trip insurance question

[janineandmike]

i'm looking into trip insurance, anyone have any advice?

 

we are flying out of NY at 545AM day of cruise (1/19/08) and expecting to land in Miami at 845AM, which i expect should be plenty of time. now i'm just worried about a weather dealy on our flight causing us to miss the cruise. we tried to switch our flight to the day before, same time, same airline, but they wanted to charge us $100 extra each to take a cheaper flight, so we wont do that.

 

i am leaning towards CSA Travel Protection, which was recommended by insuremytrip.com and has a clause that says if a flight is delayed due to weather by more than 3 hours and causes us to miss our cruise we are covered. looks to me that is exactly what we are looking for, but i still figured i'd ask if anyone has experience with similar situations or trip insurance in general?

[jerseygirl3]

Yes, that sounds like what you would need to cover your situation.

 

However, for $100 pp, I'd still switch to the flight the day before. While getting the insurance may ensure you won't be out your money for your cruise, you can't be compensated for the disappointment of missing out on your planned vacation.

 

In the grand scheme of things, I would fork over the $200 and go with more peace of mind.

 

But still get the insurance. You just never know what can happen, and it would cover you in the event of a medical emergency as well.

[6rugrats]

I have never been on a flight leaving any airport in NY that was on time!

 

I highly recommend you purchase trip insurance. BUT, if the only reason you are buying it is to cover you if your flight doesn't arrive on time, won't the insurance cost you more than the $100 per person charge to change your plane tickets?

[janineandmike]

nope, the insurance is $115 total and by now the flight price is likely higher, plus the $100 each, which my wife refuses to pay based on principle.

[sultan_sfo]

Flight delays and missed connection often have a low max payment of about $500. Read the policy details carefully and also call and find out what will be actually paid.

[Keith1010]

I know this is not why you made your post but I would highly encourage you to reconsider your flight.

 

You say you are flying from NYC on January 19th. What if it snows? I would spend the extra $200.00 plus hotel and fly in the day before the cruise. What's the point in booking a cruise and then missing part of it because of a flight delay, even if the insurance pays for it.

 

There are just too many things that can go wrong in addition to weather from mechanical issues, to airport shutdowns, to computer glitches, and the list goes on and on and on.

 

Keith

[cruiseco]

Flight delays and missed connection often have a low max payment of about $500. Read the policy details carefully and also call and find out what will be actually paid.

 

This is one reason why CSA's policies are so good in these circumstances. Here's from their policy:

 

"TRIP INTERRUPTION BENEFITS

Benefits will be paid, up to the Maximum Benefit Amount, for the non-refundable, unused portion of the prepaid expenses for land or water Travel Arrangements and the Additional Transportation Cost paid to return home or rejoin the Covered Trip, when an Insured's arrival on the Covered Trip is delayed or an Insured is prevented from completing his or her Covered Trip due to:

. . . .

 

(20)an Insured misses the cruise or tour departure because their airline flight is delayed for 3 or more hours, due to: a) any delay of a Common Carrier. The delay must be certified by the Common Carrier; or b) Inclement Weather preventing the Insured from getting to the point of departure."

 

So with CSA, the larger benefit of the trip interruption applies here and there's no daily limit on this benefit. Also, note the part about ANY delay of the common carrier. Some plans limit the coverage to weather-related events. So if the cause of the delay is mechanical problems, or an FAA problem the coverage would not apply. It's not just weather you have to worry about.

 

So, if you miss the ship because of a weather delay of 3 hours or more the trip delay benefit would covere hotels, meals, etc until you can catch up with the ship. That does have a $150 p/p limit per day.

 

Then the trip interruption would kick in to pay for:

 

A) The value of the missed day(s) of the cruise: "non-refundable, unused portion of the prepaid expenses for land or water Travel Arrangements "

 

(B) The cost of the air ticket to catch up with the ship:""Additional Transportation Cost paid to return home or rejoin the Covered Trip"

 

The maximum benefit amount for the trip interruption benefit is 150% of the amount you insure for trip cancellation. So if you insure $2000 the trip interruption benefit would be a maximum of $3000 to cover (A) and (B) above.

 

Be careful when checking other plans. For example, one Travel Guard plan has a $500 trip delay benefit with a max of $100/day. And for the trip interruption benefit to kick in the following is required: "(b) Inclement Weather causing delay or complete cessation of services for at least 24 consecutive hours;". Most delays that cause the passenger to miss the ship are in the 6 to 12 hour range. 24 hours is abig hurdle to meet to get the trip interruption benefits. If a weather-related delay was a concern, I'd skip this plan -- $100 p/p per night isn't much for hotels, meals, cabs, phone calls, etc. And you'd probably be on your own for the air tickets and the value of the missed day(s) of the cruise.

[6rugrats]

nope, the insurance is $115 total and by now the flight price is likely higher, plus the $100 each, which my wife refuses to pay based on principle.

 

That seems kind of silly. What principle? You change flights, unless you have non-refundable tickets or are booked on an airline such as Southwest, that doesn't charge a change fee, you have to pay.

 

With all the flight delays, cancellations and possible weather interruptions, IMO, it's really foolish to count on arriving on time for a same day flight. What good is insurance if you miss your trip?

 

Good luck.

[donaldsc]

nope, the insurance is $115 total and by now the flight price is likely higher, plus the $100 each, which my wife refuses to pay based on principle.

 

You will really enjoy yourself in the cold in NYC when you could be on a ship enjoying yourself. Hope that your principles keep you warm.

 

DON

[janineandmike]

You will really enjoy yourself in the cold in NYC when you could be on a ship enjoying yourself. Hope that your principles keep you warm.

 

DON

 

 

i was asking for simple advice not rude, unnecessary comments, but thanks anyway.

[kelleya]

Here's another "vote" for changing your flights and flying in the day before. I have no idea which cruise you are on, but there is one more than one scenerio to consider... say you miss your ship out of Miami and you want to "join the cruise" at the next port of call, what if the airline you fly to Miami does not provide service to the first "port of call" for your ship? The airline may or may not be willing to switch you to another carrier for the trip. If it is a weather delay, they will do very little to re-accomodate you. It would be a shame to sit in the NY airport all day just to miss your cruise.

 

In addition to weather delay, there is also the possibility of mechanical delay. Again, even if another carrier was able to get you to Miami in time your original airline may or may not be willing to transfer you to another airline.

 

Good luck with your travels!

[janineandmike]

cruiseco thank you so much for the detailed response.

 

kelleya thank you for your input as well.

 

we'll continue to look into all our options and likely will change our flight to the day before, which is what we have wanted to do all along, just dont want to pay another $200 for no reason.

[janineandmike]

That seems kind of silly. What principle?

 

a $200 fee just to make a change to our reservation. all we want to do is take the same flight on the same airline one day earlier. im fine with paying the fare difference and would gladly do it to get to Miami the day before.

 

I know this is not why you made your post but I would highly encourage you to reconsider your flight.

 

You say you are flying from NYC on January 19th. What if it snows? I would spend the extra $200.00 plus hotel and fly in the day before the cruise. What's the point in booking a cruise and then missing part of it because of a flight delay, even if the insurance pays for it.

 

There are just too many things that can go wrong in addition to weather from mechanical issues, to airport shutdowns, to computer glitches, and the list goes on and on and on.

 

Keith

 

thanks for your response. you make very valid points that i agree with and i have strongly considered changing the flight, but as i stated above i just dont want to pay a $200 fee for no reason. i dont want to miss my cruise over $200, but i also dont want to just give the airline $200 for nothing.

[kelleya]

janineandmike - I'm not sure how often you fly, but there is almost always a change fee associated with changing the flights. The exception is on certain fare classes (refundable tickets) Actually, considering you want to change the outbound (origination of trip) the $200.00 is very good. Often, when changing the outbound, the amount is higher. In many cases you have to completely re-book the reservation and pay the "going rate" when you re-book. A couple of weeks ago I had to change the outbound for my business trip and because the same fare class was no longer available the new airfare was over $700.00; the original airfare was only $372.00! It was the same flight, just a day earlier.

 

I'm sorry someone felt the need to provide a sarcastic response with no other advice. Hopefully, you realize most of us are just trying to provide some options and input for you.

 

Good luck with your decision and travels.

[donaldsc]

thanks for your response. you make very valid points that i agree with and i have strongly considered changing the flight, but as i stated above i just dont want to pay a $200 fee for no reason. i dont want to miss my cruise over $200, but i also dont want to just give the airline $200 for nothing.

 

Bottom line is that as long as you do not have your own airplane, you are at the mercy of the airline rules. You may not like it but that is the way it is.

 

If you are prepared to risk your cruise to save $200 on the assumption that there will be no bad weather anywhere in the system in December, that is your choice. IMHO, a really bad choice but only you can balance your principles against your vacation.

 

Remember, even if the east coast is clear, bad weather anywhere can mess up flights everywhere. It doesn't even have to be bad weather - it could be mechanical problems or air control system problems.

 

Insurance will do you no good as I assume that you want the cruise, not the money refund.

 

So I repeat what I said earlier, how much is it worth to you to avoid spending a cold vacation week in NY?

 

DON

[jerseygirl3]

We have a rule of thumb with regard to cruising. During winter months, we always go in at least two days prior to cruise (the past couple of years we've spent a week or so in Marco Island before our cruise, so that really gives us a good cushion). Any other time of the year, we go at least one day earlier. Not only does it give us peace of mind that we won't miss the cruise, but we lengthen our vacation and board the cruise much more relaxed than flying in the same day.

[janineandmike]

I'm sorry someone felt the need to provide a sarcastic response with no other advice. Hopefully, you realize most of us are just trying to provide some options and input for you.

 

Good luck with your decision and travels.

 

thanks again kelleya, i do realize that and i appreciate everyone's advice. my wife called the airline and attempted to bypass the $200 fee with no luck and we are now flying in a day earlier and paying the extra money.

[janineandmike]

 

So I repeat what I said earlier, how much is it worth to you to avoid spending a cold vacation week in NY?

 

DON

 

DON,

I heard you loud and clear the first time buddy and didnt appreciate it that time either. i'm not quite sure why you feel the need to respond in such a way, but that is your issue to deal with. if you read any of my posts carefully you would realize that i have been strongly considering flying out a day early for quite sometime, but took issue with airline policy, hence the reason i asked advice on this board.

 

we have since decided to pay the extra money after realizing the fee would not be bypassed.

 

-Mike

[CC Help Michell]

DON,

I heard you loud and clear the first time buddy and didnt appreciate it that time either. i'm not quite sure why you feel the need to respond in such a way, but that is your issue to deal with. if you read any of my posts carefully you would realize that i have been strongly considering flying out a day early for quite sometime, but took issue with airline policy, hence the reason i asked advice on this board.

 

we have since decided to pay the extra money after realizing the fee would not be bypassed.

 

-Mike

 

I think that's probably the right call here... maybe not what you'd have liked to do based on principles... but we are talking about vacation time here, and that isn't THAT easy to come by. Consider the extra money you will spend to be an investment in reduced stress and a more enjoyable vacation experience. We always fly in a day in advance (minimum) to give us time to cope if something goes wrong -- most times nothing does, so we start the celebration a day early and have extra enjoyment. ;) You'll step on that ship.... check out your cabin, orient yourselves on the decks, get a foofoo drink.... and it will be "what airline issue?" :) That's a great scenario, and I hope you have a wonderful trip!