Travel Insurance?

[TheAnonOne]

Next year we are going to Tokyo for a week (on points!)

This will be our first (of hopefully many) international trips and we are wondering about any needed insurance. Medical Coverage? Travel Insurance?

I would love to hear the thoughts of people here on this topic. Thanks!

[MDM]

Sellers of Travel Insurance make money because they pay less for claims than people pay in premiums.  The odds (but not a guarantee) say you won't need it.

You could check with your insurance carrier about what to do if needing medical care abroad, and what they will cover.  Have them direct you to the part of the policy that shows it in writing.  Probably no in-network providers in Tokyo. ;)

[patchyfacialhair]

Check your credit card benefits. They often provide accident insurance and/or travel interruption protections.

[JoJo]

If you want/need more coverage, travel insurance is quite cheap.  But, I often go without it.

[electriceagle]

If you plan to travel frequently, you can buy insurance on an annual basis.

Odds are that you won't need it, but the cost of emergency transport to a competent medical institution can be quite high. If you need it, there won't be much opportunity to haggle.

[SimplyMarvie]

If you're going somewhere that you will need to be Medically Evacuated from if something goes wrong, get the insurance. Even a "simple" Medical Evacuation from a destination close to the US will run $20,000 on up. They do not take insurance and expect cash on the barrel.

If you're going to Tokyo, where if you break your leg they have competent physicians who can set and treat it (as opposed to, say, chopping it off...) and you've got cash or credit to cover the hospital bill, you're probably fine without medical evacuation insurance.

I've never paid for travel insurance, but I've also never bought particularly expensive package travel where I couldn't cancel or reschedule for a fee. The fee is usually around the same cost as the travel insurance, so it's never been worth it to me. YMMV.

[Krolik]

We bought only once travel insurance for accident/medical evacuation since I was travelling to expensive country and had some hiking / off-road travel planned. Travel insurance is cheap. I bought it from InsureAndGo. Fast and easy, they have good reviews.

[I'm a red panda]

Does your medical insurance cover you outside of the country? If it does, I wouldn't bother.

I buy trip insurance to cover medical evacuation. If something happened in Tokyo, I'm relatively certain I could be cared for there.


I've made a few claims on travel insurance though-
there was a fire in the FAA facility in Chicago so I was a day delayed flying to Ecuador for a Galapagos vacation. I missed 2 days of my package, that included a hotel, food, and city tour. Travel insurance reimbursed all that.  But the main reason for it was the med-evac coverage.

We also had insurance for a carribean vacation we took. Normally we skip insurance in this case, but I was pregnant so we got it. I'd hate for a premie to have to be cared for on one of those islands, and I was 24 weeks, so in theory a baby could survive if born that early- again medevac was really important. Husband got a bad sinus infection and travel insurance paid what his insurance did not for the doctors appointment and medicine.

[mm1970]

I purchased travel insurance for the first time when I was booking a week in Hawaii for our (at that time) family of 3.  As the entire trip was a few thousand, the $90 in travel insurance didn't seem to be a bad deal.

It paid off.  We missed our connecting flight - due to weather.  Which means, we were stuck overnight in Los Angeles.  Because it was weather, the airline would do nothing for us and our 5 year old (we did try).  The travel insurance bought us dinner and breakfast, and paid for the hotel.

It also refunded us for the missed day in Hawaii - about $400 or so, total, refund for hotel/car.  Of course they gave us each a check (including the 5 year old).

So now, we buy travel insurance for:
1.  Any expensive trip (honestly this Hawaii trip was 5 years ago, and it was our last expensive trip)
2.  Any trip with the kids where the possibility for getting stuck might be high.  Usually we fly to visit family, so we don't really feel like we *need* travel insurance.  Example: red-eyes.  However, this summer part of our trip was a leg with just my husband and our older son flying home, late in the day, with a very short connection in San Francisco.  In the summer.  So he paid travel insurance, figuring it was cheaper than a night at a hotel in San Fran.

[sobezen]

I bought travel insurance once but for it was for my parents.  This ended up being useful when we were overseas and my father went to the ER while in France.  Your mileage may vary but another consideration I wish to share travel insurance might be helpful if someone  you are traveling with has a health condition. 

[index]

Most premium credit cards include this for free. Chase Sapphire:

TRIP CANCELLATION/TRIP INTERRUPTION INSURANCE
If your trip is canceled or cut short by sickness, severe weather or other covered situations, you can be reimbursed up to $10,000 per trip for your pre-paid, non-refundable travel expenses, including passenger fares, tours, and hotels.

TRIP DELAY REIMBURSEMENT
If your common carrier travel is delayed more than 12 hours or requires an overnight stay, you and your family are covered for unreimbursed expenses, such as meals and lodging, up to $500 per ticket.

BAGGAGE DELAY INSURANCE
Reimburses you for essential purchases like toiletries and clothing for baggage delays over 6 hours by passenger carrier up to $100 a day for 5 days.

LOST LUGGAGE REIMBURSEMENT
If you or your immediate family members' checked or carry-on bags are damaged or lost by the carrier, you're covered up to $3,000 per passenger.

[sobezen]

Does CSP offer any health service benefits while traveling abroad?

[KCalla]

We sometimes buy travel insurance.  There are differences between travel "insurance" and trip cancellation policies, even though both are often casually referred to as travel insurance.  True insurance is more highly regulated. You may want to check Insuremytrip.com, Squaremouth.com and others prices.  This old article by Consumer Reports still has some good info:  http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/06/do-you-need-travel-insurance/index.htm
You mention using airline miles.  To my knowledge, no travel insurance or cancellation policy will cover anything toward the miles if not used.  These days, there seem to be two choices on what to do with the unused miles:  1) re-deposit them in your account, which usually costs you $200 per ticketed passenger -  worth checking if this would be reimbursable, I've read about instances in which it is not reimbursed by the policy, or 2) Rebook another flight using the miles.  The big catch on this option is that most if not all airlines require that you actually fly using the miles (or the cancelled paid ticket if not insured,)  Within ONE year of the Original Booking Date using the miles.  I've been tagged by this one and lost out once.  I had booked a flight many months ahead of a planned trip and had to cancel...there was not a way I could travel within one year of the original booking (not original travel date).
Also check to see if preexisting medical conditions are covered as a reason for cancel (example:  has longtime high blood pressure, stroke causes cancellation)
As others have said, medical evacuation insurance is an option.  Credit card coverage, too.  If you are flying on miles and your hotels happen to be cancellable,  add up what your true financial risk is.

[geekette]

We've bought it and it's been helpful a few times.  Twice my sister had to cancel late (once the day of departure) due to a pre-existing condition (she was stable when we booked the trip, but the flare up caused her to miss both trips).

Credit card coverage won't insure pre-ex.