Travel insurance question

Is there any advantage or disadvantage to buying travel insurance from
the travel agent who books your cruise as opposed to buying it yourself
from one of the major companies like Travel Guard or Access America?

Om some cases, should you buy directly from a TA, and have to cancel that
cruise, the insurance can only be used on another cruise booked through that
same TA,

--jim

"Jeff Gersten" wrote in message
...
Is there any advantage or disadvantage to buying travel insurance from
the travel agent who books your cruise as opposed to buying it yourself
from one of the major companies like Travel Guard or Access America?

Mostly disadvantage. Travel agents tend to sell policies from only one
or two companies which may or may not be adequate for your trip. Best
advice is to go to one of the major travel insurance comparison sites
and review available plans. Plans vary considerably from both a price
and benefit standpoint. The major comparison sites a

www.quotewright.com
www.insuremytrip.com
www.travelinsurancecenter.com

Jeff,

I always bought mine from my T/A through Travel Guard and it never mattered
until last year when we had to cancel.

I suspect that it wouldn't have mattered where I bought the policy, but
Travel Guard refunded the full price of a mini-suite on a 12 day
Mediterranean cruise on Prinsendam, plus hotels in Rome and Athens, plus
plus plus

Five digits before the decimal point.
--
DG in Cherry Hill, NJ

"Jeff Gersten" wrote in message
...
Is there any advantage or disadvantage to buying travel insurance from
the travel agent who books your cruise as opposed to buying it yourself
from one of the major companies like Travel Guard or Access America?

(john) wrote:

Mostly disadvantage. Travel agents tend to
sell policies from only one or two companies
which may or may not be adequate for your
trip. Best advice is to go to one of the major
travel insurance comparison sites and review
available plans. Plans vary considerably from
both a price and benefit standpoint. * The
major comparison sites a

www.quotewright.com
www.insuremytrip.com
www.travelinsurancecenter.com

Let's say for arguments's sake that the travel agent is selling policies
from the company that you would have picked after your own independent
investigation. Is there now any advantage or disadvantage to buying from
the travel agent or directly through the company? Would the price be the
same? Would there be any difference in collecting if you needed to use
the policy?

Just stay away from Trip Assured. They are linked to some online
agencies when you use the booking engine. Refuse it at that point and
use the ones you mentioned.

The price is the same for a TravelGuard policy through the agent (me)
vs. the customer going directly to the TravelGuard site and purchasing
it directly.

The difference is that I will help you if you purchase the policy
through me and need to file a claim. If you purchase it directly then
don't expect any help from the agent.



Jeff Gersten wrote:
(john) wrote:

Mostly disadvantage. Travel agents tend to
sell policies from only one or two companies
which may or may not be adequate for your
trip. Best advice is to go to one of the major
travel insurance comparison sites and review
available plans. Plans vary considerably from
both a price and benefit standpoint. The
major comparison sites a

www.quotewright.com
www.insuremytrip.com
www.travelinsurancecenter.com

Let's say for arguments's sake that the travel agent is selling policies
from the company that you would have picked after your own independent
investigation. Is there now any advantage or disadvantage to buying from
the travel agent or directly through the company? Would the price be the
same? Would there be any difference in collecting if you needed to use
the policy?

AWB wrote:
The price is the same for a TravelGuard policy through the agent (me)
vs. the customer going directly to the TravelGuard site and purchasing
it directly.

The difference is that I will help you if you purchase the policy
through me and need to file a claim. If you purchase it directly then
don't expect any help from the agent.



Jeff Gersten wrote:
(john) wrote:

Mostly disadvantage. Travel agents tend to
sell policies from only one or two companies
which may or may not be adequate for your
trip. Best advice is to go to one of the major
travel insurance comparison sites and review
available plans. Plans vary considerably from
both a price and benefit standpoint. The
major comparison sites a

www.quotewright.com
www.insuremytrip.com
www.travelinsurancecenter.com

Let's say for arguments's sake that the travel agent is selling policies
from the company that you would have picked after your own independent
investigation. Is there now any advantage or disadvantage to buying from
the travel agent or directly through the company? Would the price be the
same? Would there be any difference in collecting if you needed to use
the policy?

I use global alert and usually just call my agent when i've self-booked
a trip (like I am going to egypt in april with another group) and she
takes the info. and logs it with global alert and sends me
confirmation/paperwork.

In one instance I got terribly sick the second day into a week long
cruise, with another group not booked by my agent. I was able to copy
the receipts and mail them to global alert (the agent even let me use
her copier) and got full reimbursement.

shawn

shawnabbtt wrote:
AWB wrote:
The price is the same for a TravelGuard policy through the agent (me)
vs. the customer going directly to the TravelGuard site and purchasing
it directly.

The difference is that I will help you if you purchase the policy
through me and need to file a claim. If you purchase it directly then
don't expect any help from the agent.



Jeff Gersten wrote:
(john) wrote:

Mostly disadvantage. Travel agents tend to
sell policies from only one or two companies
which may or may not be adequate for your
trip. Best advice is to go to one of the major
travel insurance comparison sites and review
available plans. Plans vary considerably from
both a price and benefit standpoint. The
major comparison sites a

www.quotewright.com
www.insuremytrip.com
www.travelinsurancecenter.com

Let's say for arguments's sake that the travel agent is selling policies
from the company that you would have picked after your own independent
investigation. Is there now any advantage or disadvantage to buying from
the travel agent or directly through the company? Would the price be the
same? Would there be any difference in collecting if you needed to use
the policy?

I use global alert and usually just call my agent when i've self-booked
a trip (like I am going to egypt in april with another group) and she
takes the info. and logs it with global alert and sends me
confirmation/paperwork.

In one instance I got terribly sick the second day into a week long
cruise, with another group not booked by my agent. I was able to copy
the receipts and mail them to global alert (the agent even let me use
her copier) and got full reimbursement.

shawn
The cost to me is the same whether I buy the insurance through my TA or
directly, so, if I've got a good TA, why not buy it through my TA and
let her get a little commission?

I never bought direct nor through TA, I always bought from a broker at
over 50% off. I don't know how he can do it, but I travel four to five
times a year, when I am lucky of zero claim, that savings mean a lot
to me.