I have pretty much given up on sitting 13 hours in an aluminum tube to fly to the States and will be doing most (all?) of my future travel to Europe.
El Al's FF program is a complete waste. I am seriously thinking of making Lufthansa my main carrier (it has more flights from Israel than any other foreign carrier) but am running into a health insurance problem.
I have a Deutsche Bank Gold Mastercard, which is a bit expensive, but made worthwhile because it has an excellent travel health insurance package at no extra charge. The only problem with it is that it is not valid in Germany.
That is fine for someone who lives in Germany but for me it is a major hurdle. If I fly to Germany, even if I stay only a day (or less), I have to buy health insurance for the entire trip. At my age (I will be 66 in December) and having had a quadruple bypass operation 3 years ago, rates are very high.
I know that one of the Miles&More credit cards, available to anyone who has a bank account in Germany, has a travel health insurance policy included. I have two questions about it:
1. Is it valid in Germany if your residence is in a different country?
2. How good of a policy is it? (My DB card would cover almost all of my medical/hosptal expenses.)
I have pretty much given up on sitting 13 hours in an aluminum tube to fly to the States and will be doing most (all?) of my future travel to Europe.
El Al's FF program is a complete waste. I am seriously thinking of making Lufthansa my main carrier (it has more flights from Israel than any other foreign carrier) but am running into a health insurance problem.
I have a Deutsche Bank Gold Mastercard, which is a bit expensive, but made worthwhile because it has an excellent travel health insurance package at no extra charge. The only problem with it is that it is not valid in Germany.
That is fine for someone who lives in Germany but for me it is a major hurdle. If I fly to Germany, even if I stay only a day (or less), I have to buy health insurance for the entire trip. At my age (I will be 66 in December) and having had a quadruple bypass operation 3 years ago, rates are very high.
I know that one of the Miles&More credit cards, available to anyone who has a bank account in Germany, has a travel health insurance policy included. I have two questions about it:
1. Is it valid in Germany if your residence is in a different country?
2. How good of a policy is it? (My DB card would cover almost all of my medical/hosptal expenses.)
For 1. the T&Cs of the German M&M CC health insurance are:
"4. Als Ausland gilt nicht das Staatsgebiet, in dem die versicherte Person ihren ständigen Wohnsitz hat."
= Not valid within the country of permanent residence.
Link to the T&Cs (German only): http://www.miles-and-more-kreditkart...redit_Card.pdf
Can't comment on 2. .
"4. Als Ausland gilt nicht das Staatsgebiet, in dem die versicherte Person ihren ständigen Wohnsitz hat."
= Not valid within the country of permanent residence.
Link to the T&Cs (German only): http://www.miles-and-more-kreditkart...redit_Card.pdf
Thank you.
My Deutsche Bank card also has that restriction (I can't use it in Israel) but also has a restriction against use by anyone in Germany.
I can't read German -- is there any such restriction in the T&Cs you linked to?
My Deutsche Bank card also has that restriction (I can't use it in Israel) but also has a restriction against use by anyone in Germany.
I can't read German -- is there any such restriction in the T&Cs you linked to?
No mention of Germany being excluded. They are only talking about "the scope is determined by this T&Cs, additional agreements and German law", whatever that means.
You need the insurance for the unlikely case that something bad happens to you - in which case, you might really need the help of the insurance company. I think it's not wise to choose an insurance company where you cannot even understand the contract you sign nor their t&c.
You need the insurance for the unlikely case that something bad happens to you - in which case, you might really need the help of the insurance company. I think it's not wise to choose an insurance company where you cannot even understand the contract you sign nor their t&c.
I agree with you. DB's insurance company (GLOBALE Krankenversicherungs-AG) sent me the full contract in English and I have asked Miles&More for the same. However, my first question to Miles&More, which was a much simpler one (I merely asked them for my account number) took over three weeks to get an answer.
If I am going to make the switch to the Miles&More credit card I want to do it when I am in my bank in Germany on 6 December.
1. The Miles&More credit card insurance would cover me in Germany as it is not my country of residence.
2. It has no maximum on payouts and no deductible.
3. The killer in the deal, however, is that there are many physical conditions it does not cover and pre-existing conditions are excluded.
Anyone my age has pre-existing conditions. There are many we know about and probably some we don't know about. A little over 3 years ago, I had a quadruple bypass operation. The Deutsche Bank card's insurance company has assured me (in writing) that as long as I had medical clearance before the trip stating that I am in condition to fly that I would be covered in case of any heart problem. That makes Deutsche Bank's card a much better deal for me than Miles&More.
If I fly into Germany, I will have to buy insurance in Israel for the entire length of my trip in order to be covered in Germany. This comes to about $7.50 per day, and for a long trip (say, three weeks) can be very expensive. My only way around it, other than to risk not having coverage in Germany, is to avoid Germany completely.
I think I will look for another European airline to be my main carrier now that I no longer will be doing much travel to the States.
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I've gotten medical insurance for visiting friends (germany requires proof of insurance at the time you apply for a visa) using Ergo's 'visitors to Germany' policy:
You insure the vistor per day of stay in Germany and certain other countries. The insurance covers everything you need to be fit to return home again. Preconditions are OK as long as its clear you don' intend to get sick in Germany to have some of you bypasses redone.
BTW, I had the case that a freinds FIL visited DC and fell sick requiring a 2 or 3x bypass. Mercury, the company handling the insurance, claimed it was a precondition and the hospital sent my friend the bill. He successfully argued the insurance needs to pay all measures to bring the patient to a state that makes him/her fit to return home.
I've gotten medical insurance for visiting friends (germany requires proof of insurance at the time you apply for a visa) using Ergo's 'visitors to Germany' policy:
You insure the vistor per day of stay in Germany and certain other countries. The insurance covers everything you need to be fit to return home again. Preconditions are OK as long as its clear you don' intend to get sick in Germany to have some of you bypasses redone.
Thank you. That is a very big help and I will definitely take advantage of it in the future.
For my upcoming trip, I will be spending 6 days in Prague and 7 in Germany. Having this insurance would have cut my price in half (as I am already covered in Prague).
More importantly, as I may well be travelling through Germany on trips to Italy, it will allow me to buy single day insurance instead of two week's worth.
