Trip Insurance Help Needed

SteamboatJoe

Well-Known Member
My wife and I are thinking about taking our toddler on their first WDW trip right after Thanksgiving this year. My FIL is battling cancer - kidney that has spread to his brain and elsewhere. He is still fighting but is currently keeping it at bay, surpassing the 18 month prognosis he was given two years ago when it was first discovered which is obviously great. But no one knows the future.

Any suggestions for travel insurance that we can look into that covers us if something happens to my FIL (or any other qualified family member) in the 30 day pre-trip window as well as during the trip itself? Some travel insurance seem to consider his situation a pre-existing condition. I think Disney's plan might. I know CFAR is a thing but looks to be very expensive and you don't get all your qualified, nonrefundable expenses back so I was hoping that there might be a good alternative out there.
 
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lewisc

Well-Known Member
Many travel policies waive pre-existing condition provisions if certain conditions are met. Conditions may include purchasing the policy within a few days of making your first payment. That you could have taken the trip the day you made your first payment.

Disney trip...insurance isn't always needed. Disney hotel can be canceled a few days before your trip. Tickets don’t lose dollar value. Disney might let you cancel the hotel closer in and even give you a cash refund for tickets if you can document serious health issues. Rental car frequently have no penalties. Many airlines will now give you a full credit, many fares, if you need to cancel

Your situation I'd avoid pre-paid non changeable, non refundable hotel or car rental.
 
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SteamboatJoe

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Many travel policies waive pre-existing condition provisions if certain conditions are met. Conditions may include purchasing the policy within a few days of making your first payment. That you could have taken the trip the day you made your first payment.

Disney trip...insurance isn't always needed. Disney hotel can be canceled a few days before your trip. Tickets don’t lose dollar value. Disney might let you cancel the hotel closer in and even give you a cash refund for tickets if you can document serious health issues. Rental car frequently have no penalties. Many airlines will now give you a full credit, many fares, if you need to cancel

Your situation I'd avoid pre-paid non changeable, non refundable hotel or car rental.
Thanks for the feedback.

The current plan is to fly and stay at a Disney resort (probably Pop or AoA) Nov. 27 - Dec. 5 (exact days subject to change). 5 park days, 2 non-park days for things like pool, resort hopping, and Disney Springs, plus arrival day and departure day.

I don't anticipate renting a car as we probably won't be leaving the WDW bubble. Will arrange airport transportation.
 
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lewisc

Well-Known Member
You need to decide wĥat you're trying to insure.
Nonrefundable trip costs if you have to cancel? Pro-rata trip costs and cost to fly come early?

Trip insurance won't cover buyers remorse, you cancel because you don't feel right going on vacation while a family member is very sick but not sick enough to trigger insurance coverage.

Edited to add

Insurance might pay for your early return if your FIL dies or goes into hospice care. His health could deteriorate to the extent you want to fly home early but not enough to qualify for insurance coverage.

You might not even be able to get flights home for a day or 2.
 
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Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
We've used Travel Guard insurance through AIG in the past, which if you purchase it early enough, allow the option to "cancel for any reason." Medical issues involving a traveling party member's close relative are a covered reason for certain plans, however, even if you purchase it later on, and we made sure to buy it when we were in a similar situation with an ailing loved one a few years ago. If you're not well-versed in insurance terminology, I'd call and speak to one of their representatives to get more information and a quote, rather than just going through the website.

We've had good experience with them in the sense that we've been able to compare policies easily on their website, the purchasing process was seamless, and we found their contract to be easy to understand (although, in the interest of full disclosure, DH and I are lawyers). ;) However, we've never had to make a claim -- knock on wood -- so I can't speak to how responsive they are or aren't when something goes wrong.

 
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Swissmiss

Premium Member
You might look into whether a general travel insurance policy has better coverage than an individual trip insurance policy. My experience has been that an annual policy is cheaper overall than an individual trip policy and it also means you are covered should you take other trips in the coverage period as well.
 
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Pirate Magic

Well-Known Member
I am a Cancer survivor, when I was sick and we went down to Disney I took insurance on our flights down to Disney only not on our Disney trip, but that is if you are flying down. I hope all goes well with your trip. Cancer is tough.
 
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SteamboatJoe

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
You might look into whether a general travel insurance policy has better coverage than an individual trip insurance policy. My experience has been that an annual policy is cheaper overall than an individual trip policy and it also means you are covered should you take other trips in the coverage period as well.
Interesting. We do have a spring break trip down to St. Augustine. Not as worried there because we are driving and splitting a place with my folks.
 
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SteamboatJoe

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I am a Cancer survivor, when I was sick and we went down to Disney I took insurance on our flights down to Disney only not on our Disney trip, but that is if you are flying down. I hope all goes well with your trip. Cancer is tough.
Congratulations and thank you. Yes, it has been quite the journey. The initial diagnosis was not ideal but it was confined. Things got a lot more serious after it spread. Oddly enough, post surgery infections and the chemo side effects have been the roughest parts.
 
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SteamboatJoe

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
If something happened, would you cancel the trip entirely, or push it back a number of months? If the latter, you probably don't need insurance at all. Everything you'd be booking is cancel-able or reschedule-able.
I have thought about this too. We would almost certainly reschedule since its our daughter's first time. The only real question with this line of thought is how would we handle something that came up during the trip.
 
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