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:

 

[nepalostparks]

Finally found the website I was referring to earlier in the thread: www.squaremouth.com

It was recommended to me by other travel professionals, and I used it on my last trip to purchase insurance. If I remember correctly, we ended up paying less than what it would have cost to buy the insurance from Disney - but it also covered the flights, higher amounts for each of the different things it did cover, and had a pretty decent medical/dental coverage aspect to boot. Of course, savings will all be based on what you desire to have covered and so on.

Just wanted to pass this along since I ran across the name of it today! :wave:

 

[One Lil Spark]

Thanks for the link, Bill!

We're looking into it, but DF seems to think we don't need it if we're not flying. I keep reminding him that Elijah will be 8.5 months old then and you never know when he'll have an 'emergency'.

We're SO excited!

 

[nepalostparks]

Thanks for the link, Bill!

We're looking into it, but DF seems to think we don't need it if we're not flying. I keep reminding him that Elijah will be 8.5 months old then and you never know when he'll have an 'emergency'.

We're SO excited!

Anytime!

If you have good medical insurance that covers out-of-area/state care, you really might not need the extra trip insurance. That's why we bought the trip insurance - I didn't have any medical plan at the time, and my partner's wasn't all that great. The coverage for trip delays and what not is nice too, but wasn't our primary concern.

 

[Susan Savia]

In our 25+ trips to Disney World, we've never bought travel insurance.

 

[The Mom]

I agree with Cleve rocks in that I've always been more concerned with the medical aspect of things. I live within driving distance of WDW, and I know that there are good hospitals in the area, so I don't purchase it.

When my parents were still alive, but in failing health, I always purchased travel insurance in case I had to get back to them.

When I travel out of the country, or even into different areas of the US, I take local medical care into account. The last thing I would want for my family is to be stuck in a less developed country without the means for an airlift home.

 

[CleveRocks]

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.

Well, my wife just told me one of those awful travel stories that she dealt with at work today. Awful for the kid, the family, and the family's bank account and credit report.

A grade school child fell backwards from a fence or ledge or something on Tom Sawyer Island and somehow impaled himself/herself on something on the ground; the child was impaled through a very fleshy body part (a flesh wound, no injuries to organs or other vital body structures, no permanent damage except scars). Disney reportedly isn't covering the expenses because the accident was caused by child/parent carelessness rather than a problem with Disney's facilities.

Anyway, the long and short of it is that the child couldn't sit through a plane ride or car ride back home. The family faced the choice of paying for a private medical flight or renting an RV, and they reportedly chose the latter. They didn't tell her how much it cost, but you can imagine it wasn't cheap.

Had they purchased travel insurance, that huge expense would have been covered. It wouldn't have prevented this child from getting injured, but it would have prevented a huge expense that the family had to bear in addition to the horror or a painful injury to their child.

 

[CP_alum08]

Our last trip, which was September, we ended up getting insurance. But it was more for medical reasons than anything else. This was the first time we had purchased insurance, we booked everything through AAA so we purchased the insurance from there too. I can remember it being fairly cheap (dont remember exactly how much) but i assume it would be cheaper than purchasing through WDW.

 

[Springer]

I guess everyone needs to make their own decision based on what risks they want to take.

That said, we've traveled to the World about 20 times (generally 4 to 8 days each trip) and have never bought travel insurance. We've never had to cancel or interrupt a trip. By not buying the insurance, we've probably saved about $2,000....plus, we could afford to "lose" the non-refundable portions of any of the trips if we had to.

Last, if you're thinking of insurance because your trip occurs during hurricane season, read the policy very carefully. A lot of travel insurance policies only cover hurricanes that result in mandatory (that is, government-ordered) evacuations.

 

[pixiesteno]

Our last trip in January we didn't get insurance due to driving down and not worrying about flights, lost luggage, etc. Yeah, then DH the first night in FL broke a moler in two and had to have an extensive, expensive root canal - can we say over $2,200.00 dollars. Oh, and we don't have dental insurance, price of owning a very small business and being selfemployed. I am going to seriously investigate trip insurace for our yet to be booked Sept. trip.

 

[redfive13]

We always get the insurance. A little piece of mind in case something goes wrong. Its not that expensive up front, and could save you a lot of cash down the road if something goes wrong...

 

[Master Gracey 5]

On my trip last fall I booked two months before I left through Disney and didn't bother with insurance. I was going come hell or high water and wasn't worried about having to cancel. As far as lost luggage - if that happened I'd suddenly have a weeks worth of new Disney clothes.

Ultimately I'd say it would depend on your situation and how certain you are you'll be going. If you have any reason it might not work out, it would be better to spend the money than be unhappy.

 

[karenatwdw]

called the insurance yesteday asked some questions. We are going with our son and asked if one of us gets sick and needs a Dr. we won't have a car staying at Poly they would pay for a doctor to come to room and take care of who is sick just that alone because you never know. And I spent way to much money on this trip it is always to have that peace of mind.