Tauck Travel Insurance
June, 2026 - My wife and I regularly use Tauck for our travels and the tours are always FIRST CLASS. We were supposed to go on the Blue Danube River Cruise from May 22 to June 02 aboard the MS SAVOR but unfortunately we had to cancel the cruise because UNITED airlines canceled our overseas flight and there was no seat inventory on any other airline that could get us to Budapest in time for the cruise departure. We gave ourselves an extra two days of travel in case of this kind of delay but despite that, United canceled our flight and failed to protect and re-book us, despite having paid for international first class fares. What has happened to UNITED???
My purpose in writing is to underscore the importance of buying Tauck's Guest Protection Plan insurance which is handled by AON. We filed our claim with AON for our trip forfeiture costs (50%) and AON was wonderful. They even asked us for additional expenses that we incurred as a result of the forced cancellation of our trip. We were fully reimbursed in a timely manner and the entire claim process with AON could not have been easier. We have always bought the insurance but never had to use it. Without a doubt, we ALWAYS will continue to purchase the insurance and we encourage all passengers to do the same.
Tauck is a first-class company and works with first-class partners. While we missed the long-planned cruise to celebrate our 43rd wedding anniversary, we did not lose any of the costs we paid Tauck as a result of the fiasco with UNITED AIRLINES.
THANK YOU to AON and Tauck. We will re-book the cruise and from now on use DELTA or AMERICAN airlines. This recent incident with UNITED is the third in a row. The airline was really declined with respect to Operations and more importantly, customer service.
Comments
You are free to spend your money as your please, but here's my counterpoint:
I have NEVER purchased travel insurance. With close to 20 trips with Tauck, NOT buying insurance has paid for two of them.
On some trips, particularly on long bus rides, the subject of insurance comes up in conversation on the bus. The vast majority of folks buy the insurance. Two I've met, who don't buy travel insurance include an actuary and an insurance company executive. The executive commented that travel insurance (not her field) is one of the most lucrative in terms of premiums collected vs. payouts. During my recent trip to Paris, I noted an impressive, shiny building that said Allianz at the top. Allianz is another travel insurance company.
For me, there are multiple reasons I don't buy insurance:
1. My premium credit card provides travel insurance (up to $10K, I believe).
2. Insurance has a negative expected value for the buyer (obviously, or they wouldn't sell it).
3. Like many Tauck travelers, I am well-off financially. So I consider myself self-insured, for anything not covered by my credit card. If a problem did arise where I wasn't reimbursed for a lost trip, while it wouldn't feel good, life would go on without any significant consequences.
As the old saying goes, your mileage may vary.
Kenneth, sorry to read about your experience. Very surprising that United couldn't find another flight for you with 2 days leeway. It would probably be worth contacting one of their executives who might discount your next booking.
I do the same as BKMD. A few years ago, you could stack your premium cards for trip insurance. For example, Chase Reserve would give you $10K per person, per trip, meaning $20K insurance for my wife and I. I also had a Chase Preferred card, which would also give us $10K per person per trip. So I'd charge $20K on the Reserve card and the rest on the Preferred card.
But Chase got wise to that and now they'll only allow you to recover from one card, meaning that we're limited to $20K per trip.
We've done a lot of trips, both with Tauck, Regent, and a few other companies. If I add up how much I didn't pay for trip insurance, it comes to a large sum.
If the day comes where I have to cancel a trip, I'll get the $20K and write off the rest as "self-insurance". The difference between what I lost and what I didn't pay for insurance on all those trips is the profit I made on the deal. Otherwise, that profit would go to the insurance company.
[I do take travel medical and repatriation insurance when we travel since Medicare does not cover you outside the US. That insurance is not very expensive, usually around $100/person per trip. You can even get a policy that covers you for all trips in a year.]
Let me add that I am not opposed to insurance, in general. Whenever there's a situation where the loss will have a major impact on your life, or your family's life, you need insurance. Example: a young couple who just had a baby and the mother is planning to stay at home with the baby. You should have a pile of term insurance on the father's life, enough that the mother can continue to live as she was, and provide for the child.
If possible, disability insurance would also be good in case the breadwinner does not die but becomes disabled and can't work.
I'll tell a story from my army days.
Back then, the army provided $10,000 in life insurance for each soldier, at no cost to the soldier. But they offered to increase it to $100,000 if the soldier would pay the premium by a deduction from his pay. Few soldiers took the increased insurance.
But when one sergeant made the presentation to the new soldiers, he always had a high acceptance rate – much higher than any of the other presenters.
So, one day the captain calls the sergeant in and asks him how he manages to do that.
“Well”, the sergeant says, “I tell them to think about this a bit. When it’s time to send someone out in an exposed position, who do you think they’re going to send? The guy with the $10,000 insurance, or the guy with the $100,000 insurance?”
The captain thought about this for a minute, then said, “That’s all, sergeant.”
I had the same thing happen to me with American Airlines.
The flying part…yes, also had the same thing happen with canceled flights on several airlines. It’s more common but not new.
While to a certain extent, yes, canceling a trip, you know what money you will loose. However, we take out insurance for anything happening on a tour, like illness or death. It happens more often than you would think. This is an extra consideration for Americans over the age of 65. Hospital treatments and stays can add up, so can evacuation back home or transport of a dead body. Years ago, when my father died unexpectedly on vacation, my mother would have been in a financial pickle without the insurance for his hospital ICU treatment and transport home from the undertaker. At the time, we also were much younger snd could not have helped her out with the huge cost. We use Tauck insurance and various others for other tours abroad. We have annual medical and evacuation insurance which kicks in any time you are over 100 miles from home. It includes everything from arranging flights, nurse escort, transport for your partner and even getting your car ot rented vehicle back. Here’s hoping we are never in that situation.
Also, now we use other insurance companies, we realize that Tauck insurance coverage is very reasonable. Try including ‘ cancel for any reason’ and the cost about doubles.
This topic has been discussed again and again here.
After having been on a cruise and seeing three people fall and break arms and two people fall and break noses - same cruise - 2 needed surgery...I ALWAYS get the insurance and if nothing else its a small price for peace of mind.
It is peace of mind to take out the insurance. You can certainly have the argument that it’s money wasted but our peace of mind is more important. We also have Medjet (for another just in case). I’ve had to use the Tauck insurance twice and I can’t complain how easy the claim process was.
Note that there's a difference between trip medical insurance and trip insurance that covers your trip cost. Tauck bundles both of them, which is convenient. I always take the trip medical insurance when we travel. I pass on the insurance that covers the trip cost because of the reasons I stated earlier. Trip medical insurance is not very expensive. Figure about $100 per person per trip - could be a bit more or less. The insurance that covers your trip cost would be quite a but more, probably close to 10 times as much.
The medical events you describe would be covered by the trip medical insurance.
But people should spend their money on what's important to them. If you feel the Tauck insurance provides you with peace of mind value, then purchasing it a good decision for you.
I get the “moral hazard” arguments for not buying the Tauck insurance. Roll the dice & hope it works out; individual choice; etc.
However, as British points out, most of us are over 65; who knows what could happen between booking the Tauck tour and completing the Tauck tour. “No-fault cancellation” plus emergency evacuation/medical insurance at a reasonable cost is worth it to me. I don’t really care if Tauck and/or AON make a fortune from it; that’s how insurance works.
Our only negative Tauck experience was in 2023, when I got COVID (and was very sick) on the MS SAVOR (without Tauck insurance), and was unceremoniously kicked off the ship with my wife in Vienna. When the unsympathetic Tauck Cruise Director found out we didn’t have Tauck insurance, he said, “This is not my problem; this is not Tauck’s problem; this is YOUR problem. Pack your bags and be ready to leave the ship at 3 pm.” That is a direct quote that has stuck in my craw for 3 years. He gave me the distinct impression that he would have been much more helpful if we had the insurance. The entire experience was a nightmare.
We now buy the insurance!
BTW the Cruise Director is still employed by Tauck!
We recently had to file a claim for taxi transportation to and from an emergency room. The tour director arranged taxi service to the closest emergency room and then to the next destination. The insurance company reimbursed us for the first taxi right away, but there was some discrepancy about the second taxi because the name of the taxi company said "taxi ambulance". AON assumed this was an ambulance and not a taxi and wanted us to file a claim with our medical insurance first. We explained the situation to the AON rep and had to deal with some red tape to get reimbursed. We then contacted Tauck customer care and they got in touch with their AON rep right away and the situation was resolved. It was helpful to have Tauck act as an advocate when there was a problem.
We buy insurance not only for our own sake, but in case there are problems with our families. Children, grandchildren...my husband has a 97 year old mother! My TA asked if she has underlying medical conditions...I said, she's old! I mean, if she were really sick, she wouldn't have made it this far! (😳).
Life's a crapshoot. Buying the insurance reduces the odds I'll ever need to use it. 🤷🏻♀️