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OT - Travel Insurance - OT

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bhugg
bhugg Posts: 317
in EggHead Forum
I am traveling to Argentina in March. What are your thoughts on travel insurance? 
Large BGE Dallas, TX
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  • Botch
    Botch Posts: 15,467
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    I used to travel often (twice a month) until about 10, 11 years ago.  And I never bought insurance, the airlines were always accommodating at changing my itinerary at the last minute (snowstorms, family problems, extended meetings, etc) with no added fees.
    Its a different world now.  I had to cancel my last trip to Sioux Falls (for my annual trip home to help Mom with Spring chores, because of rain) and I couldn't change anything on two different airlines, 100% loss.  Sooo pissed!
    For a trip to Argentina, I'd definitely buy insurance; hopefully others can chime in on which companies are the best (I have no clue).  Good luck!  
    _____________

    Remember when teachers used to say 'You won't have a calculator everywhere you go'?  Well, we showed them.


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  • Woodchunk
    Woodchunk Posts: 911
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    We always buy travel insurance when leaving the country. We use this place
    https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwjYj82j5qrfAhWJHoYKHR5CBuYYABAAGgJ2dQ&ohost=www.google.com&cid=CAASE-RoBXblzsTXKRVMRRJnveKIN_4&sig=AOD64_0peo2z2x2b3tGR9YCahrTnMMU4Cw&q&adurl&ved=2ahUKEwioncej5qrfAhXtwVkKHW00DPkQ0Qx6BAgNEAE
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  • etherdome
    etherdome Posts: 471
    edited December 2018
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    What are you insuring? Your  trip or yourself? One thing I ALWAYS buy is insurance for myself in case of emergency. Basically just to fly my a$$ out of there In case of severe illness or injury.  It costs so much freakin money to extract you from these places and trust me, you don’t want to be in their medical system. 

    Upstate SC
    Large BGE,  Blackstone, Weber genesis , Weber charcoal classic
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  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,332
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    Another vote for the insurance-especially if headed overseas and you have more invested than just the flights like hotels and other pre-paid expenses. 
    Fortunately I have no experience with needing it. 
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
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  • SGH
    SGH Posts: 28,791
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    bhugg said:
     What are your thoughts on travel insurance? 
    I think that travel insurance is a must when traveling overseas. However I can’t tell you much about it as 99% of the time mine is provided by Exxon/Mobil. On that same note, the very little that I have ever traveled for pleasure instead of business, I use either my Discover card or Master Card for every purchase because they both came with automatic travel insurance. Plus you can dispute any bogus charge. 
    With the above said, if I had to travel and didn’t have it on my cards or it was not provided by my employer, I would buy it on my own. I would rather be safe than sorry. But that’s just me my friend.  

    Location- Just "this side" of Biloxi, Ms.

    Status- Standing by.

    The greatest barrier against all wisdom, the stronghold against knowledge itself, is the single thought, in ones mind, that they already have it all figured out. 

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  • Botch
    Botch Posts: 15,467
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    SGH said:
    bhugg said:
     What are your thoughts on travel insurance? 
    On that same note, the very little that I have ever traveled for pleasure instead of business, I use either my Discover card or Master Card for every purchase because they both came with automatic travel insurance.  
    Oh hell, Scottie, you may have just saved me a few bucks!  :tired_face:
    _____________

    Remember when teachers used to say 'You won't have a calculator everywhere you go'?  Well, we showed them.


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  • GrillSgt
    GrillSgt Posts: 2,507
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    If you’re buying a package or non-refundable lodging it is worth it. If you’re flying a large airline and hotel reservations that can be cancelled I wouldn’t consider it. 
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  • TN_Egger
    TN_Egger Posts: 1,120
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    Travel abroad frequently.  never bought insurance, never needed it.  Wondering how easy it is to successfully collect on a claim.
    Signal Mountain, TN
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  • buzd504
    buzd504 Posts: 3,824
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    bhugg said:
    I am traveling to Argentina in March. What are your thoughts on travel insurance? 
    We went to Argentina in October and shopped travel insurance but never bought it.
    NOLA
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  • littlerascal56
    littlerascal56 Posts: 2,104
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    It cost $49 x 2 when we went to Jaimaca last May.  Worth the peace of mind on a $6k vacation!
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  • SaintJohnsEgger
    SaintJohnsEgger Posts: 1,826
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    Botch said:
    SGH said:
    bhugg said:
     What are your thoughts on travel insurance? 
    On that same note, the very little that I have ever traveled for pleasure instead of business, I use either my Discover card or Master Card for every purchase because they both came with automatic travel insurance.  
    Oh hell, Scottie, you may have just saved me a few bucks!  :tired_face:
    Me too. We have a trip to Italy in March. Wife and daughter are handling all of the planning etc. I'll make sure that they know about this.
    Marshall in Beautiful Fruit Cove, FL.
    MiniMax 04/17
    Unofficial BGE MiniMax Evangelist
    Facebook Big Green Egg MiniMax Owners Group


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  • xfire_ATX
    xfire_ATX Posts: 1,112
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    Botch said:
    I used to travel often (twice a month) until about 10, 11 years ago.  And I never bought insurance, the airlines were always accommodating at changing my itinerary at the last minute (snowstorms, family problems, extended meetings, etc) with no added fees.
    I travel way too much and they are accommodating when then know you and value you- for most people they dont and they generally scoff at you for not knowing the risk.

    I know my AA Mastercard has travel insurance so when we book personal trips we always use that card.  My neighbors had to bail on a France trip this summer and used the process and got all their money PLUS Delta gave them a year to use about 1/2 the value of the trip.  So they covered their insurance cost and some.

    I will consider some kind of personal rider next time we go- we generally stay at some resort but with diving and other stuff might be worth it not to get robbed with a medical need.
    XLBGE, LBGE, Charbroil Gas Grill, Weber Q2000, Old Weber Kettle, Yeti 65, Yeti Hopper 20, RTIC 20, RTIC 20 Soft Side - Too many drinkware vessels to mention.

    Not quite in Austin, TX City Limits
    Just Vote- What if you could choose "none of the above" on an election ballot? Millions of Americans do just that, in effect, by not voting.  The result in 2016: "Nobody" won more counties, more states, and more electoral votes than either candidate for president. 
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  • caliking
    caliking Posts: 18,731
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    Travel insurance for the trip is different from medical insurance while overseas.

    Travel insurance may be worth it for a $$ overseas trip. A few years ago, a friend had booked trip to London through Costco's travel agency . His grandmother became terminally ill and he had to cancel. Costco refunded it all, plus a $500 credit .

    For medical insurance, check your health insurance for overseas coverage. Many will cover things like air transport back to the US, etc .

    #1 LBGE December 2012 • #2 SBGE February  2013 • #3 Mini May 2013
    A happy BGE family in Houston, TX.
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  • jazimmerman
    jazimmerman Posts: 38
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    We always buy for international travel.

    Have had very good luck using  http://www.insuremytrip.com to compare and buy policies. We've always found better prices for equivalent coverage from travel agents.
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  • saluki2007
    saluki2007 Posts: 6,354
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    Check with your credit card company you are using to buy the tickets with.  Most include some sort of insurance.
    Large and Small BGE
    Central, IL

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  • lkapigian
    lkapigian Posts: 10,758
    edited December 2018
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    Bought it all the time, rescheduling a flight if an issue is easy however a refund due to an Emergency was pretty much impossible. FIL had a stroke and had to cancel a trip to Cabo, no way to get a refund without pages of paperwork signed by the DR. Rescheduling was not to bad but still was charged a fee even with the insurance....Never bought it again
    Visalia, Ca @lkapigian
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  • bucky925
    bucky925 Posts: 2,029
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    We have purchased trip insurance many times.  We have used it once.   The one time we used it paid for all the trips we didn't. 

    Be careful when following the masses. Sometimes the M is silent.

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  • Zippylip
    Zippylip Posts: 4,768
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    We were scheduled to take a family cruise to Bermuda around September 13th, 2001.  Needless to say we were a bit freaked out & called the agent to ask if we could cancel given what was happening, they told us the cruise is on so show up or forfeit you dough.  We had purchased travel insurance however the events of 9/11 were not a ‘covered loss’ so it didn’t help, in that regard anyway, coincidentally my ex-wife’s grandfather died that day & death of an immediate family was a covered loss so we were reimbursed the entire cost of the trip upon presentation of the death certificate.

    I always buy the insurance.

    Lately I’ve been buying ‘enhanced’ coverage when going to the islands, it’s a few bucks more but includes a cancel for any reason rider, not just one of the more typical covered losses (death, illness…).  I figure what the hell, anything can happen & I want the option of cancelling the day before if need be without having to fit into one of the defined events.  I like all the other coverages too, medical, & med-evacuation, trip interruption & so on, some of which may be redundant to what’s included in your existing insurance and credit card but I like the one-stop shop policy to throw any problems on.


    TN_Egger said:
    Travel abroad frequently.  never bought insurance, never needed it.  Wondering how easy it is to successfully collect on a claim.

    I essentially sue insurance companies for a living & I'll say this, if it's a covered loss they are going to pay.  Often times they'll deny a claim (auto, homeowners, whatever...) just to test the waters, hell if they deny 10 claims & even an average of 1 person says F it & walks away they've saved 10% on claims for literally doing nothing more than mailing out a denial letter for fifty cents.  I imagine the percentage of people that just accept the initial denial are probably more than 10%.  In all things insurance claim related, if you're right often just the slightest push-back will get you what you've got coming, though sometimes you've got to pull out the stick


    happy in the hut
    West Chester Pennsylvania
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  • Eggcelsior
    Eggcelsior Posts: 14,414
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    Zippylip said:

    We were scheduled to take a family cruise to Bermuda around September 13th, 2001.  Needless to say we were a bit freaked out & called the agent to ask if we could cancel given what was happening, they told us the cruise is on so show up or forfeit you dough.  We had purchased travel insurance however the events of 9/11 were not a ‘covered loss’ so it didn’t help, in that regard anyway, coincidentally my ex-wife’s grandfather died that day & death of an immediate family was a covered loss so we were reimbursed the entire cost of the trip upon presentation of the death certificate.

    I always buy the insurance.

    Lately I’ve been buying ‘enhanced’ coverage when going to the islands, it’s a few bucks more but includes a cancel for any reason rider, not just one of the more typical covered losses (death, illness…).  I figure what the hell, anything can happen & I want the option of cancelling the day before if need be without having to fit into one of the defined events.  I like all the other coverages too, medical, & med-evacuation, trip interruption & so on, some of which may be redundant to what’s included in your existing insurance and credit card but I like the one-stop shop policy to throw any problems on.


    TN_Egger said:
    Travel abroad frequently.  never bought insurance, never needed it.  Wondering how easy it is to successfully collect on a claim.

    I essentially sue insurance companies for a living & I'll say this, if it's a covered loss they are going to pay.  Often times they'll deny a claim (auto, homeowners, whatever...) just to test the waters, hell if they deny 10 claims & even an average of 1 person says F it & walks away they've saved 10% on claims for literally doing nothing more than mailing out a denial letter for fifty cents.  I imagine the percentage of people that just accept the initial denial are probably more than 10%.  In all things insurance claim related, if you're right often just the slightest push-back will get you what you've got coming, though sometimes you've got to pull out the stick


    This used to be United Healthcare's SOP too. Calling them was like dealing with an SSD case.
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  • buzd504
    buzd504 Posts: 3,824
    edited December 2018
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    caliking said:
    Travel insurance for the trip is different from medical insurance while overseas.

    Travel insurance may be worth it for a $$ overseas trip. A few years ago, a friend had booked trip to London through Costco's travel agency . His grandmother became terminally ill and he had to cancel. Costco refunded it all, plus a $500 credit .

    For medical insurance, check your health insurance for overseas coverage. Many will cover things like air transport back to the US, etc .
    I researched catastrophic medical coverage to repatriate in the event of a serious medical condition, and these guys seem to be the leaders:  https://medjetassist.com/

    I ended up not buying (or needing, thankfully) the coverage, but for $250 it seems like good peace of mind.

    (Also note that they offer long term "membership' for those that travel overseas frequently, which I think is their bread and butter, but they offer short term coverage as well)

    NOLA
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