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When Monique Tubb’s adult daughter was injured while vacationing in Colorado, she canceled the rest of her trip and flew home immediately. Tubb was confident that her UnitedPlus Explorer card’s complimentary trip insurance would cover all the additional expenses. It didn’t. And now she wants to know why her full claim was not paid.
This site just saved Catherina Gaines tens of thousands of dollars, but the real hero of the story is Allianz travel insurance, which fully covered her ER visit in Japan.
Sheri Schmidt’s husband suffers a massive stroke before their non-refundable flight to Brazil. Because she didn’t purchase trip insurance, JustFly informs her that a refund is not possible and that there will be hefty change fees associated with these tickets. But hold on — could Schmidt have the protection of an insurance policy after all?
What happens when a traveler discovers that three pieces of her luggage have been ruined by an unidentified type of “airline goo” and asks Interjet or her travel insurance company to compensate her to the tune of $16,000? Lynda Leibrock can tell you: Nothing.
After Talor Min’s husband dies during a trip to Malaysia, she files a claim with her travel insurance companies for the repatriation of his remains. One year later, she’s still trying to get her money back.
Hurricane Irma ruined Mary Zeoli’s recent travel plans in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Good thing she insured her trip, right?
Maybe not.
Some of my fondest vacation memories are from trips to the Yucatán peninsula when my kids were younger: tubing an underground river; bumping down dirt roads exploring the jungle in an open-top Jeep; watching my daughters snorkel for the first time, surrounded by a rainbow-hued school of fish.
When Carol Majewski plunks down $16,000 on a polar bear photography trip, she expects to come home with an abundance of pictures of these rare animals. So now that she has returned from this excursion, why is her photo album of “The King of the Arctic” virtually empty?
When Vance Luke bought an airline ticket for his daughter, he added optional “Ticket Protection” through International Travel Network (ITN). So when his daughter was hospitalized just before her trip, he expected that she would get a full refund for the cost of the ticket.
Barbara Goldsmith and her husband are planning a trip of a lifetime to Alaska this year. The couple, both in their 70s, are “healthy and active” — but they’re also worried. What if something goes wrong while they’re away?
Larry Ayres wishes he had bought travel insurance when he tried to change his flights on WOW Airlines. And now he can’t even go on the trip. But wait … maybe he did buy trip insurance. But if he did, where’s his refund? Our advocates help sort out the confusion.
Larry Bonistalli is a determined father. When his son’s fiancée suffers a sudden stroke right before their wedding and honeymoon, Bonistalli resolves to retrieve the money that the couple spent on the uninsured trip. Can we help him with this quest? Should we help?
Robert Hamilton was looking forward to his six-night stay in Colorado that he booked through VRBO and Turnkey Colorado. But he also knew that with his mother-in-law hospitalized, he probably should buy travel insurance just in case the unthinkable happened. It also led us to wonder if travel insurance always covers a pre-existing condition and the death of a loved one.
Kellie McIntyre didn’t buy travel insurance for her African safari in the summer of 2016. She wishes she had.
Pamela Mazerski didn’t wait to call her travel insurance company until she had to file a claim.
After a terrorist attack in London, Kelly Bukaty cancels her British Airways flight. But her travel insurance company won’t reimburse her airfare without proof that her ticket was nonrefundable. Can our advocates help Bukaty get British Airways to provide documentation to resolve her insurance claim?
“These researchers for Chris Elliott respond with more legalese than the cotton-pickin’ insurance company did.”
This was the response we received from Donald Norton to a question we asked him about his case.
Our advocates often need to follow up with additional questions to determine whether we can help consumers requesting our assistance. We do this when we receive help requests with information that appears to be unclear or incomplete. Most of these consumers are happy to provide us with the answers to our questions, but some take offense. When that happens, we can’t help them.
Zelma Friedling booked a Caribbean cruise a year in advance but canceled after two hurricanes hit the islands they were scheduled to visit. The cruise line refunded the money she paid for the cruise, but neither the cruise line nor the travel insurance company will refund what she paid for travel insurance.
Will we help her get her money back?
Pamela O’Meara narrowly escaped the pre-existing conditions trap.
Oh, you know the trap. It’s the one where your insurance company tells you the policy is no good because your medical condition existed before you bought the policy. Yeah, that one.
When Gary Molinaro and his friends booked a vacation home on the coast of South Carolina, they weren’t anticipating any problems. But then Hurricane Irma started churning toward the mainland and the group decided to cancel. This must be a valid reason for a refund. Right?
Ethelynne Bates-Huffman had to cancel her trip to Norway, booked through Vantage Travel, for one of the most terrible of reasons: the sudden death of her husband. But her desperate plea to Vantage Travel for a refund of their trip fares did not result in compassionate treatment.
Travel insurance doesn’t always work. There, I said it.
Pamela O’Meara books a cruise, but has to cancel her vacation for a medical reason. The trip insurance she bought won’t cover her cancellation. Can our advocates help get the insurance company to pay her claim?
When Solomon Gizaw purchases his air tickets for a trip to Africa, he doesn’t buy travel insurance. Now he has to cancel his trip for medical reasons, but he doesn’t want to pay a change fee. Can our advocates help him get it waived?
When John Joseph and his wife planned a trip to Universal Studios, they thought it might be a good idea to purchase travel insurance. After all, they were paying a great deal of money for their trip, and they wanted to make sure they could get it back if they weren’t able to go. They purchased a “cancel-for-any-reason” policy through AAA Travel for their Universal Vacation Package.