Comments on: Do tour operators understand their own insurance? – A Club Med saga

By: Hapgood

Hapgood — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 16:09:06 +0000

Please note that I have nothing to do with “Best Tour Operators,” who copied part of my earlier post to fill up their comment spam.

By: Best Tour Operators

Best Tour Operators — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 12:12:25 +0000

When I take a trip that requires significant non-refundable expense, I buy my own insurance through insuremytrip.com. Their website allows apples-to-apples comparisons of various policies, so you can always know what you’re buying. There are other similar insurance broker websites that are probably just as good, but I have no experience with them.

By: Joel Wechsler

Joel Wechsler — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 14:43:17 +0000

@John Baker third party coverage from a tour operator, in many, if not most, cases will not cover default, failure or bankruptcy of the operator..
@MeanMeosh you should also be sure that there is coverage in case of default, as failed operators may simply go out of business and never formally file for bankruptcy.

By: MeanMeosh

MeanMeosh — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 04:30:10 +0000

Like others have commented, I only purchase third party coverage. There are certain coverages that are super critical for me, but others I could care less about because either my health insurance or credit card insurance covers it already. I can mix and match what I need by shopping for third party coverage, whereas the “trip protection” that’s often peddled by tour operators and online travel agencies has fixed coverage, and as Arizona mentioned, is usually set up to favor the agency over the traveler. I’ll second Hapgood’s recommendation of insuremytrip.com. I’m sure others are out there, but it’s a decent metasearch site. Its best feature is that the search engine can be filtered by select policy inclusions, so if there’s a coverage that you absolutely must have, it limits the search to policies that contain that specific feature.

Also, here’s one other reason to NEVER by insurance through the tour operator itself – if the operator goes out of business, you’re very likely SOL. Most third party policies, on the other hand, provide an option to cover bankruptcy of the operator.

By: John Frenaye

John Frenaye — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 00:14:13 +0000

Frustrating. I am confused though–was she traveling within 14 days or next March?

By: John Baker

John Baker — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:20:26 +0000

As a tour operator, I agree with both of you. I only purchase Travel Insurance from independent companies (one exception is that I have purchased the “included” policy when its underwritten by a third party). In fact, my company doesn’t even play the “self-insured” game. We recommend and sell a policy from a third party insurance company we believe in.

If I have a dispute, I want to have a regulated product that I have legal rights (see your state’s insurance commisioner). “Self-insured” policies, while cheaper, do not provide that.

By: Hapgood

Hapgood — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 15:52:25 +0000

Third-party coverage is almost always better than what travel operators offer. It’s often difficult to know exactly what you’re getting with a “trip protection plan.” Sometimes it isn’t even real insurance, but merely a contractual modification that makes a non-refundable deposit or payment refundable under certain circumstances. As Arizona Road Warrior notes, the “refund” might be in the form of a credit for future travel. This might be worthless if, for example, the cancellation is for an accident that renders you permanently unable to travel, or the death of a spouse that leads to a single-occupancy penalty that makes the trip unaffordable even with the credit. And if the tour or cruise operator goes bankrupt, you lose not only the cost of the trip but the cost of the “protection plan.”

I have elderly parents as well as my own chronic conditions that are well-controlled but inherently unpredictable, so the specific pre-existing condition terms are essential considerations. Many insurers waive their exclusions for pre-existing conditions if you buy a policy within a short period of booking (usually from one to two weeks). So it’s a good idea to do the comparison shopping first, and then buy an appropriate policy immediately after booking to be sure.

By: Arizona Road Warrior

Arizona Road Warrior — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:51:55 +0000

I do think that tour operators understand their own insurance since these tour operator design them with help from a third party and/or an insurance company.

Personally, I will not purchase travel insurance from a tour operator, a cruise line, an airline, etc. because the terms for the travel insurance are generally written to their benefit not the traveler.

The price for travel insurance from a tour operator, a cruise line, an airline, etc. is generally less than a policy that you can buy on your own. However, the benefits from an independent policy are generally greater, better, etc.

“As it turns out, the client finally decided to take the insurance because it is simple and provides travel credits for cancellation for any reason,…” To me, this sounds like if they cancel the trip that they won’t receive money back but credit for a future trip. For me, I want my money back. What if it is another year or so before you can take the trip? What if the tour operator goes out of business in that time? I doubt it for Club Med but what if you find out that the tour was crappy; was a rip-off; wasn’t suitable for you; etc?