My travel delay insurance experience

[MikeyNS]

Thought I would relay my travel delay insurance experience with everyone.

I have a RBC Infinite Avion Visa which automatically gives you tra6vel delay insurance. Unfortunately our direct flight from Orlando to Halifax was delayed due to mechanical issues until the next morning.

Long story short we ended up in the airport for many many hours before AC canceled the flight. I had called RBC and asked how the delay insurance worked at the 3 hour delay mark due to my spidey senses tingling that perhaps our flight would be canceled. The RBC agent said that if we didn't get offered food or lodging vouchers within 4 hours of your scheduled departure then the insurance would kick in.

Air Canada cancelled the flight at about 3:45 after our departure time, but didn't get the vouchers out to my wife until another hour after that, but since I now knew about the 4hr " insurance kick-in" time I had left with our boys as soon as the announcement was made and went to the Hyatt in the airport and checked in just after the 4hrs rolled around. $291 for the night. Ouch.. but we were all tired, hungry and just wanted to get home; and honestly I didn't want to risk AC giving us a hotel offsite that we'd all have to wait for our baggage, use a shuttle to get to, and could possibly have no food options. This way we could have supper in the room and wander down and get our bags at our leisure while the other waited in the room with the boys. Much more pleasant.

The day after we got home I gathered all my paperwork together (hotel receipt, official email from AC saying the delay was mechanical, printout of the AC website showing the flight was delayed and the insurance claim form that was emailed to me) and faxed it off. Less after getting them the paper work I received a cheque reimbursing us our expenses.

Fairly painless experience and the first time I've ever claimed for any credit card insurance, especially one that's automatically included with our card.
Food for thought if you're ever in that position.

 

[My 2 princesses]

Great to know. I don't have an Avion Visa but have toyed with the idea as the 100 bucks or whatever annual fee will take care of the Insurance I would buy if I did not have it.

Having said that, I never normally buy insurance as I always fly SWA and well, you know they don't have cancellation charges. This time we are going wtih Air Tran so am thinking of buying insurance. I wish they would sell Trip Cancellation only would be way cheaper for those of us who have medical insurance through companies.

 

[jtdl]

Great to know. I don't have an Avion Visa but have toyed with the idea as the 100 bucks or whatever annual fee will take care of the Insurance I would buy if I did not have it.

Having said that, I never normally buy insurance as I always fly SWA and well, you know they don't have cancellation charges. This time we are going wtih Air Tran so am thinking of buying insurance. I wish they would sell Trip Cancellation only would be way cheaper for those of us who have medical insurance through companies.

Many companies sell cancellation/interruption insurance although it isn't a whole lot cheaper (sometimes can actually be more expensive!) than all inclusive plans. Check out this site, you can compare policies:

http://www.squaremouth.com/

 

[YukiPhnx]

Oh my gosh, I wish I had known that sooner! I got an Avion Infinite card just before my last trip because I knew it had great coverage. I need to read through the insurance much better.

Thanks for your story and letting us know it went to smoothly!

 

[2gr8DisneyKids]

Great to know! WE have that card as well and always use it to pay for airfare.

Thanks!!!

 

[MikeyNS]

Oh that's right.. I needed to provide my visa statement showing that I purchased the ticket on my visa, as well as copy of the original ticket (I knew there was more paperwork).

I tend to keep all my travel paperwork/emails organized until I complete the trip, so it was easy to find the ticket in my gmail and my visa statement was easy to find online. I had used avion points for one of the tickets.. so it didn't matter that I didn't "pay" full fare for the ticket, as long as the visa was charged the fees that's all that mattered.

 

[tgropp]

Thank God I never had to use my insurance to get a rebate. In 2005, our flight was to leave Orlando via Westjet at 1:00 P.M. At 10 in the morning, I phoned to confirm our flight and I was told that our flight would be 4 hours late. I asked Westjet if they would at least pay for a rental car so I could lounge by the pool and they said no. I politely asked them what they could do for me for the inconvenience of the late flight and I was told that I would get a credit on the flight. I nearly fainted!. There were five adults and we got nearly $2,000.00 in a flight credit. (It was Christmas time and return air was $800.00, so we got the return portion refunded). That is Westjets policy. I love Westjet!

 

[mkmommy]

I was going to start a thread with my travel insurance experience but I will just add on from spring break. I have an Airmiles Gold BMO card.

My father passed away and the funeral was the day we were to fly to LA for a cruise. Instead on cancelling decided that we would fly to Puerto Vallarta and join the cruise there.

Within a week of putting in a claim for cancelled hotel and car rental in LA, missed 3 days of the cruise and 1 way air fare to LA that we cancelled, (did not put in the expense for the flight to PV as I was told that would not be covered) I received a cheque for the hotel, car rental and 3 days of the missed cruise.

The airfare was not paid as the policy does say that only non refundable non, transferable items will be refunded. Air Canada tickets that I purchased are transferable to another date within a year from purchase date with a $150 fee, but I purchased the tickets as soon as they were available so I am not going to be able to use them, before they expire in 2 weeks. I have asked the insurance company to review, but we will see what happens.

So anyone who has trip cancelation insurance take this into consideration as most tickets these days are transferable to another date with a change fee which may make them not an item that is covered by the trip cancellation.

 

[Camilo]

I also had a good experience with our AMEX Gold card, in terms of insurance.

I travelled to Brazil to spend 2 months there, my mom was sick, but staying home.

Four days prior to our return, she got worse and had to be hospitalized. I called AMEX insurance and was advised I could extend the trip in up to 10 days with AMEX paying the difference charged by the airline (Delta, in this case).

I was able to extend the trip by a week (my mom ended up passing away the day we were supposed to leave Brazil initially, so I am very glad I had the insurance).

Delta charged CAN 3.400 for the four of us for the "price difference" on our return tickets (a rip off, I paid CAN 5400 for the 4 tickets return intially).

I arrived back, sent the form, medical report, confirmation I had paid for the tickets in my AMEX, new tickets and less than a month later, I was reimbursed 100%.

I will gladly keep paying 180.00 a year for the card. The benefits are great. A friend of mine has used the same card for "delayed lugagge insurance", getting 500.00 in clothes twice already. In both cases, their bags showed up next day, so they got 1.000 in free clothes.

 

[bankr63]

Not that I have had to use it, but another option to consider. We have a family travel insurance policy with our home/auto company (TD in this case). Costs $170/yr for medical/cancellation/interruption for 4 of us, and I can book on any card (trips must be less than 17 days, but as many per year as you want). Since I have different cards that I use for business/personal/family expenses I don't have to pay for coverage on 3 different cards. The cost is pretty competitive with the cost of some of the premium cards.

Also covers us when we drive to the US for medical or cancelled hotel stays; doesn't have to be tied to any kind of expenses on a credit card.

 

[mkmommy]

I also had a good experience with our AMEX Gold card, in terms of insurance.

I travelled to Brazil to spend 2 months there, my mom was sick, but staying home.

Four days prior to our return, she got worse and had to be hospitalized. I called AMEX insurance and was advised I could extend the trip in up to 10 days with AMEX paying the difference charged by the airline (Delta, in this case).

I was able to extend the trip by a week (my mom ended up passing away the day we were supposed to leave Brazil initially, so I am very glad I had the insurance).

Delta charged CAN 3.400 for the four of us for the "price difference" on our return tickets (a rip off, I paid CAN 5400 for the 4 tickets return intially).

I arrived back, sent the form, medical report, confirmation I had paid for the tickets in my AMEX, new tickets and less than a month later, I was reimbursed 100%.

I will gladly keep paying 180.00 a year for the card. The benefits are great. A friend of mine has used the same card for "delayed lugagge insurance", getting 500.00 in clothes twice already. In both cases, their bags showed up next day, so they got 1.000 in free clothes.

What type of AMEX Gold card is it, that has a $180 for the travel insurance. I was looking at AMEX and it appeared that to add an annual travel insurance plan it was going to be an additional $700 plus the annual card fee, so I must be missing something.

 

[mkmommy]

Not that I have had to use it, but another option to consider. We have a family travel insurance policy with our home/auto company (TD in this case). Costs $170/yr for medical/cancellation/interruption for 4 of us, and I can book on any card (trips must be less than 17 days, but as many per year as you want). Since I have different cards that I use for business/personal/family expenses I don't have to pay for coverage on 3 different cards. The cost is pretty competitive with the cost of some of the premium cards.

Also covers us when we drive to the US for medical or cancelled hotel stays; doesn't have to be tied to any kind of expenses on a credit card.

Does the cancellation cover death as a reason for cancelling? I was looking on line and could not find a copy of the policy, but it did not appear that death was one of the cancellation reasons covered.

Also finding a policy that covers strikes as a reason for cancellation appears to be hard to find.

 

[Camilo]

What type of AMEX Gold card is it, that has a $180 for the travel insurance. I was looking at AMEX and it appeared that to add an annual travel insurance plan it was going to be an additional $700 plus the annual card fee, so I must be missing something.

http://www.americanexpress.com/canada/en/gold-rewards-card/features-at-a-glance.shtml


Amex Aeroplan gold. The link is above. Have fun

 

[Sue M]

Good to know. Years ago I had the flight from hell with AC. Started in Ft. Lauderdale, when our flight was delayed because 2 elderly ladies got lost in the airport, and couldn't find the gate. They were on the verge of unloading the luggage, when the ladies were found

This caused a domino effect, with many of us missing our connections in Toronto. Incl me.

They put me on a new flight- there were about 6 of us that orig. with that Ft laud. flight. New flight from Toronto was delayed HOURS. Then they said plane couldn't be fixed and they had to find another plane.

More hours passed. AC never did anything in the way of food vouchers, nothing. I think my CC at the time was Aeroplan Gold. Can't remember if trip interruption/cancellation was included on the Gold Card, or that I was entitled to anything from AC after 4 hrs

Wish I knew then what I know now

 

[bankr63]

Does the cancellation cover death as a reason for cancelling? I was looking on line and could not find a copy of the policy, but it did not appear that death was one of the cancellation reasons covered.

Definitely:

Covered Cause for Cancellation means:
death of an Insured Person
death of an Immediate Family Member of the Insured Person;

The TD policy is pretty easy to find online, links from most of the pages in the travel insurance section. Not sure about other insurers.

Also finding a policy that covers strikes as a reason for cancellation appears to be hard to find.

No, this policy only covers cancellation by the policy holder. Cancellation by the airline because of a strike should be covered by the airline, at least for the airfare. To be sure, I would expect that if say AC went on strike, there might be penalties for the cancelled accomodation, and I am not sure who would pay this. It might be covered under the trip interruption benefits.

Added: reread the policy, and no, strike is not covered anywhere. And that probably makes sense as this is "Travel MEDICAL insurance" (emphasis mine) so all of the causes are related to medical conditions. If there is a delay because of strike, or weather, or other non-medical cause you would not be covered by this type of policy, you would not be covered for costs.

 

[mkmommy]

I was going to start a thread with my travel insurance experience but I will just add on from spring break. I have an Airmiles Gold BMO card.

My father passed away and the funeral was the day we were to fly to LA for a cruise. Instead on cancelling decided that we would fly to Puerto Vallarta and join the cruise there.

Within a week of putting in a claim for cancelled hotel and car rental in LA, missed 3 days of the cruise and 1 way air fare to LA that we cancelled, (did not put in the expense for the flight to PV as I was told that would not be covered) I received a cheque for the hotel, car rental and 3 days of the missed cruise.

The airfare was not paid as the policy does say that only non refundable non, transferable items will be refunded. Air Canada tickets that I purchased are transferable to another date within a year from purchase date with a $150 fee, but I purchased the tickets as soon as they were available so I am not going to be able to use them, before they expire in 2 weeks. I have asked the insurance company to review, but we will see what happens.

So anyone who has trip cancelation insurance take this into consideration as most tickets these days are transferable to another date with a change fee which may make them not an item that is covered by the trip cancellation.

I thought I would update and say that I got a cheque for the airfare portion today. So just over a week, which I think is pretty good.

 

[npoon]

I wonder whether you would still get the coverage if you used aeroplan/airmile points for the flight but paid for taxes, etc with your visa card?

 

[MikeyNS]

I wonder whether you would still get the coverage if you used aeroplan/airmile points for the flight but paid for taxes, etc with your visa card?

Yup. My ticket was a points ticket.

 

[cargo13]

Googling directed me to this old thread and thought I would update that strikes are an event covered by our insurance provider---GENERALI Travel Insurance. Their website allows you to see the plan details listing covered events. https://www.generalitravelinsurance.com/view-travel-insurance-plans.html

They also have the CFAR /Cancel For Any Reason on their Premium plan.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

I LOVE my Avion Infinite! We used Avion points to get Westjet tickets to MCO... then we paid out our WDW bill on the card. By doing it that way, we "re-charged" our points up to basically another 3 tickets' worth of airfare!