Carry Travel Insurance Information With You When You Travel
One of the main reasons I got an airline credit card was because it offered several types of travel insurance.
(This is also free checked baggage.)
However, when I was stuck in Chicago overnight due to flight delays and missed connections, I realized that I didn’t really know the details of my travel insurance plan.
I knew that my credit card came with travel delay insurance, but I didn’t know how this insurance worked. Did I need to get permission from my credit card before I booked a hotel room? Will my insurance cover costs up to a certain dollar value? Was there a limit to how much I could invest in individual items such as food, transportation, and lodging?
I knew the information was probably online somewhere, but it was 11 p.m. and I had been traveling since 7 a.m. two time zones ago, so I dug around the credit card site on my phone, looked up my email (maybe did they send me the PDF details?) and then gave up and booked a room overnight hoping it would work out.
Back home, I pulled the credit card travel insurance brochure out of the place where it had been neatly folded – thank God I didn’t throw it away – and learned that my flight must be delayed by more than 12 hours. before I am eligible for compensation.
Since I agreed to take the next available flight from Chicago, I arrived at my home airport 11 hours 46 minutes late.
If I knew I would not make a cut to recover costs, I would rather stay in a super-cheap airport hotel than the mid-range hotel I chose. I could also choose a later flight instead of the first one I can board; nothing in the small print prevents it, although I have seen the insurance company claim that I should have used an earlier version.
I’m still going to apply for a refund just to see what happens, but I expect to be denied.
I am also going to pack my travel insurance information in my carry-on baggage (or if it comes in PDF format, it will be saved on my phone) on all future trips. That way, if I find myself in a situation like this, I have the tools to help me make more informed choices.