travel and villa insurance info please

[ellena]

Hi, I read the helpful hints of what you need to do and to save if you make a travel claim , but was wondering if anybody had advice or experience with certain companies. The villa management company links to csa vacation insurance.

Also if you insure at the time you make the reservations ( some companies you need to ) and you don't have flights or car rental plans yet, how do you know how much to insure and can you add it later?

Thanks.

[petepie]

Every insurance company is a little different, so you should call each one to ask them when you need to insure, and whether you can change the amount at a later date. For example, Costco insurance through TravelGuard covers you for pre-existing conditions if you buy the insurance within 24 or 48 hours (can't remember which) of making your FINAL payment. Travel Guard's non-Costco insurane covers pre-existing conditions only if you buy the insurance within 15 days after making the INITIAL payment for the trip (i.e. your deposit).

Also, be sure to read the fine print so you clearly understand what is covered and what is not. I used CSA for a trip to STJ and we were held on the runway so missed our connection in Charlotte to St. Thomas and couldn't get on a flight until the next day. USAir didn't pay for anything (weather delay), so I was glad that I had CSA to pay for the food & hotel at the airport. However, CSA did not pay for the 1st night of the villa stay due to our specific flight delay circumstances. Still it was better to have the $250 covered at the airport, although we lost $400 for the first night of the villa.

[ellena]

thanks for the info.

[petepie]

Forgot to add that you can comparison shop for the right coverage at the best price. Just google "travel insurance" and you'll get some comparison sites. It also makes a difference if you travel with kids - some companies don't charge anything for kids, others do, so it's worth it to go through the whole quote process (online) rather than just looking at the per person rate.

Finally, yes, keep EVERYTHING. When we put in our claim, we had to have boarding pass stubs, ticket info, villa deposit info (villa contract and credit card statements showing amount paid), we even had to have confirmation from USAir on the flight delay and reason for it. And if you have a problem, call from the road. I think it helps to have a record of a real-time call in so that they can tell you what info you need - for us, we needed a note from USAir saying that the delay was weather related and that they had not provided us with any compensation. It was easy to get that at the airport when the delay happened. I don't know how easy it would have been to get a week or two later after we returned from our trip.

[Need2GetAway]

I always use InsureMyTrip.com to compare all the different travel insurance choices. For me my priority is delayed travel insurance (we have terrible weather here in the winter and I worry about not getting out) and medical evacuation coverage.

Just go the web site, put in your info, and start comparing policies.

[SarahD]

Definitely read all the fine print. After hurricane Irene took out hwy 12 in the Outer Banks (and making Hatteras truly an island) we learned that our "peace of mind" trip insurance would only cover our stay for 30 days after mandatory evacuation was issued. Mandatory evac occurred on Aug 25 and our week was 9-17 to 9-24. We came in with one day to spare. If we had rented the last week in Sept we would not have been covered at all. That was Travel Guard. CSA only covered 15 days after mandatory evac. And they still have not reopened parts of Hatteras!

They had so much damage and are still trying to recover.

I learned my lesson and will always read the fine print!