Seizures - trip insurance + air travel

[SAGE]

Hi,

Since booking our next cruise, my son has developed seizures. (full blown - drop down kind).

Is a medical form required by airlines? ( Small print for Air Canada asks the question regarding seizures)

I have always bought trip insurance for our holidays. Should I expect difficulties now when I purchase prior to next cruise?

Thank you in advance!! ( These boards are great!)

 

[toodycat]

I don't think you need to inform the airlines. I would definitely stick with the trip insurance though; seizures themselves don't take that long to recover from. The secondary concussions that can occur may prohibit flying. I don't think it will be anymore difficult to get flight insurance. Most TAs just book it, no questions asked. Good luck.

 

[mechurchlady]

Pre-existing medical conditions can limit trip insurance. Seen that on the news too many times.

http://www.aircanada.com/en/travelinfo/before/specialneeds.html

# You have had an incident on board a previous flight or at the airport and may require medical attention.
# You have caused a flight diversion on a previous flight you have taken.
# You are an Unaccompanied Minor and have a medical problem.
# You have an intellectual disability (e.g. Down syndrome, Alzheimer's disease). Air Canada offers a Service for Unaccompanied Adult Requiring Assistance
# You suffer from epilepsy.

IF you say no to all of the above then you do not need to notify the airline. IF you say yes to any of those questions then you will need to fill out a form to certify worthyness to fly or whatever it is called.
http://www.aircanada.com/en/travelinfo/before/documents/fft.pdf
Your doctor will have to fill that out to certify that he is fit to travel only if you said yes to one of the questions I quoted above.

 

[Selket]

I don't know how it works in Canada but here in the USA trip insurance is tricky if you have a pre-existing condition. If you book a cruise, develop a condition, THEN try to buy insurance - the condition likely would not be covered - that person's coverage could be reduced overall.

If the person already has the condition and you book a trip - you have to buy the trip insurance within a short time frame - like a few days to a week from the time you actually BOOK the trip. Even then some companies will restrict what they will pay - you have to be careful.

If you have already booked the cruise AND bought the insurance and THEN your family member developed a problem...I think it is covered. There might be some issues about whether the person is medically fit to travel when the time comes.

I really like this travel insurance broker: http://www.tripinsurancestore.com/ There is a lot of info on their website about medical problems and trip insurance.

Good luck!

 

[SueM in MN]

Yes.
Just agreeing with the other posters. The way the insurance is looking at it, if you already have a pre-existing condition, there is a higher chance that you might need to cancel the trip and collect on the insurance.

In the US, the airline can't ask about medical conditions (the traveler can offer information if they want or need assistance, such as wheelchair assistance).
In other countries, that may not be true.