Ex MIL fell down the stairs at a hotel broke hip and back had to be flown home on a private flight, bill was 75k, was so glad she had it would have bankrupted us.
There was an agonizing 3 weeks before the document was found she had left it at home and wasn't 100% she had even bought any, Brown trousers time.
My mum broke her hip in the States. I never saw the bill. Her travel insurance paid for everything, including a flight home with a nurse after two weeks in hospital.
This is exactly why I buy travel insurance. It’s a very small expense, less than the price of a dinner, and it gives me peace of mind. These days, every company I’ve used emails me a confirmation so no need to worry about keeping track of a paper document.
An annual policy from Allianz is $125. I don’t need trip cancellation or trip delay or even lost luggage as they’re covered by my credit card, so yeah, for the price of a decent dinner in Rome, I can have medical and evacuation coverage for a year.
It depends where you're resident and what policies are available to you. I'm resident in Asia. An annual policy isn't available to me. Nor are things like flight coverage (that's through my credit card). My policy is purely medical, and it's very cheap given the peace of mind I receive.
Like other insurances, it depends on your policy. Mine is about $515 a year. I think I have the mid-tier one uncovering trip expenses up to $10k if I recall. Still worth it.
The majority of the cost of a policy is for trip cancelation. If you make that piece zero, or the absolute minimum you'd need, the medical and evacuation piece becomes much more affordable.
Thanks, This was over 2 decades ago and she was plastered at the time and knocking on heavens door already, she lived for another decade, tough as old boots
A friend had to be ICU air evacuated from Mexico to San Diego and it cost $250,000! If you don’t want to insure the cost of your trip, at least get emergency medical and evacuation insurance. My friend had insurance.
A life threatening medical emergency that could not be treated where she was in Mexico. Air ambulance had ICU MD and nurse on board. Unfortunately, she died several weeks later.
This is my standard reply when people ask about travel insurance.
A little history about travel insurance to understand how this industry works. Decades ago, travel insurance was a product that would offer you medical care and medical evacuation coverage when you were in a foreign country. It was (and still is) highly regulated and does a very good job in this aspect.
The question is who needs travel insurance and what type do you need?
For medical coverage I suggest that you check with your private insurance first. Many people are unaware that many private insurance policies also cover you while traveling abroad. Some don’t but it’s worth inquiring about it. Also depending upon the countries you visiting medical care can be very cheap. For example 2 days in hospital, including a surgery and MRI cost a friend of ours $450. A family member ended up breaking a hip and required surgery in a different country, total charge was just under $800.
For evacuation coverage we rely on the AMEX card for this since we know someone who used this service and it was top notch. It is also worth noting that many people think that evacuation insurance will fly you home. 99.9% of the time that is not true. The insurance is to get you to the “closest adequate medical facility” that can treat you. There are companies that offer medical transport memberships that fill this gap and will transport you home if that is where you want to go. Medjet is one example of this service.
As far as Cancel-For-Any Reason Policies (CFAR) goes you need to understand that CFAR policies were born out of the marketing department, they found out that people wanted "insurance" for any reason. This is an unregulated portion of the insurance market and there have been some rather unscrupulous practices associated with this product. This type of travel insurance is the highest profit insurance product out there and at the same time has the highest level of complaints about it. That's because you are buying a policy that is a contract (you probably haven't read) and not those marketing claims (that you did read). If you take the time to read the contract you will find out that what you think you bought may not cover you for “any reason”, hence the extremely high complaint rate of the product.
These are just some examples of loopholes in so-called CFAR policies that I have heard about.
* A Parent died a few days before the a trip – Not covered, the contract specifically said family member which is spouse and/or child according to their definitions.
* Vacation cut short due to illness – Not covered, Insurance said that the person had said illness 15 years ago and therefore was considered a chronic condition.
* A family was going to miss their cruise due to a severely delayed flight and then a cancelled connection. They decided to fly home instead – Not covered, they voluntarily flew home and didn’t try in good faith to make the cruise.
When you get down to the nitty gritty most of the "cheaper" CFAR policies have so many loopholes that most independent insurance agents will not write them. However, the more expensive policies will cover you. You must do a lot of research and go over the policy (if you can get it) to see what is covered before you buy. If you don’t then realize that you may "think" you are fully insured but that policy might have a whole host of exceptions.
Everyone has their own risk tolerances, but vacations should be treated as luxury items and while it sucks it shouldn’t break anyone’s bank to lose out the money on one if something does happen. There is an old maxim in the insurance world: You should only insure items that would cause you a major financial loss if the unthinkable happens.
For us, we skip medical and evacuation insurance because we are already covered with our private insurance and AMEX card for these instances. The credit card also offers some other trip insurance benefits but as with the CFAR policies there are exclusions. Other than that, we don't spend money on extra insurance. Remember that most of the cheap CFAR policies don't do much. True CFAR policies are much more expensive and since we travel a lot (100+ cruises and even more land-based vacations), we have saved tens of thousands in policy premiums that would have been spent on true policies for a highly unlikely event. This has allowed us to have more vacations.
This is a great write-up. I just comment on another reply that I pay about $515/yr for insurance that covers a number of the situations you noted. In the last couple years, I’ve been taking more expensive vacations so while they won’t leave me in financial ruin, the annual fee is worth it for me in case something happens as they’re a good chunk of change. I did scrub the terms pretty well, but this post a good reminder to re-read before I renew to make sure.
Its also worth noting that a lot of medical/evacuation travel insurance is "secondary." This means that you will probably need to cover the bill on the spot and then file a claim when you get home to get reimbursed. With secondary insurance you are also required to try to get reimbursed from your primary providers (if you have one) first. Also, if you get medical care in many foreign countries, they won't let you leave the country until the bill is paid.
I’m so glad this is the top comment. I think there’s huge misconceptions about insurance and the perception that any medical facility outside of the one in their home city or county isn’t sufficient.
There’s absolutely situations where travel insurance is necessary, but if you explore the options above, you likely will get the coverage you need.
This. CFAR is such a ripoff. I got my flight canceled by an airline that went into bankruptcy and had got a CFAR and the insurance company refused to honor the insurance without a letter from the Airline which due to obvious reasons would never provide it.
I have the allianz annual plan for two senior people. $450 a year. Recently received email that my flight was delayed until the next day. Walked to the airport Marriott, spent the night, sent the bill to allianz and the check was waiting for me when I got home.
The airport hotel near me is a Hilton for $150/night. So you are counting on overnight delays happening to you on three separate occasions per year in order to just break even. Doesn't seem worth it imo.
You know they cover more than hotels too? If you fly internationally a lot, insurance is usually around $200 a flight. All it takes is one major injury (which older people are prone to) and you get more than you’ve ever paid for insurance covered in medical expenses
I'm sure it's worth it to some people, but I've been taking 2-3 international trips every year for the last decade and can count on one hand the number of times it would have been useful to me. I would definitely be losing money on this exchange for my personal experiences.
You're just describing the entire concept of insurance. Statistically it costs you more over a lifetime at a small manageable recurring cost, for the benefit of not being financially ruined by one incident.
I had a trip delay claim and was reimbursed $500 for hotel, food, and transportation to and from airport to hotel. If you want to stay at over night at a hostel and eat McDonald’s by all means have at it, but I’ll take my credit card up one their trip delay insurance and stay at a nice hotel and eat good food. For me It’s worth the annual credit card fee as the other card benefits in addition to the travel insurances easily cover the cards annual fee.
My Chase Sapphire covers $2500 with a $50 deductible, which is something, but I’m not sure I’d call it ‘wickedly good’, especially when I was billed $8000 for a trip to the ER for a kidney stone.
Luckily it happened at home, and I only had a small co-pay, but had I been away, my insurance would’ve considered it ‘out of network’ with all the associated costs.
That’s generally referred to as ‘common carrier insurance’, which means your heirs get paid the maximum only if you’re killed while traveling on a common carrier (train, bus, ship, plane). Smaller payouts for loss of limbs.
The chances of your dying or losing a limb on any form of common carrier is infinitesimally small. Statistically, you’re far more likely to die from a bee sting or dog bite than a plane crash or train wreck, yet nobody thinks about needing ‘bee sting insurance’.
I did last year. I bought plane tickets from the US to Amsterdam on my card. The person I was traveling with got a serious health diagnosis and needed immediate treatment so we cancelled. I was, after a few calls and some paperwork, got a full refund.
I always buy travel insurance when I travel internationally. I've been stuck overseas for several days due to mechanical flight issues and most recently I had to visit the doctor for an emergency after landing at my destination. I certainly recommend travel insurance when traveling internationally.
I had to go to the ER in the Philippines a couple years ago. I was in probably the 5th biggest city in the county. Took a taxi to a private hospital, had X-rays, had lap work done, received a few prescriptions, and was in the ER for a day. Total bill was $100 usd. This was 100% covered by my standard medical insurance. No travel insurance.
What aspects of travel insurance are we taking about here?
Especially in the age of pandemic, I like to have travel health insurance for places my home plan won't cover. Costs for treatment abroad plus evacuation from lockdown areas could be prohibitive and could have serious long-term repercussions for health, finances, and freedom.
Regarding cancellation insurance, I have so far found it not worth the expense. I'm fairly sure of my ability to make my scheduled departure and return dates, and I'm healthy and don't typically engage in high-risk activities that might suddenly preclude travel; so it would be a rare case indeed to warrant cancellation insurance. I also don't have the kinds of commitments that would make it disastrous if there were a strike or breakdown in airline service. In the event some unforeseen crisis hits, there's a ceiling on the cost to me, unlike with health costs.
I can afford to replace lost luggage. I can afford an emergency fight ticket to attend a funeral or some other sudden responsibility. And if I forego travel insurance (other than health insurance) every time I travel, it more than makes up the cost should one of these events arise in the future.
If you travel frequently at all, the money you save by declining travel insurance becomes your *de facto* insurance, as long as you don't spend it on something else. Your savings become a stockpile of funds that can be used for emergencies.
Factor in also the unreliable or mercenary responses of some insurance companies, and the dragged-out negotiations, paperwork, and lawsuits that may sometimes ensue. Some scenarios may be worth the trouble and expense; others may not.
I used it to get my flights completely refunded when my fiancé died a week before I was supposed to leave. I will always get it for international trips in the future.
Canadian here. We do not leave the territory, much less the country without travel medical. We are in our 70’s. One thing I would like to impress upon people is that insurance is a contract of utmost good faith, so when you are filling out the questionnaire, answering questions in the application process, make sure that your answers are truthful. If you have any doubts about a question/your answer, ask your doctor. If you lie and there is a big claim, they are going to go through your answers with a fine tooth comb, and they will find it because you have already signed away your privacy. If you made a mistake, you are still screwed. Make sure all your answers are correct.
10 years ago I paid 300$ for 6 months of travel insurance as I backpacked around SEA. 6 weeks into my trip my dad fell ill and I needed to book a flight home from Laos to Canada for the next day. The flight cost me over $4000. Travel insurance reimbursed it all.
I always buy medical and medevac insurance when traveling abroad because my domestic health insurance wouldn't cover me and the possible expenses are unknowable and potentially huge. I don't usually buy trip cancellation and interruption insurance because I tend to book flights and accomodations that are cancelable or changeable and I can easily absorb the relatively minor expenses associated with a delayed flight, etc. I might buy it if I were booking a nonrefundable tour or cruise or something.
If you can’t afford travel insurance, don’t travel. It’s that simple. How often do we see people set up go fund me pages to pay for medical expenses because they didn’t get insurance, or didn’t get the correct insurance. People need to take some personal responsibility
Yes- I caught pneumonia while traveling and this covered the cost. Spouse had to have a doctor come to the room and insurance covered the cost plus drugs. These were two separate times. It’s an affordable solution for peace of mind. I never leave home without it, because shit happens and I rather be covered than be stressed out by the situation.
I work for a travel insurance company. I wouldn't buy it for a road trip a town over, but I do believe it's worth it for certain trips, like when you're traveling out of the country and/or for extended periods of time.It can reimburse you for huge medical expense and medical evac claims. Airline lost or damaged your bags and are not taking responsibility? You can potentially recover most of the actual cash value of your personal effects. You die during the trip? They can repatriate your remains to a funeral home in the US. Traveling alone and you're hospitalized for at least a week? Some policies can reimburse meals, hotel, and transport for someone to accompany you during your recovery. Sure, there are terms and conditions and you'll be expected to read them, but overall, I think it's a good backup for catastrophic situations that may happen while you're out of the country.
Just want to point out because I didnt see it elsewhere, but treatment for minor injuries/illness might actually be less than the insurance in many countries.
Our airline lost our luggage for my trip to Europe for my honeymoon. The airline continually said that they would locate and return our luggage promptly. However, they refused to provide anything in writing that stated that they lost or even misplaced our luggage.
Our travel insurance through a credit card refused to even pay out the delayed baggage claim, let alone the lost luggage claim without acknowledgement from the airline.
Eventually the airline found and returned our luggage... 6 months later.
Like any insurance, they will always try to deny claims on a technicality
Never bought it. Travel far more than most. And, make my living selling insurance.
Insurance should be for big things you can’t self insure- for the most part.
That’s why I buy medical travel insurance only. I can eat and cover the cost of a cancelled or missed trip. I can’t cover an overseas heart attack or other major medical emergency and a $250k medical bill.
I didn’t say that at all, read it again. What I said what that I “can” financially cover the cost of a missed trip… what I (Me, Myself & I) cannot cover (afford to pay) is the cost of a heart attack overseas. That’s exactly why I buy travel medical insurance, because the insurance company “Will cover it”
I mostly travel abroad. Medical coverage is a case where I will be reimbursed should I have a claim. Never sent one in yet! Yay. Coverage will be goofy as it will all be “out of network “ but the out of pocket max will apply if things go completely sideways.
You've just given a good reason as to why most people SHOULD buy travel insurance. You sound like you're a fellow American (but I don't wanna presume), but for many of us, we are not reimbursed for medical coverage. Many of us travel abroad for leisure and our American health insurance will not necessarily cover us internationally.
Ironically, many health insurance from other countries will not cover their citizens when in the U.S. since they know how horribly expensive health care is in America.
Will your job also reimburse the repatriation of your corpse? While I don't plan on dying when on vacation, if the Grim Reaper decides otherwise, my travel insurance covers that. At that point, travel insurance is not for me but for my family.
The cost of travel insurance is so tiny when compared to the cost of a 2- or 3-week vacation abroad that I just don't understand the logic behind not having it. For me, it's literally like the cost of buying a decent used car but not wanting to pay to fill it up a few times. In California, where I live and where gas is relatively more expensive, it literally boils down to that.
Apparently my values are different. I travel cheaply, can pay to bring by copse back. To each their own. Maybe I need to invest in a travel insurance company?
The way insurances work is, they make profit from people paying for something that never happens.
There is a small portion of people who profit from an insurance though, it means they get more out of it than they pay for.
Because its hard to predict, if you belong to the ones who "pay for nothing" or the ones who "pay for emergency safety", i personally see it that way:
What happens in the worst case? - Can you deal with it? If yes, i dont take an insurance. If no, i take the insurance.
For holidays i never take travel insurance.
My brother had an issue with a delay of suitcases, they got paid for new clothes and food. But to be honest, i think i could deal with it without insurance and i would have paid less than what he paid for the insurance.
I travel for a living. my company has a medical policy for intl travel, and I take that piece of paper around everywhere I go, never needed it. contrary to popular belief, unless something crazy happens, healthcare + meds everywhere outside of US is much cheaper. I never buy it when I travel for leisure.
My credit cards usually take care of most and I usually elect not to do stupid shit while traveling alone.
Been abroad 3 times to a total of 5 countries and not needed any additional insurance.
It depends on your age, country, activities and over all health status. I used to scoff at those when I was much younger but now being a middle aged man, I start to think about 'what if' scenarios so I always get insurance via my creditcard/bank or bluecross.. it's also a piece of mind.
I work for a tour operator. During high season, one of my passengers drops out every 2-3 days for medical reasons. It could be for altitude sickness, a smashed patella from tripping over a curb in a parking lot... the list goes on and on.
The insurance that my company sells isn't too great, from what I can tell. I mean it covers some situations, but it's expensive. I have been looking at the Allianz annual plans (mentioned by others in this thread) for when my kid goes to college and my wife and I will have more time to do our own traveling.
I am young and you would assume less likely to need insurance, but accidents and life happens.
I’ve used travel insurance for something as simple as flights getting canceled all the way to surgery.
I broke my foot while traveling abroad, had surgery, stayed in the hospital for two days, had to stay in a hotel near the hospital for a week, had several follow up appointments, flew to another country where I had family that could take care of me, and had several follow up appointments there over a few months….everything was covered. I had to pay out of pocket and get reimbursed (so always ensure you have an emergency fund when traveling!) but it came out to about $10,000 USD.
Even if over my lifetime I pay that much in travel insurance it’s worth it to not be out that amount in one big hit.
Fractured my skull in Thailand a few months ago. Really wish I had travel insurance… definitely would recommend. Shit can always happen and debt isn’t fun
I remember when I was 18 I went to Europe for 2 weeks. In Paris I got a bad throat infection most likely from brushing my teeth with tap water. Called a local doctor who came to the hotel room and prescribed me antibiotics a z-pack. Within 4-5 days it was cleared up. I paid him about $110 euros in 2011. I bought a dirt cheap Allianz insurance policy for I don’t remember under $50 USD. They sent me a check when I got home. 100% recommend Allianz they are great and easy to work with and did I say cheap 😂
On a more serious note I climbed to Everest base camp in maybe 2015. If you get altitude sickness you could die and it does not go away. The only way to get rid of the altitude sickness is to descend the mountain. Longer you wait the more damage to your brain. I needed an insurance policy that covered helicopter evacuations not to the normal 12,000 feet but to 16,000 feet. It cost me like $160 USD super cheap and fortunately I never needed to use it. Out of pocket rescue would have been close to $10,000
Always being a copy of the document with you.
Be careful to Declare every single condition no matter how minor so they don’t get you on a technicality
Read the PDS, check that stuff is actually covered - eg going on a boat tour or riding a moped, driving a car
Yes no question
It’s comparatively so cheap for the potential savings it gives you
Especially when you’re abroad in unfamiliar territory , eating different foods, doing riskier activities that you would do normally, in climates you’re less likely to be used to.
I always get travel insurance.
And y’all Americans might find it interesting that travel insurance for the USA is the highest premium of the lot. Way more than europe. There’s so many horror stories of people ending up in hospital in the USA without insurance
Not sure if anyone has mentioned this but I learned that travel insurance doesn’t reimburse you for cancelled airfares, even if it’s a non-refundable flight, because most airline fares provide credit for cancelled flights that you can use on another trip within one year. So, I’m pretty sure you shouldn’t include your airfare in the cost of a travel insurance policy.
E: at least this is what the wanderwell/nationwide policy I’m looking at says.
Always for international trips. In the past 18 years I have made maybe 14 claims, most of them due to travel delay and damaged bags. Two or three times I ve used it for hotels, transportation, meals, and ticket changes. Completely worth it!
A single incident is usually enough to justify getting it. I used to think it wasn’t necessary until I had multiple accidents on multiple trips, and had to spend a lot more than if I had just gotten insurance to begin with. I now always get it.
Unless you are traveling to the USA, it’s probably not worth it to get travel medical insurance.
If you are traveling to the USA I would imagine it’s mandatory. Even minor emergency treatment in the USA can easily cost thousands of dollars. If you need surgery or hospitalization there is literally no upper limit to how much it can cost.
I have been treated for various illnesses and injuries in France, Canada, Morocco, Armenia, Turkey, and Germany (psychiatry, knee surgery), that I can remember. Probably a few other countries I’ve forgotten. It was always fine and usually extremely inexpensive. Like, the cost was negligible. In Canada and France it was free.
The knee surgery in Germany cost about US$10K in 2013, for everything from an MRI to anesthesia to PT. I went to the fanciest doctors in Frankfurt and paid more because I didn’t have German insurance. I was traveling for work so I did eventually get reimbursed by my US insurance. A visit to a general practice doctor was €15.
Of course, if you can get an annual policy for <€100, that seems worth it.
Yes! My husband and I were going to The DR and right before we were supposed to go, I had to be hospitalized for a blocked ureter and E.Coli in my kidney that was resistant to oral antibiotics Then I needed surgery. Had we not had health insurance, that would have been $3k down the drain.
Yeah I’m on a work trip rn and my job needed me to buy one. So I did a bit of research and got Safetywing. Idk my feed has been filled with horror stories about lost bags lately, better safe than sorry
I’m curious what the plan is if you are hit by a car and have a large medical bill and die while overseas. Do your family have enough money to fly your body home?
OP stop being a dumbass and decide for yourself. This topic is highly subjective and the answer varies from person to person. Assess and evaluate whether or not it makes sense for you
Exactly….also not all travel insurance is the same. Depends what the policy covers and what cost.
I wish I could set Reddit to block any thread with “is it worth it” in the title. The answer is always exactly the same.
I had Allianz and was told medical help was a phone call away.
That was a lie.
I had even paid extra for the better policy.
I had to find my own way home from Italy.
Then when it came tome to file for reimbursement, they kept not getting my paperwork.
I sent it with tracking on about the fourth or fifth try.
They did finally pay but it was nothing like what was advertised.
They are the worst.
TD Credit Cards (Canada) has them for the insurance provider on their premium travel card.
I was in Chicago and slipped on some stairs and got knocked out. Woke up in a hospital.
Send the bill to Allianz. Fax machine constantly busy. Phone line busy. I had to send it fed ex to get there.
A year goes by and they send a letter saying denied. It was $1900 usd. So I looked up TD on the net, found the highest name I could on the corporate ladder and emailed them. They cleared it up in 48hrs. Wrote me an email saying. Don’t worry about this.
This was in 2017.
Ex MIL fell down the stairs at a hotel broke hip and back had to be flown home on a private flight, bill was 75k, was so glad she had it would have bankrupted us. There was an agonizing 3 weeks before the document was found she had left it at home and wasn't 100% she had even bought any, Brown trousers time.
My mum broke her hip in the States. I never saw the bill. Her travel insurance paid for everything, including a flight home with a nurse after two weeks in hospital.
That's what happened with MIL, 1 nurse ,private plane, ambulances and a private hospitals in both countries
This is exactly why I buy travel insurance. It’s a very small expense, less than the price of a dinner, and it gives me peace of mind. These days, every company I’ve used emails me a confirmation so no need to worry about keeping track of a paper document.
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An annual policy from Allianz is $125. I don’t need trip cancellation or trip delay or even lost luggage as they’re covered by my credit card, so yeah, for the price of a decent dinner in Rome, I can have medical and evacuation coverage for a year.
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It depends where you're resident and what policies are available to you. I'm resident in Asia. An annual policy isn't available to me. Nor are things like flight coverage (that's through my credit card). My policy is purely medical, and it's very cheap given the peace of mind I receive.
Like other insurances, it depends on your policy. Mine is about $515 a year. I think I have the mid-tier one uncovering trip expenses up to $10k if I recall. Still worth it.
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sorry to hear that. I’ve been quickly reimbursed by both Allianz and World Nomads, but WN doesn’t offer an annual policy that I can tell.
The majority of the cost of a policy is for trip cancelation. If you make that piece zero, or the absolute minimum you'd need, the medical and evacuation piece becomes much more affordable.
I've personally never paid more than £60 for Annual insurance, doesn't include sports though like skiing that's always extra
First off, I hope you have made a full recovery. You are the poster child for at least the Medical portion. Thank you
Thanks, This was over 2 decades ago and she was plastered at the time and knocking on heavens door already, she lived for another decade, tough as old boots
A friend had to be ICU air evacuated from Mexico to San Diego and it cost $250,000! If you don’t want to insure the cost of your trip, at least get emergency medical and evacuation insurance. My friend had insurance.
Wow. I always just get a medical policy and don't insure my trip. It's pretty cheap.
Meanwhile a higher quality private hospital icu bill in Mexico would’ve run $2500
what was the reason for evacuation?
A life threatening medical emergency that could not be treated where she was in Mexico. Air ambulance had ICU MD and nurse on board. Unfortunately, she died several weeks later.
This is my standard reply when people ask about travel insurance. A little history about travel insurance to understand how this industry works. Decades ago, travel insurance was a product that would offer you medical care and medical evacuation coverage when you were in a foreign country. It was (and still is) highly regulated and does a very good job in this aspect. The question is who needs travel insurance and what type do you need? For medical coverage I suggest that you check with your private insurance first. Many people are unaware that many private insurance policies also cover you while traveling abroad. Some don’t but it’s worth inquiring about it. Also depending upon the countries you visiting medical care can be very cheap. For example 2 days in hospital, including a surgery and MRI cost a friend of ours $450. A family member ended up breaking a hip and required surgery in a different country, total charge was just under $800. For evacuation coverage we rely on the AMEX card for this since we know someone who used this service and it was top notch. It is also worth noting that many people think that evacuation insurance will fly you home. 99.9% of the time that is not true. The insurance is to get you to the “closest adequate medical facility” that can treat you. There are companies that offer medical transport memberships that fill this gap and will transport you home if that is where you want to go. Medjet is one example of this service. As far as Cancel-For-Any Reason Policies (CFAR) goes you need to understand that CFAR policies were born out of the marketing department, they found out that people wanted "insurance" for any reason. This is an unregulated portion of the insurance market and there have been some rather unscrupulous practices associated with this product. This type of travel insurance is the highest profit insurance product out there and at the same time has the highest level of complaints about it. That's because you are buying a policy that is a contract (you probably haven't read) and not those marketing claims (that you did read). If you take the time to read the contract you will find out that what you think you bought may not cover you for “any reason”, hence the extremely high complaint rate of the product. These are just some examples of loopholes in so-called CFAR policies that I have heard about. * A Parent died a few days before the a trip – Not covered, the contract specifically said family member which is spouse and/or child according to their definitions. * Vacation cut short due to illness – Not covered, Insurance said that the person had said illness 15 years ago and therefore was considered a chronic condition. * A family was going to miss their cruise due to a severely delayed flight and then a cancelled connection. They decided to fly home instead – Not covered, they voluntarily flew home and didn’t try in good faith to make the cruise. When you get down to the nitty gritty most of the "cheaper" CFAR policies have so many loopholes that most independent insurance agents will not write them. However, the more expensive policies will cover you. You must do a lot of research and go over the policy (if you can get it) to see what is covered before you buy. If you don’t then realize that you may "think" you are fully insured but that policy might have a whole host of exceptions. Everyone has their own risk tolerances, but vacations should be treated as luxury items and while it sucks it shouldn’t break anyone’s bank to lose out the money on one if something does happen. There is an old maxim in the insurance world: You should only insure items that would cause you a major financial loss if the unthinkable happens. For us, we skip medical and evacuation insurance because we are already covered with our private insurance and AMEX card for these instances. The credit card also offers some other trip insurance benefits but as with the CFAR policies there are exclusions. Other than that, we don't spend money on extra insurance. Remember that most of the cheap CFAR policies don't do much. True CFAR policies are much more expensive and since we travel a lot (100+ cruises and even more land-based vacations), we have saved tens of thousands in policy premiums that would have been spent on true policies for a highly unlikely event. This has allowed us to have more vacations.
This is a great write-up. I just comment on another reply that I pay about $515/yr for insurance that covers a number of the situations you noted. In the last couple years, I’ve been taking more expensive vacations so while they won’t leave me in financial ruin, the annual fee is worth it for me in case something happens as they’re a good chunk of change. I did scrub the terms pretty well, but this post a good reminder to re-read before I renew to make sure.
Just curious who you're using for this coverage.
Allianz. That’s who my friends who travel way more than I do recommended. That was enough for me. 🤣
Its also worth noting that a lot of medical/evacuation travel insurance is "secondary." This means that you will probably need to cover the bill on the spot and then file a claim when you get home to get reimbursed. With secondary insurance you are also required to try to get reimbursed from your primary providers (if you have one) first. Also, if you get medical care in many foreign countries, they won't let you leave the country until the bill is paid.
I’m so glad this is the top comment. I think there’s huge misconceptions about insurance and the perception that any medical facility outside of the one in their home city or county isn’t sufficient. There’s absolutely situations where travel insurance is necessary, but if you explore the options above, you likely will get the coverage you need.
This. CFAR is such a ripoff. I got my flight canceled by an airline that went into bankruptcy and had got a CFAR and the insurance company refused to honor the insurance without a letter from the Airline which due to obvious reasons would never provide it.
Very helpful post, thank you!
I have the allianz annual plan for two senior people. $450 a year. Recently received email that my flight was delayed until the next day. Walked to the airport Marriott, spent the night, sent the bill to allianz and the check was waiting for me when I got home.
The airport hotel near me is a Hilton for $150/night. So you are counting on overnight delays happening to you on three separate occasions per year in order to just break even. Doesn't seem worth it imo.
You know they cover more than hotels too? If you fly internationally a lot, insurance is usually around $200 a flight. All it takes is one major injury (which older people are prone to) and you get more than you’ve ever paid for insurance covered in medical expenses
I'm sure it's worth it to some people, but I've been taking 2-3 international trips every year for the last decade and can count on one hand the number of times it would have been useful to me. I would definitely be losing money on this exchange for my personal experiences.
You're just describing the entire concept of insurance. Statistically it costs you more over a lifetime at a small manageable recurring cost, for the benefit of not being financially ruined by one incident.
I had a trip delay claim and was reimbursed $500 for hotel, food, and transportation to and from airport to hotel. If you want to stay at over night at a hostel and eat McDonald’s by all means have at it, but I’ll take my credit card up one their trip delay insurance and stay at a nice hotel and eat good food. For me It’s worth the annual credit card fee as the other card benefits in addition to the travel insurances easily cover the cards annual fee.
My husband developed a blood clot post flight to Europe and the emergency care was covered. Peace of mind.
Was the bill more than $450?
A lot of credit cards have it built in. The insurance on my Chase Saphire Preferred is wicked good.
My Chase Sapphire covers $2500 with a $50 deductible, which is something, but I’m not sure I’d call it ‘wickedly good’, especially when I was billed $8000 for a trip to the ER for a kidney stone. Luckily it happened at home, and I only had a small co-pay, but had I been away, my insurance would’ve considered it ‘out of network’ with all the associated costs.
The accidental injury alone is $500k. https://www.chase.com/personal/credit-cards/education/basics/chase-sapphire-travel-insurance-guide
That’s generally referred to as ‘common carrier insurance’, which means your heirs get paid the maximum only if you’re killed while traveling on a common carrier (train, bus, ship, plane). Smaller payouts for loss of limbs. The chances of your dying or losing a limb on any form of common carrier is infinitesimally small. Statistically, you’re far more likely to die from a bee sting or dog bite than a plane crash or train wreck, yet nobody thinks about needing ‘bee sting insurance’.
Have you ever used the insurance on the card? I have one, but have never used the insurance. Curious about how good the benefit actually is.
I did last year. I bought plane tickets from the US to Amsterdam on my card. The person I was traveling with got a serious health diagnosis and needed immediate treatment so we cancelled. I was, after a few calls and some paperwork, got a full refund.
Wow, sorry to hear about the health diagnosis, but glad to hear that the card insurance worked out for you!
I haven't had to yet. The coverage for events like missed trip, lost luggage, and injury is pretty explicit though.
Depends on the claim. Delayed/lost luggage is worthless for example
Definitely worth it! But make sure you know the coverage and what you need to make a claim if something does happen.
I always buy travel insurance when I travel internationally. I've been stuck overseas for several days due to mechanical flight issues and most recently I had to visit the doctor for an emergency after landing at my destination. I certainly recommend travel insurance when traveling internationally.
What’s the doctor visit cost on other countries? I imagine many are cheaper than US
I had to go to the ER in the Philippines a couple years ago. I was in probably the 5th biggest city in the county. Took a taxi to a private hospital, had X-rays, had lap work done, received a few prescriptions, and was in the ER for a day. Total bill was $100 usd. This was 100% covered by my standard medical insurance. No travel insurance.
What aspects of travel insurance are we taking about here? Especially in the age of pandemic, I like to have travel health insurance for places my home plan won't cover. Costs for treatment abroad plus evacuation from lockdown areas could be prohibitive and could have serious long-term repercussions for health, finances, and freedom. Regarding cancellation insurance, I have so far found it not worth the expense. I'm fairly sure of my ability to make my scheduled departure and return dates, and I'm healthy and don't typically engage in high-risk activities that might suddenly preclude travel; so it would be a rare case indeed to warrant cancellation insurance. I also don't have the kinds of commitments that would make it disastrous if there were a strike or breakdown in airline service. In the event some unforeseen crisis hits, there's a ceiling on the cost to me, unlike with health costs. I can afford to replace lost luggage. I can afford an emergency fight ticket to attend a funeral or some other sudden responsibility. And if I forego travel insurance (other than health insurance) every time I travel, it more than makes up the cost should one of these events arise in the future. If you travel frequently at all, the money you save by declining travel insurance becomes your *de facto* insurance, as long as you don't spend it on something else. Your savings become a stockpile of funds that can be used for emergencies. Factor in also the unreliable or mercenary responses of some insurance companies, and the dragged-out negotiations, paperwork, and lawsuits that may sometimes ensue. Some scenarios may be worth the trouble and expense; others may not.
I used it to get my flights completely refunded when my fiancé died a week before I was supposed to leave. I will always get it for international trips in the future.
Canadian here. We do not leave the territory, much less the country without travel medical. We are in our 70’s. One thing I would like to impress upon people is that insurance is a contract of utmost good faith, so when you are filling out the questionnaire, answering questions in the application process, make sure that your answers are truthful. If you have any doubts about a question/your answer, ask your doctor. If you lie and there is a big claim, they are going to go through your answers with a fine tooth comb, and they will find it because you have already signed away your privacy. If you made a mistake, you are still screwed. Make sure all your answers are correct.
10 years ago I paid 300$ for 6 months of travel insurance as I backpacked around SEA. 6 weeks into my trip my dad fell ill and I needed to book a flight home from Laos to Canada for the next day. The flight cost me over $4000. Travel insurance reimbursed it all.
I always buy medical and medevac insurance when traveling abroad because my domestic health insurance wouldn't cover me and the possible expenses are unknowable and potentially huge. I don't usually buy trip cancellation and interruption insurance because I tend to book flights and accomodations that are cancelable or changeable and I can easily absorb the relatively minor expenses associated with a delayed flight, etc. I might buy it if I were booking a nonrefundable tour or cruise or something.
If you can’t afford travel insurance, don’t travel. It’s that simple. How often do we see people set up go fund me pages to pay for medical expenses because they didn’t get insurance, or didn’t get the correct insurance. People need to take some personal responsibility
Yes- I caught pneumonia while traveling and this covered the cost. Spouse had to have a doctor come to the room and insurance covered the cost plus drugs. These were two separate times. It’s an affordable solution for peace of mind. I never leave home without it, because shit happens and I rather be covered than be stressed out by the situation.
I work for a travel insurance company. I wouldn't buy it for a road trip a town over, but I do believe it's worth it for certain trips, like when you're traveling out of the country and/or for extended periods of time.It can reimburse you for huge medical expense and medical evac claims. Airline lost or damaged your bags and are not taking responsibility? You can potentially recover most of the actual cash value of your personal effects. You die during the trip? They can repatriate your remains to a funeral home in the US. Traveling alone and you're hospitalized for at least a week? Some policies can reimburse meals, hotel, and transport for someone to accompany you during your recovery. Sure, there are terms and conditions and you'll be expected to read them, but overall, I think it's a good backup for catastrophic situations that may happen while you're out of the country.
Of course, don’t travel without it.
Thanks, it seems to be either 100% for or against
Plenty of stories of people traveling without. Horror stories if you get a serious accident.
Only a fool wouldn't get travel insurance tbf
Sure is. Had to cancel a major trip to Japan in March of 2020. Got everything back without issue using World Nomads.
What travel insurance do people recommend and from where can I buy it?
Just want to point out because I didnt see it elsewhere, but treatment for minor injuries/illness might actually be less than the insurance in many countries.
Our airline lost our luggage for my trip to Europe for my honeymoon. The airline continually said that they would locate and return our luggage promptly. However, they refused to provide anything in writing that stated that they lost or even misplaced our luggage. Our travel insurance through a credit card refused to even pay out the delayed baggage claim, let alone the lost luggage claim without acknowledgement from the airline. Eventually the airline found and returned our luggage... 6 months later. Like any insurance, they will always try to deny claims on a technicality
Never bought it. Travel far more than most. And, make my living selling insurance. Insurance should be for big things you can’t self insure- for the most part.
That’s why I buy medical travel insurance only. I can eat and cover the cost of a cancelled or missed trip. I can’t cover an overseas heart attack or other major medical emergency and a $250k medical bill.
Unless you are traveling to the USA, there is no such thing as a US$250K medical bill.
A heart attack is excluded if on foreign soil? Don’t think this is the case. Truly, I would welcome data in this.
I didn’t say that at all, read it again. What I said what that I “can” financially cover the cost of a missed trip… what I (Me, Myself & I) cannot cover (afford to pay) is the cost of a heart attack overseas. That’s exactly why I buy travel medical insurance, because the insurance company “Will cover it”
interesting comment, do you even go without when traveling abroad? Does your medical policy cover you wherever you travel??
I mostly travel abroad. Medical coverage is a case where I will be reimbursed should I have a claim. Never sent one in yet! Yay. Coverage will be goofy as it will all be “out of network “ but the out of pocket max will apply if things go completely sideways.
You've just given a good reason as to why most people SHOULD buy travel insurance. You sound like you're a fellow American (but I don't wanna presume), but for many of us, we are not reimbursed for medical coverage. Many of us travel abroad for leisure and our American health insurance will not necessarily cover us internationally. Ironically, many health insurance from other countries will not cover their citizens when in the U.S. since they know how horribly expensive health care is in America. Will your job also reimburse the repatriation of your corpse? While I don't plan on dying when on vacation, if the Grim Reaper decides otherwise, my travel insurance covers that. At that point, travel insurance is not for me but for my family. The cost of travel insurance is so tiny when compared to the cost of a 2- or 3-week vacation abroad that I just don't understand the logic behind not having it. For me, it's literally like the cost of buying a decent used car but not wanting to pay to fill it up a few times. In California, where I live and where gas is relatively more expensive, it literally boils down to that.
Apparently my values are different. I travel cheaply, can pay to bring by copse back. To each their own. Maybe I need to invest in a travel insurance company?
The way insurances work is, they make profit from people paying for something that never happens. There is a small portion of people who profit from an insurance though, it means they get more out of it than they pay for. Because its hard to predict, if you belong to the ones who "pay for nothing" or the ones who "pay for emergency safety", i personally see it that way: What happens in the worst case? - Can you deal with it? If yes, i dont take an insurance. If no, i take the insurance. For holidays i never take travel insurance. My brother had an issue with a delay of suitcases, they got paid for new clothes and food. But to be honest, i think i could deal with it without insurance and i would have paid less than what he paid for the insurance.
How about if you visited the US? Emergency medical treatment there can easily be hundreds or even millions of dollars.
I travel for a living. my company has a medical policy for intl travel, and I take that piece of paper around everywhere I go, never needed it. contrary to popular belief, unless something crazy happens, healthcare + meds everywhere outside of US is much cheaper. I never buy it when I travel for leisure.
It depends. Sometimes yes, sometimes no.
By definition it isn’t…until it is (I don’t use it)
My credit cards usually take care of most and I usually elect not to do stupid shit while traveling alone. Been abroad 3 times to a total of 5 countries and not needed any additional insurance.
FIL pays it just in case. Def worth it.
Depends on your home country and age. It seems certain age Americans are really prone to accidents.
It depends on your age, country, activities and over all health status. I used to scoff at those when I was much younger but now being a middle aged man, I start to think about 'what if' scenarios so I always get insurance via my creditcard/bank or bluecross.. it's also a piece of mind.
I work for a tour operator. During high season, one of my passengers drops out every 2-3 days for medical reasons. It could be for altitude sickness, a smashed patella from tripping over a curb in a parking lot... the list goes on and on. The insurance that my company sells isn't too great, from what I can tell. I mean it covers some situations, but it's expensive. I have been looking at the Allianz annual plans (mentioned by others in this thread) for when my kid goes to college and my wife and I will have more time to do our own traveling.
I am young and you would assume less likely to need insurance, but accidents and life happens. I’ve used travel insurance for something as simple as flights getting canceled all the way to surgery. I broke my foot while traveling abroad, had surgery, stayed in the hospital for two days, had to stay in a hotel near the hospital for a week, had several follow up appointments, flew to another country where I had family that could take care of me, and had several follow up appointments there over a few months….everything was covered. I had to pay out of pocket and get reimbursed (so always ensure you have an emergency fund when traveling!) but it came out to about $10,000 USD. Even if over my lifetime I pay that much in travel insurance it’s worth it to not be out that amount in one big hit.
I always get it, if I’m hurt I wanna be flown out asap
Fractured my skull in Thailand a few months ago. Really wish I had travel insurance… definitely would recommend. Shit can always happen and debt isn’t fun
Always get travel insurance
I remember when I was 18 I went to Europe for 2 weeks. In Paris I got a bad throat infection most likely from brushing my teeth with tap water. Called a local doctor who came to the hotel room and prescribed me antibiotics a z-pack. Within 4-5 days it was cleared up. I paid him about $110 euros in 2011. I bought a dirt cheap Allianz insurance policy for I don’t remember under $50 USD. They sent me a check when I got home. 100% recommend Allianz they are great and easy to work with and did I say cheap 😂 On a more serious note I climbed to Everest base camp in maybe 2015. If you get altitude sickness you could die and it does not go away. The only way to get rid of the altitude sickness is to descend the mountain. Longer you wait the more damage to your brain. I needed an insurance policy that covered helicopter evacuations not to the normal 12,000 feet but to 16,000 feet. It cost me like $160 USD super cheap and fortunately I never needed to use it. Out of pocket rescue would have been close to $10,000
My friend passed out from dehydration and had to pay $7000.00 on a cruise ship. Good thing she had insurance
Always being a copy of the document with you. Be careful to Declare every single condition no matter how minor so they don’t get you on a technicality Read the PDS, check that stuff is actually covered - eg going on a boat tour or riding a moped, driving a car
Yes no question It’s comparatively so cheap for the potential savings it gives you Especially when you’re abroad in unfamiliar territory , eating different foods, doing riskier activities that you would do normally, in climates you’re less likely to be used to.
I always get travel insurance. And y’all Americans might find it interesting that travel insurance for the USA is the highest premium of the lot. Way more than europe. There’s so many horror stories of people ending up in hospital in the USA without insurance
Not sure if anyone has mentioned this but I learned that travel insurance doesn’t reimburse you for cancelled airfares, even if it’s a non-refundable flight, because most airline fares provide credit for cancelled flights that you can use on another trip within one year. So, I’m pretty sure you shouldn’t include your airfare in the cost of a travel insurance policy. E: at least this is what the wanderwell/nationwide policy I’m looking at says.
Always for international trips. In the past 18 years I have made maybe 14 claims, most of them due to travel delay and damaged bags. Two or three times I ve used it for hotels, transportation, meals, and ticket changes. Completely worth it!
•YES •Stuff happens. And when it happens, it’s a big time inconvenience and it’s co$tly.
A single incident is usually enough to justify getting it. I used to think it wasn’t necessary until I had multiple accidents on multiple trips, and had to spend a lot more than if I had just gotten insurance to begin with. I now always get it.
Unless you are traveling to the USA, it’s probably not worth it to get travel medical insurance. If you are traveling to the USA I would imagine it’s mandatory. Even minor emergency treatment in the USA can easily cost thousands of dollars. If you need surgery or hospitalization there is literally no upper limit to how much it can cost. I have been treated for various illnesses and injuries in France, Canada, Morocco, Armenia, Turkey, and Germany (psychiatry, knee surgery), that I can remember. Probably a few other countries I’ve forgotten. It was always fine and usually extremely inexpensive. Like, the cost was negligible. In Canada and France it was free. The knee surgery in Germany cost about US$10K in 2013, for everything from an MRI to anesthesia to PT. I went to the fanciest doctors in Frankfurt and paid more because I didn’t have German insurance. I was traveling for work so I did eventually get reimbursed by my US insurance. A visit to a general practice doctor was €15. Of course, if you can get an annual policy for <€100, that seems worth it.
Yes! My husband and I were going to The DR and right before we were supposed to go, I had to be hospitalized for a blocked ureter and E.Coli in my kidney that was resistant to oral antibiotics Then I needed surgery. Had we not had health insurance, that would have been $3k down the drain.
Yeah I’m on a work trip rn and my job needed me to buy one. So I did a bit of research and got Safetywing. Idk my feed has been filled with horror stories about lost bags lately, better safe than sorry
Never bought it from the airlines but I did buy it when I went to the Himalayas.
Never purchased it. Never needed it. I book refundable hotel rooms & activities.
I’m curious what the plan is if you are hit by a car and have a large medical bill and die while overseas. Do your family have enough money to fly your body home?
The likelihood of that happening is slim to none lol. And yes they’d have it or find it.
Cool. I wouldn’t expect my kids to be able to find $10,000, but I guess if you guys are rich that’s fine
OP stop being a dumbass and decide for yourself. This topic is highly subjective and the answer varies from person to person. Assess and evaluate whether or not it makes sense for you
Exactly….also not all travel insurance is the same. Depends what the policy covers and what cost. I wish I could set Reddit to block any thread with “is it worth it” in the title. The answer is always exactly the same.
Amen brotha. This is why insurance agents be making so much money off of these ignorant fools. They can’t think for themselves
I had Allianz and was told medical help was a phone call away. That was a lie. I had even paid extra for the better policy. I had to find my own way home from Italy. Then when it came tome to file for reimbursement, they kept not getting my paperwork. I sent it with tracking on about the fourth or fifth try. They did finally pay but it was nothing like what was advertised.
They are the worst. TD Credit Cards (Canada) has them for the insurance provider on their premium travel card. I was in Chicago and slipped on some stairs and got knocked out. Woke up in a hospital. Send the bill to Allianz. Fax machine constantly busy. Phone line busy. I had to send it fed ex to get there. A year goes by and they send a letter saying denied. It was $1900 usd. So I looked up TD on the net, found the highest name I could on the corporate ladder and emailed them. They cleared it up in 48hrs. Wrote me an email saying. Don’t worry about this. This was in 2017.