We will be going to SXM in April for 12 days. In the past 16 years, we have never had travel insurance but with aging parents, grandkids, etc, we were thinking of getting travel insurance. What suggestions do you have for companies that sell travel insurance? Does it cover plane fare and hotel rental costs and what are stipulations for reasons that you can cancel. I know that I could google it but this board is smarter than google.

I buy the travel insurance whenever I book the first item of my trip, so that pre-existing conditions are covered. You can always add dollar amounts later.
I have been using Allianz because they seem reasonable and are usually the default for many airline bookings.
Many prople go to Insuremytrip to compare plans and costs but I found them to be competitive for what I want. Their call center is very helpful about adding/changing things. I had my 83 year old mother make sure she has "cancel for any reason" as it was questionable for a while whether she was going on our latest trip.

First, when purchasing Trip Insurance make sure you fully understand the coverage offered by the policy you are planning to purchase to confirm it covers the type(s) of loss(es) you wish to insure against.

A good place to do this is a www.insuremytrip.com where you can compare the coverages and premiums offered by every Travel Insurance carrier.

Most policies have lower premiums if you purchase the insurance within a set period of booking your trip (usually within 10 days). If you purchase the policy outside that window the premiums are higher and, in the case of medical cancellations, may not cover pre-existing conditions.

There are basically two types of travel insurance. One is for trip interruption or cacellation and the other is for medical evac. Some policies have both but not all.

The trip cancellation varies greatly based on the terms of the policy so make sure you know all of the terms so when comparing price you are comparing for the same type of policy.

Medical evac is also based on the terms of the policy. Some are to the nearest medical facility (which for SXM could be either Miami or PR). Others take you back home to your hospital.

One the sponsors page you have Insure My Trip to compare many policies and also Skymed which is medical evac that takes you home. Several people here have had to use Skymed in the past.

If you use the links on the Sponsors page, then we can get a small comission if you purchase a policy.