American Queen Steamboat Cruise Insurance - 2024 Review

American Queen Steamboat Company operates river cruises throughout the United States. They are an American cruise company that cruise the upper Mississippi, the lower Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, Columbia, and Snake Rivers. The Grand American Queen is the largest steamboat ever built.

American Queen insurance comes in a one-size-fits-all package. It’s a cancellation insurance only policy, meaning it covers you against the need to cancel your trip, but not against other coverage items such as medical expenses which traditional travel insurance plans have. In terms of price, it which will cost 10% - 12% of your trip cost. This insurance provides you with an 80% refund in future cruise credit if you need to cancel your trip within 9 days of your departure date. If your trip is cancelled 10 or more days before your trip begins, you will provided with a cash refund for 90%.

As you cannot book an American Queen Steamboat cruise online, you also cannot buy their travel insurance at check out. The only way to purchase their plan is over the phone with one of their representatives or through your travel agent. 

Our American Queen Cruise: Southern Sampler

The best way to determine whether the insurance offered by American Queen offers good value for money and coverage versus other travel insurance plans available on the wider market place, we first need to set sail with American Queen.

Our cruise is a 9-day journey along the lower Mississippi River. The trip costs $4,396 for two travelers who are ages 55 and 60.

American Queen Steamboat Company trip insurance costs $527.52. This coverage only provides cancellation coverage. Medical coverage, medical evacuation and even lost baggage coverage is not provided. It is simply a cancellation policy. If you wanted to have medical coverage, baggage cover or evacuation cover, then you would need to buy an aditonal travel insurance plan. Likewise, if you wanted to protect flights or transfer, again you would need a secondary plan.

Comparison Quotes

Let’s look at what other insurance options are available for our trip from TripProtectors’s travel insurance market place.

TripProtectors recommends a minimum of $100,000 of medical coverage and $150,000 of medical evacuation coverage when traveling domestically. It is also recommended to get a policy that provides a Pre-existing Medical Condition Waiver. Without a waiver of pre-existing conditions, an insurance policy would otherwise have a look-back period in which your travel insurer could see if the problem that has caused you to claim is pre-existing. The Waiver eliminates this Look Back Period in case a Pre-existing Condition forces you to cancel or interrupt your trip. The least expensive plan with a Pre-existing Medical Condition Waiver is the Trawick First Class for $231.00. This plan provides $150,000 of medical coverage per person and $1 million in medical evacuation per person. A waiver to cover pre-existing medical conditions will be included with no additional charge so long as the policy is purchased within 14 days of your initial trip payment or deposit date.

The least expensive plan with Cancel For Any Reason is the Trawick First Class (CFAR 75%) for $392.70. This plan provides the same coverage as the Trawick First Class but adds the cancel for any reason option if the policy is purchased within 10 days of the initial trip payment or deposit date. This is great coverage as it would allow you to cancel your trip for a reason that is not shown in the policy schedule and still receive a large percentage refund in cash.

Both of these plans from TripProtectors cost less than American Queen’s insurance plan and they both provide excellent medical coverage and medical evacuation benefits as well as trip interruption cover; travel delay and accidental death and dismemberment coverage.

The best way to see the benefits of each plan and determine best value for money and coverage is as a side-by-side comparison as show below:

Benefit	American Queen Steamboat Cancellation Plan	Trawick First Class	Trawick First Class (CFAR 75%)
Trip Cancellation	80% refund in future cruise credit if trip is cancelled within 9 days of your departure date. A 90% cash refund will be provided if your trip is cancelled 10 or more days before your trip begins.	100% of trip cost	100% of trip cost
Trip Interruption	N/A	150% of trip cost	150% of trip cost
Medical Insurance	N/A	$150,000	$150,000
Medical Evacuation	N/A	$1,000,000	$1,000,000
Baggage Loss/Damage	N/A	$500/article up to $2,000 per person	$500/article up to $2,000 per person
Baggage Delay	N/A	$400	$400
Travel Delay (Incl quarantine)	N/A	$1000 per person	$1000 per person
Missed Connection	N/A	$1,000 per person	$1,000 per person
Cover Pre-existing Medical Conditions	N/A	Yes, if purchased within 14 days of deposit	Yes, if purchased within 14 days of deposit
Cancel For Work Reason	N/A	No	100% of trip cost
Interrupt For Any Reason	N/A	No	100% of trip cost
Cancel For Any Reason	80% refund in future cruise credit if trip is cancelled within 9 days of your departure date. A 90% cash refund will be provided if your trip is cancelled 10 or more days before your trip begins.	No	75% of trip cost
Accidental Death & Dismemberment	N/A	$25,000	$25,000
Cost of Policy	$527.52 (12% of trip cost)	$231.00 (5.2% of trip cost)	$392.70 (8.9% or trip cost)

Price and Value

Of the three options, Trawick First Class (CFAR 75%) offers the most value. It provides the same benefits as the standard Trawick First Class but also includes the option to be able to cancel for any reason not listed in the policy. The refund is in cash and not cruise credits. Not only is the Trwick First Class CFAR policy less expensive than the American Queen Steamboat Company’s travel plan, but it also has a higher level of Cancellation coverage as well as medical and medical evacuation benefits. It is a clear choice over the American Queen plan.

Trip Cancellation

When you invest in a costly dream trip, it’s natural to want to protect it. Unexpected things happen, and you can prepare for them.

What if you unexpectedly fall sick and you can’t go on the trip? Or a family member becomes ill, and you must cancel your trip to care for them?

Some of the most common reasons for trip cancellation are an unexpected illness, injury, or death of a traveler, traveling companion, or family member. Luckily, Trip Cancellation reimburses the Trip Cost if you must cancel due to a covered reason.

Covered cancellation reasons for Trawick First Class and Trawick First Class (CFAR 75%) plans include:

• Unforeseen illness, accidental injury or death, of the traveler, traveling companion or family member
• Being Quarantined with illness, hijacked or required to serve Jury Duty
• Inclement Weather that causes complete cessation of services for at least the specified number of consecutive hours of the Common Carrier on which You are scheduled to travel
• Natural disaster in your destination rendering it uninhabitable
• Terrorism

Cancel For Any Reason

Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) insurance provides the highest level of flexibility and reimbursement if you must cancel your trip for any reason not covered by the policy.

For example: What if you or your traveling companion suffers from anxiety and gets a panic attack a few days before departure? You want to cancel the trip, but because a panic attack is a psychological condition, Trip Cancellation does not cover it. In fact, most travel insurance plans exclude mental health cancellations.

Other times, travelers change their minds. If your destination was affected by a pandemic that did not exist when you booked your trip, you might want to cancel. Likewise, you might face travel restrictions, travel bans, or border closings. These fall reasons would fall under Cancel For Any Reason because they are not covered by a standard cancellation.

Consider policies like the Trawick First Class (CFAR 75%) to protect you against the unexpected. Cancel For Any Reason policies gives you the flexibility to cancel your trip for any reason.

How does Cancel for Any Reason work? All CFAR plans have guidelines to activate the coverage:

• Purchase the travel insurance within 10-21 days (depending on policy) of the initial trip payment or deposit
• Insure 100% of all pre-paid and non-refundable trip costs
• Cancel more than 2 days before the departure date
• You will receive a either a 50% or a 75% refund (depending on policy) of the trip costs

Keep in mind: you must be fit to travel at the time you purchase insurance.

For example, let’s say you have a surgery scheduled between now and your departure date. You are waiting until post-op recovery to make a decision about whether you will travel. If you are not fit to travel the day you buy the insurance but hope to be fit the day of travel, the policy will not cover anything. It is important to remember that Travel insurance is invalid if the insured is not fit to travel on the date of purchase.

The benefit of Cancel for Any Reason travel insurance is that it gives you peace of mind. You will not lose the majority of your trip cost investment no matter what your cancellation reason.

Trip Interruption

Occasionally, travelers experience difficulties while traveling. Maybe you get sick or injured and cannot continue the cruise. Other times, it’s bad news from back home, and you must return home early.

Trip Interruption insurance refunds you for the unused portion of the trip and the additional cost to return home early. If the interruption is temporary and you can return to your trip, interruption benefits also cover transportation costs to rejoin the trip.

Travel insurance plans like the Trawick First Class offer 150% of trip costs for interruption. Therefore, they cover up to 100% of the unused costs, plus up to an additional 50% to cover transportation costs to return home.

Travel Medical Insurance Helps If You Get Sick Abroad

Accidents happen. If they happen on your trip, it is unlikely your personal health insurance will pay for much, if any, of the costs. They might require that you get pre-certification before any treatment and that you pay out-of-network expenses.

Also, Medicare does not pay providers outside the US. Some Medicare supplement plans cover up to $50,000 of emergency-only treatment, but you must pay a deductible and up to $10,000. If your treatment exceeds that amount, you pay for it yourself.

You cannot rely on the US State Department, either. They do not help Americans abroad with medical expenses.

In short, traveling without international medical insurance could leave you stranded in a foreign country going deep into debt, draining your retirement nest egg.

Travel Medical Insurance alleviates worries about unexpected health costs. It covers you for your entire trip duration, so you don’t need to worry about networks.

For small medical issues, like a brief visit to urgent care, you pay out of pocket. Keep your receipts and claim them for reimbursement once you are home. For more complicated situations, like hospitalization, travel insurance guarantees payment, so you don’t pay out-of-pocket expenses.

Medical Evacuation Transports You Home

If you have a medical emergency, Medical Evacuation coverage transports you to the nearest medical facility able to treat your condition.

It is easy to picture something drastic when you think of Medical Evacuation, such as an airlift in a medical helicopter. However, Medical Evacuation can be as simple as a ride in an ambulance. Medical Evacuation provides for both situations.

Once you receive treatment, the doctor will determine when you are stable enough to move. Medical Evacuation returns you to a hospital near your home if you need continued treatment. The transportation method depends on your condition. The physician and the travel insurance’s medical evacuation team coordinate your trip home. Their goal is simple: get you patched up and home as soon as possible.

Cover Pre-existing Medical Conditions

Most plans are not interested in your full medical history. Typically, they only care about the last 60-180 days of your medical history prior to policy purchase.

However, most policies offer a Waiver that lets the policy cover all Pre-existing Medical Conditions. Because a Waiver closes coverage gaps, TripProtectors recommends all travelers purchase a plan that has a Waiver whenever possible.

Suppose you were treated for a back injury three months ago. Your doctor cleared you to travel. You both expect a full recovery before you leave for your trip. But you reinjure your back, or it suddenly worsens, and you can’t travel now. The Pre-Existing Medical Condition Waiver lets you cancel the trip due to your back issue.

Similarly, if the same problem required treatment during your trip, the Waiver allows the policy’s Medical Insurance to cover you. It is essential to have the Pre-Existing Medical Exclusions Waiver on your travel plan.

How to Get the Pre-existing Condition Waiver

First, you must be medically fit to travel the day you buy your insurance.

Second, purchase the travel insurance shortly after you pay your initial trip deposit. Buy the plan within 10-21 days from your deposit date (depending on policy requirements) to qualify for the Waiver. The initial trip deposit date is critical to the coverage of Pre-Existing Conditions. However, some policies will allow coverage for pre-existing medical conditions if you purchase the policy on or before the final trip payment is made. The Trawick Voyager and the IMG Travel LX would be good choices in this situation.

The Trawick First Class and the Trawick First Class (CFAR 75%) both have a 14-day window in which you can buy a Waiver with the policy.

If you bought the policy too late to include the Waiver, travel insurance still covers your older, stable conditions. Both Trawick policies cover Pre-existing Conditions if they are older than 60 days before the date you bought the policy.

The American Queen insurance does not cover Pre-existing medical conditions.as it does not have medical coverage at all, so if coverage for pre-existing conditions is needed, we recommend purchasing travel insurance that carries the waiver.

Conclusion

American Steamboat cruise insurance provides travelers with cancellation policy that provides no medical coverage or medical evacuation coverage for a high cost that could leave travelers unpleasantly surprised during an emergency. While the insurance does provide a 90% refund in cash if you cancel up to 9 days prior to the trip, the cancellation reasons are very limited. Overall, we rate it a 6 out of 10.

Travelers planning an American Steamboat cruise vacation will find the best value for their money and peace of mind when they shop for travel insurance at TripProtectors Travel Insurance Marketplace. There, you can review dozens of options and select the best policy to fit your needs.

To help you find the best policy when traveling domestically, TripProtectors recommends having at least $10,000 in travel medical coverage and $150,000 emergency medical evacuation and $100,000 in medical coverage and $250,000 in medical evacuation coverage when traveling outside the US. And, if you purchase the policy within the 14-21 days of initial trip payment, please consider a travel insurance policy with the pre-existing condition waiver included to ensure the most coverage for your money.

If you are planning a American Steamboat cruise in 2022, be sure to pack insurance before you travel. You never know when you may need it.

Have questions? Chat with us online, send us an email at agent@TripProtectors.com or alternatively call us at +1(650) 397-6592. We would love to hear from you.

Safe Travels!