<p>H is booking a scouting trip to Greece for mid-May. He will be traveling a good bit for about 3 weeks. He has found good flights, hotels, etc., but he is looking for travel insurance (mostly just trip cancellation, he has medical that covers him, etc.) Can he buy it separate from buying the ticket? Does anyone have any recommendations on a company??</p>
<p>did you check to see if he gets free travel ins with his credit card that he put the trip on?</p>
<p>You can buy the insurance separately from the tickets. One carrier that I like is [Travel</a> insurance by TravelSafe | Travel Safe Insurance](<a href=“http://www.travelsafe.com/]Travel”>http://www.travelsafe.com/) because you can pay a bit more for a “cancel for any reason” policy.</p>
<p>there is a website called insuremytrip.com that is very helpful in comparing and purchasing policies. My recommendation is to call those companies who have policies that seem to match your needs and ASK about policy exclusions. Be very specific about what your needs are and find out if you can be covered for what you perceive are your risks.</p>
<p>With respect to medical insurance, I suggest you double-check to make sure he is covered out of the country. There are not a lot of regular health plans here in the US that will cover you FULLY when out of the country. Yes, they may cover you for emergency care but once the emergency is over you are on your own. It is rare to find one that will pay for any extra accommodations necessary to fly you home after an illness, whereas many travel policies will indeed cover the extra costs.</p>
<p>Don;t know if scouting counts, but,</p>
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<p>Mini, I meant scouting as in an exploring trip for later taking students through Greece. He teaches Philosophy at a LAC and he and the classicist will be taking students to Greece next year for 6 weeks. This time out just the two of them will go and make sure of hotels, transportation, minor sites, etc.</p>
<p>I do know their parent company Fly4Good works with Harvard U.</p>
<p>I’d suggest he double-check with any insurance he gets with the credit card (or anything else he’s considering) to be sure he understands the cost & terms of coverage as well as limits on how much will be reimbursed. We did have coverage with our CC for our trip but I think the maximum was only $1000 or so & air tickets alone was $4000. It was nice that we had that unexpected coverage at no additional charge but it did NOT really cover much of the costs. Always good to have an understanding of what you are buying, what it covers, how soon you have to notify, what events do/don’t qualify for coverage, etc. Pre-existing conditions are also often not covered or have a lot of restrictions. We looked into this when S went with the band to Australia/NZ but opted not to purchase because of the exclusions & restrictions we felt provided very little protection for the cost of the premium for his case.</p>
<p>Bringing this up again to see if anyone else has any more advice. I have heard of a company called travel Guard in addition to InsureMyTrip and I will check both of them out.</p>
<p>I am basically looking for trip cancelation insurance, as we are booking our hotel and airfare ourselves, so no travel agent, and everything is non-refundable.</p>
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<p>My DS used insuremytrip for a group trip of volunteers going to Honduras. We used another but I cant recall the name. I am looking…</p>
<p>I consider a good purchase of insurance is when there is another company will assume a risk that I can’t afford on my own.</p>
<p>Car insurance is one example. One mistake might result in a half million dollars in hospital bills. I can’t pay it.</p>
<p>Homeowners/fire insurance is another. A house fire could level my home, which is a risk I can’t assume.</p>
<p>Travel insurance is not one of them. The chance of a cancelled trip is rare, and since I already paid for the trip, the worst that would happen is I wouldn’t go on the trip.</p>
<p>But IVC combines travel and health insurance, etc. for $45/year.</p>
<p>babyontheway - I see your point, but this trip will be costing a lot of money, kind of a once in a lifetime thing. And considering that 3 out of 4 of us have been in the emergency room in the last year, for me, paying what may be the equivalent of an extra night’s hotel fee is a good investment. People get sick, break bones, etc etc. and I would hate to see all that money go down the drain and then not have resources left to take the trip later.</p>
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<p>Would you light $4,000 in dollar bills on fire?</p>
<p>Maybe in YOUR situation the worst that happens is you don’t go on the trip. But for some folks, the idea of paying out thousands in non-refundable dollars and getting absolutely nothing in return is simply not acceptable.</p>
<p>I am more than willing to pay $4,000 for my family to enjoy a week-long cruise vacation, but if we can’t go I want my $4,000 back in my bank account.</p>
<p>My husband and I have a cruise booked in 2012 that will cost $2,000 in non-refundable dollars. A travel insurance policy to cover any reason for cancellation for both of us cost me $94. So I skip a nice dinner out to cover that cost to make sure I have the funds to re-schedule that trip if we have to cancel it.</p>
<p>msmayor, I agree. We always get travel insurance for cruises. It is not just about trip cancellation. It is also about things like medical emergencies,emergency services, medical evacuation, repatriation of remains, etc. Peace of mind.</p>
<p>I second (or third?) [Travel</a> Insurance - InsureMyTrip.com](<a href=“http://www.insuremytrip.com%5DTravel”>http://www.insuremytrip.com)</p>
<p>Read the policies carefully, and if you have questions, you can call insuremytrip and they will help you sort out the plans that fit your needs.</p>
<p>One thing to be aware of…most policies do not cover pre-existing conditions, but some do if you purchase the insurance within a week or two of purchasing your trip (depending on the policy).</p>
<p>A few years ago, we paid something like $48 to cover two teenagers traveling to London from NJ for a week. One came down with swine flu on the last full day of the trip, and was not allowed to fly for 5 days. Since they were in England, there was no fee for the medical care or medication. However, the policy covered 5 nights in a very nice hotel, including 5 days/nights of room service. It covered all of our overseas cell phone calls (about $400 in 5 days!). The airline tickets had a $50 change fee, but the fare class was no longer available, so the new tickets actually cost an additional $800. In all, we got back about $3000 that we otherwise would have paid out of pocket. AND the travel insurance agent helped us find an appropriate hotel (with our requirements), and book new flights.</p>
<p>If my son had been more seriously ill, the policy would have covered me flying to England to be with him. </p>
<p>You never know what can happen, and I always buy trip insurance.</p>
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<p>Of course not.</p>
<p>But if I lived in a $4000 house, I’d opt not to carry fire insurance because I could cover the cost of rebuilding without significantly impacting my budget.</p>
<p>Some people have made reference to travel insurance also covering health care while overseas. And perhaps I’ve overspoken - I was referring to trip cancellation insurance only, which covers the cost of the trip if you have to cancel due to specific reasons. That is the insurance I refuse to pay for.</p>
<p>SO, where do you get your trip insurance? From the agency that booked your cruises? Can you recommend an independent source?</p>
<p>I agree that you have to read the policy VERY CAREFULLY to be SURE it provides the coverage you expect at the cost you expect. The policy S could buy excluded pre-existing conditions, which would have been the most likely reason he would not be able to travel, so we chose not to purchase it.</p>
<p>I have NOT purchased trip insurance in the past and gotten all of our non-refundable funds, including hotel & air back with NO penalties or change fees, but it did take some doing. Actually, we’ve never purchased trip insurance–it all takes a carefully weighing of what you’re willing to assume for yourself and what risks you want coverage for, how much the benefits vs. risks are.</p>
<p>I also do not purchase tuition insurance, tho many swear by it, nor renters insurance. We’re all different. To date, neither of my kids would ever have taken advantage of tuition insurance or renters insurance, so we’ve saved all those years of premiums. You have to know what risks you are interested in assuming–it’s always a risk/benefit analysis.</p>
<p>See post # 10, surfcity. It is usually recommended to buy the insurance separatelyfromthe travel company/cruise agency you are booking with. We bought it when we took an expensive trip to Aruba and also when we went on a cruis (because I had an ill family member at the time) but dont buy it when we go on ski vacations and such.</p>
<p>We have always had renters insurance/student insurance for the boys. Ther ewas one time that the insu co gave my older s wrong information and he temporarily didnt have renters insu in his apartment. He got burglarized during that time :(</p>
<p>Younger s has definitely benifitted form the laptop insurance. Has broken it/stepped on it/gotten water on it several times.</p>