Travel Insurance Reviews Comprehensive Plans

When booking a non-refundable 20-day trip to China through Sinorama Holidays (which included airfare, hotels, meals, tours and in-country transportation), we were urged to purchase our own travel insurance. We are in our seventies, and have traveled to places like India and Russia, but never purchased travel insurance before. We are SO GLAD we did. We purchased an all-inclusive Global Alert policy online through InsureMyTrip / TripMate. It covered us from the day we booked (in October) through the dates of the trip (late March into April). We paid only $180 each to cover the trip cost of $2499 each. The peace of mind was great in itself. But when, two days before departure, my husband developed stomach cramps and a high fever and was told to go to the emergency room, we were SO GLAD we had that insurance. Long story short, my husband was admitted, put on IV antibiotics (he had diverticulitis, something he'd never had before, with a large abscess, which if it had burst while traveling could have proved fatal). Since then he has had 18 inches of his lower intestine surgically removed. (We never saw this coming--we are physically active and walk a mile or two each day.) We were sorry to miss our China trip. Our bags were packed and were so excited to be going. But how much worse it would have been if we had lost our $5000 too! Global Alert refunded us within a month (only recommendation: better communication during claim period.) Now we have the funds to book another trip to China if and when my husband is able to travel there. THANK YOU!!

I have done an extensive amount of travel outside the US and never before had I purchased trip insurance. I did so at the recommendation of our travel counselor at China Odyssey Tours for our 20 day trip to China in January 2017, and I am very glad I heeded his advice. Exactly at the midpoint in our trip in Chengdu, my wife tripped and fell sustaining a fracture to her upper arm near her shoulder. Because she was having a great deal of pain and no mobility in her arm, we realized that we must cut our trip short and return home. Our travel counselor cancelled the remainder of our reservations and helped us arrange flights back home. Once home, I contacted AXA to report the interruption of our trip, who told me that I should have contacted them from China before taking it upon ourselves to decide to return home early, explaining that AXA would need to make the determination to interrupt the trip. Without their involvement we ran the risk that our claim could be denied. We submitted a claim nevertheless and included the diagnosis (in Chinese) made by the hospital in Chengdu, a letter from my wife's orthopedist, and all the paperwork showing the accounting for the costs we incurred to cut the trip short and fly home. I also submitted a spreadsheet summarizing the costs. About 8 weeks past with only a confirming email from AXA stating that they received the claim, but I felt that no news meant our claim was not denied. I suppose they were making an investigation in China to make sure the claim was legitimate. Finally, I received an email telling us that AXA would pay our claim with the only exception being that they would not reimburse us for the extra night we needed in our hotel in Chengdu as that was not a covered expense. Overall, we are quite satisfied with the settlement and thankful that we purchased the insurance.

We also had a second claim that we filed with AXA for luggage delay. Delta took all of the passengers' luggage off the flight from Seattle to Beijing due to stronger than normal headwinds causing the need to lighten the weight of the plane. It took 4 days to reunite with our checked luggage. This claim was also honored and included with the insurance settlement.

Recommendations: If you believe you need to interrupt your trip, you need to contact the insurance company before you return home to get their blessing that this is a prudent action given your circumstances. They may direct you to obtain a medical opinion from someone they trust to make sure your claim will pass muster. When purchasing the insurance, I also recommend speaking to a human at insure my trip as they can help you find the best policy to meet your needs.

Bottom Line: Would I purchase trip insurance again. If I am purchasing an expensive tour where I have to pay the entire cost of the trip up front before I leave, I would certainly buy a trip insurance policy again.