Travel insurance for California residents

My condition is stable and controlled by medication. Is it pre-existing?

Possibly not. Most of our plans say that taking a prescription does not by itself make a condition pre-existing, if the condition is controlled only by that medication and the prescription did not change during the look-back period.

• The condition is still pre-existing if you also had symptoms, tests, examinations or treatment for it, or these were recommended, during the look-back period.
• A change in dose or a new medication counts as a change. Travel Insured Deluxe and Platinum and WorldTrips do not count a switch between brand and generic, or an adjustment to insulin or blood thinner dosage.
• Trawick's California version has no stable-medication exception.
• Go Ready Choice: the prescription must not have changed during the 30 days before coverage begins. Its definition counts tests, examinations and treatment received or recommended (the Illinois and New York versions word it differently, and New York's medical coverage also counts symptoms).

The insurance company decides this from your medical records at claim time. Buying within the time-sensitive period, so the waiver applies, avoids the question.

More answers: Travel insurance and pre-existing conditions

Can I be flown home to my own hospital?

Only when it is medically necessary and approved by the assistance company. Evacuation is first to the nearest suitable hospital.

• Travel Insured Deluxe and Platinum include Hospital of Choice within the evacuation benefit.
• WorldTrips Elevate covers evacuation to a hospital of your choice; on Explore it is an optional upgrade that also raises the limit to $2,000,000.
• Trawick's Florida and California versions allow transportation to your hospital of choice once you are stable enough, if arranged by the assistance company.
• The New York versions of Trawick and WorldTrips have no hospital-of-choice provision.
• Go Ready Choice: no hospital-of-choice provision; non-emergency evacuation to a hospital or to your home is covered when the attending physician considers it medically necessary and it is approved in advance.

More answers: Emergency medical and medical evacuation coverage

Are sports and activities like skiing or scuba diving covered?

It depends on the plan, your state's version and the activity.

• Trawick Pathway (Florida and California versions): what it calls adventure sports, including downhill skiing, snorkeling, zip-lining, scuba and resort-sponsored activities, are excluded unless you add the optional Adventure Sports upgrade; extreme sports need the separate Extreme Sports upgrade. The New York version offers no upgrade.
• WorldTrips Explore and Elevate: adventure sports are excluded unless you add the Adventure Sports upgrade; extreme sports stay excluded.
• Travel Insured Deluxe and Platinum: adventure or extreme activities such as skydiving, heli-skiing and scuba deeper than 131 feet are excluded from medical coverage. Only Platinum offers an Extreme Sports Medical upgrade. The Illinois version has no such medical exclusion.
• Travel Insured New York plan: excludes activities such as skydiving, heli-skiing, mountaineering and scuba deeper than 120 feet, with no upgrade.
• Go Ready Choice (the Illinois version deletes these exclusions): excludes professional sports, organized amateur competitions, motor competitions, off-road driving, extreme sports, skydiving, parasailing, bungee jumping, skiing or snowboarding outside marked trails, mountaineering that uses ropes or guides, and underwater activities deeper than 75 feet.

Check the definitions in your own plan document for your activity.

More answers: Emergency medical and medical evacuation coverage

What if the program operator goes bankrupt or disappears with my money?

Travel Insured, Trawick and WorldTrips plans list supplier bankruptcy or financial default as a reason, but the conditions differ, and on some plans it will not help with the operator you paid.

• All of these plans: the supplier must completely stop providing travel services, more than 14 days after your coverage began.
• Travel Insured New York plan: does not cover the default of the tour operator, agency or firm you bought the trip from.
• Travel Insured Deluxe and Platinum: the exclusions say there is no coverage for the financial default of "Your Travel Supplier". Confirm with Travel Insured in writing before relying on it.
• Trawick Florida and California: not for a firm that sold you arrangements supplied by others; you must insure the full trip cost, pay for the plan by final payment, and depart within 15 months.
• WorldTrips and Trawick New York: you must buy within 21 days of your first trip payment. These documents have no exclusion for the company you bought from.
• Go Ready Choice: does not list supplier bankruptcy or financial default as a reason. The New York version lists it only for airlines, cruise lines, rental car companies, hotels, condominiums and motor coach companies, more than 14 days after coverage begins.

Ask a licensed agent how this applies to your operator before relying on it: info@travallamains.com.

More answers: Travel insurance for tours, vacation packages and tour operators

I pay for my trip in installments. How do I insure it?

Buy the plan within the time-sensitive period after your first payment, and insure the full trip cost you have committed to from the start, not only the deposit. This is required for Cancel for Any Reason on WorldTrips, Trawick and Go Ready Choice.

If you add new arrangements later, insure them promptly: within 15 days on Trawick Pathway Premier (Florida and California versions) and within 21 days on WorldTrips and the Travel Insured and Trawick New York plans.

• Go Ready Choice: no set number of days is stated, but later arrangements must be added before departure to count as trip cost (New York version: within 21 days for the pre-existing condition waiver and 14 days for Cancel for Any Fortuitous Reason).

Email info@travallamains.com whenever your trip cost changes and we will update your plan.

More answers: Travel insurance for tours, vacation packages and tour operators