Ask A Question: ANSWERS ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT TO KNOW

Janice from Kissimmee Florida asks this question about travel insurance:

I’m trying to decide between TravelGuard and CSA. My TA recommended CSA, so I’m leaning toward that, but I noticed that insuremytrip.com includes an asterisk for CSA that says “Coverage on this policy is less than requested or may be limited.” I’m not sure how this applies, because the coverage with CSA actually appears to be greater than with TravelGuard (ie, the dollar amounts for coverage are larger and it includes flight insurance, which TravelGuard does not for the plan I’m considering). Any thoughts? Thanks!

Great questions and common concerns!

Ok first, what are you trying to do? Do you have specific, real reasons for buying travel insurance or are you just playing it safe?

I only ask because your answer has a LOT to do with which direction you go.

Do you have any pre-existing medical conditions or reasons to believe ahead of time that you might have to cancel your cruise? Like maybe a job that could/would get you called away at the last minute or a relative that might have a health issue that would keep you from going. Or maybe you even have airline tickets on a carrier you have real worries about being in the air at the time you need them to be. USAir, for example, was dropped by Travel Guard for a while and not covered by any policy. Later they took them back and are covering them but those can be important considerations.

Another consideration is if you have group health care insurance, will it cover problems on a cruise ship or an island? Ours, for example, covers illness anywhere in the world but at the “out of network” rate (duh) since we wouldn’t be going through our primary care doc in, for example, St Thomas.

If you don’t have any real concerns and are playing it safe, good for you. It surely is the safe and smart way to go. I personally never bought it until Lisa got Cancer and had a real reason for it.

The quotes you get on Insuremytrip.com can sometimes be misleading. This is really NOT an area where the cheapest is the best…but I think you’re finding that out. If you were buying a box of Cheerios that would be fine, they’re all the same. Not so with travel insurance.

I’d say go with what your TA recommends if you trust them. In many states agents must be licensed to sell it and have been trained about the coverage’s they offer. If you have ANY questions at all though be sure you get the answers from your TA or from the insurance company itself. They all have 800 hotline numbers and people standing by 24/7 to answer your questions before during and after they sell you.

Or you could ask your home/auto/life agent who you may know better or have known longer and trust more. They might not handle it but they all know somebody who does. Also, check with your credit card company. Some include travel insurance when you buy your vacation with their card

What’s with the “etc” now?

If you (are one fo the few that) come here frequently you know this is all about cruise vacations.   Originally called “Essential Cruise Information” the purpose of this blog was to have a place to put stuff that didn’t fit elsewhere.  My website, www.LifeIsCruising.com offers a ton of information and for almost ten years now was quite enough.  My weekly newsletter every Friday titled “Get Ready For Your Cruise” has even more.  Combined they make for a good way to learn about cruising, kill time until your cruise and plan for the next one.  But there are some things that just didn’t fit either one.  Have you ever tried to put something in an email and thought “This would be WAY easier to do over the phone”?

That’s kind of the thought behind this blog

…or it was

Now, being on Twitter, (Orlando Chris), Facebook, MySpace, Plaxo, and some others I don’t even remember, things have seriously gotten out of hand.   I find myself feeling guilty for not keeping up with all this stuff.  So I’m adding a new dimension:  what I think about other stuff too.   Your first thought might be very much like mine was “So, who cares?”

Apparently a lot of people do.   Today’s electronic media makes it possible for me to follow people almost down to their individual thoughts.

I think you can look at that two ways:

1. No thanks: Too much information.  I really don’t care what you’re doing on the way to class
2. Cool: This is like socially acceptable eavesdropping (spying) and who doesn’t want to be a spy?

Basically,  I am giving in and putting everything online.

Now before you throw away the TV and expect top notch entertainment, listen:  You’re not going to pressure me into posting stuff here all the time.  I might just not have anything to say!

Like today; nothing    Well, something,  but this is it.