Hurricane season started on June 1st and will continue through November. You may well remember that last season produced three hurricanes that impacted Orlando. Due to the severity of some of the storms, many people had their travel plans changed or canceled. Airlines stopped flying, people were stranded in their hotels and the parks closed briefly. Vacationers have spent hard-earned dollars on their travel and unfortunate circumstances changed all that.
When this happened last year, many airlines offered refunds, Disney did their best to make guests comfortable, and penalties for changing plans were waived in many cases. Unfortunately, things sometimes do happen to derail the best-laid plans. And there is no guarantee that change fees or penalties will be waived. Last year was an exception to the rule.
In order to safeguard against losing money put into your vacation, travel insurance is an option that should be considered. This coverage will give you peace of mind if you should have to change your trip, return home early or seek medical attention during your travels.
The main thing is that travel insurance covers the unexpected. You never know what will happen. If you knew there was going to be an emergency, then you wouldn’t plan a vacation at that time. You may be dealing with health insurance companies that only cover certain procedures with certain doctors and don’t cover medical treatment out of the country at all, or you could be faced with more common problems like lost luggage, weather delays, or even airline bankruptcy issues. Depending on the policy you choose, travel insurance can assist with problems like this and more.
Many companies offer travel insurance. Here we are going to look at the coverage offered by Disney as part of their resort and cruise packages.
2005 WDW Vacation Insurance
Vacation Insurance can protect you against covered unexpected events. The Walt Disney Travel Company vacation insurance policy continues to offer great benefits covering many emergency and unexpected situations prior to and during your vacation. This insurance is available for $44.95 per person. The premium is based on the number of adults in your party and children ages 17 and under are included free of charge in the policy. Vacation insurance is non-refundable once a deposit is paid. The policy includes the following coverage and benefits, subject to certain exclusions and limitations.
- Trip Cancellation/Interruption (up to the total cost of your vacation package)
- Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D) ($15,000)
- Emergency Medical Transportation ($10,000)
- Medical Expenses ($10,000)
- Lost baggage ($2,000)
- Travel Delay ($600)
- Baggage Delay ($500)
- 24-hour Travel Assistance via LiveTravel
- The best thing about Disney insurance on land packages is that it is included free of charge for children when the adults in the party purchase insurance.
This policy only provides coverage for cancellations under certain circumstances. This policy will not cover airline, resort, transportation, or other arrangements that are not part of your Disney reservation. Pre-existing condition exclusions and other exclusions, limitations, and restrictions apply. For a full description, detailing the limits, terms, conditions, and exclusions of the plan, please visit the following link
http://adisneyworld.disney.go.com/media/wdw/media
/reservations/insurancecertificate.pdf
Disney Cruise Line Insurance
http://apsc.disney.go.com/DCL/media/Travel%20InsCert.pdf
DCL insurance covers the following and more
- Trip Cancellation
- Trip Interruption
- Baggage Protection
- Baggage Delay
- Emergency Medical Transportation
- Emergency Medical/Dental
- 24-hour Emergency Assistance
Some pre-existing conditions may limit coverage. If you purchase the Vacation Protection Plan offered by Disney Cruise Line and cancel your vacation for any reason not covered by the insurance plan, Disney Cruise Vacations will credit 75% of the non-refundable cancellation fee toward a future Disney Cruise Vacations package commenced within one year after the start date of your original package. That is a huge benefit and a great reason to purchase your cruise insurance through Disney Cruise Lines.
So although you can’t plan for the unexpected, there are steps you can do to safeguard against them.
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