posted 06-02-2005 18:04               

You might have called US Air and pleaded your case with them. If there was any availability they might have allowed you to travel standby. Did you try checking with US Air?

I hope your mom is ok.

-David

posted 06-02-2005 20:28            

I did this infrequently before her first stroke, but do it religiously now. Fortunately, we haven't had to utilize the coverage yet.

Hope your mother is doing better. Nothing quite like getting the "phone call"...

posted 06-03-2005 21:37            

quote:

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Originally posted by bellesgirl:
Would cancellation insurance cover a frequent flyer ticket? Also, most policies will not cover pre-existing conditions. It is a big problem that those of us will ailing/elderly parents deal with everytime we try to plan a trip.

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It would not cover the remaining value of the award ticket, but would cover the costs to evacuate the insured to the location of the ill/deceased family member. So one would in essence be made whole, monetarily, but will have lost the "value" of the remainder of their vacation.

Regarding pre-existing conditions, coverage varies by policy purchased and by insurer, both in description of "pre-existing" and the timeframe in which such illness might be described as such.

In our case, my mom is unlikely to "die" or "become ill" from her dementia/stroke, but she might fall and break a hip, or have a heart attack, which are unrelated to her other conditions. She could also have another stroke, but as the last one was a number of years ago, it would be arguable that it was not foreseeable, supported by the medical record of care. Edited to add that, as I am attorney-in-fact for all of her affairs, medical and financial, the essential need for my presence during any emergency would be supported by the laws which give me that power.

In any event, the coverage we purchase allows for such circumstance.... I generally purchase shortly after (within a few days) our first reservations/air tickets are arranged.

This is the coverage we most routinely buy. There is a similar coverage for cruises, but lately most of our vacations have been air/land. Not an endorsement, but an example. We have not as of yet filed any claims, thankfully

Pat

posted 06-04-2005 12:25            

quote:

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Originally posted by bellesgirl:
Pat,

Since most travel insurance is priced based on the cost of the tickets, how does the insurance carrier determine what to charge when you are using FF tickets?

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We assign a value to the vacation, which determines premium. I assign a value equal to what my actual costs are. As FF tix are "free", I don't assign a value to them, as they can be cancelled/changed at minimal cost, which either we or the insurance company can cover (if they so provide, for a cancelled trip). I'm more interested in the big money items, like pre-paid lodging and transportation fees (ships, airplanes, trains) and the health and evacuation coverages, when in or out-country.

IOW, if we book FF tix to OZ, but are paying for a Princess cruise while there (paid in advance), I'd insure the FF tix for their cost (taxes and fees, which is mainly to show we have air transport) and the cruise fare in full, along with any pre-paid lodging. If the air was paid, I'd insure it at the paid value.

We insure the things which aren't refundable/cancellable (at anthing more than a nominal fee), as well as against emergency health/evacuation risks, the latter being more important to us.

You might try running some policy quotes on the insurance sites (IIRC, there's a site called insuremytrip.com which consolidates them) and see how it all is figured, and of course what the coverages are.

FWIW, I self-insure on almost all our domestic trips which involve FF tix and cancellable hotel. I have sufficient FF miles to book last minute emergency flights if needed, to get home. If there's a seat on a plane, the standard award will get it, and at little cost to me. Edited to add that we have health insurance which only covers treatment domestically but does relieve that part of the burden for stateside trips. Hence my tendancy to self-insure (but not always).

Hope that helps!

Pat

posted 06-04-2005 17:34               

quote:

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Originally posted by camachinist:
As FF tix are "free", I don't assign a value to them, as they can be cancelled/changed at minimal cost, which either we or the insurance company can cover (if they so provide, for a cancelled trip).

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In this case, since they are Star Alliance award tickets, yes, they can be changed for a fee before the trip starts. Once the trip starts no changes are allowed on Star Alliance tickets. This is the problem that the OP ran into, so he had to buy another ticket, presumably at a premium price due to the nature of the emergency at home. I have no idea how you insure for something like that, where you might have to purchase a full fare one-way ticket in order to get home early in case of emergency.

-David

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posted 06-04-2005 17:43               

quote:

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Originally posted by BC:
I called USAir first and they said I had to call United. One of the reps I spoke to did suggest that I just show up at the airport and see if they would accomodate me, but that meant I would have to check out of the timeshare not knowing if I would get home.

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This is where you use your power of persuasion and nice personality to try to find out what the load factors are like on the flights home you might want to stand by for.

Airlines won't typically give out load information, because it's their own proprietary information and could be used by competitors, but if you explain the situation to the US Air CSR and ask what your odds might be of getting a standby seat out that day, they will usually help you.

I had to go home later from Las Vegas than I originally planned. I could have either paid a change fee and reserved a confirmed seat on a later flight, or risked the standby for free. I asked the CSR what my chances were and she assured me that at that moment, there were lots of seats available on the flight I wanted. It's still a crapshoot because there could have been incoming flight delays or cancellations that day that could easily have changed everything.

Also, when you check out, I would think you could let the timeshare management know what's going on and that there's a possibility you might be back that evening if you can't get a flight out. After all, that time is still yours. I would have asked them if I could do a tentative checkout and you could call them later that day if you got on a flight.

-David