A few questions regarding Trip Insurance

[One Lil Spark]

A few quick questions for you...

How many of you WDW lovers purchase trip insurance for your treks down to The World?

If you do get insurance, do you buy it through WDW or a separate agency?

Finally, if you were planning a trip during September (Hurricane season), would you be more likely to spend the money for insurance?

Thanks! :wave:

 

[maggiegrace1]

A few quick questions for you...

How many of you WDW lovers purchase trip insurance for your treks down to The World?

If you do get insurance, do you buy it through WDW or a separate agency?

Finally, if you were planning a trip during September (Hurricane season), would you be more likely to spend the money for insurance?

Thanks! :wave:

Never have

Does not apply

Maybe..probably not though..That is just me..

 

[One Lil Spark]

Never have

Does not apply

Maybe..probably not though..That is just me..

That's what ponchos were made for, right? :lol:

 

[tigsmom]

A few quick questions for you...

How many of you WDW lovers purchase trip insurance for your treks down to The World?

If you do get insurance, do you buy it through WDW or a separate agency?

Finally, if you were planning a trip during September (Hurricane season), would you be more likely to spend the money for insurance?

Thanks! :wave:

We always busy trip insurance (usually get it when we book our package), we've only had to use it once though.

 

[Computer Magic]

yes, I purchase trip insurance every trip. I don't buy the insurance until the very last minute as there is no penalty for cancelling until the balance is paid. Make sure you verify the last day to purchase trip insurance. This will save a little money in case you need to cancel.

I live near Chicago so there is a lot of money to lose in case of the unforseen event. I would especially purchase in Hurricane season. Don't risk being unhappy in the happiest place on earth for a small amount.

I purchase through WDW although there may be better options. Mousesavers has information about this and other options.

 

[nepalostparks]

Yes, we insure any major vacation purchase over $1000. Because you never know what will happen.

Best recommendation I can give you is to buy the insurance separate from your Disney package. You can get a lot more coverage (in both dollar coverage and what is actually covered) for less money by going through a third party vendor.

I forget the name of the website we used on our last vacation; I will try to dig it up. It was a recommended and reputable site that allowed you to type in your trip details and it gathered quotes from a variety of companies, allowing you to choose the best price and the types/amount of coverage you want/need.

As for it being hurricane season, just be sure if you do buy trip insurance to see if it covers weather/hurricane issues as not all do.

 

[disneycouple07]

We travel to WDW in September. For the past three years, we've purchased trip insurance through Disney, luckily never had to use it. Having experienced Hurricane Katrina, we don't take any chances with our personal property. It gives me peace of mind, knowing if we had to leave early due to a hurricane threatening our local area, we would get some of the money back.

 

[Computer Magic]

remebmer trip insurance covers damage and lost luggage from the airline. United damaged our luggage and we had it replaced. Okay, I didn't receive much as it we prorated but it was more then the insurance I paid.

 

[Rob562]

If hurricane season is one of the major factors in deciding to purchase insurance, make sure to read Disney's Hurricane Policy, which applies to all reservations regardless of whether insurance was purchased. It applies if there is a hurricane warning in Orlando or within xx-number of miles from your home (or might be home airport) within 7 days of your arrival. It allows you to alter or cancel your reservation withou penalty.

Airfare for the trip, though, is another matter. Vacation insurance might be able to help with that.

-Rob

 

[SeaCastle]

A few quick questions for you...

How many of you WDW lovers purchase trip insurance for your treks down to The World?

If you do get insurance, do you buy it through WDW or a separate agency?

Finally, if you were planning a trip during September (Hurricane season), would you be more likely to spend the money for insurance?

Thanks! :wave:

We purchase insurance when we go down. Like the posters before me have said, you just never know. We always buy it through Disney rather than a separate agency. Finally, I believe I would be more likely to spend on insurance if I was planning a few months away. However, when we went during Tropical Storm Faye last August, we did not utilize our insurance and cancel our trip. Rather, we donned ponchos and headed out to the park.

Hope this helps!

 

[NewfieFan]

I have always purchased travel insurance. We invest a lot of dollars into our vacations... too much to take a chance on! We've looked into other travel insurance but we keep coming back to Disney's. I like their luggage coverage... which is a big one for me. With a family of four (two kids involved), I would be "up the creek" if something happened to my luggage!

It's always good to check with your credit card as well. If it you use it to pay for the trip you may have some coverage with your credit card!

 

[CleveRocks]

Specifically for travel to Disney, I wouldn't buy travel insurance due to whether or not I thought there'd be bad weather like a hurricane. Disney allows you to rebook a cancelled trip for a small change fee. Airlines let you reschedule travel for usually within 1 year for a change fee. All those change fees per person would barely add up to the premium you pay for the insurance, so it hardly seems worth it.

What I DO buy travel insurance for is for unexpected illness during the trip. Yes, yes, I have health insurance, but my (and most people's) health insurance doesn't cover things like a special flight home or even a 1,000 mile drive home, such as would be required if you have a new medical need for oxygen tanks.

There are hundreds of medical reasons/circumstances in which travel insurance would cover you for THOUSANDS of dollars where your health insurance won't pay a penny.

Or they'll pay, eventually, but in the mean time you are on the hook for a $20,000 2-day hospital stay, and if you don't pay up in a timely manner (before your own insurance company decides whether they will pay for out-of-network treatment) your credit will be damaged for 7 years.

THESE are the reasons I buy travel insurance. My wife is a pediatrician with a huge practice in a fairly well-to-do area. She's told me countless tales over the years of financial disasters in the aftermath of unexpected injuries and illnesses during vacations.

 

[Dinardo]

Keep in mind that Hurricane Season is from the beginning of June until the end of November (so basically the whole summer). It is not just September.

That being said - We go every year in September and not once have purchased insurance.

 

[Master Yoda]

Shouldn't you be asking you TA thease questions?

Some basic guidelines I follow in regards to Disney vacations....

If you are going on a cruise get it. No if ands or buts.

If you have in the neighborhood of $750 or more of non refundable air fair or have serious health conditions that you know can crop up and blow a vacation (asthma, crones disease, serious food allergy, etc) seriously consider it.

Shop your insurance and chose the one with the best price to benefit. Read the fine print as some third party insurance companies can be a bit shady.

Check with you Credit card company. Many offer free or low cost travel insurance if you use the card to pay for the trip.

 

[sring]

I think the purchase of travel insurance is a very personal matterand there is no right or wrong answer. The over riding question is will you loose sleep if you don't have it?

That said, if you choose to buy it, read the policy inclusions and exclusions very carefully. Make sure you purchase from a financially stable insurance company. All policies are different. Just because you may bepurchasing from Disney atthe time of booking, I doubt Disney is insuring you - rather they are reselling a policy from an insurance company.

Should you be discussing this with your TA? Yes and no. TAs have a commission incentive to sell you a policy. That said a GOOD TA can advise you of pitfalls in certain policies and benefits of others. It is, however, no substitution for your own homework.

 

[Monty]

I take the approach that I insure for what I can't afford to cover. I have health insurance that covers me wherever I am but not perfectly. My employer supplementary health insurance covers much more. For the most part, I don't pay for extra health insurance unless, as Richard points out, I'm taking a cruise. Then I'll have the absolute best available coverage possible.

For everything else, I don't insure any more than what's already covered. My car insurance covers renting. My household insurance covers reasonable loss due to theft. Everything else I don't sweat because by not insuring over the years, I've saved much more than anything would cost to replace or any vacation coverage would pay. I can afford the short-term hit for those things.

Insure based on what you know you can't afford and what you can absorb.

 

[_Scar]

Seems like a giant waste of money to me.

 

[Monty]

Seems like a giant waste of money to me.

Only if you can afford to cover when something goes wrong.

A multi-billionaire doesn't need to insure his house. If it's robbed or destroyed by fire he can afford to replace it. But someone who scrapes together enough money for a once-in-a-lifetime vacation and has no health insurance would be foolhardy to risk not insuring their vacation.

 

[Ghall]

Travelling from Ireland we always have travel insurance, you just never know what might happen. We have a family worldwide multi-trip travel insurance policy which covers everything and everyone. We can make multi trips during the year to worldwide destinations which works out cheaper than buying insurance for each holiday.

 

[karenatwdw]

Our trip cost to much to take a chance. They even cover if you have to cancel because you got laid off from your job and do not want to spend the money there are all kinds of resons and we book so far in advance you never know.