Trip insurance coverage for colds

[DougieG]

Hello,

My 15 year old daughter and I are planning a short dive trip to Cozumel in February. We live in Wisconsin and February is prime "cold and flu" season. If either of us have a cold before we leave, I want to be able to cancel the trip, as we won't be able to dive. I can cancel the hotel and dives with only 24 hours notice with no penalty, so this is not a problem. However, I would not be able to cancel the airline tickets. Anyone have suggestions on how I can protect myself financially in this situation? I kind of doubt that standard trip insurance would cover us for a simple cold nor do I think Delta Airlines would be inclined to refund our plan tickets. Thanks,

DougieG

 

[Jcp2]

Can you buy a higher class of ticket that allows rescheduling or cancellation without penalty?

 

[flyboy08]

Here’s a thought....buy trip insurance. I don’t believe colds are excluded...plenty info under the search function.

 

[elbig]

For a premium you can buy cancel for any reason trip insurance.

 

[Altamira]

Whatever insurance program you may want to purchase, make sure you read the complete Terms and Conditions portion of the insurance plan before purchasing. What you might think would be logically covered might not be, and you do not want to find out about it after the fact. I suspect most people buying trip insurance never look at the actual T&C.

 

[Damselfish]

Buy refundable tickets, but they'll probably be much more expensive.

You can buy cancel for any reason insurance, also obviously more expensive. Trick with this is, even if a cold is an allowable reason on whatever plan you find, you may have to cancel a certain amount of time before, maybe 48 hours. So that only works if you get sick at just the right time. You might also have to buy it within a certain time after booking, or insure all parts of the trip even if they're refundable. Or something that will get you.

Non-refundable plane tickets doesn't necessarily mean you lose all the money if you cancel. Typically you can cancel and use the value of the tickets within a year, paying a change fee. I seem to remember $100 in the past, but last time I considered doing this the fee was up to $200 (AA). That might still be cheaper than the other alternatives, especially if the plane tickets are expensive and assuming you will be able to use the credit in time.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I believe Damselfish is correct. Cancelling and requesting a refund are two different things.

I know this doesn't address your specific question, but having taken many trips I have come to accept that it's impractical to try to insure against everything, and also that the odds of the insured misfortunes occurring are somewhat lower than fear-mongering insurance companies would like us to believe. I don't get colds often, and when I do it's often mild and resolves quickly. I could feel ill three days before the trip and want to cancel but might feel better by the day of departure--who knows. More than once I have boarded a flight feeling fine and felt ill at my destination. What good would insurance do me then? I could come down with a cold at any time during the trip. The symptoms could take a week to resolve or clear up in a couple of days. The difference between fully refundable airline tickets for two people and more basic tickets can be substantial. For a frequent traveler, insuring every trip to the maximum can amount to a lot of extra money over the years. I am resigned to the fact that this hobby is going to involve expenses, some expected and some unexpected.

 

[Damselfish]

For many reasons, I agree with self-insuring most of the time. In this case, your best bet might be being extra vigilant about trying not to get sick - hand washing, avoiding sick people, etc. Heck, wear one of those masks on the plane.

and also that the odds of the insured misfortunes occurring are somewhat higher than fear-mongering insurance companies would like us to believe.

you mean lower?

 

[Altamira]

FWIW. Many insurance policies (DAN included) that provide cancel for any reason coverage only reimburse 75% of the scheduled trip cost. While better than a potential 100% loss, the insurance companies charge more for the cancel for any reason rider, but don't actually cover your losses. Read the fine print.