Travel Insurance Help - Page 3

Lipstickdiva · ‎03-10-2010

@KathyPet wrote:
@Lipstickdiva wrote:
Thanks everyone. Unfortunately for the person who asked (sorry I don't remember your name), we could not fly the day before the cruise and stay at a hotel because my husband has to work. He actually is going to be dragging because he won't get home until close to 1:00 a.m. and we have to be at the airport by 5:30 a.m. for our flight.

To the other poser who asked, we did not book our insurance through the cruise.  This was the first time we did this so I wasn't even aware you could book the flight at the same time. I guess this is the advantage to using a travel agent or contacting the cruiseline directly. LOL

I did end up purchasing insurance through Travel Guard and when I rec'd the policy, I believe it's either through AIG or Allianz. I've looked at so many, now I don't remember. It was $117.00 for the gold policy for both my husband and me.

However, as I said above, my biggest concern is that we are flying Frontier and there have been instances in the past where they have canceled flights on a whim, for no apparent reason. I was told that the insurance will only cover a canceled flight if there is a reason such as inclement weather, mechanical issues, etc. If Frontier just decides to cancel our flight, the rep. said I'd have to submit a claim with documentation and see what happens but that's not been covered in the past.

Between this insurance and the credit card I used for the cruise and flights, I hope something would cover is in that event. Otherwise, I'd have to go after the airline.

Thank you all so much for the help! I really appreciate it.  I do feel better now that I've purchased the insurance and I have learned a lot from all of you about what to do if we cruise again.

Now I am going to contact the cruise line and arrange our transfers from the airport to the dock through them.

AS I stated in my post. DO NOT BUY THE CRUISE LINE INSURANCE AS YOU ARE NOT COVERED IF THE CRUISE LINE GOES BELLY UP!

@KathyPet, I didn't. I purchased the insurance through Travel Guard.

Financialgrl · ‎03-13-2010

Have cruised a lot and we never fly in the same day as the cruise bc of your very concern and we always get travel insurance but not thru the cruiselines.

If you used the cruiseline to book your flight and the flight is cancelled for any reason, they often will pay to fly you to the first port (but many cruises have one or two sea days before your first port) so you'd miss onboard time.

I'd always get travel insurance for a cruise. They have medical facilities onboard but if you have to use it, the cost gets added to your onboard account and it's not cheap. Just returned from a cruise in May and a guy we were traveling with contracted a horrible cold and got a stiff neck - that visit to the clinic - there about 15 minutes and the cost was $600 added to their onboard account. He has supplemental insurance and he will have to settle/sort that out once he gets home.

Financialgrl · ‎03-13-2010

This post jossled my memory to remind me - I have an upcoming holiday cruise in December and I'd not purchased insurance for the trip bc I was going to settlement on my home and finances were extremely tight and I needed every penny for that at the time.

This post triggered me to call the travel agent and I asked the question others posted here - what is the latest one can usually buy travel insurance - what's the cutoff date. He said most companies will not allow you to buy insurance once you have hit the date that your final payment is due - he said for most cruiselines that means either 60 or 75 days prior to your sail.

Lipstickdiva · ‎03-10-2010

@Financialgrl wrote:
This post jossled my memory to remind me - I have an upcoming holiday cruise in December and I'd not purchased insurance for the trip bc I was going to settlement on my home and finances were extremely tight and I needed every penny for that at the time.

This post triggered me to call the travel agent and I asked the question others posted here - what is the latest one can usually buy travel insurance - what's the cutoff date. He said most companies will not allow you to buy insurance once you have hit the date that your final payment is due - he said for most cruiselines that means either 60 or 75 days prior to your sail.

@Financialgrl, that wasn't the case for me. I paid my cruise in full when I booked it. I booked everything on my own and I purchased my insurance from a stand alone company, Travel Guard, not through the cruise line.

I bought my insurance on April 25 and our cruise left on May 7.

Bibione · ‎03-12-2010

Spoiler

I just got back from staying 2 months with my 87 year old mother.I have another ticket for September since the housekeeper wants to quit and get a whole year of unemployment (she would get tons of money without working).

I called Allianz insurance and was told that changing date of departure would cost 500 dollars.

Does anybody have any experience changing dates?

Alter Ego · ‎03-12-2010

@Bibione wrote:
Spoiler

I just got back from staying 2 months with my 87 year old mother.I have another ticket for September since the housekeeper wants to quit and get a whole year of unemployment (she would get tons of money without working).

I called Allianz insurance and was told that changing date of departure would cost 500 dollars.
Does anybody have any experience changing dates?

$500 seems excessive, but I do understand why they are charging an additional amount as you are changing the number of days that you are covered - how many more days are you being insured? But, $500? Are you adding additional costs? Really, if you are staying with your mother, how much is being insured? Just the cost of the airfare? (I don't expect you to give dollar amounts - I'm just thinking as I write).

I'm going to guess that part of the reason for the high amount is because it's so close by - I wonder how much insurance would be if you just tried to get a separate policy for the dates needed? How does it compare. Still seems high to me.

Hoovermom · ‎03-19-2010

@Lipstickdiva wrote:
Thanks everyone. Unfortunately for the person who asked (sorry I don't remember your name), we could not fly the day before the cruise and stay at a hotel because my husband has to work. He actually is going to be dragging because he won't get home until close to 1:00 a.m. and we have to be at the airport by 5:30 a.m. for our flight.

To the other poser who asked, we did not book our insurance through the cruise.  This was the first time we did this so I wasn't even aware you could book the flight at the same time. I guess this is the advantage to using a travel agent or contacting the cruiseline directly. LOL

I did end up purchasing insurance through Travel Guard and when I rec'd the policy, I believe it's either through AIG or Allianz. I've looked at so many, now I don't remember. It was $117.00 for the gold policy for both my husband and me.

However, as I said above, my biggest concern is that we are flying Frontier and there have been instances in the past where they have canceled flights on a whim, for no apparent reason. I was told that the insurance will only cover a canceled flight if there is a reason such as inclement weather, mechanical issues, etc. If Frontier just decides to cancel our flight, the rep. said I'd have to submit a claim with documentation and see what happens but that's not been covered in the past.

Between this insurance and the credit card I used for the cruise and flights, I hope something would cover is in that event. Otherwise, I'd have to go after the airline.

Thank you all so much for the help! I really appreciate it.  I do feel better now that I've purchased the insurance and I have learned a lot from all of you about what to do if we cruise again.

Now I am going to contact the cruise line and arrange our transfers from the airport to the dock through them.

@Lipstickdiva: In my experience as a long time cruiser, I would not take the cruise line shuttle. I would use a taxi cab or uber/lyft. We used the cruise line shuttle only once. They bring a big bus to the airport terminal and wait for the bus to fill up with passengers on your cruise. We waited for over an hour and said never again. Have fun!!!

homedecor1 · ‎03-09-2010

@Lipstickdiva

agree I'd never use cruise transfer again - waited 3 hours in Ft Lauderdale airport for other passengers! The girl I was with booked them -- worse idea ever!

And taxi was perfect and cheaper on our return date to airport.

As for booking airfare with cruise line I found I do better booking directly thru airline unless the cruise line is giving great deal. I've done this once.

Good luck with Frontier😧Because they are notorious for cancelling, delays, etc. and the ship waits for NO ONE!!! My friends flew Frontier to Ft Lauderdale - missed the ship flew to next stop to get on. (A big mess!).

My personal experience is Frontier reps aren't the most knowledgeable -- I know they will not refund your airfare (or credit) unless it's weather related OR their cancellation. I never fly with them when I have to be somewhere at a specific time -- I go day or 2 before -- and I'm a very frequent traveler w/them 2x's month sometimes.

PS: good thing Tampa International is close to the Port of Tampa if you are running late! Very well managed airport and taxis are always available. And baggage normally is on belt waiting for me by the time I get down to baggage claim!

Lipstickdiva · ‎03-10-2010

@homedecor1, @Hoovermom, just to be clear, our cruise was in May.

However, I never did arrange the transfers through the cruise line. We ended up just getting a taxi. It wasn't much money at all and we got the taxi easy peasy. There were quite a few people standing around who thought the shuttle would just be there and didn't realize they had to make prior arrangements.

Our experience with Frontier was outstanding. I wouldn't hesitate to use them again. The flight going to Tampa was crowded but not full so we ended up switching seats to allow for family members to sit together. On the way back, the flight was jammed full and while the flight crew was awesome, there were a couple of passengers who were totally inebriated on the plane and one got into a verbal altercation with another passenger who had enough of the drunk. So that was a little unnerving for a minute but the drunk guy settled down.

homedecor1 · ‎03-09-2010

@Lipstickdiva

oh I'm sorry misunderstood thought you were concerned about making a upcoming cruise.

Frontier has been a great way for me to travel sadly, they stop our market in November. The only time I fly them is when it's under $100/rt. I have been delayed but never cancelled yet!