My husband and I will be traveling to Europe to celebrate my 50th in five weeks. His father is not in good health and as we learned in April when his mother died totally unexpectedly, anything can happen. The majority of our trip, hotels, car rental and rail passes aren't much of a financial concern as most of them can be cancelled without much penalty. However, we purchased Business Class tickets and are afraid of the cost of the difference in the actual cost of the return ticket. Delta has said if we return because of a death, after producing a death certificate, they will reimburse the $300.00 per ticket "change fee" however we would be responsible for the difference in the price of the ticket which could be several thousand dollars each, to fly home Business Class. We really splurged on this trip and I don't want to pay $2,500.00 per ticket to only fly Business Class one way and be stuck in Economy on the way home. Any recommendations? Is travel insurance the way to go and/or are the insurance agencies that provide this type insurance reputable? I am thinking of going with Travel Guard since Access American won't cover anything other than economy seat and Fodor's recommends both of them. Thanks

I've used travel guard. haven't had to file a claim, but read the fine print and they seem to be the best in case of illness, especially pre-existing conditions.

You have to purchase the insurance with 14 days of purchasing the air tickets if you want pre-existing covered, so I hope you can do this still.

You must diligently research insurance plans and read the POLICY, particularly with regard to inclusions and exclusions. Never, ever assume you have coverage.

A good place to start is www.insuremytrip.com

You must understand the difference between whether you are actually covered, and/or have purchased coverage for, with the policy you purchase for a member of your trip versus a family member who is NOT travelling with you.

Explore the insurance. You have already purchased the tickets so you are stuck with whatever you can do at this point. I certainly hope nothing untoward happens to any family member but flying home in coach may be the price you will pay. I surmise you may have known of his poor health when you made this splurge.

read the policies but I do not think they will help you at this date. Travel insurance must be purchased within 14 days or so of the purchase of the tickets etc to cover pre existing conditions.

I don't understand -- if you are holding business class tickets why would you have to pay again for them. Usually business class does have a penalty.

Fortunately there is no pre-existing condition other than the "Circle of Life". It's just my husband is an only child and we are totally responsible for the care of his aging father so if anything should happen to him we would have to come home. I think his mother's unexpected passing has made us a little over cautious. However, in all of my research and conversations with several reps for these companies, I have not found or was told you have to purchase this insurance within 14 days of purchasing the airline tickets. Where did you see that?

Are you sure that you have checked on Delta's policies? A quick look at their website came up with the following related to changing tickets:
Change Fees
For travel outside the United States, the change fee is typically $200, but can vary based on location and type of fare. Changes are usually permitted only to the return portion of an international itinerary.

As far as paying difference on fare...I would look at the fare code you have and then check out the details for THAT code...it doesn't seem like you would have to pay that much [$2500} per ticket in fare. Assumption we are all making is that these are PAID tickets and not Award tickets. If they are AWARD tickets...that would be a whole other story.

And there is always flying coach. While it may not be the most comfortable seat home, it will get you where you need to be.

As someone with a 92 yr old MIL, I can understand your concerns. I hope that none of this comes to fruition.

Hope the helps...
Debi

Purchasing travel insurance to get the pre-existing medical waiver doesn't always work. It's very specific. I know with the policy our office sells through Access America, the person must be medically stable 120 days prior to the policy purchase date. An already sick person would not be covered because they're not able to travel by policy definition.

I will re-check with Delta although when I purchased our tickets (not awards but paid) they told me the change amount was $300.00 per ticket then. Also, the young lady I spoke with by phone verified that amount as well. She was the one that said if we were to have to fly back unexpectedly and have to change our return flight then we would be charge the price of a one way ticket based on that day's sale price (less our unused portion of our original ticket) and usually booking a day before flying could result in a "several thousand dollar per ticket difference." (to stay in Business Class).I even stated to her I had a hard time believing an airline would "gouge someone in a death situation" and she replied unfortunately that was the way it was.I have found coverage for that particular situation (plus added coverage for other things) for a little over $500.00 so that gives me some comfort.

Fortunately, my husband is an attorney, my sister and brother-in-law have been in the insurance business for over 30 years and have gone over the terms and conditions and all agree, as stated in their terms and conditions, it is the coverage we want. Also, considering my father-in-laws' physician states he is not considered "terminal" and although he has several conditions that come with aging, he doesn't have any condition that any physician can tell us he is going to die from. Although his father is our primary concern, I also have a mother, and we have two children that would fall under the "covered reason" we might have to return home unexpectedly. Like I said, we just are probably being over cautious but better safe than sorry especially when we paid so much for the airline tickets and I don't think we should have to fly home in economy when we purchased Business Class.

What if business class is full on the day you MUST fly for this very sad occasion. Will you wait until there is a free seat? Probably not. Honestly I find this concern to be odd because a) it is totally unpredictable--it might not happen b)if it does there might not even be a coach seat c) buying a business class ticket for a specific day does not necessarily get you one for another.
HOwever, if the unimaginable happens you may find a very sympathetic agent face to face.
The "pre-existing" provision is for the people taking the insurance as far as I know--not a third party.

dhl56,
I'm curious which policy you ended up purchasing as all of the policies I've read state reimbursement for one way economy fare under the trip interruption section.

Patty,

Travel Guard has a policy call "My Travel Guard" you can build on. Reading the D.O.C. of this policy on page 8 TRIP AND CANCELLATION & INTERUPTION ....Go over to page 9 under Trip Interuption Benefits and you'll see a.....b....c.... after c you'll find a paragraph that states.."However, the benefits payable under b and c above wil not exceed the cost of economy airfare (or first class if the insureds original tickets were first class) by the most direct route, less any refunds paid or payable" Hope this helps. DHL56

Thanks!