Travel insurance - should be a sticky

ted1

Folks , lots of posts here asking about refunds , cancellation etc.

Buy an annual policy to cover you in case you can’t travel. Annual policies are cheap and worth while.


I saved 30k from a 7 euro policy in 2002 when I broke a leg in Greece. But there lots of other savings to be made.

joeysoap

I’ll be a devils advocate. Few years ago, maybe 15.

Got travel insurance. One of the big companies. Think of a colour. Couldn’t Travel as a result of an accident (broken foot)

Phoned the company. ‘ how much were the tickets?’ Excluding taxes? They don’t count. I was told there was nothing to get back there - the excess wasn’t reached. Flights were under €30 ( Lisbon) ‘Can’t you cancel the hotel?’ As it transpired I could and did.

Insurance company were useless. Aer Lingus were fair, was able to change the flights for £40.

It’s different now and I’m not advocating no insurance. Just be aware and ensure there’s cover for hospitals and repatriation on your health insurance.

I’m not saying don’t insure, just be aware.

ted1

joeysoap wrote: »

I’ll be a devils advocate. Few years ago, maybe 15.

Got travel insurance. One of the big companies. Think of a colour. Couldn’t Travel as a result of an accident (broken foot)

Phoned the company. ‘ how much were the tickets?’ Excluding taxes? They don’t count. I was told there was nothing to get back there - the excess wasn’t reached. Flights were under €30 ( Lisbon) ‘Can’t you cancel the hotel?’ As it transpired I could and did.

Insurance company were useless. Aer Lingus were fair, was able to change the flights for £40.

It’s different now and I’m not advocating no insurance. Just be aware and ensure there’s cover for hospitals and repatriation on your health insurance.

I’m not saying don’t insure, just be aware.

Your flights were under 30 euro....come on every policy has an excess. Taxes are always refundable directly from the airline : https://www.aerlingus.com/support/cancellations-and-refunds/

moonbloom

A few years ago I had an accident in the Canaries. I fell on marble stair case and had skull and facial fractures. My private health insurance covered my costs including helicopter transfer to Tenerife for maxillofacial surgery. My private HI covered my hospital costs and transfer to Tenerife but not other costs. However my regular travel insurance covered my outpatients appointments and scans after discharge, my accommodation until I was fit to fly and costs for a companion to stay in a 4 star hotel with me and while I was in hospital for 2 weeks in total and flights home, we even had to get a taxi from dublin airport to my door as it was covered in my plan. This policy cost about 15 euro from AA insurance. My advice... never chance travel without insurance.

limerickabroad

Agree that travel insurance is a very wise thing to have . . .

Have people found that over the last 2 years, the cost of travel insurance has gone up significantly? 2 years ago (with AA), mine was 30 euro per annum. Last year it went up to 40, and this year it is 50 euro. It's still worth it, of course, for peace of mind, but still . . .

huskerdu

limerickabroad wrote: »

Agree that travel insurance is a very wise thing to have . . .

Have people found that over the last 2 years, the cost of travel insurance has gone up significantly? 2 years ago (with AA), mine was 30 euro per annum. Last year it went up to 40, and this year it is 50 euro. It's still worth it, of course, for peace of mind, but still . . .

If you need annual insurance , you must travel abroad on 2 or more holidays a year. Therefore €50 must be a tiny percentage of your travel costs . Sounds like good value

Atlantic Dawn

The funniest is fools buying travel insurance the day before they travel, always have it the day you book your trip to get the actual value of it.

CelticRambler

Not necessarily. I deferred taking out an annual policy after booking the first part of an extended trip to the US last year because doing so meant the same policy would also cover an extended trip to Africa this year.

As it happened, the insurance wouldn't cover three "incidents" relating to the US trip (before I even got there) because from their point of view, they were either not part of my holiday (breakdown on the way to the airport in own car) or not actually a problem (second-leg flight from UK to France was cancelled by airline and refunded, with no other flight to that airport [ever], making the first-leg redundant). Fortunately, I got my money's worth out of the policy on the very last day of my "African" trip ... when I was robbed in Paris. :mad:

My only real interest in having the policy was for medical expenses (in the US) and to cover the repatriation of my injured or dead body. Over the years, I've found that no amount of insurance covers the kind of disruption caused by external forces, and it's much easier (and cheaper) to plan for and/or expect unforeseen events instead.

joeysoap

I checked out insurance for next year (starting at Easter). Very reasonable. €59 for cheapest €122 for most expensive. For both of us. Same company. Ok, I had a bad experience and probably had 30/40 holidays since no problems. Confess I treat a holiday in Eu same as I treat a holiday in Ireland. EU health insurance card, and relatively decent health insurance cover. ( am I correct in thinking this is the first call in hospital admissions etc and your travel insurance only kicks in when this is ‘exhausted’) doesn’t cover hotels for relatives ( evacuation for companion yes, accommodation no)

I travel light so lost baggage is well covered by airlines, as for cancelled flights, I’ve had only one, and that was due to the ash cloud and they re routed us.
I usually book accommodation with refund policy.


I’ll certainly reconsider for next year though. Does appear to offer decent value.

One thing I did notice was cash was covered up to €500. Don’t most people just use credit card and an ATM for carrying around money? I would never have €500 in cash at any time.

joeysoap

ted1 wrote: »

Your flights were under 30 euro....come on every policy has an excess. Taxes are always refundable directly from the airline : https://www.aerlingus.com/support/cancellations-and-refunds/

Claiming taxes back costs as much as they’re worth. And it only taxes, no the administration fees. Basically they’re dead money.

CelticRambler

joeysoap wrote: »

One thing I did notice was cash was covered up to €500. Don’t most people just use credit card and an ATM for carrying around money? I would never have €500 in cash at any time.

Neither do I - until the day I did, and then it got robbed. I don't have a credit card but arranged to pay a cash deposit for a rental vehicle in Africa, which was returned to me literally minutes before we went through security at the airport.

Check your small print though - my policy covered me for "cash and documents up to £750, excess £75" ... small print not noticed until I needed to make the claim: cash up to £250 pp.

joeysoap

I suppose every scenario is different. In 20 odd years I have never been refunded in cash. Usually deposit back to credit card within a week after holiday and returning home. I’m looking at Easter now and I’ll only consider apartments with refund policy’s. Most have refundable deposit for breakages etc.

CelticRambler

joeysoap wrote: »

In 20 odd years I have never been refunded in cash. Usually deposit back to credit card within a week after holiday and returning home.

Can't refund to a card that doesn't exist!

Credit cards aren't really a thing in France - debit cards all around, and cheques for refundable deposits. The particular problem in my case is the ATM gave me 500€ in 20€ notes :eek: and the rental company gave me back the same wad, which showed up as "something suspicious" on Frankfurt airport's full body scanners. After 8 hours in the air and with a connection to catch, I wasn't thinking straight and inadvertently put it into my wallet after showing it to the security guys instead of stuffing down my trousers (or elsewhere).

Muahahaha

Insurance aside everyone should get an E111 card which gives you access to any public hospital in the EU for free. Only problem is they expire after a couple of years so you have to remember to renew it.

L1011

EHIC card*, in case you have trouble finding the E111 that went out about 15 years ago

Even knowing the number is sufficient - you can get a paper fill in the blanks version - so email it to yourself when it arrives

ted1

L1011 wrote: »

EHIC card*, in case you have trouble finding the E111 that went out about 15 years ago

Even knowing the number is sufficient - you can get a paper fill in the blanks version - so email it to yourself when it arrives

Order here: https://www.sspcrs.ie/portal/ehic/pub/application