Insurance in Case of Travel Plan Cancellation?

January 22, 2005 6:35 PM

Our family is possibly going on a trip this summer, but I would like to buy non-emergency, non-medical travel insurance. This is basically insurance if I change my mind, or if my plans have to change. My search thus far has proven fruitless. Any suggestions? [more inside]

I have found many places that offer travel insurance packages, but they all seem to have a clause that says cancellations must be due to extreme situations (death, dire medical conditions, car accidents, getting called into jury duty or the armed forces, etc.). This kind of insurance is definitely useful, but I would need something that goes one step beyond that, so that it would cover my expenses -- minus a deductible of some kind -- if I change my mind or my plans change. The trip will include airfare and a cruise. Suggestions for both American and Canadian residents would be appreciated - both would be traveling on this trip. Medical and/or travel insurance companies that come highly recommended might also be useful. Thank you!

posted by fionab to travel & transportation (5 comments total)

Neither my neighbor nor I know of any company that insures for reasons of "I decided not to." My neighbor works for AAA, which is why I asked her.

The business reason, of course, is that only people who think they might cancel would buy that level of coverage, and that population has a high chance of actually cancelling. The potential fee that they would have to charge to make a profit would be at least half of the value of the cost of cancelling the vacation.
posted by SpecialK at 6:40 PM on January 22, 2005

Can't you buy cancelable tickets? They cost more, but that's what travel-insurance-because-I-might-change-my-plans is.
posted by trharlan at 7:12 PM on January 22, 2005

Furthermore, Yahoo lets you search for "Economy Without Restrictions"
posted by trharlan at 7:21 PM on January 22, 2005

When we went on a cruise, we bought insurance through the cruise company. They do have a list of "covered" reasons to cancel, but also they say if you cancel due to some other reason, they'll give you 75% of your payment back, but in the form of a voucher for a future cruise.

As I recall, the actual insurance came from a private company, called BerkelyCare. But their website suggests they just sell to the travel industry. If you search for travel insurance, a lot of companies come up, maybe one of them will do the trick.
posted by jasper411 at 7:36 PM on January 22, 2005

It turns out that if we buy through the actual cruise company - Holland America - that they offer pre-departure waivers. There are two tiers - for a few hundred bucks, they'll either offer 80% cash refund, or 90% cash refund, up to 24 hours before departure. This doesn't have to be used towards a future cruise - it's just an actual refund. This is not including the medical/emergency refunds. Thanks for the tips!
posted by fionab at 10:42 AM on January 23, 2005