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Travel insurance

I would like recommendations for travel insurance companies and type of insurance that are somewhat reasonable.

We will be on a two week rick steve's tour and extending that trip another 2 weeks on our own. Thank you

Posted by
2 posts

If you are a Costco member, you can buy travel insurance thru Costco which is very cost effective. In order to do the purchase, you will need to rent a car or stay at least one night in a Costco booked hotel during the travel period. For instance, you can rent a hotel room for one night before the trip, and include that hotel rental timeframe in your trip insurance. The price is great, and the coverage is good.

Posted by
1032 posts

Try a site like Insure My Trip. You can comparison shop based on your needs, ages and state of residence. Any questions and you can use the chat function for clarification.

Posted by
568 posts

There are so many types of insurance and so many different needs to consider and your question doesn’t explain why you want insurance.

  • How old are you?
  • How is your health?
  • What are your concerns?
  • Are you driving a rental car?
  • What is your risk tolerance?
  • Does your health insurance provide coverage for care when you travel to Europe for less than 60 days
  • Does your credit card take care of a collision damage waiver (CDW) if you rent a car on that card?
  • When you got your airline tix, did you get flight insurance?
  • Are you checking your bags, or taking them on-board the plane with you? If the latter, will you meet the size and weight restrictions that the airlines you are flying have, or will you then be forced to check your bags?

I never really worried about insurance when we travelled internationally in 1999, 2003, 2005, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2018, 2023 or 2024. THIS YEAR, I finally decided to worry and look into this. Why? Because we are in our 70s and we will be cycling in Europe. Last year when we cycled in Puglia we both fell on a wet road (without any injuries to speak of, fortunately). Also, we have friend who needed to get hospital care and extend her stay in France for several weeks until she could safely fly.

Trip cancellation insurance looked spendy and not worth it … as far as my own, personal risk tolerance to expense ratio is concerned.

To my pleasant surprise, thanks to recommendations on this forum 1-1/2 years ago when I was simply concerned about auto insurance, I checked our credit card and learned it will cover the CDW on a rental car. This year, I checked our Medical Supplemental Insurance (supplemental to Medicare) and learned it covers $50,000 for a European trip up to 60 days.

What others on this forum got me to look was medical evacuation coverage, especially since we will be biking 13 days of our 30-day trip next month. That is the one potentially huge expense, not already largely protected.

Someone (LizinPA) suggested the RS article, on-line. It’s an OK start and I think it may be better now than it was 6 months ago. But my own journey through this forum and the kindness of others who responded to my query might also help you. See https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/travel-in-urance there are lotsa links in there.

(The forum somehow changed in$urance in my topic title to in-urance in the link)

The forum is searchable, so you can look in the upper left corner of your screen and find the search feature. Many others have asked about insurance and many have given good advice.

Happy - and safe - travels.