TRAVEL ADVENTURE JOURNAL

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Trip Cancellation Insurance

August 2010

I've been ill recently -- not life-threateningly ill, but ill enough that our upcoming departure to Morocco has been in question. 

I've never bought trip cancellation insurance.  Its always struck me as denoting a rather pessimistic view of the future.  In addition, I've always believed it is overpriced for what is offered and when I've reviewed the exclusions and fine print, its always seemed to me that there are more than enough exceptions to allow the insurer to weasel out of paying up, if and when the time comes to file a claim. 

But perhaps this is a slanted perspective -- although I've always been somewhat cynical about the need for various types of insurance, i.e., auto, homeowners, health, etc., I do recognize that for many people it can serve a rational goal.  After all, if you were run over by a truck, a good life insurance policy would most certainly help secure the financial future for your loved ones. 

But the key purpose of insurance, regardless of what type it may be, is to provide a financial buffer in situations when one simply does not have the resources available to cover whatever the loss may be.   For example, does it makes sense for Bill Gates, whose net worth is somewhere in the range of 35 billion dollars, to buy a one million dollar life insurance policy?  Obviously not, since a million bucks would be a drop in the bucket for Mr. Gates.

But I digress.  With respect to travel insurance, I've always felt that I could relatively easily absorb the cost of a last-minute trip cancellation, or, in a worst case scenario, i.e., a sudden illness or family emergency, the expense of heading to the nearest airport and heading home.  Believe me, the last place I would want to be in a hospital would be Cambodia or Laos!

Its also important to appreciate that in most situations, travel insurers are pretty clear that if you must cancel due to a "pre-existing" condition, there's a good chance that they will deny your claim.  The problem here is what actually qualifies as pre-existing.  For example, if you have diabetes and suddenly have a heart attack, which a known complication of long-standing insulin-dependent diabetes, there's a better than average chance your reimbursement for canceling would be denied.

On a related note, I should mention that there are different types of trip cancellation insurance.   At the low end, the simplest and cheapest policies simply reimburse you for out-of-pocket expenses if you are past the "drop-dead" deadline for canceling your trip due to personal or family illness or emergency.  This type of policy will also pay to fly you home ASAP should your trip be interrupted by a personal or family emergency. 

At the higher end, travel insurance policies may also include medical insurance -- these policies cost much more than a basic repatriation policy.  A policy that provides medical reimbursement for health care obtained abroad could be beneficial if one does not have any health insurance coverage at all.  However if you have a primary health insurance policy through, for example, Kaiser Permanente (in the U.S.), or through a provincial health plan (in Canada), its very likely that a substantial portion of your out-of-pocket medical expense which occurs while traveling abroad would be reimbursed by the plan.  (You would, of course, be well-advised to contact the plan immediately at the time you need the care.)

So -- should you buy trip cancellation insurance?  For our upcoming Morocco adventure with Intrepid Travel, I booked a low-end policy through HTH International http://www.hthtravelinsurance.com/index.cfm which essentially covers the cost of repatriation should we suddenly need to cut our trip short and return home.  However the only reason I purchased this policy is that Intrepid requires it as a condition of booking with them.  The cost is minimal, only $25 per person, and it only covers us for the 15 days we are traveling with Intrepid. 

If you want a policy that will have the fewest restrictions on coverage, you should probably purchase travel insurance immediately at the time you book the travel.  Reading the fine print is essential to determine what, if anything, will be excluded should you have to cancel your trip and file a claim.  Ultimately, I believe the decision as to whether to purchase a policy or not relates to your financial status, i.e., can you afford to take the loss on a last-minute non-refundable cancellation?  For example, if you've booked a high-end African Safari at a cost of $10,000 per person, and you can get a cancellation policy for a few hundred dollars, it may well be worth the peace of mind.  But for a low-end tour, if you're generally in good health, its probably not worth spending the extra money.

 

We're Off To MOROCCO!

May 2010

Well, not right away -- but we're booked on a fifteen day Intrepid travel adventure Colors of Morocco!  We'll be leaving from San Francisco in early October and returning several weeks later.  You can check out our itinerary at https://www.intrepidtravel.com/trips/XSC .

After waiting thirty plus years, I'm finally going to make it to Marrakech!  (Read my post of 1/24/10 for an explanation.)

Turns out that getting there is a tricky business!

Ideally one would get on the plane in San Francisco and get off in Casablanca, where the trip begins, but -- no surprise -- there are no direct flights.  So what are the options?  After spending countless hours on the Internet studying a plethora of flights, connections and bizarre layovers, it boils down to only a few options, none of which is all that great! 

One, fly to London, stay overnight, then fly to Marrakech or Casablanca on Ryanair, EasyJet or Royal Air Morocco. 

Two, fly to Chicago, switch to Iberia, fly to Madrid, then fly to Casablanca on Royal Air Morocco.

Three, fly to New York JFK, then fly directly to Casablanca on Royal Air Morocco.

On the surface, it would seem that option three would be simplest, but-- coming home, there's a glitch:  Because of arriving late at JFK, there's a 12 hour layover, necessitating an expensive overnight stay at one of the nearby airport hotels, or alternatively (for a tightwad like me), sleeping overnight in the waiting lounge.  Game as she may be, Teresa, my favorite traveling companion, does not do waiting lounges!  So scratch that option!

Option two also presents a problem, also on the return leg:  The flight from Casablanca to Madrid arrives too late to make the trans-Atlantic connection, and therefore also requires an overnight stay, this time at Madrid's airport -- same problem!  Furthermore, this requires a connection at Chicago's O'Hare, an airport that's notorious for weather-related problems and other assorted delays.     

Costwise, the latter options run about $1250 to $1300 per person -- and the cost of an airport hotel also has to be factored in.

Option number one isn't all that great either -- on the upside, its a direct flight from San Francisco to London. On the downside, you end up at Heathrow airport, probably the world's most congested airport (next to O'Hare)!  And there's still the problem of having to stay overnight -- the discount airlines leave from other airports early in the day, and the only airline that leaves directly from Heathrow, Royal Air Morocco, requires a connection in Madrid and costs a bundle!

So what is a thrifty traveler to do?

Having mulled over the alternatives, here's what I chose:  We're going to fly nonstop from San Francisco to Heathrow on Virgin Atlantic -- its a ten hour overnight flight -- this will avoid the possibility of any connection delays within the U.S.  Arriving the next morning at 11 AM, we'll take either the London tube or the Heathrow Express train into London.  Then after a late lunch (or early dinner) in London, we'll take the one hour EasyJet shuttle bus to Luton Airport and crash overnight at the on-site Holiday Inn Express.  Next morning we'll board an early morning Ryanair flight to Marrakech, arriving by 10 AM, then catch the train for a three hour ride to Casablanca where we'll join our Intrepid group.

At the end of our Moroccan adventure we'll take an evening flight from Marrakech to London on Ryanair, then take a side trip to Sheffield where we'll spend a couple days with family.  Then we'll head back to San Francisco on Virgin Atlantic.

So ultimately, the choice to fly through London had much to do with our decision to visit with family in the UK.  However, even if this were not the case, from an economic perspective flying through London makes sense.  London is a major travel hub and with so many airlines flying there from San Francisco, fares can be had for as low as $750 to $800 round trip, with a little advance planning. And of course, once in London, discount airlines such as Ryanair and EasyJet fly everywhere in Europe and North Africa.  So excluding the cost of staying overnight and transportation between airports, the actual airfare to Morocco totals less than $1000 per person, several hundred dollars lower than the alternatives.

I'll keep you posted as our plans progress!