2006-10-05 01:56:25 · 7 answers · asked by sindy h 2 in Travel ➔ Caribbean ➔ Other - Caribbean
Saw your question and I just had to share my story with you and maybe this will help in making up your mind on travel insurance.
When I first became a travel agent I wasn't very knowledgeable about travel insurance and there benefits they entailed. Well 6 years ago my sister was going to Costa Rica and she called her ins. company and asked if she was medically covered while there if anything were to happen. She was told yes by the company. So she opted of course not to buy the travel ins. I at this point in time didn't know differently on this, but I will get to that later in the story.
In Costa Rica 3 days into her 9 day trip she was in a horrible car crash on a pretty desolate road. She didn't have her seatbelt on and she was thrown 70 ft through the windshield in extremely tall grassy area off the side of the ditch. Her husband had his seatbelt on and the driver’s side was completely crunched in to where they later determined it was probably best that she wasn't wearing her seatbelt (one of those rare instances). They were lucky that a vehicle was behind them to notice they went off the road. They had to be airlifted by helicopter to San Jose which is the place that the only private hospital of Costa Rica is located.
My sisters injuries consisted of 17 broken ribs (I think females have 19), 25 stitches on her head with 1/2 her head having to be shaved, and a gash on her leg which took I think it was 40 stitches. Her husband’s injuries were that his leg had a compound fracture. What that means is the bone breaks through the skin!
When this happened we were notified and we contacted her ins. it was then that we found out that the person my sister spoke with was VERY wrong that she was only covered 50 miles into Mexico which is what Tijuana? The hospital was going to kick her OUT of the private hospital due to my sister not having that much money to give them. I was on the phone with the US embassy and there was nothing they could do. We ended up having a wire a lot of money down to keep her in that private hospital. Trust me in Costa Rica you do not want to go to a public one! They were both in wheelchairs upon return to the US. The one thing is my sister is fortunate because of there medical costs not being as high as us it was "less" that it would ever cost her in the US without ins., but either way it still cost her I think about 15,000? That’s with the helicopter ride. None of which was covered by her isn. Company back home.
After this I found out that several US Ins. companies do not cover you medically with international travel because well not everyone goes outside the country so why raise the premiums for those who never travel. Makes perfect sense when I thought about it.
This entire situation would have been tragic of course for happening yes, but gone a lot easier for all of us had she had insurance. She wasn't at fault though, just highly misinformed!
Travel Ins. isn't just good for Medical even though that is a HUGE reason to get it especially for intl. travel. It is covered with trip cancellation, trip interruption (close family member passes during your trip), baggage, baggage delay, medical evacuation, etc.
There are several people out there that even with there agents are being informed of the potentials and benefits of having ins. Granted odds are what happened to my sister won't happen to you. But hey I never in my wildest dreams thought she would get into an accident like that on holiday!
I had a guy who bought insurance 6 years in a row, year 6 he fell down steps in Mexico and broke his leg. His insurance sure he bought it for the first 5 years it was "unused", but when he did need it those times of buying insurance more than covered the other times he bought it to. I have had people say to me, naw we bought ins. last year and we didn't use it and I have said to them. "I'm sorry you didn't break your leg" in a light hearted fashion indicating you don't buy insurance so something WILL happen you buy it in case something happens.
If you emailed me your ages at time of travel and the trip cost per person (assuming you already have it booked) I can give you a price of this travel insurance company we use a lot because they price out well. It is called TravelEx. There are several travel ins. companies out there that are good of course. Even if you weren't to say book it through me and by the way though we do not charge a service fee for this or at least I don't because I’m always up for another traveler out there to know and understand ins. then they can pass it on to there friends =)
Regardless if you get ins. or not have a fantastic cruise! Feel free though to email me and I can give you my contact info to help you with this.
2006-10-05 12:00:14 · answer #1 · answered by Pam 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Tricky question!
I am a travel agent. I sell cruises with and without insurance every day. Those folks who do buy the insurance seem more at ease than those that don't. If people need to cancel a trip, they are "thrilled" that they purchased the insurance, while those that didn't seem anguished over the loss of their money.
The rule of thumb most people seem to follow is based on the price of their vacation. In general, the cost of approximately $100 for vacation insurance will protect about a $2000 vacation. The cost of the insurance is based upon the cost of your vacation, and will increase as you increase the cost of your vacation.
2006-10-05 02:41:49 · answer #2 · answered by travel guy 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have taken several cruises with Carnival and I have not taken the insurance out. I guess it's a risk you take but I have not felt the need to buy it.
2006-10-07 14:28:11 · answer #3 · answered by Ness 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yeah, in most cases your normal health insurance won't cover things like having to be flown back to a US hospital if you get seriously hurt on an island. Also most foreign doctors / hospitals don't take US medical insurance.
2006-10-05 11:45:16 · answer #4 · answered by Sportsterjohn 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Some Interesting facts:
http://money.cnn.com/2001/10/09/insurance/travel_insurance/
http://adventuretravel.about.com/od/adventuretravelcompanies/qt/tripinsurance.htm
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/09/11/TRGS5EJ6QO1.DTL
2006-10-05 02:00:35 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Always get insurance when you travel well worth it.
2006-10-05 02:04:24 · answer #6 · answered by marie w 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no
2006-10-05 02:03:47 · answer #7 · answered by Penguin Gal 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋