bchandler02

Looking for recommendations on travel insurance at an annual/multi trip plan. My primary item that I want protection for is airline delays (requiring new flights, or hotels) and baggage issues. This will be my first time purchasing a plan as I previously relied on CC travel protection, which is no longer an option.

I know of Allianz and AIG - are they the best options or are there better recommendations? What are the gotcha's to look for when purchasing this type of plan?

Thanks
BC

EuropeanPete

Presumably from a US resident perspective?

bchandler02

Yes

ctsgoblue

I'm curious as well if people have good recommendations. When I've read the T&Cs on these things, it always felt like there were so many outs the travel insurers have and documentation hoops they'll make you jump through to collect (e.g., I was looking at purchasing one for a 6-day trip during hurricane season and it said it would only pay if I lost >50% of my trip duration AND could prove I had no other option to arrive earlier--that means they could have demanded that I take a redeye with two stops, with small children in tow, on a trip I lost 2.5 days out of without qualifying for cancellation). I'm not looking to trade one headache for another, but have had a few trips where I've wanted to buy it before.

bchandler02

That's my thing too - just don't want to get scammed. Hoping someone can come along and recommend one that is decent.

bchandler02

I finally got around to being ready to purchase, and have narrowed it down to Allianz (Prime) vs. Travelguard. Here's what I am seeing for each.

AL vs. TG

• Trip Interruption: AL $3000, TG $2500. Winner - Allianz
• Trip Cancellation: AL $3000, TG not clear
• Missed Connection (delay): AL $200/day, TG $150/day Winner - Allianz
• Baggage Coverage: AL $1000, TG $2500 Winner - Travelguard
• Baggage Delay: AL $200/day, TG $200/day
• Medical/Dental: AL $20k, TG $50k Winner - Travelguard
• Evac: AL $100k, TG $500k Winner - Travelguard

Travelguard mentions a $100k benefit for security evacuation. I cannot determine if Allianz offers any coverage for this category.
Allianz offers $45k of rental car damage/theft coverage. I cannot find any coverage for this with Travelguard
I also cannot find any option with either for CFAR coverage.


Anyone have any thoughts or experience with these two plans?

bchandler02

Anyone?

1200GS

I can't speak to your options but I'm a long time medjet member and they're great. I, thankfully, have never had to use the service (although, I did have a family member that did), but their CX is top notch. It doesn't cover everything you're looking for, though.

bchandler02

I called each and asked. Neither offer CFAR on annual plans.

Allianz
- Does not offer coverage for security evacuation

Travelguard
- Does not offer trip cancellation coverage
- Does not provide rental car coverage

My thought is that I'm much more likely to have to cancel for one of their approved reasons than to need a security evacuation. Therefore, I think Allianz is the better of the two and likely what I will be going with.

Bandicoot

I'm very interested in this topic as well and keep dipping into it now and then. From older threads on FlyerTalk and what I've gleaned elsewhere, it seems to boil down to, get medical evacuation coverage (e.g., MedJet) to take care of the extreme and expensive problems, but don't worry about insurance for the more mundane trip delays or lost luggage stuff - over time you're not going to be better off than "self-insuring" by absorbing such occasional costs. (And if you can't afford it, you may need to think twice about whether such travel is actually reasonable for you.) Perhaps an exception can be made for extraordinary conditions like at the height of the covid pandemic when many travelers faced the possibility of being involuntarily quarantined in some foreign country for 2-3 weeks. But not for the more ordinary stuff. I tend to agree with this philosophy, and have not dived into buying travel insurance of this kind for the last several years.

Global Adventurer

Couldn't have said it better myself. I've been traveling internationally since the year 2000 and never had travel insurance. However, I have credit cards that have some minimal coverage and I have health insurance that works internationally and I've used it three times so far and never experienced any other mishaps that can occur while traveling like lost luggage, evacuations, canceled trips etc. To me Health Insurance is the most important thing, and my policy includes life flight evacuation for emergency situations.

Xyzzy

Does anyone have any current suggestions for medical evacuation insurance? I'm nt really interested in baggage delay, cancellations, or all the other things that such policies usually come with. I'm looking to get flown back to the US if I end up with a serious injury in some far flung place.

SanDiego1K

I've had MedJet for years. I buy 5 year family memberships. As best I know, it is the premier provider in this space.

https://medjetassist.com/

serpens

That was (and still is, largely) my attitude, but I purchased an annual policy from Travel Guard because the increase in premium compared to MedJet was less than $100. In other words, I get that "mundane" stuff for under $100 per year. BUT...

This is insurance, and I hope never to use any of it. If the time comes, however, I will regret not getting MedJet if that is easier to use than Travel Guard for evacuation. Can anyone report on the difficulty of using MedJet, the difficulty of using Travel Guard, and especially a comparison between the two?

Xyzzy

Any comments on how the above plans compare with something like GeoBlue -- which has additional medical benefits but seems pretty reasnably priced?