"Cancel for any reason" Travel Insurance

[ElainePDX]

Just did a quick search of The Forum and the only travel insurance thread I found was here:

https://saverocity.com/forum/threads/a-note-about-travel-insurance.93057/

Trevor makes some great points, and recommends Squaremouth.com, a site that was also recommended by a travel agent friend when I asked her this question. I post here because I plan to purchase "cancel for any reason" insurance and would love to hear Forum members' advice and recommendations.

We rarely purchase travel insurance, preferring to self-insure and/or use what may come with a credit card. And while I know many folks routinely plan travel that is many months away, we generally don't, and various things could change in our lives before the month-long trip we have planned in southern Africa for next Feb. 2016. These policies also come with very good coverage for medical, trip interruption, etc., but it is the "cancel for any reason" that I want in place. Despite the name, I do plan to check on exclusions. So:

Has anyone purchased such a policy?
Has anyone needed to invoke a purchased policy?
Are there other companies besides Squaremouth to consider? (There are, but wonder if you all have one you like.)

Thanks or any recs/advice you may have.

 

[ElainePDX]

I just got off the phone with two very helpful and knowledgeable CSRs at Squaremouth. To my surprise the policy costs are quite low: $172-$174 for excellent coverage for two people for the two policies I thought were the top contenders. There were many more.

Only glitch is that because the tix were so cheap, the trip interruption will pay just $1827 and that won't get us both home from South Africa. But if we leave early for a medical reason, all is reimbursed. As I am mostly concerned about the need to cancel the whole thing before we leave these policies are fine.

I also looked into annual insurance which is also very reasonable, but it does not allow "cancel for any reason" so it is not right for now. But as we expect to do more trips during my husband's sabbatical, I will remember that option for the future. You might want to as well if you travel a lot and buy insurance each time.

 

[ElainePDX]

Bought a plan from Squaremouth tonight. Before making my final selections, I called the insurance provider directly and was very pleased to learn that I could also include the travel that will get us from PDX >>> JFK even though I haven't even booked it yet. I simply used the dates we expect to travel to and from JFK at the start and end of the trip. Once I book tickets, I call in and, depending on the price, perhaps pay a supplement. Ditto for any ground tours/non-refundable hotel we reserve ahead.

This arrangement means that if a snowstorm prevents us from getting to JFK in time to make our flight to Johannesburg, we will be covered. Given we'll be traveling at the end of January, it is not out of the realm of possibility!

 

[Voyaging Doc]

Thank you for sharing Elaine. Which CC do you use to make your travel purchases? Does your CC have trip delay/cancellation policy and does it reimburse in excess of your Squaremouth insurance or supplements?

 

[ElainePDX]

@Voyaging Doc, this ticket was booked using my Fidelity 2% card. It was a mistake/very cheap fare and frankly I just grabbed my "go-to" card in my haste to get it booked before it disappeared. ASAIK it doesn't provide that kind of coverage.

As I looked into travel insurance, I decided that the two areas I cared most about were 1) cancel for any reason and 2) trip interruption. I don't believe CCs would have covered for either.

Our home insurance will dovetail nicely with the TI's property loss/theft such that the TI policy would cover the deductible on the HI policy.

We will use a card that provides car rental coverage, declining all insurance related to the rental car but accepting insurance for liability since our car insurance only covers us for rentals in the US and Canada.

Hope that helps.

 

[flyingcturtle]

I've only used World Nomads. Been very happy with them. It doesn't offer cancel for any reason but it does cover all the reason I would cancel a trip. I'm using it for my Kilimanjaro and S. Africa trip.

 

[ElainePDX]

One interesting piece of info: the policy we got has trip delay insurance but it is one time use only. So in theory if you were delayed outbound and stayed at a hotel, and then you were delayed inbound and again paid for overnight accommodations, only one delay should be covered.

But the CSR said:
1) wait until you return to make a claim and then see which makes the most sense, and
2) submit ALL receipts
Because:
Depending on the reason(s) for the delays (which she did not go into) they may be able to pay on both, up to the allowed limit.

I sure hope we don't need to invoke any of the coverage. The company we picked is MH Ross Travel Insurance Services through Squaremouth.

 

[smittytabb]

Ritz-Carlton credit card has trip delay as do several others. Cancel for any reason can be very expensive insurance. Looks like you found a good option. I usually go to www(dot)insuremytrip.com to compare plans. I only do it for unique situations. I carry Medjet Assist annual policy.

 

[ElainePDX]

Actually I thought it was very reasonable: Initially $216 for both of us on tix that cost $1215. Then I bumped up the dates and it soared up to $252. But I have no problem paying $7.64 a day to cover us both for just about anything that could happen, especially in the winter and when we'll be very far away for over a month.

The rep said that 1) the rates go up when you cross $500 and they also go up when you cross 30 days. The only difference between the two estimates was it went from 26 days to above 30.