Hi everyone,
I have never felt the need to purchase trip insurance in the past but with all of the issues with airlines these days, I’m thinking seriously about it for my upcoming Disney World trip in August. My main concern is my flight is cancelled and I am not able to get another flight that works for my family, leading to trip cancellation. Is this a situation where the cost of the Disney package is refundable through the insurance, and are there specific coverages I should look for when purchasing trip insurance to be sure this is a covered event?
I know I am going to have to call all of these different companies that offer trip insurance to find out EXACTLY what coverage is, I am just reaching out to all of you to see if there is any general knowledge you don’t mind sharing
I was in a similar situation last year. I don’t really like 3rd party travel insurance b/c they make you jump through hoops to collect. I looked at my credit card trip cancellation insurance, and theme park tickets were not covered unless they were part of a travel package. I did not want to book a package, so I just made sure the individual components (air, hotel, rental car, theme park tickets) were changeable and/or refundable on short notice.
Specifically, the Disney tickets I bought through UT were refundable less 5% so I was covered there.
In the Travel Insurance coverage I have inquired about, this is the only thing related to airlines under “Trip Cancelation”:
“Weather at the departure site that causes complete cessation of services for at least twelve (12) consecutive hours of the Common Carrier with whom You are scheduled to travel and prevents You from reaching Your destination. This benefit will not apply if the Natural Disaster has been forecasted or a storm has been named prior to purchase of this
Policy”
I’m wondering if flights are canceled, but not for weather related reasons, you may need to purchase additional CFAR coverage?? (Cancel for any reason)
Because we have AP’s and book “room only”, we have up to five days before to cancel. I have delt with WDW before and if you have a good reason they are understanding. We fly Delta and recently we were able to purchase cancel for any reason tickets. They cost more but they were cheaper than travel insurance and no hassle.
I bought trip insurance for my flights this time around, specifically because travel by airplane has been a nightmare lately, and I don’t anticipate it getting better. I’ve been tracking my flights on both there and return trip the past few weeks and it has looked pretty disastrous. Some legs have been completely cancelled, some have been delayed so much connections would be missed and some have been on time. I also would suggest (if you can afford it) to book refundable second flights on a separate airline for your trips, and just cancel them for a full refund if you end up not needing them. I did this myself for both my flights.
I’ve purchased trip insurance 3x to go to London from the US because things were mostly nonrefundable. Didn’t have to make a claim. Just now I had a cruise to Alaska that had been rescheduled 3x due to covid, I bought the insurance long ago in case something came up re covid. Then suddenly a close relative passed away right before the trip and I would have been out several $K without the insurance. Everything could be easily canceled and refunded except the cruise itself. I had used points for the flights which I was able to get a credit for; I was surprised to learn that points flights can’t be on trip insurance. I’m telling this long story to point out that you truly never can predict what will happen. With every trip I try to make it as cancelable as possible. If it’s truly a lot I would lose then I buy the insurance. One thing I probably won’t do again is buy "cancel for any reason " insurance. The cost was just too high. I’ve only ever had that for the cruise, but I didn’t have to use the CFAR because I had a covered reason. Without that insurance I would have felt pressure to go on a solo trip for almost 2 weeks right when DH needed me the most. I’m currently in limbo after filing the claim wondering if it will actually pay.
Thanks for all of the responses. It’s so frustrating trying to figure out what is actually covered by these policies. When I carefully read the small print it seems like there are only very specific situations that are actually covered. I purchased flights a few months ago and would get a flight credit if they are cancelled by the airline. It is the Disney package I am mostly concerned about coverage for. I’ll report back if I get any pearls of wisdom when I call some of these companies that offer trip insurance.
I’ve used this site in the past. They search 22 different companies at once. With any travel insurance, be sure to read the whole thing so you know what is and isn’t included.
Another consideration is if you get sick now. What is the cancellation policy now for airlines, hotel and parks if you get COVID right before your trip?
I used to get Disney’s insurance package when I did Disney package insurance. Now I book room only as we have a AP. I have called Disney on a number of occasions when I could not make the trip for like sickness in the family. Never a problem, they refunded my money. Depends on who you get though. Delta has always been great and issued me a voucher for another flight. They didn’t have to but they did but this may not always be the case. Times are changing.
For me, it’s worth it for peace of mind. Even if the policy isn’t robust. The cost of insurance compared to the cost of the overall trip is negligible, in my opinion. It’s the same as five or six days of Genie+.
