Trip Insurance Question

[Schweino]

Hey yall. Lord have mercy - I cannot believe I am seriously considering going on our 4th trip since 2019. I got bit - hard.

I was shopping around for trip insurance as we are seriously considering renting DVC for this next one, and I believe I found a good one for cancel for any reason (mainly, my wife becoming pregnant as we hope). However, my question is around the tickets. Since we are most likely renting DVC, that means I would have to purchase tickets separately and are non-refundable. I believe Disney would let you use them at a later date, but would trip insurance cover Disney tickets if we couldn't go and we technically could still use them at a later date? Thankful for any experiences yall have had!

Thank you!

 

[Ayla]

DVC rentals are non-refundable.

 

[Schweino]

DVC rentals are non-refundable.

Correct, which is why we would be getting trip insurance and thus the question around the ticket part of the trip.

 

[Weather_Lady]

You should be able to change the dates for multi-day tickets if you have to cancel and reschedule your trip (subject to any price increases if the new dates you pick are more expensive). This can be done on your My Disney Experience account: go to "Tickets and Passes," and click "change ticket." Then push back the dates of your tickets to your new projected travel dates. Since you won't be losing what you already spent on the tickets by doing so, there's no need to purchase insurance to cover that investment.

If you're looking for the best deal on tickets, I suggest using the touringplans ticket finder tool, which will tell you the best way to configure your ticket purchase to save money, and which source (Disney, or a third-party vendor) will work best for that. https://touringplans.com/walt-disney-world/ticket-calculator

 

[Schweino]

@Weather_Lady I think where my concern is if we can't go for whatever reason, there is a good chance that we wouldn't go for a few years. Hence why I was wondering if Trip Insurance would cover that cost, even though I could 'technically' use them at a later date (EDIT: Which I have no idea if I can push the dates to be 2-3 years in the future? Lol).

 

[Weather_Lady]

@Weather_Lady I think where my concern is if we can't go for whatever reason, there is a good chance that we wouldn't go for a few years. Hence why I was wondering if Trip Insurance would cover that cost, even though I could 'technically' use them at a later date (EDIT: Which I have no idea if I can push the dates to be 2-3 years in the future? Lol).

In that case, my suggestion would be to wait to purchase tickets until you get close enough to the trip that you know you're absolutely going. The only risk you'd be taking (besides the possibility of a ticket price increase) is that park reservations might "sell out," but that really only applies if you're visiting during a major holiday or other high crowd time, or within the last few days before you travel. For example, if you look right now, only next week, the week before Easter, and one day in the week after Easter, have any of the parks "sold out," and none of them have all four parks fully booked. https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/a...kets,resort,passholder&defaultSegment=tickets

You'll still be able to make your hotel arrangements and book dining at 60 days out, even if you don't have tickets yet. If and when you do purchase your tickets -- even if it's from a third party vendor -- you will generally have the ticket numbers in hand within hours, and can link them to MDE and make your park reservations in short order.

 

[Schweino]

Thanks @Weather_Lady! Good feedback. Our initial plan is 11/28-12/2 (move to US after) so while I don't think the parks would 'sell out' as I am pretty sure it didn't happen to us last year at same time, it would just be the Christmas Party I would need to keep an eye on.

Appreciate you!

 

[Weather_Lady]

Thanks @Weather_Lady! Good feedback. Our initial plan is 11/28-12/2 (move to US after) so while I don't think the parks would 'sell out' as I am pretty sure it didn't happen to us last year at same time, it would just be the Christmas Party I would need to keep an eye on.

Appreciate you!

Your trip does fall (partially) on the week after Thanksgiving, which will be November 23, 2023. Although that is usually a higher-than-normal time for crowds, you're right about park reservation availability: I see on touringplans that park reservation availability was still very good during that week in 2022, and that those parks that "sold out" only did so a day or two ahead of time.

 

[RememberWhen]

Fwiw my sister bought tickets for a July 2020 trip that got canceled. Disney has assured her that the money she spent is “on file” with them somewhere and can be used toward the purchase of new tickets sometime. (She has to call to use it). We’re hoping to do that for a December 2024 trip, so hopefully Disney hasn’t misplaced that money somewhere in the meantime….

 

[Ayla]

Fwiw my sister bought tickets for a July 2020 trip that got canceled. Disney has assured her that the money she spent is “on file” with them somewhere and can be used toward the purchase of new tickets sometime. (She has to call to use it). We’re hoping to do that for a December 2024 trip, so hopefully Disney hasn’t misplaced that money somewhere in the meantime….

That is because the parks were closed then. That isn't the case now.

 

[jaklgreen]

Disney is most likely to give you a credit for tickets, but those are the least of your concerns. Most travel insurance won't cover timeshare rentals, which is what DVC is, nor do they pay when your reason to cancel is pregnancy. You would have to make sure that you check what your insurance does cover. Most can travel while they are pregnant up until the last few weeks so the insurance companies don't consider that a valid reason to cancel.

 

[Weather_Lady]

Disney is most likely to give you a credit for tickets, but those are the least of your concerns. Most travel insurance won't cover timeshare rentals, which is what DVC is, nor do they pay when your reason to cancel is pregnancy. You would have to make sure that you check what your insurance does cover. Most can travel while they are pregnant up until the last few weeks so the insurance companies don't consider that a valid reason to cancel.

We've purchased vacation insurance from TravelGuard in the past which included coverage of non-refundable DVC rental fees (I called and spoke with a representative specifically to confirm that the rental fees would be covered even though they related to a timeshare), as well as "cancel for any reason" coverage. I can't say whether such insurance is still offered, but it's worth looking into.

In the alternative, if you rent points directly from an owner, your written contract may offer some relief. When we rented points from an owner to stay at AKL (this can be risky, so carefully "vet" the owner if it's someone you don't know), her standard contract gave us a one-time option to cancel and reschedule our booking for a date range within one year of the originally-scheduled dates, without penalty (just payment of any increase in points/cost), and for any reason.

 

[Prince-1]

I got bit - hard.

I'll be honest, I total misread this.

 

[jaklgreen]

We've purchased vacation insurance from TravelGuard in the past which included coverage of non-refundable DVC rental fees (I called and spoke with a representative specifically to confirm that the rental fees would be covered even though they related to a timeshare), as well as "cancel for any reason" coverage. I can't say whether such insurance is still offered, but it's worth looking into.

In the alternative, if you rent points directly from an owner, your written contract may offer some relief. When we rented points from an owner to stay at AKL (this can be risky, so carefully "vet" the owner if it's someone you don't know), her standard contract gave us a one-time option to cancel and reschedule our booking for a date range within one year of the originally-scheduled dates, without penalty (just payment of any increase in points/cost), and for any reason.

Yeah, definitely have to check with the companies. After Covid, they have tightened up a bit. The "cancel for any reason" can be very expensive, but might be worth it if someone has issues.

 

[Schweino]

For roughly $225 I found this:

This, to me, says 100% coverage unless we had a pre-existing condition (which we don't as of today). So if we did get pregnant in say August, we could cancel with no penalty.

From rough pricing, a Riviera studio + 3 day park tickets w/ MM = 2870. Through Disney, FQ + 3 days tickets w/MM = 2710. For $385 total extra including insurance, I may want Riveria over FQ.

 

[Riviera Rita]

Hey yall. Lord have mercy - I cannot believe I am seriously considering going on our 4th trip since 2019. I got bit - hard.

I was shopping around for trip insurance as we are seriously considering renting DVC for this next one, and I believe I found a good one for cancel for any reason (mainly, my wife becoming pregnant as we hope). However, my question is around the tickets. Since we are most likely renting DVC, that means I would have to purchase tickets separately and are non-refundable. I believe Disney would let you use them at a later date, but would trip insurance cover Disney tickets if we couldn't go and we technically could still use them at a later date? Thankful for any experiences yall have had!

Thank you!

Contact the insurance company you plan to use or shop around and ask them that question and always ensure the policy you take out covers everything you may need including electronics and money.

 

[Schweino]

I'll be honest, I total misread this.

I'd be open to hearing your interpretation

 

[Riviera Rita]

For roughly $225 I found this:

View attachment 706741

This, to me, says 100% coverage unless we had a pre-existing condition (which we don't as of today). So if we did get pregnant in say August, we could cancel with no penalty.

From rough pricing, a Riviera studio + 3 day park tickets w/ MM = 2870. Through Disney, FQ + 3 days tickets w/MM = 2710. For $385 total extra including insurance, I may want Riveria over FQ.

Just remember if you ever claim on your insurance you can be guaranteed your premiums will increase when you go to buy travel insurance again and it won't matter who you go with because the information is shared by all insurance companies to prevent serial fraudulent claimants.

 

[Schweino]

Just remember if you ever claim on your insurance you can be guaranteed your premiums will increase when you go to buy travel insurance again and it won't matter who you go with because the information is shared by all insurance companies to prevent serial fraudulent claimants.

It makes sense. Option B is I just buy a DVC resale contract without telling my wife so I can just bank the points if we couldn't go - but there is a high probability she will murder me.

 

[nickys]

@Schweino , are you planning for this year? If so, we’re already at 8 months out at a busy time of year. There are still studios available, but only preferred view at Riviera - which you might not have been allowing for in your costing. But the closer you get to 7 months, the harder availability becomes.

Have you looked at the Swan & Dolphin? You’ll get all the benefits of the deluxe resorts and the flexibility of booking a package through Disney.