My experience with Princess AON travel insurance

[Riley_Mon]

this isn't a complaint, its just an FYI

 

I'm sure if I had read the fine print more closely I would have known, however

 

I booked a cruise with Princess in early June. Ship left on Saturday so I booked thru them, Airfare to arrive on Friday. I planned on  arriving early, spend the day hiking and booked a hotel for that evening.

 

cut to the chase, the travel was a nightmare, ended up spending the night in the Atlanta airport Friday night and barely getting to Seattle on Saturday to make the cruise. Hotel I booked , rightfully so, charged me for the booking and had a 24 hour no refund policy.

 

Based on my perception of how travel insurance worked, I figured I would have been reimbursed for this cost incurred. I thought I was doing the right thing by arriving a day early and booking a hotel at my expense to insure I had plenty of time to make the cruise , which in most cases would work to the advantage of the travel insurance company. Being east of the Mississippi and with covid still causing travel havoc, it made sense to arrive a day early and was actually recommended to me by someone at Princess.

 

Filed a claim in mid July for $220. Just heard from them today, November 29th, 4 months later my claim was denied. As far as they are concerned, I got a flight and I got to the cruise on time, its not relevant that I started at 4am on Friday and arrived at my destination at 2PM on Saturday and any cost incurred between then is on me.

 

To be honest, I'd actually forgot about it

 

Not a good look for travel insurance in my estimation, but again, I should read the fine print and not make assumptions on my part.

 

Hope this is a PSA for anyone in this position in the future. Maybe its common knowledge thats how it works and I didn't know any better.

 

 

Edited November 29, 2022 by Riley_Mon

[suzyed]

10 minutes ago, Riley_Mon said:

this isn't a complaint, its just an FYI

 

I'm sure if I had read the fine print more closely I would have known, however

 

I booked a cruise with Princess in early June. Ship left on Saturday so I booked thru them, Airfare to arrive on Friday. I planned on  arriving early, spend the day hiking and booked a hotel for that evening.

 

cut to the chase, the travel was a nightmare, ended up spending the night in the Atlanta airport Friday night and barely getting to Seattle on Saturday to make the cruise. Hotel I booked , rightfully so, charged me for the booking and had a 24 hour no refund policy.

 

Based on my perception of how travel insurance worked, I figured I would have been reimbursed for this cost incurred. I thought I was doing the right thing by arriving a day early and booking a hotel at my expense to insure I had plenty of time to make the cruise , which in most cases would work to the advantage of the travel insurance company. Being east of the Mississippi and with covid still causing traSvel havoc, it made sense to arrive a day early and was actually recommended to me by someone at Princess.

 

Filed a claim in mid July for $220. Just heard from them today, November 29th, 4 months later my claim was denied. As far as they are concerned, I got a flight and I got to the cruise on time, its not relevant that I started at 4am on Friday and arrived at my destination at 2PM on Saturday and any cost incurred between then is on me.

 

To be honest, I'd actually forgot about it

 

Not a good look for travel insurance in my estimation, but again, I should read the fine print and not make assumptions on my part.

 

Hope this is a PSA for anyone in this position in the future. Maybe its common knowledge thats how it works and I didn't know any better.

 

 

Sorry about that.  We book insurance in good faith that situations like this would be covered...but I guess until we make a claim it's hard to know the ins and outs. 
 

[dog]

Do you have any trip interruption insurance through your credit card?

[junglejane]

I'm confused as to why this wasn't covered under the AON Trip Delay coverage. You say it was in the "fine print" but did they explain what part of the policy language they were relying on?

 

And as @dog suggested, check to see if the credit card you used for payment has Trip Delay coverage (I believe this is Trip Delay not Trip Interruption, but I'm certainly not an expert). Maybe look at the credit card you used to pay for the hotel room you couldn't use? Trip Delay generally requires that the delay be for a minimum defined amount of time and for a covered reason for the delay (like weather, stolen documents etc). 

[Shelly97060]

I wonder if the airline would have give any compensation or give you a goodwill flight credit? Might be worth asking.

[PescadoAmarillo]

28 minutes ago, suzyed said:

Sorry about that.  We book insurance in good faith that situations like this would be covered...but I guess until we make a claim it's hard to know the ins and outs. 
 

Exactly this. We’ve been in situations where we’ve called AON, trying to determine the least cost action to take when travel disruptions occur. If you ask them, is it better for me to do this or that, their response every time is file the claim and find out. Quite helpful. 

[ChutChut]

I just reviewed both Princess vacation protection insurance packages and it appears your situation should be covered under Trip Delay. Did you provide the carrier with a written explanation from the airline for the delay? That is required. But it appears your situation is a covered "Hazard" and you were on a "Common Carrier." Seems to me you should be reimbursed for the hotel you couldn't stay at, the hotel you actually stayed at, in addition to food expenses. The only other variables are your state of residence (I chose Florida) and whether your trip began on the day you started your flight. When you applied for the policy, did you indicate your trip began on the day of your delayed flight?

 

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Princess insurance is pretty sneaky. The hotel arrangements, etc. must have been arranged by PRINCESS CRUISES OR PRINCESS TOURS. Your "travel arrangements" (e.g. hotel, etc.) must have been "arranged" by the "travel supplier" and this is defined as Princess Cruises or Princess Tours. Sneaky devils....

Edited November 29, 2022 by ChutChut

[ChutChut]

I just reviewed my policy (Zurich Insurance through a large warehouse travel agency starting with C*****) and any such delay is covered, and hotels, etc. don't have to be arranged by Princess. No need to get airline delay confirmation. Only receipts are required. Total benefit of $2,000 (subject to a max of $200 per day). 

[junglejane]

34 minutes ago, ChutChut said:

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Princess insurance is pretty sneaky. The hotel arrangements, etc. must have been arranged by PRINCESS CRUISES OR PRINCESS TOURS. Your "travel arrangements" (e.g. hotel, etc.) must have been "arranged" by the "travel supplier" and this is defined as Princess Cruises or Princess Tours. Sneaky devils....

That's why I wondered about OP checking the credit card used to see if it provides any Trip Delay coverage. On a land trip a couple years ago we missed our connection in Philly due to weather and had to stay overnight at the airport Marriott. We made a claim on the insurance coverage provided by our credit card (the one used to pay for our flights) and ultimately got reimbursed for the hotel stay and a couple meals. We had to provide a bunch of receipts and we submitted some news articles about the weather delays causing the flight cancellations.

[ChutChut]

16 minutes ago, junglejane said:

That's why I wondered about OP checking the credit card used to see if it provides any Trip Delay coverage. On a land trip a couple years ago we missed our connection in Philly due to weather and had to stay overnight at the airport Marriott. We made a claim on the insurance coverage provided by our credit card (the one used to pay for our flights) and ultimately got reimbursed for the hotel stay and a couple meals. We had to provide a bunch of receipts and we submitted some news articles about the weather delays causing the flight cancellations.

Very good suggestion!!!! 

[Coral]

Most 3rd party insurance would have covered it. I get why you booked it how you did. Glad it wasn't a large claim. 

 

I agree with others to check with your credit card.

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, Riley_Mon said:

this isn't a complaint, its just an FYI

 

I'm sure if I had read the fine print more closely I would have known, however

 

I booked a cruise with Princess in early June. Ship left on Saturday so I booked thru them, Airfare to arrive on Friday. I planned on  arriving early, spend the day hiking and booked a hotel for that evening.

 

cut to the chase, the travel was a nightmare, ended up spending the night in the Atlanta airport Friday night and barely getting to Seattle on Saturday to make the cruise. Hotel I booked , rightfully so, charged me for the booking and had a 24 hour no refund policy.

 

Based on my perception of how travel insurance worked, I figured I would have been reimbursed for this cost incurred. I thought I was doing the right thing by arriving a day early and booking a hotel at my expense to insure I had plenty of time to make the cruise , which in most cases would work to the advantage of the travel insurance company. Being east of the Mississippi and with covid still causing travel havoc, it made sense to arrive a day early and was actually recommended to me by someone at Princess.

 

Filed a claim in mid July for $220. Just heard from them today, November 29th, 4 months later my claim was denied. As far as they are concerned, I got a flight and I got to the cruise on time, its not relevant that I started at 4am on Friday and arrived at my destination at 2PM on Saturday and any cost incurred between then is on me.

 

To be honest, I'd actually forgot about it

 

Not a good look for travel insurance in my estimation, but again, I should read the fine print and not make assumptions on my part.

 

Hope this is a PSA for anyone in this position in the future. Maybe its common knowledge thats how it works and I didn't know any better.

 

 

The main issue is that you purchased Princess insurance which, unless the hotel and air was booked through Princess, does not provide coverage prior to the cruise itself.  Since you booked those items yourself and since you made the cruise there is no coverage by the AON insurance.

 

The cost of the insurance was based upon the cost of the cruise, as most travel insurance is based upon the cost of the covered trip.  If the insurance did cover the flight and hotel it would have cost more since the cost of those portions of the trip would have been included in the price calculations.

 

If you want the travel insurance to cover your entire trip you would need to either book those elements through Princess, or buy a third party insurance that covers the entire trip, door to door.

[dog]

I remember this being discussed in the past year. I think it was Buckeye who started the thread.  As, I recall he came back and reported what happened.  will look for thread.

Edited November 29, 2022 by dog

[dog]

22 minutes ago, dog said:

I remember this being discussed in the past year. I think it was Buckeye who started the thread.  As, I recall he came back and reported what happened.  will look for thread.

I pulled up 2 threads by Buckye- seems some had hotels covered 

[Riley_Mon]

live and learn

 

at this point I'm so soured by the whole cruise and travel experience, I'm just going to put it behind me

 

It was 4 months ago and I don't have the motivation to try other avenues even though it probably would pay off.

 

Just wanted to give others here an FYI

 

fwiw, just to clarify I did book the airfare thru Princess and going by their advice, I flew in a day early to make sure I would give myself plenty of time to make the cruise. I just booked the hotel on my own.

 

Honestly I probably would have had it covered if AON and other cruise travel insurance companies weren't getting killed with the return to cruising and the multitude of issues that are associated with it.

 

They are probably bleeding money at the moment

Edited December 1, 2022 by Riley_Mon

[elaine5]

so, if one makes their own arrangements, say flying from USA to AU or Europe 5 days early, would Princess insurance cover other incidents, such as illness, etc. before the day of the cruise? I understand they won't cover hotels, delays, etc. if we make the cruise.

[ChutChut]

38 minutes ago, elaine5 said:

so, if one makes their own arrangements, say flying from USA to AU or Europe 5 days early, would Princess insurance cover other incidents, such as illness, etc. before the day of the cruise? I understand they won't cover hotels, delays, etc. if we make the cruise.

The key thing is to read the policy and especially the definitions as some of them exclude any arrangements not made by Princess Cruises or Princess Tours (This is for the Princess Vacation Protection insurance). Third-party insurance thru other companies may differ.

[Coral]

47 minutes ago, elaine5 said:

so, if one makes their own arrangements, say flying from USA to AU or Europe 5 days early, would Princess insurance cover other incidents, such as illness, etc. before the day of the cruise? I understand they won't cover hotels, delays, etc. if we make the cruise.

They would probably let you cancel due to illness but I don't think they would cover medical expenses.

 

I often buy a 3rd party plan and just cover $500 (hotel, etc...) or something and that gives me coverage for medical for the entire trip and the 3rd party plan has much better coverage.

Edited December 1, 2022 by Coral

[Babr]

1 hour ago, elaine5 said:

so, if one makes their own arrangements, say flying from USA to AU or Europe 5 days early, would Princess insurance cover other incidents, such as illness, etc. before the day of the cruise? I understand they won't cover hotels, delays, etc. if we make the cruise.

 

You have to read the terms of the policy. Cruise line insurance usually has language that defines coverage as starting when you depart on first scheduled travel arrangement. That means the first part of the trip scheduled by the cruise line. Look for the section that says when coverage begins and check the definition of any terms as indicated in the policy.