TRAVEL INSURANCE DOESN"T ALWAYS PAY OFF

[madforcruising]

Let me buy a birthday cake for this post! :rolleyes:

 

Great idea, I always wonder where and why these old threads come from and up again after such a long time.

[AFT_LOVER]

they will back you for charges made 3 years ago. If something stinks, they back you. They are very familiar with pay in full 3 months before sailing, so that is not the issue but 90 days after sail date.

 

Now when the flight was cancelled with no replacement, you did phone RCCL? Did they book the air? If not then you have a problem, since they take care of air they book, they get you onboard the next port if the ship isn't being held as they have done many times. So credit card will be last chance.

 

CSA should take care of you, call TONY in CLAIMS. He is #1 with me. Tell him the complete story & he will send you paperwork to fill out with the complete story, then he get going for you.

 

 

 

David: Credit card protests only work BEFORE THE BILL is paid. A cruise has to be paid in full NINETY DAYS before sailing! That means that I paid that credit card bill back in September!

 

But thanks for the good thoughts. I'm going to pursue this, rest assured.

 

Carol

[madforcruising]

they will back you for charges made 3 years ago. If something stinks, they back you. They are very familiar with pay in full 3 months before sailing, so that is not the issue but 90 days after sail date.

 

Now when the flight was cancelled with no replacement, you did phone RCCL? Did they book the air? If not then you have a problem, since they take care of air they book, they get you onboard the next port if the ship isn't being held as they have done many times. So credit card will be last chance.

 

CSA should take care of you, call TONY in CLAIMS. He is #1 with me. Tell him the complete story & he will send you paperwork to fill out with the complete story, then he get going for you.

 

And probably you are familiar with the fact that this is a more than y year old thread and the problem has been resolved long time ago already, so what can Tony in Claims help with?:rolleyes: ;)

[dougp26364]

Let me buy a birthday cake for this post! :rolleyes:

 

I really have to remember to start looking at the origianl post date on these things.

[butterfly2]

We paid for a flight on an upcoming cruise on our Discover Card. The airline that we booked with suddenly went totally out of business (Trans Merridan). We found out when you use your Discover Card they give you automatic flight insurance through Discover Card. We had already paid our bill for this flight before the airline went belly up. Discover Card paid us back for the flights. Maybe they have such a insurance for cruises as well? I also believe that credit cards can be credited for services not rendered. If you used a credit card try this route, especially if it's Discover Card.

[TrinaLC]

april fools?!

 

still, I had missed the original thread, so was an interesting read! glad it turned out OK!

[KelJ]

David: Credit card protests only work BEFORE THE BILL is paid. A cruise has to be paid in full NINETY DAYS before sailing! That means that I paid that credit card bill back in September!

 

But thanks for the good thoughts. I'm going to pursue this, rest assured.

 

Carol

 

Carol,

I haven't gotten through this whole thread, so there may be more on this that I've missed because I see there are several pages, but you CAN contest a credit card transaction after the charge has been paid. Four or five years ago, we booked a Disney World vacation through Kingdom Tours and had charged the entire thing when we booked it (had the money but wanted the credit card points). We booked our travel insurance also through Kingdom Tours -- which was the big mistake. Several months after we had paid in full, Kingdom Tours goes bankrupt, and guess what? Since we had Kingdom Tours' travel insurance, it was worthless! Kingdom Tours was offering no refund to us whatsoever.

We disputed this on our credit card (a hefty amount). The credit card company credited the amount back to us, and they resolved it with Kingdom Tours. Had we not charged it, we would have been out all of that money and, therefore, also out of a vacation. Luckily, we were able to rebook with another company who matched KT's price.

I will continue reading to see if your situation was resolved favorably. It is ridiculously inconceivable that insurance will not cover you.:eek: Best of luck. Fingers crossed for you.

[KelJ]

Well, I finally made it through all of this and NOW realize how old this post is. I guess I too should pay more attention to the date on the OP. :D How did this get resurrected anyway?

Glad everything worked out for you, Carol!!

[Merion_Mom]

Holy Calendar, Batman!

 

Yes, this is from a year ago, and everything turned out just fine in the end - for the "rest of the story", as Paul Harvey says, click on the OTHER link in my signature about our Jewel cruise.

 

Thank you for the birthday wishes, Pete. :D

 

You know, I vacillate between AMAZEMENT that someone pulled up a thread this old, probably by doing a *search*, and being glad, since we DO like to tell people, "USE THE SEARCH FUNCTION!!"

 

I guess that we should temper that advice with "But look at how old a thread is!"

 

;)

[Iamthesea]

Hi Carole and Happy Birthday!

 

I don't know where I have been, however I am just reading this your story for the first time. How awful that your family had to go through that! :eek: Glad everything worked out OK. Did USAir return your money for flights?

 

I didn't read the entire thread completely, so sorry if this subject has been covered already, but was wondering if at anytime your family thought about jumping in the car and driving to Florida?

[Merion_Mom]

Howdy. Yes, USAir returned the airfares promptly. (ok, one little extra nudge was needed). There was not enough time to drive all the way from Philadephia to Fort Lauderdale. (but the very thought of such a drive makes me shudder and recoil in horror)

[Iamthesea]

I know what you mean about driving! :eek: I don't like to even drive from TN to Orlando, even though it is just 10 or so hours. What would your drive had been...20? I know had it been us, we would have made every attempt to drive all the way or drive part way and catch a flight this rest of the way down. I'm so sorry you had to go through that trauma...especially at Christmas. :(

[luckyprincess]

know with CSA and other insurance companies they have some exclusions for certain airlines (UScare being one of them)... not sure if it's just about bankruptcy though.

I'm "waiting" to put in a medical claim w/CSA that I'm not sure if it will be "accepted". My daughter had been ill for several weeks and a week prior to leaving her ped. decided that he really didn't want her going to Mexico and on a RCCL ship in her condition (we still don't know what she has... extreme stomach ailment that has been troubling her since we were on Brilliance on New Years... at that time we couldn't get her to see the ship's MD when it was "active" (she would have probably have been quaranteened.. nurse wouldn't page MD... we tried, I even pleaded w/guest relations directly at their desk --- got deaf ears and we ARE Diamond w/C&A). Since we couldn't get her medical help then our doctor felt we were taking a chance going on the ship and her getting ill again. So we cancelled and got him to fill out form. I'm waiting for credit card bill to show partial credit to then file w/CSA for the remainder. RCCL is NO HELP.. all they say is "did you buy Berkleycare (to that I answer "why" it would only cover 75% and that would be a cruise credit... which isn't getting a refund).

Good luck with getting coverage. We've had good luck w/CSA before w/coverage, but I'm worried about this one since this one's going to get "flagged".

 

Yes, I know that this is from a long time ago...I was paying attention this time!:D I am wondering, since I also purchased BerkelyCare from the big, well known online travelcompany that I got my cruise through, will it only pay me back in a cruise credit? I didn't read anything like that in the small print... Or is that only if you buy it from the actual cruise company...I think there is still time for me to switch - it didn't seem any better or worse really than the stuff on that insurance comparison site someone told me to go to. I hope I didn't simplify it too much for myself...I don't want to get put into one of these postions.:eek:

Melody

[mommabean]

I just bought the BerkelyCare insurance through RCI for the first time since I'm taking my daughter's friend with us. It gives me piece of mind since the girl isn't covered under my medical insurance policy. The cruise credit portion of the BerkelyCare policy seems to be fair. It provides a 75% cruise cost credit with RCI for any non-refundable portion of the fare up until departure for ANY reason. If my daughter's friend for some reason changed her mind about going on the trip, or any or all of us changed our minds for that matter, at least we could use 75% of the cost towards another RCI cruise within the next year.

 

I don't anticipate using any of our policy really. But when taking a non-family member on a cruise, what's another $120 for piece of mind?

[AFT_LOVER]

As they got me credit for a Princess problem wiht deposits for TBA cruises totalling $600. Princess couldn't find the payments, so no credit. AMEX had the bills of $200 & the dates of the cruises we booked them on. Instant credit on my bill for $-600.

 

Credit card companies know cruise lines want cash up front, so 90 days is nothing. Mine was over 2 years!

 

 

David: Credit card protests only work BEFORE THE BILL is paid. A cruise has to be paid in full NINETY DAYS before sailing! That means that I paid that credit card bill back in September!

 

But thanks for the good thoughts. I'm going to pursue this, rest assured.

 

Carol

[AFT_LOVER]

Access America -- 24 hour airport closure to pay claim

 

Berkley Insurance - Bad weather is ACT OF GOD & not covered.

 

CSA has always paid even my broken foot claim of 10 days at sea but in bed, no excursions, no entertainment & one pissed DH who was out $6000 for Concierge Class with a balcony filled with bar washings with a pressure washer at 2AM every night. Celebrity refused to move us & when my foot was damaged, they had no crutches, no wheelchair, no transport but my DH carrying me. Celebrity refuses to fly us home & credit our cruise. Why we even went when we are at LAX for 5.5 hours waiting for the transport to the port. We are to have Express Embarkation. Celebrity gave -0-, other than 20% off my next cruise.

 

So I got 10 days of trip interruption.

 

So US Air owes you either paid in full cruise with air, or an explaination of why you were not flown. I would also get the FAA involved for an answer, then CSA has strike or whatever in writing to pay you! Why didn't US Air fly according to them????

 

[

There's another site called quotetravelinsurance.com that detals the various terms of the various companies' policies. While I'm not sure if any of them would have covered this, your experience underscores the need for all of us to carefully read the fine print before we buy insurance. Sometimes they require a tevel delay of 6 hrs before they'll pay; other companies may require 12 hours. Big difference in cruise time. Same for medical expenses, dental, medical evacuation, etc. I spend a few days researching this for each cruise. And I never buy what the travel agent offers, because I feel that he offers the plan he does because he makes a good income from it, not because it is great insurance.

 

Mark

[wrp96]

Macop, this thread is over a year old.

[dougp26364]

It amazes me both that this thread keeps popping up AND that respondents to the thread haven't read through enough of it to realize that Merion Mom ended up with a successful outcome to this claim after she asked that it be reviewed.

[HurricaneSally]

Macop, this thread is over a year old.

 

I was thinking the same thing!!!!! It doesn't even make sense anymore, lol.

[Retired not Expired]

Any sign of Jimmy Hoffa while digging???

[Cruising89143]

Any sign of Jimmy Hoffa while digging???

 

LOL!!!! That was a good one.:D

[Autumnrose]

Not too familiar with the insurance company you purchased. The insurance company that my agency used covers cancellation penalties for several reasons one of the reason that is covered is "Travel Delay Resulting in Loss of 50% of Trip Length". Since they would not let you on the cruise I think this would qualify. Maybe your insurance and the same???

[Sunny AZ Girl]

I, for one, am glad this thread got resurrected as I learned a lot about travel insurance and how "things work" by reading it. I'm not as learn-ed as some of you more experienced folks!:D

 

I'm glad it worked out for you. I've been a little leary about travel insurance, but have purchased it for past cruises as I am more concerned about medical bills and evacuation while out of the country. (I work in the medical field, so I KNOW bad things can happen anytime, anywhere - especially on vacation when you tend to let your guard down!) I am tring to decide on whether I should purchase it for our short 4 day cruise to Baja when we will technically only be out of the country one day - Ensenada. Any suggestions?

[Merion_Mom]

I, for one, am glad this thread got resurrected as I learned a lot about travel insurance and how "things work" by reading it. I'm not as learn-ed as some of you more experienced folks!:D

 

I'm glad it worked out for you. I've been a little leary about travel insurance, but have purchased it for past cruises as I am more concerned about medical bills and evacuation while out of the country. (I work in the medical field, so I KNOW bad things can happen anytime, anywhere - especially on vacation when you tend to let your guard down!) I am tring to decide on whether I should purchase it for our short 4 day cruise to Baja when we will technically only be out of the country one day - Ensenada. Any suggestions?

What the heck, since this thread has reared its ugly head again...........

 

I should have taken my own advice. Buy travel insurance.

 

I had a real heart-in-my-mouth moment when I was on the Crown Princess last month. Before they announced that Princess would refund our entire cruise fare and pay ALL expenses associated with abruptly ending our cruise and flying us home, I realized that I hadn't bought the travel insurance. After all, "I was cruising in and out of NY" and didn't have to worry about flying.

 

New lesson learned. BUY TRAVEL INSURANCE.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

I had a real heart-in-my-mouth moment when I was on the Crown Princess last month. Before they announced that Princess would refund our entire cruise fare and pay ALL expenses associated with abruptly ending our cruise and flying us home, I realized that I hadn't bought the travel insurance. After all, "I was cruising in and out of NY" and didn't have to worry about flying.

 

New lesson learned. BUY TRAVEL INSURANCE.

Good point............I'm so glad you were ok. I'm also glad that experience didn't sour you on cruising!:)