Handle9: Self insurance + CGA makes much more financial sense than any extended warranty, including AppleCare. Over the long term you’ll likely win but you may not.

Financial sense it does maybe. But we are in the 'now' economy. 

Why wait 2-4 weeks to get something through CGA when I can lodge a claim with Apple, they send me a brand new device within 2 days, then I send the broken device back in the same packaging (iPhone). For Mac Air, I don't think they have the courier new device policy, but you can drop off the device at an Apple Authorise Repairer and they will sort everything out for you. Last year I had an iPad Pro 11" that was bend and looked like a banana that needed some TLC. Apple shop took 3 days to assess, approve, order parts, and fix device.  

Downsides of using your own insurance:

 

1. Claim will take longer to resolve, as they will more than likely require it to be assessed, then approved, then fixed. And that takes time.
2. It may impact your no claims bonus
3. You may have to declare your claim during future contents claims
4. It could impact your annual premiums
5. Does not generally include out of warranty claims - this requires a different claim using CGA which can be challenging.

Benefits of using AppleCare:

 

1. Claim process is very quick and can generally be approved on the spot by the repairer doing the assessment
2. Pricing is very straight forward - you buy AppleCare for a onetime free. You pay every claim (if not covered under standard 1 year warranty)
3. Everything is covered for 3 years from accidental damage to out of warranty claims. 
4. You only deal with one person the whole time.

I dunno about you, but I don't want to give my insurance company ammo for increasing my annual costs. I am happy to pay a small fee to have wider independent coverage.