Travel Insurance Refund?
 

I bought tickets to Asia in February since they had a seat sale but recently I haven't been feeling the best, health wise. My lower right abdominal hurts, I've gotten checked out by the family doctor and everything seems to be normal and they don't really know why I'm having dull aches randomly each day and I've also had a lot of tests done. I didn't purchase travel insurance before and I'm really second guessing about going on my trip in 2 weeks. It'll ruin my experience in Asia if it's still hurting after 2 weeks and that if in case something does happen, I don't want to get treated in Asia, even if I have medical insurance already.

My friend told me for Air Canada, a week before his departure date, he just bought travel insurance and after 3 days, he just complained about "back" problems and they gave him a full refund. They just took his word for it. I'm not faking like he was, as it's most likely in my family doctors records.

Has anyone have experiences with Travel Insurance and know what I should do? My ideal situation is getting the full refund back until my health gets better before traveling. Cathay wants $500 cancellation policy.

You guys can PM me too if you want. Thanks all!

PM'ed

Trip cancellation can only be purchased on the day you purchase or put a deposit on your ticket. Even if you purchase the trip cancellation policy one day after the purchase of your airline ticket, the insurance policy will be void.

Cathay Pacific will charge you $500.00 CAD for cancellation no matter what, but if you have purchased trip cancellation then the insurance company will pay you back the $500 (given that you had purchased insurance).

However in this situation you have not yet purchased any insurance, and even if you do you will be wasting money because when you make the claim with the insurance company they will require:
- the ticket (showing what date you have purchased it),
-the proof of payment (your credit card statement or a receipt),
- the cancellation insurance policy itself (showing what date you purchased the insurance),
- a doctors note stating why you cannot or should not be traveling (in your situation, due to your medical condition...)


The only insurance you can purchase up until the date of departure is medical insurance. This will cover for any emergency medical or hospitalization that you encounter during your trip. You will be covered for everything except for any pre-existing medical conditions that you already have.

I wouldn't suggest purchasing the trip cancellation now. However since you are already going to lose the $500 bucks you may consider purchasing the trip cancellation insurance (probably around $150) just for the sake of gambling to see if you can get your money back.....which i highly doubt.

my co worker told me similar that they had to cancel trip because of health reasons, and they had travel insurance. T.I gave them full refund


https://www.pac.bluecross.ca/travelweb/

Medical and Hospital
Trip Cancellation or Interruption
Accidental Death
Air Flight Accidents
Emergency Return
Baggage Loss, Delay or Damage

What did you buy? If just travel insurance, you should be able to cancel and get a refund, some companies might charge a cancellation charge. I would advise you not to travel at this time b/c even if you bought travel insurance you might still not be covered if this problem ends up being more severe when you are travelling because most travel insurance companies has a "pre-existing" clause that will NOT cover you.

Check your credit card as well, as there may be some insurance when you used it to make the ticket purchase.

Also, your employer may offer additional travel benefits you may not be aware of as part of their employee health coverage plans.

was gonna say that.. lucky for me I've got both.. lol

As was already mentioned it may be too late to purchase the insurance.

Even if you could buy a legitimate policy they will probably request your medical history and decline your claim as a pre-existing condition.

Hi, I actually agree with Marc and Penner. It is too late to purchase insurance now, BUT check with your credit card, as most have insurance and they might cover you for this.

Use some sort of online tool or reference to compare credit cards, and see what your credit card really offers you (as sometime some benefits are in fine print, which no one read! ) I used this site a couple of weeks ago, it proved to be actually helpful, I was surprised as often most of these sites are just full of BS, but this one really impressed me (https://insureye.com/insurance_toolk...ard_comparison).

Try it out and let me know how it goes!!
good luck!

i dont think theres much u can do. but at least get a diagnosis - ur abdomin hurts and ur doc says its nothing - typical canadian health system. get an answer of what it is, for all u know maybe u just pulled a muscle and itll go away. then again it could be serious and id need to cancel the trip.

Since you said lower-right abdomen.. appendix issues? I would cancel the trip to be safe.

Thanks for everyone's kind words and help! I've talked with my family doctor and he says their's no reason why I shouldn't be going. Everything looks fine, blood-works, x-rays and ultrasounds. Did pretty much every test and he says, going on vacation might help since right now he find anything wrong and hes sure theirs nothing that can be life-threatening right now, as hes checked.

I thought it was appendicitis at first but I haven't been getting fevers and throwing up. And the pain isn't too painful, just a dull ache at random times. But I have decided to just go, the family doc re-assured me their was nothing wrong and it might just be in my head and it'd be nice to get away. Thanks again!