Trip Insurance

Who does AMA use for insurance?

I've most recently gone back and forth between Allianz and Travel Guard BUT I've never had to file a claim so that is not much to go on, lol. I am on Trip Advisor forum as well as this forum and this subject comes up a lot on the Senior Forum over there. No real answers as there are always people who have had great service and people who have had awful results with every company. I do see lots of complaints on the Road Scholar FB pages regarding the insurance company they use, which is AON.

You can use the websites insuremytrip and squaremouth to do comparisons with various parameters. Decide on how much you want to cover as far as med-evac insurance, medical care, "covid" coverage, etc.

If you need to have pre-existing conditions covered you will want to get coverage usually within 14 days of booking.

I will also say I prefer to get an independent insurance company and not one affiliated with the tour company. As mentioned Road Scholar uses AON and they push that coverage so it makes me think they are getting something out of it. Yes, I'm suspicious, lol!!

I've only ever made one small claim on travel insurance. It was with Allianz and they paid quickly with no hassle. I will continue to use them. I notice they have a special webpage for cruise insurance.

We filed claims with Travel Guard twice, both in the $15,000 to &20,000 range. Both were paid in full by one month after filing our claims.
A medical claim for around $2000 was also paid in a timely manner.

I have used the trip insurance that comes with my Chase Sapphire Visa Card, and also an annual policy with AIG Travel guard. I have made claims on both, and been paid by both.

The Chase claim was for a ski trip that I had to cancel last minute because I got sick. That was my first experience, and I learned from it. I kept getting messages about some obscure-sounding documentation that they needed. What I really needed to do was just to call. The agent then told me what I needed. I had to stay on top of it, but they ended up paying for most everything. The Chase card is meant to reimburse you for expenses already paid, but for which you don't get refunded. It doesn't cover additional expenses incurred because of your illness, etc.

Last year I got an annual policy from Travelguard. I did have one claim for a little over $2000, because my traveling companion got Covid, and we couldn't continue our planned trip. The second was a small claim for me when I got Covid on a later trip and had to pay for my own transportation, a doctor and test bill. Again, you just really have to stay on top of the paperwork. I've learned to keep better records when planning and paying for trips. Travel guard was very nice on the phone and ended up paying both claims in full - though in the summer of 2022, it took quite a while. They were overwelmed because of all of the claims.

If you get sick on a trip, it's a good idea to call the insurance company right away and ask what kind of documentation they need. Some people don't get that before leaving the country, and that makes it difficult. I've heard of Allianz not paying for Covid claims when the travelers didn't get an official Covid test before leaving the country. When I called Travelguard, they were helpful with information and suggestions. They even called me back to see if I was doing OK or needed any more help.

Are you also buying insurance for the non-cruise portion of your trip?

It is best to include the dates of the entire trip in one policy. You can insure just the (non-refundable) cost of the river cruise, if you wish, along with flight costs if those are non-refundable.

Here is an example of what can happen if you insure a trip in separate pieces:

https://www.fodors.com/news/news/axa-refuses-travel-insurer-responsibility-family-faces-100-000-bill

We are likely to get insurance for the full trip and the information about medical coverage is good as well. We are covered by both Medicare and TriCare for Life. What will happen if we do happen to get sick or injured while overseas? As TriCare (retired military) beneficiaries we can use the military hospital facilities I believe.

My husband asked if we insure our flight separately from the cruise, what does that cover? For example if our flights are delayed and we miss the cruise as a result?

My husband thinks AMA uses Travel Guard.

He also said that Faye is one of the best insurers, at least according to Kiplinger. Is anyone familiar with that company?

We have used TravelGuard, and had a good experience the one time we had to file a claim. We were on a RS Sicily tour in April of 2023, and hubby got COVID on the second day of the tour. You can read my original post here, and my follow-up here.

Our big takeaway that would apply to any coverage is to 1. keep ALL your receipts, correspondence and even boarding passes until you have been reimbursed (we were asked for copies of boarding passes for one of our flights, twice), and 2. don't hesitate to be a "pest" if too much time goes by without a claim status update.

We had one claim with TraveGuard for reimbursment for out of pocket medical expenses. They did ask for documentation, but nothing that was hard to supply. Got a check in a timely manner.

At the bare minimum you need medical and med evac insurance. Medicare does not cover outside of the US but your supplemental policy might provide some medical, usually $50,000 lifetime benefit. What else you want to cover is up to you, whether to insure or self-insure. Most single trip policies have a tight timeframe to purchase to cover pre-existing conditions, maybe 15 days from first money paid for trip. Look at the policies carefully and read the fine print.

As for plane tickets, I spend the extra money for refundable tickets. It’s just my comfort level since I buy plane tickets when the dates first open up.

I started buying Allianz travel insurance after a unique problem with Travel Guard. I now buy annual insurance to cover fall then spring trips. I have not filed a claim with Allianz or Medjet.

I always use SquareMouth to purchase my travel insurance, and I have been buying travel insurance for all our trips since 2015. First, the site will let you directly compare policies, and even more important to me, the customer service staff have always been fantastic. They are native English speakers and their knowledge has been superb. Since I compare policies before each trip, I use the best policy at the time. Pre-existing conditions, sufficient medical and evacuation coverage are the mandatory requirements for me. Generally, you need to cover the entire trip - from starting date to return date to have trip coverage however, you decide what expenses you want to include.

Insurance coverage for flight delays only covers the insured dates and items within those dates (with certain exceptions). It does not cover “consequential” damage or loss—-such as the cost of your cruise if you miss that because your flight arrived late. Nor will your cruise insurance cover delays that cause you to arrive too late if you insure the cruise separately. In that case, the loss is caused by an event outside the covered dates. This is why I said you should cover the entire trip dates in one policy that includes both flights and the cruise.

You do not have to list all the locations and activities for the pre- and post-cruise; if those are with hotels you can cancel, etc., you don’t insure that cost anyway. You do need to insure from the start of the trip (i.e. your first flight) through the end (the flight home) if you want complete coverage. Did you rad that Fodor’s article I linked above? That describes how and why an insurance company denied a large medical claim—-they insured the trip piecemeal and did not correctly list the point of departure.

Insurers will use any excuse to den;y coverage. You do not want to give them a reason to do that by trying to cut costs on the policy. The price of the policy is based on 4 things: the insurable cost (non-refundable expenses like the cruise), the level of medical coverage you choose, the the length of the trip, and your age. You cannot control or make a mistake on the last two—-age and length of the trip. You do have some control over the first two. Look at what your TriCare covers when you are abroad, and see if you can elect the lowest level of medical coverage, like $10,000 instead of the $100K that many policies have. And don’t include routine expenses like train travel, hotels, etc. Do cover the full actual cost of the cruise and your flights (unless those are with miles, or refundable).