You were referenced on a Cruise Critic thread. Someone suggested you might know insurance plans that would cover the full cost of a canceled trip with Viking Cruises, when a portion of the cruise fare was paid with a Viking Voucher from a previously cancelled cruise. Once a Viking Voucher is used, Viking will not restore or reissue it, even if the trip is “insured” with Viking.
I caught Covid the day before embarkation, so I had to cancel a June 2022 cruise for two people. Viking issued vouchers in the amount of $5,360 for each of us. I rebooked the same cruise for 2023. The cost of the new cruise will be about $6,000 per person. Viking applied the value of the two vouchers to this new booking.
I’d like to find trip cancellation insurance for the June, 2023 trip that will cover the full cost of the trip, including the value of the Vouchers, if we have to cancel for medical reasons again. Have you found a plan that will do this?
Thanks for asking. I have plans that will cover you. Insuring Future Travel Credits or Vouchers appears simple on the surface, but using them can affect your ability to get the waiver of the pre-existing medical condition exclusion and / or the Cancel For Any Reason coverage.
The simple part is: Regardless of how the credits are shown on your new booking invoice, all my plans will let you insure your prepaid and non-refundable trip costs when your trip is paid by any combination of Future Travel or Vouchers that you received instead of a cash refund for a trip that was cancelled.
As you can see, the important detail is that the Future Travel or Vouchers must have been issued to you instead of a cash refund. You cannot insure the value of any bonus credits or courtesy credits.
In addition, when you are buying a new trip cancellation policy with past travel credits is this: Your Initial Trip Deposit Date will be the date you originally made the first payment on the trip that later caused the Travel Vouchers or Credits.
Why is this important? It’s important if you want the waiver of the pre-existing medical condition exclusion and / or the Cancel For Any Reason coverage. I have four plans that you may get that cover pre-existing conditions if bought any time before, but not later than your Final Payment. However, I only have one plan offers a 50% Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) coverage for this scenario.
Since there are so many travel vouchers and credits out there, we now ask everyone this question:
“Are any of your trip costs being paid with Future Travel or Cruise Credits that you received instead of a cash refund on a trip that was cancelled”
I ask this all the time and often get this answer: “My deposit is paid in cash”. So, I have to ask more followup questions like “Are you re-using airfare credits from any previously cancelled trips?” or “By the time you pay the Final Payment, will you be using any Future Travel Vouchers / Credits to pay for part of your trip?”.
I want to be sure our potential customer doesn’t have any unpleasant surprise if they later have a claim due to a pre-existing medical condition. Since a pre-existing medical condition won’t be covered, they will be governed by the Pre-Existing Medical Condition Lookback Period which defines a Pre-Existing Medical Condition. Click here to learn more.
There’s something else that’s related to insuring a Future Travel Voucher / Credit you will run into if you try to insure it with your travel supplier’s Pre-Departure Waiver Plan. They won’t be able to insure your credit because the Future or Travel Vouchers / Credits exisit in their accounting as a bookkeeping entry. That’s because their Pre-Departure Waiver Plan isn’t a Travel Insurance Plan. These plans do include insurance to pay claims for accident and sickness medical benefits and medical evacuation and transportation.
Here’s a tip: If you don’t have a clear accounting of monies paid and credits that were later issued, make sure you get it. This can get complicated when you’ve had multiple trips booked and cancelled that created subsequent credits. Be sure to note any bonus credits. You will need this accounting if you ever have a trip cancellation or interruption claim. We will help you with your claim, but we won’t sort out your credits for you.
Click here learn more about this in detail: https://tripinsurancestore.com/travel-insurance-vs-travel-supplier-waiver-plans/
I hope this makes sense. If you want the right travel insurance advice, call us at 1-888-407-3854 and we'll help you figure it all out.
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