Should I get travel insurance for my August trip?

[susan richards]

Thoughts? Is it better to get insurance through Disney or an insurance company? I'm worried because it's hurricane season.

I looked up info through a company called Travel Guard. For my family of 4, it would cost $130.

I'm not sure if I should purchase any insurance.

Thanks, Susan

 

[Master Yoda]

The decision to or to not purchase any insurance requires a cost benefit analysis.

Basically you need to know how much will the insurance cost, how much do you stand to loose without insurance, what is the chance of you needing insurance and what exactly the insurance will cover.

When it comes to just the Disney portion of the trip you can outright cancel the day of and it will only cost you $200. If you reschedule you can often get away with it costing you nothing or at most a change fee. This boils down to insurance not really being a wise investment if you are driving in. If you are flying in and have 4 figures worth non-refundable tickets, it can start to make a little more sense.


I would personally not stress over hurricanes all that much in the near future. The Atlantic has been very quite and the models show more of the same for the next season. I think you stand more of a chance of a strong thunderstorm or a mechanical issue canceling a flight vs a hurricane.

If you do get insurance, third parties often offer better coverage for less money than Disney. However, you must always check the fine print as to what you can claim and what you can cover. Do not rely on the word of someone trying to sell you a vacation policy. If it is not in writing, it does not exist.

You also might want to contact your credit card company and inquire about vacation coverage. A few do offer free or very low priced vacation insurance if you charge it to the card.

 

[Tom]

If you were taking a cruise, I'd say you should absolutely purchase insurance.

But since you're just going to WDW, you really need to read the insurance policy and decide if it will benefit you. We've never purchased it for a WDW trip, since there are very few "qualifying events" that would be covered. Plus, you can cancel without too much penalty until just a couple days before the trip. At worst, you lose the $200 deposit....but if you buy insurance, you lose the cost of the premium as well.

I'm not sure how much insurance would cover in the event of a hurricane, unless your travel was actually delayed. You'd need to make sure your flights were covered in whatever policy you get (note, if you buy insurance from Disney, for a WDW vacation, it covers 3rd party air).

If anyone in your family is at a higher risk for a major health issue, and it's not related to a pre-existing condition, that would be one of the only other reasons to get the insurance. But if you have decent health insurance, it would just be covering your out-of-pocket costs.

If it makes you feel better, get it. And if you do, get it from Disney so there's never any argument over discrepancies (at least from that point of view).

 

[CaptainAmerica]

What's your airline's cancellation policy? I always fly Southwest which is fully refundable, and Disney lets you cancel with reasonable notice depending on whether you have a package or room only reservation.

 

[thomas998]

The decision to or to not purchase any insurance requires a cost benefit analysis.

Basically you need to know how much will the insurance cost, how much do you stand to loose without insurance, what is the chance of you needing insurance and what exactly the insurance will cover.

When it comes to just the Disney portion of the trip you can outright cancel the day of and it will only cost you $200. If you reschedule you can often get away with it costing you nothing or at most a change fee. This boils down to insurance not really being a wise investment if you are driving in. If you are flying in and have 4 figures worth non-refundable tickets, it can start to make a little more sense.


I would personally not stress over hurricanes all that much in the near future. The Atlantic has been very quite and the models show more of the same for the next season. I think you stand more of a chance of a strong thunderstorm or a mechanical issue canceling a flight vs a hurricane.

If you do get insurance, third parties often offer better coverage for less money than Disney. However, you must always check the fine print as to what you can claim and what you can cover. Do not rely on the word of someone trying to sell you a vacation policy. If it is not in writing, it does not exist.

You also might want to contact your credit card company and inquire about vacation coverage. A few do offer free or very low priced vacation insurance if you charge it to the card.

Also some people don't know it but even a non-refundable ticket doesn't just go to waste, you can use the value of it and rebook to a different flight for a fee that varies from airline to airline. So the 500 dollar ticket isn't really thrown away as long as you plan on flying later... but if you do go down that road with some airlines you need to call before the flight time or it will be considered a no show and in some cases will become worthless.

 

[sxeensweet]

That's totally up to you and if you want that piece of mind.
We personally always get travel insurance for peace of mind. You never know what can happen before your trip or on your trip. Heaven forbid you are on vacation or right before and there and the unthinkable happens like death in the family, lost job (most usually cover this if you had your job for so many years prior), accident, severe weather, etc. We usually purchased it from Disney as we felt $130 bucks when we were spending thousands was very reasonable if something were to happen and we needed it. Now that we are DVC members we still purchase it for $89 every year.
We did shop around at other companies prices even directly through Travelguard whom Disney uses and most prices for the same coverage were right around what Disney charged.
Even when we travel elsewhere for vacations we always purchase travel insurance unless it's a short inexpensive trip/quick getaway.

 

[sxeensweet]

Thoughts? Is it better to get insurance through Disney or an insurance company? I'm worried because it's hurricane season.

I looked up info through a company called Travel Guard. For my family of 4, it would cost $130.

I'm not sure if I should purchase any insurance.

Thanks, Susan

Here is the link for Disney's travel insurance detailed info through Travelex if you want to compare with the Travel Guard info or other travel insurance companies. You can buy directly from Travelex as well. They are a great company just like Travel Guard.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/m...ediaType/VacationPackage/travelex-doc-wdw.pdf

 

[LAKid53]

I agree with Yoda. I would get insurance to cover your airline tickets if they are non-refundable (which you can purchase with the tickets) and forgo the insurance for your resort/park tickets. Central Florida hasn't had hurricanes since 2005 and this year's season is predicted to be quiet.

However, as Yoda mentioned, if your are going on a cruise, I would definitely consider trip insurance. August/September are typically the most active months in hurricane season. And check out prices & what's covered by both purchasing through Disney (which is probably going to be a third party) and separately. Usually, purchasing separately is more cost effective.

 

[susan richards]

Thanks for all of your help! I'm going to look into it more.

 

[englanddg]

I'll add one note about Cruise based trip insurance.

Be sure you have a rider on your insurance that covers medical evec and emergency treatment.

Most US based health plans do NOT cover medical expenses incurred while in International Waters or on Foreign Soil. And, forbid, anything were to happen and you needed to be transported to a larger medical center through an Air Ambulance, the cost can run 50 - 100k, easy.

DCL's trip insurance includes this rider by default. Other, cheaper, third party options may include it as a policy endorsement, not as part of a default quote.

For parks, there is no need, as long as you don't mind paying $50 and rebooking the rest of the balance forward to future visit.

Airlines, yes, get the insurance unless you are willing to push forward the value with a change fee. It's cheap, but it's cheaper than change fees and certainly refunds.

One other really teeny note...some more recent US based healthcare plans have limited their risk pools to specific states. Meaning, if you are out of state, only Emergency Services are fully covered when you are out of state. These provisions are being slid into policies starting about a year ago, and are not really advertised. So, be sure that you read your plan documents (or call and ask your Insurance Agent / HR Person if it's through work).

 

[sxeensweet]

I'll add one note about Cruise based trip insurance.

Be sure you have a rider on your insurance that covers medical evec and emergency treatment.

Most US based health plans do NOT cover medical expenses incurred while in International Waters or on Foreign Soil. And, forbid, anything were to happen and you needed to be transported to a larger medical center through an Air Ambulance, the cost can run 50 - 100k, easy.

DCL's trip insurance includes this rider by default. Other, cheaper, third party options may include it as a policy endorsement, not as part of a default quote.

For parks, there is no need, as long as you don't mind paying $50 and rebooking the rest of the balance forward to future visit.

Airlines, yes, get the insurance unless you are willing to push forward the value with a change fee. It's cheap, but it's cheaper than change fees and certainly refunds.

One other really teeny note...some more recent US based healthcare plans have limited their risk pools to specific states. Meaning, if you are out of state, only Emergency Services are fully covered when you are out of state. These provisions are being slid into policies starting about a year ago, and are not really advertised. So, be sure that you read your plan documents (or call and ask your Insurance Agent / HR Person if it's through work).

Yes very important to have those for medical reasons. The Disney insurance offered does cover for medical expenses and evacuation expenses. It is $25,000 medical limit per person, and $100,000 emergency evacuation coverage.

 

[rt06]

First check what kind of coverage your bank provides to eliminate any redundancies: car rental coverage, delays, cancellations, loss of limb, etc.

 

[BigRedDad]

We never get travel insurance. The reason is many of those policies are written by foreign countries and never pay anyway. Disney may be different though. My sister had to cancel a trip once because her MIL went into hospice 2 days before their trip. The insurer refused to pay because her MIL did not die when their trip started, they "chose" not to go. They said they would have paid if they went on the trip and had to return because of a death.

 

[Matt_Black]

Booking my trip through Disney's site, the insurance was $77 extra. I figured for that price "Yeah, why not?"

 

[sxeensweet]

We never get travel insurance. The reason is many of those policies are written by foreign countries and never pay anyway. Disney may be different though. My sister had to cancel a trip once because her MIL went into hospice 2 days before their trip. The insurer refused to pay because her MIL did not die when their trip started, they "chose" not to go. They said they would have paid if they went on the trip and had to return because of a death.

Reputable insurance companies companies will pay! Travelex (the company Disney uses), TravelGuard, and several others big companies have a great reputation. You have to do your research and look at the fine print of what they do cover and do not cover etc. Theirs somewhere probably said that said event was not covered etc. and if you have questions ask before you buy it. You have to extensively read the coverage info.
And make sure they are an A/B rated insurance company. By law all Insurance companies are rated A-F. My dad has been in the insurance business for over 30 years so I know quite a bit about them. Your statement of how most don't pay is not correct. If someone chooses one rated A or at least B they should not have any problems if they meet all the criteria set forth. Their rating is usually easily found on their websites etc.
Any I have dealt with had a great reputation and knew people that have had to use them and had no problems.
You can't just take the cheapest price offered and do no research and expect them to be a reputable insurance company.

 

[Master Yoda]

I'll add one note about Cruise based trip insurance.

Be sure you have a rider on your insurance that covers medical evec and emergency treatment.

Most US based health plans do NOT cover medical expenses incurred while in International Waters or on Foreign Soil. And, forbid, anything were to happen and you needed to be transported to a larger medical center through an Air Ambulance, the cost can run 50 - 100k, easy.

DCL's trip insurance includes this rider by default. Other, cheaper, third party options may include it as a policy endorsement, not as part of a default quote.

For parks, there is no need, as long as you don't mind paying $50 and rebooking the rest of the balance forward to future visit.

Airlines, yes, get the insurance unless you are willing to push forward the value with a change fee. It's cheap, but it's cheaper than change fees and certainly refunds.

One other really teeny note...some more recent US based healthcare plans have limited their risk pools to specific states. Meaning, if you are out of state, only Emergency Services are fully covered when you are out of state. These provisions are being slid into policies starting about a year ago, and are not really advertised. So, be sure that you read your plan documents (or call and ask your Insurance Agent / HR Person if it's through work).

This^^^

We purchase trip insurance for a cruse almost solely for the possibility of a medical emergency. All it takes is one slippery rock on an excursion to put you in a world of hurt. A single helicopter ride from the Coast Guard costs more then your average luxury car so there is no way I would cruise without it.