Other Options...

Holy cow, that's it! It says right in the article it's the parent company to Heritage Tours. Thank you! We'll send this to our insurance although they probably know already.

Cousin Orville, may I ask who you used for travel insurance and how well that is working?

I always buy insurance for pricey trips, but haven't ever made a claim. Once it's all worked out, I would appreciate hearina a bit about that part.
 
Cousin Orville, may I ask who you used for travel insurance and how well that is working?

I always buy insurance for pricey trips, but haven't ever made a claim. Once it's all worked out, I would appreciate hearina a bit about that part.

I’ve had to make two claims. One for a trip to the medical center on a cruise ship and another because my Mom had a severe anxiety attack and couldn’t get on the plane to get to her cruise ship. Both times, the insurance was very easy to work with and payments were paid out quite quickly. So, in my experience, it’s really a fantastic thing to help protect a pricey trip because you never know what is going to happen.

I hope Cousin Orville has the same luck in this situation. I’m working with an agency on planning our private trip to Australia, and trip insurance will definitely be purchased. Best of luck Cousin Orville! We are all hoping for a successful outcome for you.
 


Cousin Orville, may I ask who you used for travel insurance and how well that is working?

I always buy insurance for pricey trips, but haven't ever made a claim. Once it's all worked out, I would appreciate hearina a bit about that part.
I’ve had to make two claims. One for a trip to the medical center on a cruise ship and another because my Mom had a severe anxiety attack and couldn’t get on the plane to get to her cruise ship. Both times, the insurance was very easy to work with and payments were paid out quite quickly. So, in my experience, it’s really a fantastic thing to help protect a pricey trip because you never know what is going to happen.

I hope Cousin Orville has the same luck in this situation. I’m working with an agency on planning our private trip to Australia, and trip insurance will definitely be purchased. Best of luck Cousin Orville! We are all hoping for a successful outcome for you.
I find the key thing is knowing before you purchase what your policy does and doesn't cover. Many policies don't cover operator default. Or they only cover it if you purchase your policy within a certain amount of time after putting down your first deposit. Or at least a certain amount of time before your departure. Same with pre-existing conditions, and certain weather events. I can't stress enough how important reading the policy is!

I've made 3 claims in my time, and never had an issue with any of them. First time was when I got a corneal abrasion on the flight down to my first cruise, and had to see the ship's doctor. Insurance re-imbursed me the cost of that visit. Second time was when I tore my rotator cuff less than 2 weeks before a trip to Northern California. The first half was a hiking tour and the second half was visiting various family members up there. The insurance company reimbursed me for the cost of the hiking trip, and paid to change my flight so that I could still visit my family for the second part of the trip. They couldn't have been nicer to work with. The third time was when I slipped and fell on the steps of a B&B in Anchorage, and sliced my forehead open. I ended up in the ER. The insurance rep talked directly to the hospital billing department, and I never even saw a bill for the ER visit which included a CAT scan. They also got on the phone with me to talk to Alaska Airlines, since I'd missed my flight home, and got me booked on the same, supposedly full, flight the next morning. No cost to me. They also re-imbursed me for the hotel room I needed to stay until the next morning. I've always gotten trip insurance, and I've always been glad when I've needed it.

Sayhello
 
Cousin Orville, may I ask who you used for travel insurance and how well that is working?

I always buy insurance for pricey trips, but haven't ever made a claim. Once it's all worked out, I would appreciate hearina a bit about that part.

I made a claim once on trip insurance. It was when my mom passed away suddenly (heart attack) the day before we were supposed to start our London / Paris ABD (we were already in London). The company was fantastic to work with and reimbursed everything. I always purchase insurance and hope that I never need it; it's worth the piece of mind.

@Cousin Orville Nat Geo does private Morocco trips and Classic Journeys has a family Morocco trip in December (scheduled). Not sure how the dates would line up with yours, but it might be worth looking into.
 


@Cousin Orville , so sorry about the situation with your Morocco trip. Seems like a double whammy to have to deal with the hassle and stress of working through insurance claims to try to recoup what you've paid for the trip, air, etc. on top of the disappointment of not being able to go on a trip you were really looking forward to. Fingers crossed that all goes well with the insurance company. It sounds like you've deferred the idea of Morocco for awhile, but just wanted to mention that Thomson has a Morocco trip as well (I know you were pointed to a couple of other options above too).
 
OMG. What a nightmare for you. I am so sorry. Had you already bought plane tickets? This has been my hesitation in going with Thompson Family since they require check payments (or a 3% surcharge for cc) - at least if you are able to pay by credit card, you're covered somewhat.

Just wanted to comment here that Thomson's trips include travel insurance as part of the trip cost. I will admit I haven't studied the fine print to see if it covers Thomson going belly up or committing fraud. Also, while I am right there with a lot of others on this board in finding Thomson's credit card policy supremely irritating (and I point out to them how much I dislike the policy every time an opportunity presents itself to do so, lol), I'm now just taking the approach of factoring in the 3% credit card surcharge into the overall cost of the trip when comparing itineraries and overall cost between Thomson and other providers. I paid our China balance by check (which just *killed* me) but plan to pay our Japan balance via credit card. Japan is a little easier for me to bite the bullet on the 3% surcharge because we are paying 2017 prices for that trip based on putting down a $5k deposit in 2017 for our 2020 trip. And you can pay Thomson deposits by credit card without a surcharge. So the surcharge doesn't apply to the full price of the trip. Plus, I'm going to use a credit card that earns 3x points on travel to pay the balance, so at worst the points earned are a wash with the 3% surcharge, and I know I can get at least 1.5 cents of value from each point I will earn on the payment, so I will actually come out ahead. Still, there is the psychological aspect of knowing I could have paid less by not using a credit card, which I totally get and feel and realize some might not be able to overcome. As I said, for me, if we are evaluating a Thomson itinerary in the future against Nat Hab, Nat Geo, etc., I will compare prices factoring in the surcharge on the Thomson side (plus the fact that I don't have to purchase travel insurance separately because Thomson includes it).
 
@Cousin Orville , so sorry about the situation with your Morocco trip. Seems like a double whammy to have to deal with the hassle and stress of working through insurance claims to try to recoup what you've paid for the trip, air, etc. on top of the disappointment of not being able to go on a trip you were really looking forward to. Fingers crossed that all goes well with the insurance company. It sounds like you've deferred the idea of Morocco for awhile, but just wanted to mention that Thomson has a Morocco trip as well (I know you were pointed to a couple of other options above too).

Thanks, Thomson looks like a pretty good option as does Nat Geo's private tour. Unfortunately neither go out to the Sahara, but that's probably not something that should be a deciding factor. Thomson is booked for the dates we would want, but I may call up Nat Geo to get more info. Otherwise, we'll likely just go to Paris and/or Croatia which we've talked about before. If I don't do Morocco this year, we'll likely consider it 2 yrs from now. Next Christmas we're planning on doing the SE Asia ABD - I've done it but Kate and my younger kids haven't. As far as Thomson's 3% fee, I'd just factor it in as well.
 
Thanks, Thomson looks like a pretty good option as does Nat Geo's private tour. Unfortunately neither go out to the Sahara, but that's probably not something that should be a deciding factor. Thomson is booked for the dates we would want, but I may call up Nat Geo to get more info. Otherwise, we'll likely just go to Paris and/or Croatia which we've talked about before. If I don't do Morocco this year, we'll likely consider it 2 yrs from now. Next Christmas we're planning on doing the SE Asia ABD - I've done it but Kate and my younger kids haven't. As far as Thomson's 3% fee, I'd just factor it in as well.

Sounds like you have a good alternative plan. Croatia is on our list as well. On the Sahara point, if you do start working with Thomson on a future Morocco trip, they will customize extensions and whole trips. The family who was with us on our China trip with Thomson ended up having Thomson put together a custom trip for them to Russia. And Thomson put together an overnight for us to Mt. Fuji and also a Hiroshima extension for our Japan trip. So they might be able to work in the Sahara for you on a Morocco trip.
 
What travel insurance companies do people use?
I've had good experiences with Travelex and Travel Insured. But what I do is go to sites like insure my trip, or tripinsurancestore, and use their site to research various providers and policies to see which suits my current needs the best. insure my trip has the widest selections and tripinsurancestore has a fabulous FAQ section. I've found their 800 numbers are also invaluable if you have questions or are having a hard time deciding on a policy.

Sayhello
 
Sounds like you have a good alternative plan. Croatia is on our list as well. On the Sahara point, if you do start working with Thomson on a future Morocco trip, they will customize extensions and whole trips. The family who was with us on our China trip with Thomson ended up having Thomson put together a custom trip for them to Russia. And Thomson put together an overnight for us to Mt. Fuji and also a Hiroshima extension for our Japan trip. So they might be able to work in the Sahara for you on a Morocco trip.

Well that’s cool! I’ll give Thompson a call and see what they can do.
 
I've had good experiences with Travelex and Travel Insured. But what I do is go to sites like insure my trip, or tripinsurancestore, and use their site to research various providers and policies to see which suits my current needs the best. insure my trip has the widest selections and tripinsurancestore has a fabulous FAQ section. I've found their 800 numbers are also invaluable if you have questions or are having a hard time deciding on a policy.

Sayhello


This is what I do as well. I really like that you can choose a few options and compare them side by side.
 
What travel insurance companies do people use?
We have always used Allianz, and purchase within 2 days of paying the deposit. My youngest has severe food allergies and I never want to have to fight over what is a pre-existing condition. I also pay with my Chase Sapphire Reserve which also includes travel insurance.

The main benefit of Allianz is that they do cover pre existing conditions if purchased within 2 weeks of departure, and your kids are covered on the plan for free, so it usually ends up being the best deal for us. All of our travel providers have been covered, but I have never made a claim.
 
So, for 2020 we are going to do a 6 day hiking tour in the Dolomites (the Italian Alps). We are using Right Path Adventures. A bit of a niche company that has been around for a long time. They do walking/hiking tours in the Dolomites as well a Croatia/Slovenia. What drew us was that the hikes are not pre-set like many of the tour companies. You can talk to Gary (owner and lead guide) and hike based on your own fitness level or how you feel that day. So, lots of flexibility. The groups are no more than 8 people and pretty reasonably priced. However, they do not mix adult groups with families with children. So, families book a tour as a private tour which is the same price as a group tour. For a group tour, there is no single supplement. Single travellers pay the same amount as double occupancy. We will add on a couple of days in Venice either pre or post trip. Looking forward to an active adventure and spending some time in the mountains.

As an aside, we did look at a couple of Mt. Sobek's trips as well as Backroads. We just wanted the flexibility to pick how strenuous of a day we would have on any given day versus set trails (although both offer easier or more difficult hikes for most of the trails). Anyways, if anyone is interested, check out Right Path Adventures website.
 
So, for 2020 we are going to do a 6 day hiking tour in the Dolomites (the Italian Alps). We are using Right Path Adventures. A bit of a niche company that has been around for a long time. They do walking/hiking tours in the Dolomites as well a Croatia/Slovenia. What drew us was that the hikes are not pre-set like many of the tour companies. You can talk to Gary (owner and lead guide) and hike based on your own fitness level or how you feel that day. So, lots of flexibility. The groups are no more than 8 people and pretty reasonably priced. However, they do not mix adult groups with families with children. So, families book a tour as a private tour which is the same price as a group tour. For a group tour, there is no single supplement. Single travellers pay the same amount as double occupancy. We will add on a couple of days in Venice either pre or post trip. Looking forward to an active adventure and spending some time in the mountains.

As an aside, we did look at a couple of Mt. Sobek's trips as well as Backroads. We just wanted the flexibility to pick how strenuous of a day we would have on any given day versus set trails (although both offer easier or more difficult hikes for most of the trails). Anyways, if anyone is interested, check out Right Path Adventures website.
Wow, sound fantastic. Looking forward to hearing how it goes. I'm amazed by the no single supplement.
 

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