Take the Insurance
Departing Ogdensburg International Airport (OGS) on Breeze Airways. Photo taken by Felicia Neahr.
I remember when I first started traveling-money was tight. I couldn't afford an annual trip, so I would put it on a credit card and hopefully have it paid off before I wanted to travel again the next year.
Back then a cancelled flight, missed connection-those extra expenses would have really hurt. Yet, as I was pinching pennies, I never took the travel insurance. In fact, I rarely even took the flights that would have given me a trip credit and allowed me to choose my seat-it was an added cost that I didn't think I could justify.
Looking back-I got REALLY lucky. Any of those trips could have turned into a nightmare, one I would have struggled to dig myself out of financially.
After a few mishaps in recent years, not only is trip insurance an absolute must for me-I invested in an annual plan.
Within the same year I had two different trip issues.
First, we were planning a trip where we would fly to an airport, rent a car, see a couple of US National Parks, and then fly out of a second airport. We had 2 different one-way flights booked. A couple of weeks before our trip, my mother-in-law passed away. Everything I had booked was refundable, except the flights. We had booked flexible flights, and were given credits-from 2 different airlines. I thought we'd be able to rebook that trip, but life had other plans. We experienced 3 deaths in our family in 6 weeks, and by the time we had finished going to funerals, burials, and celebrations of life, a few months had passed and this trip just didn't fit.
The second trip-a family vacation to Ireland. Again, we booked flexible flights just in case-and since we could get flight credits, the flights were already more expensive than we wanted to pay, and insurance was extra, we passed on the insurance. We had a fantastic time road tripping around Ireland, and as we were packing and getting ready to head to the airport for the flight home, I got a text "Your flight has been cancelled." The next several hours were a mess. We went to the airport as instructed, waited for a hotel voucher and a shuttle-to a hotel that was stifling hot and didn't have ac-then spent a bunch of time on the phone with the airline to get the quickest option home-a day later with a layover and seats spread throughout the plane. Our only other alternatives would have taken 2 days and sent us to other overseas countries for layovers, feeling like we were traveling farther rather than closer to home.
The airline covered the crappy hotel and our meals as long as we saved receipts. But when we arrived at our destination airport-still 6+ hours from where we actually live, we were on our own, and we didn't know that until after months of arguing with the airline. We arrived at that airport around 4am-after a long delay at our layover. With 6+ hours to drive before we arrived home, we needed to sleep for a few hours and booked a hotel. The person who had re-booked our flight (from the airline) made it sound as if the hotel stay was covered, however according to the airline, we had arrived home. We weren't their problem anymore. During the entire reimbursement claim ordeal-not one actual human was available to speak to. Everything was through the airline portal or via email. My claim was closed 3 times while I was still asking questions, forcing me to start over. In the end, we were out over $500 for the 2 rooms we thought we'd be reimbursed for.
Now, in dealing with this mess, I started looking into that first cancelled trip-and realized I had purchased trip insurance when I booked. Months after cancelling the flights, I called one of those insurance companies. I explained that we had cancelled due to a death in the family, and that we received flight credits but were unable to rebook the trip before they expired. I was told that I could submit a claim for reimbursement once the flight credits expired. A few months later, I did exactly that, and had a check within weeks. The second flight was under a different insurance provider-and I called them as well, explaining the same things. That provider told me to submit for reimbursement and include a letter stating that I was giving them back the flight credits as I would be unable to use them. Again, I followed instructions and received a check within weeks. Both insurance companies were easy to work with-provided actual humans to deal with-and solved the issue pretty quickly. I thought I was going to be out about $1000, and it was ALL reimbursed.
Which of course has me wondering how much better the interaction would have been if in the Ireland case I had been dealing with one of the insurance companies instead of the airline. With my annual plan, I'm covered over 100 miles from home. While I don't know for sure, I bet the delay that caused us to arrive at 4am would have been covered, and at least one of those hotel rooms would have been reimbursed. What I do know for sure is that I would have had an actual human to speak to, one that would guide me through the process, and help alleviate our travel stress to the best of their ability.
What I know now is that back when I "couldn't afford" the insurance-I actually couldn't have afforded NOT to have the insurance if something went wrong. That's really why we get insurance for anything, right? Not for the good days when things are going right....but for the bad days when you need a doctor or your car gets smashed. And on those days, insurance makes all the difference. Traveling is really the same. Take the insurance.
