Travel Insurance - who buys it?

[James]

With squaremouth they want to know when you first paid for the trip or booked. I think they also want you buying insurance at least 3 days before the trip. Not sure why, maybe last minute people are more accident or fraud prone.

 

[dbostedo]

buying insurance at least 3 days before the trip. Not sure why

Maybe to avoid folks who wait until they're sure something is likely to be canceled before buying the insurance?

 

[James]

Maybe to avoid folks who wait until they're sure something is likely to be canceled before buying the insurance?

Good point.

 

[Jerez]

Being geezers, we started getting travel insurance for our international trips last year. We have a bunch of travel in and out of the US next fall and plan to get insurance for that too. Wish we had done so for our cross country US drive a few years ago.

Some jerk rear-ended us at a stoplight in Illinois and totalled our Jeep. Had to buy a new one to keep going. If we'd had travel insurance it would have covered a rental car for the remainder if the trip and we could have taken our time in purchasing another car.

 

[Jwrags]

Being geezers, we started getting travel insurance for our international trips last year. We have a bunch of travel in and out of the US next fall and plan to get insurance for that too. Wish we had done so for our cross country US drive a few years ago.

Some jerk rear-ended us at a stoplight in Illinois and totalled our Jeep. Had to buy a new one to keep going. If we'd had travel insurance it would have covered a rental car for the remainder if the trip and we could have taken our time in purchasing another car.

Look into buying an annual policy that covers all of your trips. I have used Allianz in the past with good success and pretty sure they sell annual insurance.

 

[Jerez]

Thanks will do.

 

[crosscountry]

Some jerk rear-ended us at a stoplight in Illinois and totalled our Jeep. Had to buy a new one to keep going. If we'd had travel insurance it would have covered a rental car for the remainder if the trip and we could have taken our time in purchasing another car.

Doesn’t your auto insurance pay for the rental car?

Better yet, the jerk’s auto insurance?

 

[Rainbow Jenny]

I bought Allianz when I have prolonged stay in Hokkaido and was backcountry skiing frequently, upgraded to the plan that covered extreme sports.

It’s been a while but I had International SOS while working in East Africa for medical evacuation and repatriation. Thanks for the reminder to look into it again as I plan a trip to Nepal in November.

 

[Jerez]

@crosscountry Jerk had the most basic insurance required by law. Not even close. Rental car covered for limited $ & number of days and we were on a xc trip from NM to VT. So... not really.

 

[ilovepugs]

With squaremouth they want to know when you first paid for the trip or booked. I think they also want you buying insurance at least 3 days before the trip. Not sure why, maybe last minute people are more accident or fraud prone.

Not sure about the three day rule, but for per-trip travel insurance, some policies offer the ability to buy “cancel for any reason” insurance if you buy the insurance within 14-21 days of booking the trip.

 

[ski4snacks]

Look into buying an annual policy that covers all of your trips. I have used Allianz in the past with good success and pretty sure they sell annual insurance.

Is that trips that include scuba, skydiving and skiing? I fine those tend to be pricey and hard to find.

 

[crosscountry]

Look into buying an annual policy that covers all of your trips. I have used Allianz in the past with good success and pretty sure they sell annual insurance.

Claim success?

 

[Jwrags]

@crosscountry Yes, I have made two claims. The first was when Cycle Oregon was cancelled one year because of forest fires and they refunded the entire amount. The second was a big trip to Greece in the fall of 2022 and we had to delay by a few days because we both got Covid. Some of the aspects of the trip were too late for a refund so they paid for those. @ski4snacks I have not used it for those kinds of trips but one was a week long bike trip.

 

[crosscountry]

@crosscountry Yes, I have made two claims. The first was when Cycle Oregon was cancelled one year because of forest fires and they refunded the entire amount.

The amount of registration money I presume? Did you have flights and hotels getting to the event? Did it also get refunded?

 

[Jwrags]

The amount of registration money I presume? Did you have flights and hotels getting to the event? Did it also get refunded?

For Cycle Oregon there was no additional expenses since I live in Oregon. I was pleasantly surprised in both instances how easy and quickly we received reimbursement. I expected a battle but there was none. Yes, for the Covid issue I made sure it was specifically covered by the policy and we needed a letter from my doctor but it was very minimal hassle for a pretty reasonable cost. I think the price for a two week trip to Greece, etc. for two people was around $300.