After reading about a traveler who had to cancel their Disney trip because her daughter ran away and then discovered that her Disney travel insurance refused to refund the trip losses, we were curious about Disney travel insurance. We searched around on the Disney Cruise site to determine their travel insurance offering and found this plan customized for Disney Cruise Line Vacations by Access America (now known as Allianz Travel Insurance).

A note: we don’t know which insurance plan the traveler in the article purchased, so this is purely a research and comparison effort.

The Disney Cruise plan comes with an introduction addressed to Disney passengers that answers a number of common questions, and then gets right into the details of the certificate of insurance. The customized Disney insurance plan is very similar to standard travel insurance plans.

The plan comes with a 10-day free review period and 24-hour assistance services.

The schedule of coverage reads like this:

SCHEDULE OF COVERAGE
The following maximum levels of coverage are available:
1. Trip Cancellation/Interruption Protection Up To Trip Cost*
2. Travel Delay $500 per individual
3. Emergency Medical/Dental $10,000 per individual
4. Baggage Coverage $3,000 per individual
5. Baggage Delay $500 per individual
6. Emergency Med. Transportation $30,000 per individual
*Maximum coverage available is $10,000 per individual. Only
expenses booked through Disney Cruise Line will be covered.

The covered reasons for trip cancellation and interruption include:

• serious illness and injury or death of you, a traveling companion, or family member (with restrictions)
• natural disasters resulting in the complete cessation of services for at least 24 hours
• hijacking or quarantine of you or a traveling companion
• being required to serve on a jury or appear in court (keep a copy of your subpoena)
• primary residence made uninhabitable by fire, flood, burglary, vandalism or natural disaster (note the ‘uninhabitable’ restriction)
• traffic accident en route
• military leave is revoked or  you or a traveling companion is reassigned within 10 days of your departure date
• victim of felonious assault within 10 days of your departure
• laid off from an employer you or a traveling companion have worked for at least three continuous years (note the continuous employment with the same employer restriction)
• family or friends with whom you are planning to stay are unable to accommodate you due to a life threatening illness, injury or death
• normal pregnancy as long as the pregnancy occurs after your effective date and can be verified by medical records (note the need for medical records)

As with any travel insurance plan, this Disney plan has relatively standard restrictions and exclusions a traveler must be aware of and follow to make a claim.

It also includes the same general exclusions stated in typical travel insurance plans:

Part VI. GENERAL EXCLUSIONS
These exclusions apply to all plan benefits and services. In
addition to any exclusions that apply to a particular benefit, no
coverage is provided for any loss arising directly or indirectly out
of or as a result of the following:
1. Intentionally self-inflicted harm, suicide or attempted
suicide, by You, a Traveling Companion or a Family
Member;
2. Normal Pregnancy (unless as specifically covered), fertility
treatments, Childbirth or elective abortion, other than
unforeseen complications of pregnancy, of You, a
Traveling Companion or a Family Member;
3. Mental or nervous health disorders, including but not
limited to: anxiety, depression, neurosis or psychosis; or
physical complications related thereto, of You, a Traveling
Companion or a Family Member;
4. Alcohol or substance abuse or use; or conditions or
physical complications related thereto, of You, a Traveling
Companion or a Family Member;
5. War (whether declared or undeclared), acts of war, military
duty (unless as specifically covered), civil disorder or
unrest (except as provided for in Travel Delay); Page 17
6. Participation in professional or amateur sport events
(including training);
7. All extreme, high risk sports including but not limited to:
bodily contact sports; skydiving; hang gliding, bungee
jumping, parachuting; mountain climbing or any other high
altitude activities, caving, heli-skiing, extreme skiing, or any
skiing outside marked trails;
8. Scuba diving (unless accompanied by a dive master and
not deeper than 130 feet);
9. Operating or learning to operate any aircraft as pilot or
crew;
10. Nuclear reaction, radiation or radioactive contamination;
11. Natural disasters (unless as specifically covered);
12. Epidemic;
13. Pollution or threat of pollutant release;
14. Any unlawful acts committed by You, Family Members, or
Traveling Companions, whether they are insured or not;
15. Any expected or reasonably foreseeable events; or
16. Financial Default of a travel supplier.

Where does Disney Travel Insurance fall short?

First, let us be clear that we only reviewed a single Disney travel insurance plan, but the one problem we see with purchasing Disney Cruise Travel Insurance is that there appears to be no add-on options to fill out the coverage. For many Disney travelers, this coverage will work just fine, but for those unique situations you may encounter, such as the traveler we mentioned at the beginning of this post (her daughter ran away before the trip), you could lose a lot of money.

For example, the Disney plan doesn’t appear to provide a ‘cancel for any reason’ option or adventure sports (in case you want to try paragliding on your vacation). Neither does the Disney plan cover losses or expenses resulting from pre-existing medical conditions that occurred during the 60 days prior to the effective date of your insurance. While this is typical for many travel insurance plans, there are options with third-party travel insurance providers if the plan is purchased within a certain number of days of the first trip payment. See a list of providers that deliver coverage for pre-existing medical conditions.

So, is Disney Travel Insurance ‘real’ and is it worth it?

Yes, it appears that (at least with this policy) Disney travel insurance is real travel insurance and for many Disney travelers, the coverage should provide what they need within the restrictions and exclusions of the policy.  As always, we strongly recommend that all travelers who purchase travel insurance plans use their free look period to read the policy and understand their coverage so they aren’t surprised when their claim is denied.

See these links for additional information:

• Understanding the Free Look Period/Refund Policy
• 4 steps to 100% confidence in your travel insurance plan
• 8 Steps to verify you have the right travel insurance plan

For a number of reasons, it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what health care costs in America, so we called a few hospitals and asked what treatment for the following conditions cost patients.  We discovered:

• A recent 2-night hospital visit for a dehydrated patient with Type 1 Diabetes cost over $10,000.
• A recent emergency room visit for a 10-year-old child with a broken arm cost her parents nearly $1,000.
• The care and treatment for a 50-year-old stroke patient could reach as high as $150,000.

Health conditions such as a stroke, a broken arm, even a heart attack cannot be predicted, and these conditions could occur while you are traveling just as much as they could while you go about your daily life at home. Pre-existing conditions such as diabetes or hypertension, while known risk factors, still cause health surprises when you’re traveling. For visitors to the U.S., it’s crucial to have adequate travel health insurance, and for U.S. citizens traveling abroad (where your health coverage does not extend), it’s also crucial to have adequate travel health insurance – or risk having to pay those high costs all on your own.

Why Pre-existing Conditions are a Peril of Travel Health Insurance

Many travelers think the simple purchase of travel health insurance is enough, but for many, a pre-existing medical condition is the reason their travel health insurance claim is denied. Sadly, this is a source of anger and frustration as demonstrated by the comments on this site.

It’s important for travelers to understand how travel insurance defines a pre-existing medical condition, which is:

any injury, illness, disease or other medical condition that occurs prior to the travel plan’s effective date and for which you had symptoms and sought diagnosis, medical treatment, and/or new prescription medications or a change in your current prescription.

That means if you are being treated for anything – any medical condition at all – and that condition is not controlled by your current medication, it’s a pre-existing condition. For more information, read carefully about the look-back period, what it means to be medically stable, and a qualification chart for pre-existing medical conditions.

Travelers with Pre-existing Conditions can still get Adequate Travel Health Insurance

If you have been treated for any injury, illness, or disease during the travel plan’s look-back period, you must assume that it will be defined as a pre-existing medical condition. If you’re not sure, call the travel plan’s assistance services number during the free review period and ask.

To get a travel plan with coverage for pre-existing medical conditions:

1. You’ll need to purchase a plan that offers the specific exclusion waiver because travel insurance automatically excludes coverage for pre-existing medical conditions.
2. You must purchase your plan within a certain number of days from the initial trip deposit. Typically, this is 14-21 days but the restriction varies per plan.
3. You must be medically stable when you purchase the plan, and if you have to make a claim, the travel insurance provider will examine your health records for the look-back period.

Let’s look at an example

Using the travel insurance comparison engine, we plugged in the following trip details:

• Two Colorado residents, ages 50 and 53
• Traveling to Hawaii for 7 days in December

We filtered the plans that appeared for those with a pre-existing medical condition waiver. The following demonstrates how much a plan would cost and provide a brief review of the plan’s coverage features:

As you can see, spending just a little more cash and a little more time to choose a travel health plan with the coverage you need can provide a lot of health care coverage for a very reasonable price. These travelers can also use their own health insurance plan and cover the out-of-network costs with their travel health plan coverage.

This week, Travel Guard announced the winner of their World’s Unluckiest Traveler Award.

According to the story, a young couple’s Fiji and New Zealand wedding and honeymoon trip was dangerously derailed when the new husband experienced excruciating pain and had to deplane prior to heading home. A brutal taxi ride, a closed medical clinic, and a kind local finally resulted in their arrival at a hospital where a burst appendix was diagnosed.

The young husband went through emergency surgery, but was soon kicked out of the hospital while not yet fully recovered. His wife located a nearby hotel where the couple could rest and he could complete his recovery. She then arranged for new air transportation home after he was cleared to travel.

Travel Guard awarded the couple a $10,000 ‘Heros Vacation’ in honor of the young wife who kept her cool and nursed her husband. Read the full story and see the video.

In our fully networked and over-stimulated world, many individual and family travelers are now reaching for off-the-grid trips and adventures – those to remote locations where there is no cell phone service, no Internet connection, and simply nothing to plug into.

Resorts and tourist sites that cater to eco-travelers or green travelers, are showing travelers how to make their own power, grown their own food, and otherwise connect to nature and leave their electronics behind.

So, what does a traveler need when heading off-the-grid? The following are the top recommended travel products for travel off the grid:

1. Earplugs – honestly, a pair or two of these should be in every traveler’s bag. Trips to remote places often mean at least some time in a small, noisy plane or on a small, noisy boat. Besides, what if there’s an enthusiastic population of birds or howler monkeys outside your room? Just pack ’em. You won’t be sorry.
2. Dramamine or your favorite motion sickness remedy. Again, trips to remote locations often mean rough travel, so be prepared. While your at it, toss in bug repellent, sunscreen, and a first aid kit too.
3. A flashlight or headlamp – if a composting outhouse is your only available facility, don’t navigate it in the dark. You may not be the only creature in there!
4. A water purifier – handheld portable water purification systems use ultraviolet light to destroy waterborne microbes, the same one that can make you deathly ill.
5. Sturdy shoes – hey, ‘off the grid’ means there won’t be those nice smooth sidewalks to walk on. You should also pack a hat (for sun shade), decent socks, and comfortable clothing appropriate to the weather conditions.
6. Luggage with backpack straps – unless you’re hiring a personal sherpa, these can save your back if you have to walk for any distance and it’s likely you will.
7. Extra camera batteries – you’re going to want lots of pictures to make your Facebook friends jealous when you get back home, but you won’t have a place to recharge, so pack extra camera batteries.

You finally arrive – exhausted, hungry, and feeling a little dusty – only to be told that your reservation is not to be found. Before you go postal on the desk manager, take a deep breath. Sometimes the problem is simple; the desk manager could be tired too and may have miss-typed your name.

In the moment

Have your travel companion call the site you used to book the hotel, so they can help you get re-accommodated. If the original hotel doesn’t have availability, ask if there is a sister property where you can be rebooked at no extra charge. You should also ask for transportation (or a voucher) to get you there.

If the hotel where you are rebooked is not of the same standard, ask what they will be refunding you. Don’t be afraid to ask for restaurant credit too.

Next time, Be prepared

1. Carry the phone numbers with you. The number of the hotel, the number of the service or travel agent through which you booked the room, etc.
2. If you are arriving late, contact the hotel and let them know, so they don’t release your room to the tired traveler standing in front of them at the same desk.
3. A printed confirmation, or one you can show the manager on your mobile, can go a long way toward making your case.

For peace of mind, the best strategy is to call the hotel a few days before your arrival to verify the reservation. Even if you booked the room through a third party, call the hotel directly. This is especially true if you made special requests, such as adjoining rooms, to keep an eye on the kids, for example. Special requests don’t always get through the online booking sites to the hotel itself. Verify those requests in advance and you’ll feel a lot better about having a room when you arrive.

Say you’re taking an long cruise, or visiting a remote region of Costa Rica, or doing a little mountain climbing in Tanzania and you know you’ll be many miles away from the nearest hospital. What happens if you become ill or are injured and urgently need medical attention (sooner rather than later, that is)?

This is the situation medical evacuation coverage was designed to handle, but a lot of consumers confuse “emergency assistance” with “emergency evacuation” because they sound a lot alike. When it comes to travel insurance and credit card travel protection, however, these are very different terms indeed.

With both travel insurance and credit card travel protection:

• Emergency assistance means having a 24-hour hotline answered by a representative who will help you connect with the services you need. This is an excellent benefit when you’re kid is running a fever and you have no idea where the nearest hospital or medical facility might be. (Full details on emergency assistance with your travel insurance.)
• Emergency evacuation, on the other hand, means those representatives will arrange for you to be retrieved from the location where you are to the nearest appropriate medical facility. This coverage also ensures that you get back home after you are treated in a hospital. So, if you are hurt in Bali and get airlifted to Malaysia for treatment, they handle all that AND get you back home. (Full details on emergency evacuations with your travel insurance.)

Credit cards have emergency assistance, just like travel insurance plans do, but they do not cover emergency evacuations.

Evacuations are high-dollar items. While many people don’t think twice about insuring their baggage or the rental car (that’s where credit card protection is about the same as travel insurance), losing those items aren’t likely to break the bank – your bank, that is. Figuring out how to cough up ten thousand or a hundred thousand dollars for a medical evacuation is completely different.

If you haven’t checked a calendar lately, it’s time to sneak a peek at what days the Christmas holiday fall on this year and make plans.

In particular, we recommend:

1. Shop early, wrap your presents and ship them ahead. You know you can’t get a wrapped present through security anymore, so save time and baggage fees (and wrapping paper) by shipping everything ahead. Heck, while you’re at it, ship the extra diapers, gear, clothing, movies, favorite cereal and anything else you’ll need while on your visit.
2. Start looking for airline fares yesterday. With Christmas Eve and Christmas on a Saturday-Sunday combo, there will be a mass stampede for the weekend flights with a Monday or Tuesday return. See the Airline Fees Guide 2011 to calculate the extra fees you could be paying.
3. Check in at home (if you can). We recently read that some airlines won’t let you check in at home if you have indicated you will be traveling with an infant in your lap. If you can check in at home, you’ll save yourself one line at the airport.
4. Pack light. We can’t stress this enough. If you followed step 1, you’re already ahead of the game, but packing light can save your back, your shoulders, and your patience. Plus, it’s loads cheaper than paying more bag fees. See our post on learning to pack light.
5. Bring snacks and a water bottle. Airports are getting better about having healthy options, but by and large the food that is available is less than healthy. Plus, you’ll pay exorbitant markup for the snacks. You’ll have to fill the water bottle after you get through security, of course, but most vendors are happy to do that with a purchase of your morning coffee or tea for example.

If you plan on skiing or snowboarding this year – even inside your own country – please take a look at these statistics and understand the range of your health insurance or purchase ski travel insurance.

What is ski travel insurance?

Ski travel insurance is just a fancy name for a travel insurance package, which can be purchased for a single trip or on an annual basis. If you are planning a number of ski or snowboard trips, and you know you’ll be outside the network of your own health insurance, please consider purchasing a travel insurance package to protect yourself (and your family) from the high cost of medical care outside your network.  This is especially true if you will be outside your home country (where your health insurance does not extend).

Another important coverage to verify in your travel insurance package is medical evacuation. If you have to be airlifted off the mountain and taken to a hospital, you can bet those costs won’t be covered by the ski resort. You’ll have to pay those costs.

Important! Check the travel insurance policy to be sure it covers skiing or snowboarding. Sometimes, these activities are excluded from coverage and require the addition of an adventure or hazardous sports rider to be added to the plan.

Lets look at some ski and snowboard stats

According to the National Ski Areas Association, the 2009/2010 ski season was an average year for fatalities and serious injuries.  Out of 59.8 million skiers and snowboarders, there were:

1. 38 fatalities
   • 25 skiers (18 male, 7 female)
   • 13 snowboraders (12 male, 1 female)
2. 39 serious injuries
   • 16 skiers (11 male, 5 female)
   • 23 snowboarders (16 male, 7 female)

Of course, as a yearly average, these deaths, while tragic, don’t reach nearly the number of Americans who die in motor-vehicle accidents, bike riding, or even drowning. Plus, the overall rate of reported skiing injuries has declined by half since the early 1970s, partly due to change in the structure of ski boot binding systems.