Trip insurance, missing liveaboard departure due to flight issues

[KeithG]

So I purchased trip insurance from DAN for our Cayman Brac Scubaboard surge trip in Jan of this year. Our flight was cancelled because of a problem at the airport (fire truck had overturned and jets were unable to land). We were rescheduled for a flight to a different island, arriving at 9pm then a second flight the next morning to Brac arriving at 8am.

Turns out that our claim was refused because despite the flight being cancelled, it was not cancelled due to mechanical or plane problems. Go figure. It's the 1st time I've purchased trip insurance. Bottom line, in addition to the trip insurance I paid 500 for new flights. The way I saw it that was cheaper than missing 1 day AI + hotel cost + missing 1 day diving. Pretty sure that is the end of trip insurance for me.

My new insurance will be one more day of vacation!!! What a great idea!!!

This is a great example of reading the fine print and then understanding that the price of your insurance is directly linked to what it covers. The lower the cost, the less it covers. There is no free lunch. Lost cost insurance will have exclusions. You got caught by an exclusion.

Our annual travel insurance has no exclusions on trip interruption (other than the sane ones like war, suicide, drug abuse,...). We have made several claims over the years. For our last claim we got stuck in Boston after weather closed the Toronto airport and our flight home out of Boston was cancelled until the next day since the flight crew would be off the clock by the time the Toronto delay had cleared. All we had to do was submit proof that the flight was cancelled, the reason why did not matter. Insurance covered our out of pocket expenses for an extra day in Boston - hotel, food, transportation to / from airport.

On the downside, our annual policy costs more. It covers more, it costs more. We did look at the DAN products many years ago and decided they had too many exclusions and went with a premium product.

 

[Dizzi Lizzi]

Yes I saw flight cancellation and thought BINGO!!!

 

[KeithG]

Yes I saw flight cancellation and thought BINGO!!!

Sucked in by slick marketing? you have to read the actual fine print of the policy to see what is really covered.

Our policy does have some exclusions, including some stupid user exclusions. Things like:
- failing to apply for a travel visa on time
- missed transportation when the covered person did not plan to arrive at the connecting point within the timeframe recommended by the carrier i.e. showing up late at the airport...
- refused entry at customs or security, except in a case of mistaken identity

 

[Lorenzoid]

I have seen some weather exclusions along the lines of flight cancellation due to weather not covered unless NOAA officially issues a hurricane warning. Not the exact language, of course, but the gist was that it required not just the flight to be canceled because of weather but some sort of official agency proclamation. Also, the language, as I recall, seemed Caribbean-centric to me (e.g., "hurricane"). What about the Pacific and "typhoons"? I recall checking the NOAA web site to see if I could match up NOAA terminology with the policy exclusion terminology, and I threw my hands up in the air. I am still on the fence about insurance for an upcoming trip. Reading these threads with interest. Please carry on!

 

[Dizzi Lizzi]

I did read it, well maybe I fell asleep.

Lesson learned, I've traveled a fair bit and have had my share of hiccups but always end up having a blast. It's all in the attitude and while I was purchasing the alternate flights I was well aware that it might not be paid for but as my husband and I talked we discussed if it was worth 500 to get on the island we wanted to be in, have access to beach and pool, settle into our room, meet our fellow divers at the awesome welcome party, AND GO DIVING the next morning. Or, sit in airports for over 20 hours, get into a room at 10pm then back to airport by 6am, miss our morning dives, and possibly the afternoon dives. And be in a pissy mood.

Spending that 500 was well worth it.

I won't buy again, I'll do as I always have, and just roll with the blows and have a good time. It's really up to me to have fun wherever I am.

 

[KeithG]

I have seen some weather exclusions along the lines of flight cancellation due to weather not covered unless NOAA officially issues a hurricane warning. Not the exact language, of course, but the gist was that it required not just the flight to be canceled because of weather but some sort of official agency proclamation. Also, the language, as I recall, seemed Caribbean-centric to me (e.g., "hurricane"). What about the Pacific and "typhoons"? I recall checking the NOAA web site to see if I could match up NOAA terminology with the policy exclusion terminology, and I threw my hands up in the air. I am still on the fence about insurance for an upcoming trip. Reading these threads with interest. Please carry on!

Which product were you looking at?

 

[KeithG]

Spending that 500 was well worth it.

I won't buy again, I'll do as I always have, and just roll with the blows and have a good time. It's really up to me to have fun wherever I am.

I suggest you do not blindly give up on ALL travel insurance. Take a look at other products out there. The $500 you spent on flights should more than cover the cost of a more premium product.

But then, self insuring is always a valid option if you only travel a little bit.

 

[Dizzi Lizzi]

So an update!! When we purchased our new/earlier flight ticket we canceled our prior ticket and requested a credit for the upgraded seats. AA gave us a claim number and said we would be able to use the credit after 60 days and it was good for 12 months. I tried to find that credit last week to no avail. I contacted AA via email and gave the claim ticket number and explained the issue. She was unable to locate it, so instead she gave us e-vouchers for the seats we gave up!!!! So they made me whole, in fact we are up $50!!!

 

[Shasta_man]

This discussion of real experiences is why I read Scubaboard. Thanks all. I note many said to just buy the travel insurance but seemed to have missed "travel insurance is not all the same and are creative with what they actually cover".

 

[Lorenzoid]

Which product were you looking at?

I looked at several that were mentioned in previous threads about travel insurance, but I don't recall which one I noticed the weather cancellation clause in. I did not compare different policies, as this was sort of preliminary research. I just looked at a random sampling. But my preliminary research gave me pause as to whether I want travel insurance at all. I'm still leaning toward "arrive a couple of days early" as self-insurance.

As Dizzi Lizzi's experience evidences, the airline is often able to compensate you for rebooking, and I would imagine a liveaboard might similarly give you a voucher for a future trip if they cancel the trip you booked.