Then the gal didn’t know what she was talking about as I asked her directly, “they fly helicopters back to the states?” She said yes, I thought that sounded weird. I’m going to call again and read the fine print.
I used to not buy travel insurance - but now that my best friend who I travel with a lot has had health issues she pays 2/3 the premium and I pay 1/3 (she’s feels she’s more likely to need it and wants us to have it). On our last trip someone sideswiped our parked rental car to the tune of $780 - the insurance handled it all (zero deductible) - the cost of the policy was $89.
ETA: we also do some adventurous stuff like all day trips on speed rafts around islands for snorkeling, cave tubing, etc. - we’re not sedentary…at all!
Travel insurance can cover things you don’t think of until you are in the situation. Broke my leg in Europe, needed surgery. Had to cancel remainder of trip, spend 4 nights post op inpatient (to stabilize for air travel home), keep hotel for DH to shower in, and fly home business class with DH also in business class to provide needed assistance. Doubt our excellent health insurance would have covered the two airfares. Keep good records of all medical paperwork and have Drs write letters documenting need for transport, companion, etc.
I had to pay all clinic bills at discharge (not trivial), which was quickly reimbursed by insurance upon filing paperwork. I believe they would have made the payment arrangements with the clinic if we could not await their re-payment. Definitely reminded our young adult travelers of the vulnerability of an unexpected expense and desirability of coverage.
Also, travel insurance may cover if travel companion or member of your immediate family has emergency health situation. If you would want to leave trip to fly to a parent’s bedside in a medical crisis, it is worth checking out.
We have never bought travel insurance before. When H and I were supposed to travel to Ireland in early March of 2018 we were delayed 2 days in London since the “Beast from the East” closed Ireland. We had booked a non refundable hotel in Dublin for two nights and we had to book a last minute hotel in London for the two nights there. In the end the Dublin hotel refunded our money.
I use https://www.squaremouth.com/100?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-p6bmM6V5wIVwp6zCh2gGg_jEAAYASAAEgJR3vD_BwE to compare policies.
@travelnut , I’m sorry to hear that happened. Not only disappointing, but frightening, too.
Never heard of a transoceanic helicopter flight.
I know, that was pretty stupid of me to believe that, even for a second.
@travelnut, that is what happened to a friend. They were on their first leg of a group trip. She slipped and fell, breaking a hip.
They had travel insurance. They had to cancel the next leg of their trip, pay for a hotel he had to stay in and fly home. Insurance paid for all of this. They talked a lot about how grateful they were that they had trip insurance.
I typically don’t buy travel insurance, but for a very expensive (to us) trip to Europe this year, we opted for the recommended insurance.
So far, we’ve only had the insurance Chase Sapphire provides when we charge expenses on that card. It has paid for a smashed windshield and extra meals costs beyond what was reimbursed by airlines when our flight was delayed and caused us to miss SFO connection. The airline paid for $60 in meal vouchers and a hotel room for 30 hour delay.
I do charge my tours and hotels on Chase Sapphire so I can make a claim if needed. I have only traveled to places with excellent medical care.
We were considering the Chase Sapphire card for trip interruption/cancellation insurance on trips abroad. Rarely do our trips fall above their limits. However, we want to also cover medical evac. and/or repatriation of remains. Recommendations? I could not find options via Squaremouth that weren’t more expensive than just buying the full package.
A huge advantage of the Chase Sapphire card is the insurance, but it isn’t as valuable unless we can get Evac. for a lesser price than the bundled options.
For postmodum arrangements and expenses we have pre paid plans through the Neptune society that cover everything including returning our remains home from just about anywhere in the world.
We have a big trip coming in the fall, half will be covered almost entirely by points (hotel and Amtrak points) and the other half is crazy expensive Canadian Rocky Mountaineer trip, that part we went ahead and got the trip interuption/cancel for any reason insurance they sell.
We had about 6 trips last year and so opted for an annual policy. We didn’t use it (thank goodness), but it was nice for the peace of mind. We are in our late 60’s and for both of us it is around $400. So that works out to under $40 each per trip. It would also cover us for smaller local trips.
Yes, the MedJetAssist poli y can be purchased annually and has a AARP discount. Once you’re over 75, harder to get that coverage.
Other than MedJetAssist, Mind posting company names (if allowed)?
Now that MIL is in her 90s and we have kids out on their own (so not traveling with us) we do get travel insurance, to cover anything that is non-refundable on our trip. We don’t on domestic trips generally, but we do on international ones. I go to insuremytrip.com to compare plans and read reviews. Fortunately we’ve never had to file a claim, but it eases my mind for a reasonable cost. I want to look into an annual plan instead of paying trip by trip; does anyone have experience with that?
Ours is with Allianz.
We have Allianz too. We didn’t research it but it was what our travel agent recommended.
Just to be clear. I’ve always used Allianz, but I’ve never had to make a claim. They do get good reviews.