Needing advice after cruise cancelled / Travel insured international

[Brownfish]

Hello all! Long time reader, first time poster. We just learned yesterday that our upcoming May cruise on the Fantasy was cancelled..bummer..but we rebooked for next May..Yay! My question is that we used Travel Insured international for third party insurance. I covered every last cent of expenses related to this trip: flights, transport, pre cruise park stay, cruise, post cruise hotel stay....everything.

Since we rebooked the cruise, there is no problem there or the parks stay or hotel....but the flights with Allegiant air have not been cancelled. Allegiant only wants to offer vouchers for future flights. Their schedule for next year isn't even out yet, so I feel accepting a voucher from them is a bad move. I don't know if I should wait to see if Allegiant cancels our flights or turn it into our insurance or what. I'm really lost on what to do and would love any advice anyone could provide me at this point.

Thank you in advance for your time and reply

 

[FigmentSpark]

A lot of airlines are just giving vouchers. Why not call your insurance provider and see what they say before you do anything? If they encourage you to take the vouchers, however, ask if this policy will still cover the vouchers or not.

 

[Brownfish]

I would take the voucher right now, but the airline hasn't released their schedule for next May at this time. I'm scared I'm going to end up with a voucher that will not work for our cruise schedule next year.

 

[anricat]

You have three options and from what I'm seeing above, you already know what you want to do:

1. Wait and see if the airline cancels. (Sounds like you're worried this might not happen and don't wait to wait it out.)
2. Grab the credit for next year. (Appears from the response above that you don't really want to do this.)
3. File a claim with your trip insurance. (Seems like this is what you're leaning toward.)

Sounds to me like you already know you want to make the choice for number 3 since you already laid it all out with us that you have trip insurance. Call them and get your money back if you can.

 

[princessmommyx3]

I just called my trip insurer and asked if I could file a claim to get cash back for my airfare instead of credit. I was told no, that is not covered by my policy. So, call and see if this is even an option for you.

 

[anricat]

I just called my trip insurer and asked if I could file a claim to get cash back for my airfare instead of credit. I was told no, that is not covered by my policy. So, call and see if this is even an option for you.

Was your cruise cancelled or did you just not want to fly and your flight isn't yet cancelled? That might make a difference if DCL has actually completely cancelled your cruise at this point.

 

[lanejudy]

If the airline is offering vouchers, the insurance may not pay a cash refund. Check the details of your coverage and I would also contact the insurance to confirm if you have any option there.

Enjoy your new cruise!

 

[Brownfish]

Was your cruise cancelled or did you just not want to fly and your flight isn't yet cancelled? That might make a difference if DCL has actually completely cancelled your cruise at this point.

Yes, our cruise was cancelled by DCL yesterday. The flight has not cancelled and may not? The airline is offering a voucher, but if I accept a voucher, then next year, when our cruise comes, the flights they offer may not align with our new cruise. The airline has not released their schedule that far in advance.

 

[anricat]

Yes, our cruise was cancelled by DCL yesterday. The flight has not cancelled and may not? The airline is offering a voucher, but if I accept a voucher, then next year, when our cruise comes, the flights they offer may not align with our new cruise. The airline has not released their schedule that far in advance.

Okay, so I'm still not sure I understand the question. Is your trip insurance not paying out? What do you need help with?

 

[princessmommyx3]

Was your cruise cancelled or did you just not want to fly and your flight isn't yet cancelled? That might make a difference if DCL has actually completely cancelled your cruise at this point.

I’m not the OP but you quoted my post so I wanted to answer. Our cruise was cancelled but flights have not yet been cancelled. I was told our policy would not pay us cash for flights even though our cruise was cancelled. I didn’t ask why as we are fine with just taking the flight credit, but I suspect it is because our policy excludes pandemics, as many do.

 

[spacecanada]

For most (if not all) insurance policies, a future travel voucher is considered sufficient compensation. You will not be able to deny the future travel voucher and claim the dollar amount on your insurance to receive a cash refund. I would wait to see if your flight is cancelled and/or an opportunity to receive a cash refund occurs. Otherwise, you'll likely have to take the future travel credits, even if you may not be able to use them for your next holiday. You may have to do something else with them. Or, see if you can be granted for an exception from the insurance company. Some policies will allow an exception if you can prove you absolutely cannot use the future travel credits somehow, or within the allotted expiration date. It usually has to be really convincing and firm, though, not just 'your next vacation may not go where they fly'.

 

[LAX]

I would take the voucher right now, but the airline hasn't released their schedule for next May at this time. I'm scared I'm going to end up with a voucher that will not work for our cruise schedule next year.

Another thing to keep in mind more so than what the airline's schedule may look like next May is whether that airline will be around to have a schedule then. Many, if not all, airlines are hurting financially and will likely require some form of a bailout to get through this. I am not sure which airlines are eligible for the bailout and whether airlines that are eligible can even weather through this, including the 3 "big" US airlines (ie: United, Delta, & American). I won't be surprised if at least one airline (more likely a smaller one) in the US would cease to exist after this pandemic.

LAX

 

[BartmanLA]

Another thing you might check with the Travel Insurance policy, most won't pay out due to Pandemics. That's what a lot of people are finding out when they try to file a claim over cruises interrupted or canceled outright. Most of them have that specific rider in the policy. Check to see if your's is exempt or not covered.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Hello all! Long time reader, first time poster. We just learned yesterday that our upcoming May cruise on the Fantasy was cancelled..bummer..but we rebooked for next May..Yay! My question is that we used Travel Insured international for third party insurance. I covered every last cent of expenses related to this trip: flights, transport, pre cruise park stay, cruise, post cruise hotel stay....everything.

Since we rebooked the cruise, there is no problem there or the parks stay or hotel....but the flights with Allegiant air have not been cancelled. Allegiant only wants to offer vouchers for future flights. Their schedule for next year isn't even out yet, so I feel accepting a voucher from them is a bad move. I don't know if I should wait to see if Allegiant cancels our flights or turn it into our insurance or what. I'm really lost on what to do and would love any advice anyone could provide me at this point.

Thank you in advance for your time and reply

Another thing to consider - see if you can modify the dates of trip coverage on your policy. That way, the policy you have already purchased covers your cruise next year and at least you aren't out the money you paid for the policy. You would need to do this prior to the dates of the original May cruise. I use Travel Insured for almost every trip I book and I just did this for a trip we were supposed to take to Mexico starting on March 13. I cancelled our resort about a week before we were supposed to go and I could not get our deposit back, but they gave me a credit. Delta also issued us an e-credit for our flights. If all goes well, we will use the credits in November so I simply went onto the Travel Insured site and modified the dates of our coverage for our trip. It was very easy.

 

[NancyIL]

You mentioned that you bought insurance to cover all of your trip expenses. Trip insurance is intended to cover only your prepaid, nonrefundable expenses. Things like hotel reservations and transport, unless prepaid and nonrefundable - won't be covered by the insurance if they are refundable. You likely paid for more insurance coverage than you needed.

As already mentioned, most policies won't pay anything for a cancelled cruise, unless you cancel for a covered reason (illness, death in the family, etc.) - without a Cancel For Any Reason rider. I have read one person's account of being refunded by the standard Travel Insured policy. However, anything that is refundable won't also be reimbursed by the insurance.

 

[Dznypal]

I had to cancel our cruise due to my moms health. This was just before all this mess started DCL just cancelled our cruise anyways so we’ll get the deposit back from Disney and not the insurance I’m sure the insurance com will be glad to hear thst. Air Canada has since cancelled our flight but United hasn’t yet. Got credit from both. Checking with the insurance they said I’d get a refund after the year is up. I’m not sure though what proof I’ll have to get thst we didn’t use the credit.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I don't think you will be able to get your travel insurance to pay for this, but you can always call and check.

My recommendation would be to hold out for as long as you can to see if Allegiant cancels your flight, or changes it by a significant amount of time. According to the link below, Allegiant is an airline whose guideline in their contract of carriage for being able to get a refund is "a significant delay or cancellation." So if they change your flight times, that could trigger a refund. Keep a close eye on your reservations. My concern with taking a travel voucher from Allegiant is are they going to be around when this is all over? I don't believe every airline is going to make it, and I would be more nervous taking a travel voucher from Allegiant than I would a voucher from Southwest or American.

https://www.smartertravel.com/ultimate-guide-to-airline-contracts-of-carriage/

 

[NKHarris329]

I don't know if you would get a cash refund from your insurance since the airline is attempting to make whole with a travel voucher. Depending on how much your flights cost I may try waiting for the initial travel dates to get closer and see if you get lucky and the airline changes or cancels your flight so you can get a refund. Otherwise I'd likely accept a travel voucher.

I did successfully change my travel dates with Travel Insured recently however, it was a painless process. If you cannot get cash for your flights with your policy, then I would change your travel dates with them and at least save the money from having to purchase insurance again.

 

[lorimay]

Our policy would not cover the flights for us.

 

[monkeydawn]

My recommendation would be to hold out for as long as you can to see if Allegiant cancels your flight, or changes it by a significant amount of time. According to the link below, Allegiant is an airline whose guideline in their contract of carriage for being able to get a refund is "a significant delay or cancellation." So if they change your flight times, that could trigger a refund. Keep a close eye on your reservations. My concern with taking a travel voucher from Allegiant is are they going to be around when this is all over? I don't believe every airline is going to make it, and I would be more nervous taking a travel voucher from Allegiant than I would a voucher from Southwest or American.

https://www.smartertravel.com/ultimate-guide-to-airline-contracts-of-carriage/

This is what I was going to suggest. Delta finally changed one of our flights enough (it was the third round of changes Ive seen) to allow for a refund if requested. That's important, you will have to watch for the changes and then call to request the refund, you wont automatically be given the option as they want to get as many people to take the credits as possible.