Trip Insurance

[PlatypusMan]

Trip Insurance--do you get it?

What's covered? What's not?

How easy or hard was it to make/settle your claim?

Since folks I know just ended a group dive trip VERY early to Cozumel thanks to H.Dean, I was wondering about this rarely spoken about aspect of travel--particularly Scuba Travel.

[MelC]

I bought trip insurance for the first time this summer - for my Sept 1 trip to Roatan. Crossing my fingers H. Dean won't make me use it (so far so good).

Mel

[Illini_Fan]

Platty -- I'm probably in the minority on this one, but I don't get trip insurance. To me, trip insurance (or any insurance for that matter) is meant to cover the cost of replacing something that is too expensive for you to cover out of pocket.

Frequently, I piece together my own travel, so canceling the hotel is usually easy as is the rental car -- I fly enough that even if I cancel the ticket on a non-refundable fare, I can apply the money to a new ticket less the $100 change fee. The dive boat would be the lost money and the cost of insurance as a percent of the trip doesn't justify it for me.

I rather save the $50-$200 depending on the trip and allocate that toward another adventure. The only time I did take trip insurance was when I went to hike Mt. Kilimanjaro -- but the reason for the insurance was the medical evac that was part of the package.

With diving, my DAN coverage has medical covered, so trip insurance is a waste of money from my perspective.

Finally (and this is hearsay, since I've never experienced), I've heard people complain about how difficult the terms and conditions of trip insurance can be in terms of getting an actual payout.

[georoc01]

Well, all I can say is that I wished I did buy it prior to my trip for this week to Cozumel. If you are headed to the Caribbean during hurricane season, its probalby a good idea. I also get it on cruises since it includes assistance in getting you to the boat if you miss because of airline delays.

[Ted S]

I've got some protection through other services like Dan, my credit card, etc... Generally if the trip its self (air + hotel) is less then $1000 I don't worry about it. Hotel and airlines give credit, if not a refund. For a dive specific trip it makes sense to inquire about insurance or see if your dive insurance can be increased to cover the amount of the trip cost. For $20 or so it's worth it, especially if you're traveling to somewhere hurricane-prone.

[skiallday]

I buy trip insurance when I am spending $1500 or more per person. Usually just go to insuremytrip.com and find the best deal.

[Scubakraut]

DAN will have you covered and it comes with your dive insurance. If you buy separate trip insurance make sure you read all the fine print.

[highdesert]

Originally Posted by Scubakraut

DAN will have you covered and it comes with your dive insurance. If you buy separate trip insurance make sure you read all the fine print.

DAN's dive insurance does not include trip insurance. That's and extra, and from DAN it's expensive. We're off this week on an $11000 dollar trip, and for me, spending $350 for insurance was well worth it. If you break your leg the day before you leave, and can't go, you recover almost everything. That close to departure, no one is going to return your funds otherwise.

[Defman]

I always get it, it's usually cheap and since I often go to CZM in Sept/Oct I'm dodging hurricanes. Saved me on Wilma, would have saved me on Keith if "he" hadn't decided to visit Belize instead.