seattle to Paris. It's a codeshare with Delta, meaning it's a Delta airplane and crew. We flew them in 2013 and it was fine.

We've done Lufthansa (Frankfurt), SAS (no longer doing its Seattle-Copenhagen route), Delta/Air France (via Amsterdam and via Paris) and Alitalia (Seattle-JFK-Rome). I would never do the Seattle JFK Rome thing again because the layover at JFK was way too long. We're planning to do British Airways (Seattle-London) next spring because of the timing of the return flight from Barcelona to London to Seattle.

I was not aware of that. Sigh. Delta seems to be taking over the Seattle market.

Checking price son the AF website, it came out to the same price as using BA ($1600 plus or minus a few $). The routing for the lowest fare flights was Seattle---Amsterdam--VCE and then Rome---Amsterdam---SEA. That is not bad, as Schiphol is reputed to be a much better airport for connecting than CDG.

That is not bad, as Schiphol is reputed to be a much better airport for connecting than CDG.

FWIW, I am one of those who hasn't had any problem at CDG (which we've done twice). YMMV. But Schiphol has always gone smoothly. The main reason we're planning to do British Air instead of Delta for our next trip (in the spring) is because we will be flying back from four days in Barcelona and didn't want a 6:45 am departure from there. BA does an 11:45 am departure (through LHR) which is so much more civilized.

I found it fascinating when I was checking out travel insurance for our trip this coming March, that I could not find anywhere in their policies that they cover thefts...specifically pickpockets. They covered baggage, but my concern was getting my camera, smartphone, or tablet ripped off. So I checked with my homeowner's insurance and found out that I was covered, even in Italy, minus my deductible. So if this is one of your concerns, check your homeowner's policy.

If your concern is being able to cancel or modify your travel plans, or illness, or anything else, then some of the recommendations you have already received should serve you well.

Hope this helps...have a good trip.