kins

We've just booked a family holiday to Mexico and thinking I should probably get travel insurance. I've never actually bought it here in the US. Any recommendations for good companies to try or things to make sure the policy includes?

Bob

Try who ever you have your car/house insurance with, chances are they'll offer something at a discount, same if you use a broker usually.

Possibly your credit card might offer some coverage too.

I think the in-laws got something through Horace Mann, but that might only be something for teachers?

Sally Redux

Your health insurance policy might cover you for emergencies abroad.

Bob

But they won't cover lost luggage, cancellations or delays etc...

Sally Redux

Oh no, depends what you want though so I thought I'd mention it. That's all we had when we went to Mexico.

Just Jenney

I work in the study abroad office at a university and we use FrontierMedex for our health/travel insurance.

~ Jenney

Bob

That's true and if it were just me or the missus, would probably be more willing to wing it with a bit of medical cover...but with kids...they drag you down and you can no longer leg it to catch that next flight

Yorkieabroad

We've used World Nomad for insurance on ski trips, primarily to cover low cost medical requirements that were less than our deductible. They were pretty reasonable, and we did get a couple of claims paid...not the quickest nor easiest claims procedure, but they did pay.

Giantaxe

Sure, but the likely costs of them are small fry compared to the potential costs of a serious illness abroad. I've never taken out travel insurance in the US above what some vendors provide for free when you purchase tickets through them, as I like to save my insurance $$s for costs I really couldn't afford to take a hit on. Otoh, if I didn't have such good health insurance (that includes worldwide coverage and the costs of repatriation if needed) I certainly would.

MidAtlantic

I have booked long trips through Travelocity several times because their insurance covers pre-existing medical conditions (or at least it did at the times I used it) which my wife needed. The overall cost of flights, hotels and insurance was not the cheapest, but fair.

Guindalf

http://www.insuremytrip.com/

Found the best and cheapest policy for our cruise a couple of years ago.

Yorkieabroad

I'm with you on that one - that's why we go for the high deductible health plans (plus it gives me more opportunity to bitch and moan about it!).

When we go skiing though, we have a very high incidence of ER visits - dehydration, head bangs etc and they have come in at well over $1000. Once we even got stuck for $76 for "administration of rehydration fluids" - ie a bottle of Gatorade. That has caused me to effectively insure the 11k deductible - works out at about $100/trip, and has paid 3 out of 4 times. Better payback than any casino I've been in

AlphaTangoMike

I'm also looking for travel insurance for US residents. It seems that most people suggest that you rely on your health insurance. I have no issues with this, since our health insurance does provide international cover. My only concern is that it's all paid once you actually submit the expenses on your return to the US. This is fine if you have a fairly minor claim while abroad. (I.e. a visit to a GP or a minor injury). If it's something serious which requires hospitalisation for a few days (car accident, ruptured appendix , etc.) you could end up having to pay thousands (or more) upfront and then claim it back when you return.

Most single trip policies seem to start at around $200 for a 3 week trip and some do not even include medical coverage. Annual coverage costs are just ridiculous. Quite a contrast to the annual travel insurance cover you could buy in the UK for around 45GBP.

In addition to insuremytrip, I also found squaremouth (another comparison site). https://www.squaremouth.com/

I have yet to buy a policy as I'm still reading the fine print.

Guindalf

As I think has been previously stated, travel insurance is a LOT more than health coverage!

If you have health, then you should be able to get travel for a lot less and that will cover you for delays, lost luggage and much, much more.

Giantaxe

That's a heck of an "interest rate" f your goal is merely to avoid paying up front. If you don't have the funds, it would probably be cheaper to borrow it on a credit card... I'd also check to make sure that the health coverage of a policy isn't secondary to one's own health insurance, which would make that kind of pointless anyway.