Travel Insurance

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  • Travel insurance for children

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    Dec 4, 2019

    Hi! We are traveling abroad (Spain) for the holidays with 2 toddlers in tow. The past few years with little ones, we have realized that winter = someone is always sick. I worry less about me and my husband, but we've had some unpleasant scares with extremely nasty colds for our kids (vomiting, diarrhea, needing special breathing machine, rashes that freak us out, etc.). I've been lucky to be able to take them during the day to their pediatrician for sick visits (none of which turned out to be major illnesses, but just a lot of discomfort), but I'm a little worried about when we are abroad for 2.5 weeks. We are making sure to be up-to-date on vaccinations beforehand. Have you purchased travel insurance for your kids? Did you find it necessary, or, if knowledgeable about Spain, could we just use an urgent care center if absolutely necessary? Thanks!

    Dec 4, 2019

    First check with your current health insurance coverage. Ours covers both urgent (like what you described) and emergency care anywhere in the world (assuming it's a temporary visit, not that you've moved there), but some cover only true emergencies. You may have to pay up front and get reimbursed. I'm not certain about Spain, but I think some places cover visitor urgent needs, too, so look into that as well.

    Dec 11, 2019

Archived Q&A and Reviews

Questions

Travel insurance with baby

April 2011

We're taking our first big vacation with the baby, spending about $2200 on hotels driving around California. We could lose a lot of money if baby gets sick and we can't go, and since cancellations mostly require 30 days in advance (or worse), we were thinking about travel insurance. Have you been successfully reimbursed in a similar situation, and if so, what company did you work with? traveling mama

I don't know what hotels you booked, but my experience is that most hotels let you cancel and won't charge you until 6pm on the day of arrival. No insurance needed. Frequent traveler

Have you ever collected on trip cancellation insurance?

June 2006

Has anyone actually collected on trip cancellation insurance? If so, please recommend the company. I've heard some horror stories. We have very frail parents, and I want to be prepared in case I have to cancell a big trip for reasons of illness of travellers or family members Karen

I used Access America when my mother in law was dying of cancer and successfully collected. As it turned out, I had to cancel my trip not because of her illness (she had already died by then) but because of a sinus infection that kept me from flying. I had to get my doctor to fill out a form, but it was quite straightforward and the check arrived within a month. I wished I'd had it earlier, when my MOL went into the hospital and I had to cancel another trip.

Both flights had Access America options on the webpage where I bought the tickets -- I think it was $12 -- well worth it in my experience Nelly

I am a doctor and just wrote a letter last month for a patient who had to cancel a cruise. They got full reimbursement, I believe. The company was Old Republic Insurance Company Tara

Travel Insurance for Alaska Cruise

June 2005

We will be taking a 7 night Alaska cruise to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday. Does anyone has recommendation on travel/cruise insurance? Pauline

We got a policy online through Travel Guard that was relatively easy to do (www.travelguard.com) for a recent trip to Hawaii. One of their policies was a good match for what we wanted. Each company offers something slightly different, so figure out what you want covered. Some cover only trip costs, others cover medical and so on.

There was another company we found called Access America, but they were significantly more expensive. There is also AAA, but I think they are a reseller of the Access America policies and were pretty pricy.

We went on our trip and so never filed a claim, so I can't vouch for how they respond to claims.