Does Frequent Flyer Trip Interruption exist?
Jul 6th, 2005, 08:56 AM
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Does Frequent Flyer Trip Interruption exist?
Is there such a thing as insurance that covers use of Frequent Flyer miles in case of serious illness or death in the family back home? We are heading to Italy soon, and while Mom who is 85 is stable, there is ample reason for concern. My guess is that no company covers this area, but wanted to ask. Thank You.
Jul 6th, 2005, 09:05 AM
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I don't know about your airline, but I have been able to redeposit Delta skymiles when I had to cancel a FF ticket. I had to pay about $100 per ticket fee to do so, and I didn't try to do it at the last minute. I'd check your FF program rule to see what your options are.
Jul 6th, 2005, 09:39 AM
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Not only can you redeposit for a fee (and 100$s is towards the higher end) - you can generally rebook the exact same itinerary for up to a year at no cost. I recently redeposited miles - and while the first ticket was 100$s, the remaining tickets were much less (so perhaps 160$s to redeposit 4 tickets).
Jul 6th, 2005, 11:07 AM
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msu...Yes go to www.travelguard.com...
"Travel Guard Essential" is what you want.What you have to do to figure out the cost is "overvalue" the cost of the trip.The covered reasons are for injury,sickness,death family members except cousins.Business partners are also covered.What you would consider say if you are going to Paris,for example , is figure the highest one way airfare from Paris back to your home and that would be the amount of coverage for "Trip Interruption".I hope this helps.....Stephen
"Travel Guard Essential" is what you want.What you have to do to figure out the cost is "overvalue" the cost of the trip.The covered reasons are for injury,sickness,death family members except cousins.Business partners are also covered.What you would consider say if you are going to Paris,for example , is figure the highest one way airfare from Paris back to your home and that would be the amount of coverage for "Trip Interruption".I hope this helps.....Stephen
Jul 6th, 2005, 12:55 PM
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I have never seen an insurance company that will pay you more than the amount you have lost, and I've seen a lot of insurance policies.
If you have obtained your ticket with miles, the cost to you is the amount of taxes and fees you paid, and a certain number of miles. If the miles are redepositable, which is very common, your actual loss at most would the the taxes and fees you paid, and the cost of redepositing your miles. I think you can actually get most, if not all, of the taxes and fees you paid back, if your trip was cancelled. So your actual cash loss will be minimal, and that is all any insurance company will pay you, even if you have grossly overvalued the cost of your tickets in buying the insurance. The extra premiums you paid for the overinsurance will, of course, not be returned.
A comparable situation would be homeowner's insurance. If your home is worth $100,000, but you tell the insurance company it is worth $500,000, they will gladly accept the extra premiums, but when your house is burned to the ground, they will only pay you $100,000, probably less your deductible.
Similarly, if you buy two $100,000 policies from different companies, they will find out after the fire, and your recovery will be limited to your actual loss.
If you have obtained your ticket with miles, the cost to you is the amount of taxes and fees you paid, and a certain number of miles. If the miles are redepositable, which is very common, your actual loss at most would the the taxes and fees you paid, and the cost of redepositing your miles. I think you can actually get most, if not all, of the taxes and fees you paid back, if your trip was cancelled. So your actual cash loss will be minimal, and that is all any insurance company will pay you, even if you have grossly overvalued the cost of your tickets in buying the insurance. The extra premiums you paid for the overinsurance will, of course, not be returned.
A comparable situation would be homeowner's insurance. If your home is worth $100,000, but you tell the insurance company it is worth $500,000, they will gladly accept the extra premiums, but when your house is burned to the ground, they will only pay you $100,000, probably less your deductible.
Similarly, if you buy two $100,000 policies from different companies, they will find out after the fire, and your recovery will be limited to your actual loss.
Jul 6th, 2005, 01:18 PM
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I don't think you can get insurance for it because you won't incur any appreciable loss. If yo have to cancel your trip, you re-book or redeposit the miles. If something happens while you are in Europe, you change flights and come home.
Jul 6th, 2005, 01:30 PM
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There's a difference between trip cancellation and trip interruption coverage. If you're cancelling before the start of your trip, then there's usually no actual loss outside of the fee to redeposit your award.
However, if you need to return home mid trip, then most comprehensive travel insurance policies with trip interruption will cover the cost of a one way economy ticket home. Some policies cover the same value for trip interruption as they do for trip cancellation, others cover 150%. I would look into one of the policies that provide 150% trip interruption coverage. That way you may not need to artificially inflate your prepaid trip cost if the extra 50% will cover a one way economy class ticket home.
In the event of an emergency where you need to return home, I would still try to work with the airline first to see if they can accomodate you before buying a one way ticket.
However, if you need to return home mid trip, then most comprehensive travel insurance policies with trip interruption will cover the cost of a one way economy ticket home. Some policies cover the same value for trip interruption as they do for trip cancellation, others cover 150%. I would look into one of the policies that provide 150% trip interruption coverage. That way you may not need to artificially inflate your prepaid trip cost if the extra 50% will cover a one way economy class ticket home.
In the event of an emergency where you need to return home, I would still try to work with the airline first to see if they can accomodate you before buying a one way ticket.
Jul 6th, 2005, 01:45 PM
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I have yet to find TI policy that covers frequent flyer miles. Travelguard does NOT cover FF miles. I speciafically asked them about this.
As several posters mentioned, most FF programs have a built-in safeguard. Almost all will allow you to redeposit the miles or change the itinerary (if seats available) for a charge, usually $50-100, which you will have to pay at the time of cancellation. Taxes and fees (except fees associated with phone/live person ticketing) are refunded, usually in 4-6 weeks, in the same method you paid.
I had to cancel 2 FF tickets (different airlines) and except for different redeposit charges, it has been the same thing.
As several posters mentioned, most FF programs have a built-in safeguard. Almost all will allow you to redeposit the miles or change the itinerary (if seats available) for a charge, usually $50-100, which you will have to pay at the time of cancellation. Taxes and fees (except fees associated with phone/live person ticketing) are refunded, usually in 4-6 weeks, in the same method you paid.
I had to cancel 2 FF tickets (different airlines) and except for different redeposit charges, it has been the same thing.
Jul 6th, 2005, 02:29 PM
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I think the OP is more or less concerned with what happens if they need to fly back from Italy with little notice and are unable to change their ff tickets to return immediately.
It's not so much a question of covering the ff miles as it is covering the cost of a newly purchased one way ticket home, if necessary. That would be an actual loss and not much different than if you'd purchased a discounted fare and the airline required you to upgrade to a full fare in order to return home immediately. In that case, trip interruption is supposed to cover the difference (within policy limits).
I posed this same question to Travel Insured (which offers 150% trip interruption coverage) about ff tickets and was told they would reimburse the cost of a one way ticket (economy class only) plus any unused nonrefundable prepaid expenses as long as the total didn't exceed the policy limit.
It's not so much a question of covering the ff miles as it is covering the cost of a newly purchased one way ticket home, if necessary. That would be an actual loss and not much different than if you'd purchased a discounted fare and the airline required you to upgrade to a full fare in order to return home immediately. In that case, trip interruption is supposed to cover the difference (within policy limits).
I posed this same question to Travel Insured (which offers 150% trip interruption coverage) about ff tickets and was told they would reimburse the cost of a one way ticket (economy class only) plus any unused nonrefundable prepaid expenses as long as the total didn't exceed the policy limit.
