Travel Insurance

I generally only cover the non-refundable things especially if I've got a big wad of money tied up in a tour. How close to your travel time can you cancel your hotels?

This last time I looked for coverage that I thought would cover expenses if I had to quarantine for 10 days to 2 weeks. I'm still not sure if it would have covered but I didn't need to test it, thank goodness.

I mostly want the insurance for med evac back to the US if something catastrophic happens to me and of course for some kind of medical coverage in Europe.

Pam,
What insurance did you go with for your recent trip to France?

I recently used Trawick International for a medical insurance policy (did not cover any trip costs, just medical care/evacuation). I chose this because they provide you a cover letter which states specifically that you will be covered for Covid. (Israel had that requirement listed, but in reality no one ever checked.)
I thought the agent I talked to was very helpful.
https://www.trawickinternational.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIi4nch6DS9AIVZB6tBh0pxgkHEAAYASAAEgLo6_D_BwE

Have you checked to see if your credit card has an insurance option?
Ours does; and everything you pay for with that card is covered under their travel insurance.
I know it works, as we cancelled a trip in 2018 due to illness, and every single thing was refunded within 10 days of my claim.

I generally insure only for non-refundable costs like airfare and tours. I get cancellable hotel reservations. I guess you might insure for hotel costs if the hotel cancellation policy requires, for example, a few days' or a week's notice, just in case your trip falls through at the last minute. So, to answer your specific question, you can add cancellable hotel costs to the total amount of your insurance policy, but why would you?

The main value of insurance (for me) is to protect me financially in case I have to cancel a trip and have paid serious refundable costs, and to cover medical costs if I get hurt or sick overseas. Covid motivates me more, as another health risk and also in case a positive test prevents my return on schedule.

Here is a good search tool for travel insurance. We've had good experience with Travelex but there are other good choices.

@Lori, I used Travel Guard. I have used them a number of times before but have never had to make a claim. I went with them because I was also going on a Road Scholar tour so had a significant investment there that was non-refundable after a certain point. I did not purchase the insurance until I knew I was past the point of no return, so to speak. I did NOT purchase CFAR (Cancel for Any Reason).

I feel a bit like a broken record here, but please make sure that you check what coverage you already have in place prior to your purchase so you are confident what aspects you need to cover and what is already covered.

Example: Here is one of the conditions that is covered under my coverage through my credit card:
"Quarantine of You or Your Traveling Companion imposed by a Physician or by a competent governmental authority having jurisdiction, due to health reasons." I wouldn't feel the need to purchase additional travel insurance to cover those costs.

Example: Medical evacuation: My credit card company has coverage, but not at the level I feel comfortable with, so I do buy additional coverage through MedJet.

It is good to read through the fine print on everything!

Thanks all! What amount of coverage do you feel comfortable with for evacuation?

OK...as far as Med Evac. I am a retired hospital social worker so one of the things I has occasion to do over my career was arrange Air Ambulance transport for patients who needed to return home. I’ve been retired 10 years and it was screechingly expensive then. I usually try to go with $1 million which might cover transport on a ventilator from Europe to Idaho. If I were younger I might go with $500,000.

Thank you Pam!