Airfare insurance with airline or insurance to cover whole trip?

[cruiselvr04]

We’re about to book some pricey airfare RT Sydney either through AA or Qantas.  We have refundable cruise fare for 6 more months but buying air now.  Is airline insurance good or bad for refunds?  Our concern would be if the cruise line decided to cancel or change the cruise so far out and we’d be stuck with expensive air.  Our CC doesn’t cover it. A lot can happen between now and January. We really don’t have the need to cover the cruise yet.

[6rugrats]

I would never purchase insurance through the airline.  Look for a good travel policy and make sure you understand what's covered.  

[GeezerCouple]

1 hour ago, 6rugrats said:

I would never purchase insurance through the airline.  Look for a good travel policy and make sure you understand what's covered.  

 

Agree!

 

And here is the CC section for Travel Insurance.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/499-cruisetravel-insurance/

 

Browse through that for a feel for the types of policies.

 

Or call an insurance broker like www.TripInsuranceStore.com who deal with several vetted travel insurers, each with a choice of policies.

But CALL; the fine print in the online summaries cannot possibly cover all of the "what about this" questions, and they can make the difference between having a policy that does pay, vs. one that does not.

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[klfrodo]

Agree with all the above.

If truly concerned, purchase fully refundable airfare.

If that's not an option, then a comprehensive travel insurance policy would be best. I find that the airline policies are more restrictive.

Be that as it may, if something should happen, the airlines are most likely going to offer a credit to be used in the future. If that happens, the travel insurance will consider that as being refunded and won't reimburse you for your flights. An option to get around that (if you are 100% sure that you are filing for a covered reason) is to A) try to get the airline not to offer a future flight credit or, B) wait it out until the future flight credit will expire (get all the documentation) and hopefully be able to then file with the travel insurance again for this loss.

[Ashland]

On 4/20/2023 at 4:18 PM, 6rugrats said:

I would never purchase insurance through the airline.  Look for a good travel policy and make sure you understand what's covered.  

Is there ever a situation where purchasing insurance with the airline a benefit?

[GeezerCouple]

On 4/20/2023 at 5:07 PM, cruiselvr04 said:

We’re about to book some pricey airfare RT Sydney either through AA or Qantas.  We have refundable cruise fare for 6 more months but buying air now.  Is airline insurance good or bad for refunds?  Our concern would be if the cruise line decided to cancel or change the cruise so far out and we’d be stuck with expensive air.  Our CC doesn’t cover it. A lot can happen between now and January. We really don’t have the need to cover the cruise yet.

I forgot to mention above a big benefit of 3rd party travel insurance, *not* linked to any specific vendor or portion of the trip.

A good travel insurance policy will cover you the moment you leave your house... until you return home.

Get in an accident en route to the airport and miss that flight, and spend the day dealing with the accident?  Have a problem from the airport to the cruise ship?

And there's no issue of whether the cruise line "wants to accept liability" for an accident on board, or not, etc.

No need for bickering about which coverage should handle it (or worse, none of them).

 

Just make sure that you meet any conditions for the coverage and that any types of coverage you want are included in the policy you get.  That's what a good travel insurance broker can help you with.

 

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[cruiselvr04]

FYI.  We ended up with Delta with a long layover in LAX coming back but almost half the price as the non stop with American.  I’m buying outside insurance as you all suggested.  For $1200 RT we went with main cabin.  No perks really but we were able to pick our seats and we can get the fare back as credit which I’m ok with.  While historically we don’t like Delta or United, DH flew a 12 hour flight with Delta pre pandemic and survived. One stop is doable so picked the 11 hour lay over instead of flying across the US to Atlanta and back to Dallas.  I’d rather be in the airport walking around than on a plane all day.  

 

Now I need to figure out a way to get into a lounge for those layovers in LAX.  Guess we will be getting a new credit card….

[GeezerCouple]

Is there by any chance one of those small airside hotels at LAX?

 

Just before Covid hit, we had a long layover in Singapore, but not long enough to do anything meaningful (less than 11 hours).  The airside hotel wasn't expensive; it was perfect as a pllace to stretch out on real beds.  We were between two very long flights, so it was a pleasant respite, plus just being able to walk around.

 

With an airside hotel, there are no customs/immigration, and no additonal security.  It's not much different than just changing gates or terminals.

 

11 hours is a long time, even for a nice "lounge"! 

 

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