Trip/ Travel Insurance While Pregnant

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have resources on acquiring trip/ travel insurance? My husband and I will be traveling in February and I will be 27 weeks pregnant. We would like to acquire trip cancellation insurance in the event that there are pregnancy related complications that will not allow me to travel. I've heard/ read, though, that many insurance providers will not insure for pregnancy related cancellations. We are not looking for medical insurance while traveling, just trip cancellation so we can receive our flight costs and hotel deposits back.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I added travel insurance to tickets I bought through Expedia but upon reading the fine print it looked as though you'd have to provide proof of hospitalization which seems ridiculous. I've included the wording of the fine print below. Not sure what constitutes an "abnormal" pregnancy.

THIS INSURANCE DOES NOT COVER ANY LOSS CAUSED BY OR RESULTING FROM:

Sickness or disease except as provided for in the policy; war or any act of war whether declared or not; while serving as a member of the armed services; while or as a result of riding in any device for aerial navigation other than as provided for in the policy; being under the influence of drugs or intoxicants unless prescribed by a duly licensed Physician; participation in any felonious act or attempt thereat; elective surgery; elective, non-emergency dental treatment or surgery; elective abortion; normal pregnancy, unless hospitalized; mental or nervous disorders, unless hospitalized.

http://www.expedia.com/daily/travelshops/insurance/FPPDomestic.asp

[Anonymous]

We are also traveling when I will be 27 weeks. After researching trip insurance we decided to skip it. Our hotel can be cancelled with no penalty a week in advance and with only a $60 penalty that last week. Most unused airline tickets can be used for another flight to the same destination within a year. That will put my child (and yours) at around 9 months and at that age, my husband and I would be willing to travel with him or leave him with family for a few days (ours is a short trip). Not sure if this helps you at all or is relevant to your situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are also traveling when I will be 27 weeks. After researching trip insurance we decided to skip it. Our hotel can be cancelled with no penalty a week in advance and with only a $60 penalty that last week. Most unused airline tickets can be used for another flight to the same destination within a year. That will put my child (and yours) at around 9 months and at that age, my husband and I would be willing to travel with him or leave him with family for a few days (ours is a short trip). Not sure if this helps you at all or is relevant to your situation.

I agree with this, somewhat. Most airlines will allow you to use the value of the ticket within one year, plus a change fee that costs $100-$150 per ticket. Doesn't matter if the destination is the same. You must cancel before the flight though (you can't just not show up). If the new ticket costs more, you have to pay the difference, but if it costs less, you can use the balance towards another flight. Don't bother trying to get them to waive the fee -- we had to cancel our honeymoon because my husband needed emergency surgery and they could've cared less. The only exception seemed to be for a death.

When booking hotels, you can almost always cancel up to 24 hours unless you book a special internet rate (often those are pre-paid), or you book through some discount sites like Hotwire.

If you go this route, I strongly recommend booking directly through the hotels and airlines so that if you do need to cancel, you don't have to deal with a third party. Unless you're using a site like Hotwire or Priceline, the prices are usually the same.

But for the most part, policies like these are why we don't bother w/ travel insurance. Between the red tape, the restrictions and cost of itself, it seems like a decent gamble.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for the feedback. I think we've decided to forego insurance also and take the gamble. Seems there are so few "pregnancy-related" issues included in the coverage that the chances our reason to cancel would be covered are slim. Apparently, bed rest is part of a normal pregnancy according to the insurance companies. Not sure I would agree with that!