What Date Is Your Initial Trip Deposit Date?
Your Initial Trip Deposit Date is the earliest date that a payment of any kind was paid and / or applied to your trip. There's one exception: if you paid money on a cruise for a future cruise without set travel dates, there are two travel insurance companies that will not consider that your Initial Trip Deposit Date.
Example #1:
You book a trip on July 1st and put it on your credit card. Three weeks later you get your credit card bill and pay it on July 23rd. Even though you think you "paid for your trip on July 23rd", the first payment was really made on July 1st.
Example #2:
You use frequent flyer miles to get a ticket. A month later make the deposit on your tour or cruise. Your Initial Trip Deposit Date is the is the date you arranged for your ticket with your frequent flyer miles. That's because the taxes you paid are the first payment made on your trip.
What if you re-book your trip? Does your initial deposit date change?
Switching the cruise to a different travel agent doesn't neccessarily re-set your Initial Deposit Date. If any of the money you paid previously is either transferred or applied to your new cruise's booking, the original deposit date will be the same.
The only way it's treated as a new cruise & new deposit date is if:
- You can show documentation that you completely cancelled the 1st cruise and received 100% of your money back as either a credit card credit or in the form of a check made payable to you, and
- You then have to book a trip with different travel dates from the trip you cancelled.
Why different travel dates?
If you examine the travel insurance policies, you'll see that CSA, Travel Guard, Travel Insured and TravelSafe all include wording like "this is the first and only booking for this same destination and dates of travel" as a condition of waiving the pre-existing medical condition exclusion. You cannot cancel your trip & re-book it to just reset your inital trip deposit date. Read Steve's Blog post to find out more.
Click here to find out more about pre-existing conditions coverage.
The Exceptions to "What Is Your Initial Trip Deposit Date?"
If you are / were on a cruise and you paid a deposit for a future cruise without setting travel dates, Travelex Select, Travelex Max and Travel Insured will not consider that date your Initial Trip Deposit Date. Your Initial Trip Deposit Date will be the date you have a confirmed reservation with specific travel dates. TravelSafe's policy wording, "Payments or Deposits" strictly refers to a confirmed deposit. In other words, if a particular category is not available for you at the time of your initial deposit, or the tour is sold out and you are put on a waiting list, or if an "interest deposit" is taken for an early promotion to see if there is enough interest in a specific tour but the tour is not yet a definite, don't buy a Travel Safe plan yet.
You can still receive the pre-existing conditions waiver, supplier default coverage and the the optional "Cancel For Any Reason" benefits when your initial deposit date is the date your "interest deposit" becomes a confirmed deposit. CSA and Travel Guard count the earliest date when any monies are paid as the Initial Trip Deposit Date regardless of whether there are set travel dates set. |
Ready to Order? It's easy (and safe) to order online or over the telephone - just call Steve, Deanna, Becky, Teresa or Mary toll free at 1-888-407-3854 (US & Canada) or 507-214-3854.
PS - Steve has some Free Gifts & Fun Stuff for you to enjoy just for visiting TripInsuranceStore.com
PPS - 
Read Steve's Blog or you can Subscribe to Steve's blog here
Can't find what you need? Try TripInsuranceStore.com's Search Page:
PS - Even though TripInsuranceStore.com is world's the most informative travel insurance website, you are still responsible to know what's in your policy's Certificate of Coverage. Click here to get each plan's Certificate of Coverage.
