Babr

If I may - CSA, Generali, and IMG all offer plans that allow the waiver if purchased before or within 24 hours of final payment. Be careful if you have ill family members who are not traveling with you but may cause you to cancel if need to care for them. Not all of these will cover them. CSA Freestyle does not extend the waiver to non-traveling family members. IMG LX does. Also be sure to check for other requirements of the policy such as insuring all non-refundable expenses or being able to travel at the time of purchase.

If you are a member of a medical transport group like MedJet Assist, you can request a transfer once you have been admitted to a hospital. Any comprehensive travel policy will transport you to the nearest hospital and evacuate you to a more appropriate one if the first is not adequate for your care. The patient most often is returned home or to the hospital of choice by commercial air with a medical escort if necessary or by other appropriate means if additional treatment is necessary. What policy are you buying that transports you directly to your hospital of choice?

Upon second reading, I noticed a detail that escaped me the first time. NCL did notify them in writing at a later date that they would be reimbursed in FCC, indicating they did call in time to qualify. The problem arose when the claim was filed under the wrong provision. You have to file a cancellation claim in order to get Cancel for Any Reason. It amounts to a clerical / administrative error. If AON will not allow a reclassification, I think I’d contact the State Insurance Commissioner’s office to see if they can assist. Forget Trip Delay. Appeal for Cancellation.

https://www.ncl.com/sites/default/files/BookSafe-Travel-Protection-Plan_112514.pdf Lots of problems with this one. First, the CFAR portion should have covered the cancellation if the call was made prior to the ship’s departure. The OP said he did call to cancel later the same day once they returned home but did not indicate the call was made by the deadline defined in the policy. Second, Trip Interruption in most policies would pay to catch up to the ship for a number of covered reasons. NCL does not include weather. That is included in Trip Delay, which may have triggered Trip Interruption which in turn would have required the OP to attempt to catch up at the first port. All of that would have required acknowledgment from NCL. To the OP: Did you contact the NCL EnRoute number to ask for instructions how to proceed before returning home? It seems that you may have acted on false assumptions without being familiar with the terms of the policy. Check the timing of your call against the ship’s scheduled departure to see if there is any recourse there. Perhaps an appeal is in order. A complete denial seems arbitrary since you may qualify for at least Trip Delay.

You are correct. It is per policy which makes it even worse. Your credit card can supplement your cancellation / interruption coverage as long as you, your traveling companion (s), or non-traveling family members do not have a pre-existing condition. That casts a pretty wide net so that means you need to be aware of everyone’s medical history for the 60 days preceding any booking. Otherwise you risk a claim denial because of the pre-existing conditions exclusion. The credit card insurance I have seen is secondary. Language in the Guide to Benefits states that it will pay after any other coverage you have for the same event. The claim form will ask for that information.

While you are waiting for someone who has experience with American Express, I’ll just point out that credit card insurance is not designed to take the place of a comprehensive travel policy. While the Cancellation/Interruption coverage is generous for what it is, it reimburses a short list of covered events. Most importantly, it does not cover pre-existing conditions. Be sure you understand what that means and to whom it applies. You can find that information in the Guide to Benefits for your specific card. Also be sure you understand how your primary health insurance covers you when you travel. Depending on which card you have, you may have some limited emergency medical, but it won’t be enough. If you can post a link to your Guide to Benefits, people here can help you identify potential problems.

Sure, but there is no cancellation unless you chose Allianz. The max there is $15,000 per person annually. That won’t cover many Viking trips. One claim could deplete your coverage for the rest of the year.

I suppose my confusion stems from not know what happened to the Viking policy purchased for the original cancelled cruise that resulted in vouchers. I thought it might be applied to the subsequent booking as is third-party insurance when the supplier cancels a cruise. The policy is not refunded but can be applied to another trip.

So people did have an opportunity to choose another policy. It seems they just weren’t aware of the consequences of staying with Viking insurance.

I guess I expected those to be off the books by now. Third-party insurance would not cover the extra 25%, but that is still better than Viking’s insurance which covers nothing for cancellation with vouchers. Is it that people just don’t know their options or is the policy from the original cancelled booking carrying forward? People don’t want to buy another policy because they think they are covered?

I’m just trying to understand how so many people at Viking end up with vouchers and why they subsequently get burned with Viking insurance. There are third-party policies that cover vouchers - at least the initial cost, not any bonus or incentive value granted by the cruise line. Perhaps other terms discourage the practice of buying outside Viking.

How does “repricing” / rebooking impact Viking insurance since you have to cancel? Are you rebooking with vouchers from CFAR? Does the insurance coverage for medical carry forward?

Correction: Viking provides the Cancel For Any Reason coverage. Generali provides coverage for other travel related expenses with the disclaimer that it applies only to arrangements booked through the company from which you purchased coverage.

TripMate is just the plan administrator for Viking as it is with several other cruise lines. Viking insurance is divided into two parts with Viking providing the travel benefits and Generali insuring the medical coverage. So your problem is with Viking and TripMate not an insurance company. The worst part about Viking’s policy is that the cancellation provision often reimburses in vouchers because people choose to apply all funds including insurance to another booking. What they do not realize is that those vouchers have no cash value and are not recognized as a form of payment by the Viking policy. So, yes, they can move it all; but the subsequent cruise is not covered for cancellation or interruption.

Any comprehensive travel policy includes evacuation, which means it will transfer you to another hospital if the hospital where you were first admitted can’t provide the care you need. It does not necessarily mean repatriation. Most often, the patient is returned home by commercial air once he has recovered, even if it requires a medical escort. In unusual circumstances, the patient may be returned by air ambulance if it is determined to be necessary, and he is able to survive the flight. Membership (not insurance) in a medical transport group like MedJet gives you more control over the decision about when and where to be transported once you have been admitted to a hospital. There are still some limitations. Check their website for details.

Are you sure that $5MM is medical? Or is it Travel Accident?

Generally, Trip Delay will pay for hotel and meals if you must overnight in order for your airline to rebook you because of a delay or cancellation.Some policies name specific reasons such as weather, faulty equipment, strike, etc.; but others simply list Common Carrier delay. The required number of hours delayed in order to be eligible for benefits varies by policy. Additional transportation is usually not covered in this provision. In order to be covered under Trip Interruption as described by @GeezerCouple the flight cancellation must be for a covered reason. Check the language in this section for any policy you are considering. If the cancellation meets the conditions of the policy, then you will be reimbursed for expenses to catch up to your trip. They will consider any refund you received and pay the difference.

I suggest you call Trip Insurance Store and discuss your situation with Steve or one of his agents. They represent several reputable companies. You are probably too late to take advantage of any options that might have been available to you in the time-sensitive period after making initial deposit; nevertheless, these people can advise you on the best alternatives. There are policies that allow the pre-existing conditions waiver at final payment, but those also have stipulations depending on the company. Be sure you understand the definition of pre-existing condition and how it is applied. Even if you think you don’t need the coverage for yourself or your daughter, you need to understand how the insurance company will evaluate your medical history in case of a claim. Consult a professional before you cancel and rebook. Be sure you have all the details right before doing something that might invalidate your effort.

No offense intended. You prefaced your remarks with a comment about good service from Chase Sapphire Reserve. Just trying to separate the card benefits from travel services.

They might make an accommodation for you as a good customer, but what you suggest is not covered by the Chase travel benefits. If your situation qualifies for Trip Delay, you are eligible for up to $500 for hotel and meals. Additional transportation is not covered.

Check your Guide to Benefits so you know exactly what kind of help to expect. Your Trip Delay or Trip Interruption must be directly attributed to weather in order to qualify for coverage. Subsequent cancellations or delays caused by scheduling problems as a result of missing equipment or flight crews are not covered.

I should have also addressed the question of Berkshire Hathaway in order to give a complete answer. It is not that it covers mainly delays; it just covers them differently. The language in the policy simply lists Common Carrier delay as a covered reason without defining specific conditions. The delay must meet the required number of hours, and eligibility remains in effect “until travel becomes possible.” The benefit is a maximum of $200 pp pd with a cap that varies depending on which policy you buy. It covers meals, hotel, taxi, and other miscellaneous expenses. The Missed Connection provision requires the cancellation all regularly scheduled flights for X number of hours (again, depending on which policy) before you are eligible for the $500 benefit to catch up to your departed tour/cruise. The provisions in the Berkshire Hathaway policies do not solve the problem of missing a cruise because of Common Carrier delays, but at least you are not likely to have to sleep on the floor at the airport.

As with any claim, successful reimbursement for Trip Delay depends on the language in the policy and the documented reason for the delay. The fee-based Chase cards I am familiar with provide coverage for faulty equipment, weather, labor strikes, or hijacking. The benefit is capped at $500 pp to be used for meals, hotels, or miscellaneous necessities such as toiletries. These cards do not have a provision for Missed Connections, which would reimburse certain expenses if a Common Carrier delay caused you to miss the departure of your trip. On the other hand, comprehensive travel policies routinely cover Trip Delay with a list of covered reasons that extends beyond Common Carrier delays, and the benefits can be more generous. They usually require that the delay be for a specified number of hours. Not all comprehensive policies have Missed Connections coverage. The key to all of this is that the documented reason for delay provided by the air line must be covered by the policy. Weather is covered. Subsequent delays and cancellations caused by lack of equipment and/or flight crews are not.

That is the key. One must cancel all travel arrangements and receive 100% refund to original form of payment or in cash. Simply transferring the deposit to another time does not reset the initial deposit date. Since the OP has not booked air, it may not be a problem; but it does mean the new booking would be under current terms so the same price, cabin, or promotions may not apply. This might be avoided by buying a policy that allows the pre-existing conditions waiver at final payment if it extends to non-traveling family members as well.

Check in with your insurance while you are at it. Are you covered for cancellation with the medical emergency or do you have to make an effort to catch the ship in order to qualify for trip delay/interruption? Ask them how to proceed so that you know the consequences of your decision.