Generali Travel Insurance

[Pinnochio]

If you're looking for travel insurance, i strongly advise to avoid Generali at all costs...here's why:

While traveling to Italy in mid-June, my return flight on Aer Lingus was canceled due to a pilot's strike.....no notice from Aer Lingus...

made two attempts to reach Aer Lingus to no avail.... Proceeded to rebook a flight home on American at a cost of $2700...

once home i contacted Generali .... they would not answer the 800 number but after multiple calls and a series of prompts i was told to go to a website to file a claim....ok, no problem, or so i thought....their first email response to me was they need more info...please make a pdf of this info and load it into our system....ok, no problem, done!

after 7 emails from Generali saying send this, send that, blah blah blah I get an email saying we need proof you did not get any compensation from the airline.... OK, sent!.... then nothing for 10 days......

I sent another email, still nothing....finally got a human on the phone and they were transferring me to a Manager....5 mins or so go by and the call ends....dropped....

called again...Got a second human....transferred me again....got a voice mail....left a detailed voicemail....10 days ago.....still waiting....no reply at all

I'm now on day 59 of what they said is a 30 day process....For those of you seeking Travel Insurance, be warned!!......

Hope this helps someone.

 

[NYCgrrl]

@Pinnochio You might want to consider getting in touch with TrippedUp@nytimes.com to try getting your money back.
HTH

 

[japanese maple]

Oh man, that's terrible. Thanks for warning!

 

[msmayor]

They may very well be investigating the idea that you are claiming you received nothing from Aer Lingus for the cancellation. You SHOULD have been refunded that flight cost if they cancelled the flight...and it's entirely possible that your trip insurance opts to reduce your claim if you didn't file for that refund which you were entitled to.

 

[EACarlson]

I think OP is confused about what is covered by their travel insurance plan. Your beef is with Aer Lingus, not the insurance company. I don't think a strike on a common carrier is a covered reason, and you didn't have any losses that fall into the categories covered. There are a lot of people that are learning this with the large number of strikes in Europe the past couple of summers. It was on Aer Lingus to get you home. If you couldn't get a hold of them, which is understandable if they had were being struck against. You should have gone to the airport and taken it up with BA, Iberia or Vueling as they are all owned by the same people.

 

[Lewisc]

Many people think travel insurance covers far more then it does.

Travel insurance has specific items that are covered and frequently lists exclusions.

PP spelled it out. Travel insurance doesn't typically accept responsibility for.flights if the airline is responsible.

 

[msmayor]

Many people think travel insurance covers far more then it does.

Travel insurance has specific items that are covered and frequently lists exclusions.

PP spelled it out. Travel insurance doesn't typically accept responsibility for.flights if the airline is responsible.

Not necessarily true.

Trip Delay coverage can be very useful when weather or mechanical issues delay flights and cause you to miss some parts of your vacation. Specifically with cruising, delays in flights can be catastrophic to vacation plans.

The kicker here is the length of time before the insurance will consider a 'delay' as covered. There are some policies out there that will not cover a delay until you are anywhere from 6-12 hours beyond your original arrival time. In the case of needing to be at a vacation destination by a specific time to use a prepaid part of your trip you need to consider what your insurance documents say.

Here's an example - let's say you have tickets to an expensive show/concert where you paid $400/each, and the show starts at 6pm. You're flying in the day of the show and figure "I'll take this flight that lands at 2pm...will give me plenty of time to get to the hotel, check in, and then get to the concert". Your original flight gets delayed, and the earliest the airline can get you into town is 7pm...five hours later. Sad you will likely miss the show, but think "hey, I've got the trip insurance, I can get reimbursed"...until you read in the fine print that the delay must exceed six hours. Your flight got in at 7...FIVE hours after the original arrival...so no coverage for trip delay is available. The logic here is that you, the consumer, had control over choosing what flight to take, and the consumer chose the wrong flight to ensure coverage would be valid.

With all trip insurance, the devil is in the details.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Oddly enough, just read this on Generali’s website:

“
Does that mean you won’t be covered if you buy a ticket for Europe in the middle of a pilot’s strike, and then cancel that trip because the strike’s made it impossible for you to get to Europe?

Probably. Generali’s policy is that once air-travel workers announce they are going on strike it becomes a foreseeable event, and most other travel insurers have similar stipulations.

On the other hand, as long as you didn’t know about the strike and it was unannounced at the time you insured your trip, it’s considered an unexpected event that is eligible for coverage.

Finally, your transportation has to be public. Strikes that impact private transportation don’t count.

Pro tip: Even though Generali Global Assistance plans cover strikes as a reason for trip interruption, delay, or cancellation, not all travel protection plans do. You need to read your plan documents to see how strikes are covered.“

 

[Lewisc]

The first question is if the event, in this case a strike, is covered?

The second question is what are the benefits? What will I get paid. Sometimes benefits aren't paid for tickets including sports, concerts, plays and MVMCP. Benefits for trip delay might include reimbursement for hotel and meal expenses, with a dollar limit. Replacement air fare is not always covered.