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My brothers ongoing saga


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Ok trip insurance is denying his claim as it does not cover flight cancellations?!?!?  So all flights from 4 airports over 2 days cancelled due to weather is not a covered event under the policy we bought through our MEI agent from whatever company Royal uses?  I emailed her for a copy of the policy.  I am beside myself here!!!!

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40 minutes ago, Pooch said:

Ok trip insurance is denying his claim as it does not cover flight cancellations?!?!?  So all flights from 4 airports over 2 days cancelled due to weather is not a covered event under the policy we bought through our MEI agent from whatever company Royal uses?  I emailed her for a copy of the policy.  I am beside myself here!!!!

Do you have additional information - did they insure the flights, too?  Or just the cruise?   

 

 

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Cruise was insured through whatever product MEI sold us (Aon Affinity?). The flights were booked on points and he got those back plus $250 vouchers each.  But Aon is saying his cancelled flight(s) is not a covered event.  Asked the agent to send copy of the policy.

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56 minutes ago, Pooch said:

Cruise was insured through whatever product MEI sold us (Aon Affinity?). The flights were booked on points and he got those back plus $250 vouchers each.  But Aon is saying his cancelled flight(s) is not a covered event.  Asked the agent to send copy of the policy.

This is one reason to use Air2Sea for your flights. The airline portion of your trip is then with Royal and is "part of the cruise."

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1 hour ago, Pooch said:

Cruise was insured through whatever product MEI sold us (Aon Affinity?). The flights were booked on points and he got those back plus $250 vouchers each.  But Aon is saying his cancelled flight(s) is not a covered event.  Asked the agent to send copy of the policy.

This thread says ongoing saga.  Sorry, I must have missed your initial post.   Did your brother miss the whole cruise (flights canceled to cruise), or was it flights going home canceled after the cruise is over?  Just trying to understand the context of the problem,    

Good luck!

Edited by Zurc
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15 minutes ago, HeWhoWaits said:

This is one reason to use Air2Sea for your flights. The airline portion of your trip is then with Royal and is "part of the cruise."

Or, use a 3rd party insurance ( example Tripinsurancestore.com ).  Then the flights and cruise and any pre- or post- cruise hotels can all be covered.   When I use airline points, I still include the little bit of airline ticket taxes on the overall insurance costs.  It then covers the flights for interruption or delay, and most will also reimburse any redeposit of miles or points fee.  It also then shows the correct inclusive “trip dates”. 
 

good luck!

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1 hour ago, HeWhoWaits said:

This is one reason to use Air2Sea for your flights. The airline portion of your trip is then with Royal and is "part of the cruise."

No, he was reimbursed by Southwest for his cancelled flights.  It’s the cruise fare we are trying to get from the insurance company.  They say the weather problem that shut down flights from the northeast does not qualify for reimbursement.  Has nothing to do with flight reimbursement.

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1 hour ago, Zurc said:

This thread says ongoing saga.  Sorry, I must have missed your initial post.   Did your brother miss the whole cruise (flights canceled to cruise), or was it flights going home canceled after the cruise is over?  Just trying to understand the context of the problem,    

Good luck!

He and my nephew missed our 3/13 cruise because a storm going up the east coast stopped all flights to Florida or anywhere near, from Boston, Providence, Manchester & Bradley for 2 days.  There was no way, on no airline to get down there.

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Can you elaborate more the issue with the weather impacting the flight?

Flight was cancelled, but maybe it's not covered because how close to cruise the flight was cancelled? I checked my Allianz policy and it covers cancelled flights due to severe weather if it's been at least 24 consecutive hours from the originally scheduled arrival time

Screenshot - 2022-05-02T165018.260.png

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Yes, he was scheduled to fly out at 3pm Saturday 3/12. Providence RI to Orlando.  Flight was moved to 6pm then cancelled.  They were only able to get a 9pm out of Manchester NH which was again delayed then cancelled.  No flights from any New England airport on any airline that would have gotten them to PC prior to sailing on 3/13 by 4pm.

There was a snow storm heading up the east coast and thunderstorms in Florida.

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21 minutes ago, Pooch said:

He and my nephew missed our 3/13 cruise because a storm going up the east coast stopped all flights to Florida or anywhere near, from Boston, Providence, Manchester & Bradley for 2 days.  There was no way, on no airline to get down there.

Oh that’s awful!  I’m so sorry they missed their cruise!

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23 minutes ago, Pooch said:

No, he was reimbursed by Southwest for his cancelled flights.  It’s the cruise fare we are trying to get from the insurance company.  They say the weather problem that shut down flights from the northeast does not qualify for reimbursement.  Has nothing to do with flight reimbursement.

Royal's Air2Sea would cover both the flights and the cruise.  I think this was @HeWhoWaits point.  So sorry to hear this @Pooch...

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According to the information submitted, your cancellation was due to the cancellation of your flight, by the airline. Unfortunately, your reason for cancellation is not among the specified reasons listed in the program that would make one eligible for a cash refund under the Royal Caribbean Travel Protection Program. As such, we are unable to consider your request for a cash refund.
However, should a guest cancel for a reason not eligible for a cash refund, the Cancellation Fee Waiver does provide cruise credits which may be used toward a future booking. You should receive this credit within the next few weeks.

 

This is part of the email he received.  Any idea what this means?  Is he getting an FCC?  They didn’t cancel, they were a no show because they were still trying to get there up until the last few hours.  I’ve emailed the TA but she has not answered yet.

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The reason I buy 3rd party is because, from what I've understood, the policy offered by the cruise lines only cover the cruise, unless you call the company and change it.  I always assume this means any carrier leading up to the sailing.  I may misunderstand it, but that's why I arrange my own.

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Silly as it sounds... Think the claim was denied due to never arriving at "Your Trip" destination. Had he arrived to the embarkation city missing the sailing then the claim might have been valid.

Just to make sure I'm reading the right policy. What state does your brother reside in?

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1 hour ago, Pooch said:

Massachusetts.  If he had arrived at the trip destination, he would have made the cruise.  It was not possible to get to the trip destination.

Reading the policy again it seems that delay due common carrier or weather condition is not a covered event for trip interruption. In my mind it makes the policy horrific if any extended travel is required.

image.png.4b9408fc2cb4fbf04c3f1dd07cd28daf.png

One attempt to at least get something might be making a claim for any unreimbursed expenses incurred trying to chase a possible flight under the Travel Delay portion of the policy.

image.png.0ad0eadbe120d89729b44a9d3c26d8a1.png

 

@AshleyDillo you got any further input or thoughts? Link to policy: https://coverage.archinsurancesolutions.com/description-of-coverage/EGMlQm1EP5Pm7SXcmmOt4cu0P6BBziSv9ghc40glkeTVuLlipDfj2wQbY2LZlUlpYQ88

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Wow that totally sucks.  I will definitely be canceling the policy for October & getting it from (insert your best suggestions!). My brother is never gonna forgive me for this. ☹️☹️😢😢😢  He won’t even get the premium for the crap coverage back or so it appears. 
So now it looks like I have to pray that quote above from the denial letter means he’ll get some kind of FCC.  Otherwise he’s out $1770.00😳. I am officially sick to my stomach.

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I’m so sorry this happened. It really does suck. We’ve taken Royal’s insurance several times but after reading the horror stories here, we opted for 3rd party from here on out.

Bottom line: you (your brother) trusted the policy would cover anything that happened. It didn’t. Tough lesson to learn. Always read the policy. 

We went with an Allianz annual policy. It has coverage for Covid too. Best part: we have 5 trips covered for what Royal’s insurance covered for 2 cruises. 

We also could increase certain coverage. Whether it be trip cancellation, interruption, medical etc. 

Again sorry he ended up on the wrong end of the policy

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@Pooch sorry for your troubles. I'm always watching the weather forecasts when we have to travel during winter months. If it looks like we're going to be impacted, I consider traveling out early. So far I haven't had trouble getting out, but three years in a row I was "stuck" in Palm Springs in February, oh dear! We just missed that March storm as we left for FL on March 24th for our Wonder cruise.

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@Pooch  That stinks! But I hope this catastrophe doesn’t turn you or your family away from cruising. I also hope you are able get some reimbursement for the lost money. This is like hitting the Crap Lottery. You won the perfect storm of disappointing circumstances hitting at exactly the worst time. And it really stinks thinking you did everything right by protecting your expenditure with insurance…only to find out about the limits of the policy after you try to file a claim. But who would think there would be such a prolonged shutdown of air travel due to storms at both destinations?…at the exact time that would make them miss the cruise. I really hope you can get some satisfaction and try for a do over family cruise vacation…and I hope it’s the best cruise ever! Best of luck!

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10 hours ago, Pooch said:

I asked my TA to forward a copy of the policy.  Thanks Ashley, I’ll try anything at this point!

The policy language is going to dictate if there is a claim or not. I always assumed that when you purchased the policy through Royal you were really only covering the cruise portion. To claim for missing the cruise you would have to qualify under the terms specified in the policy.

Looking at what @CGTLH linked, if the policy purchased includes the Cruise Vacation Cancellation Enhancement it appears that your brother could claim under that component and would receive 90% of the cruisefare back as FCC.

Quote

To be eligible for the credits:

1. The travel protection plan must be purchased prior to having made final payment for the cruise; and

2. Notification of cancellation must be given to Royal Caribbean International prior to the ship's departure.

The actual insurance component it appears that the flight issues are not a reason you can file a claim for trip interruption which is the big payout coverage.  The reasons you could actually claim this are rather limited.

The Missed Connection or Trip Delay coverage only have small benefit amounts, but it looks like this would be claimable under the Missed Connection since the "Common Carrier" (i.e. airline) caused him to miss the "connection" to the cruise ship. Trip Delay would only be in claimable if he had actually made the cruise but incurred additional expenses to do so (i.e. rental car or booking a flight on a different airline).

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Keep in mind it's quite common for insurance companies to find ways to interpret the policy to avoid paying a claim.

I had a similar experience with Allianz when Southwest cancelled all flights to my cruise city.  Allianz initially denied my claim and we went back and forth numerous times.  It's basically a test to see if they can make you go away.  I bet 50% of claimants give up in these scenarios so the insurance companies, like health insurance companies too, often deny the initial claim.  

After challenging their initial assessment they changed my claim to a "delay" and argued since I didn't fly to meet the ship at the first port of call it was denied.  I pointed out that Southwest doesn't fly to Cozumel (at the time they didn't).  There attempt to shift the claim in this direction backfired on them so they ended up paying.  

The point is... welcome to the American Insurance Industry.  About as corrupt as any industry can be.   

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38 minutes ago, twangster said:

The point is... welcome to the American Insurance Industry.  About as corrupt as any industry can be.   

Sad, but true!  Caveat Emptor !!!

 

5 hours ago, Scott of the Seas said:

If anyone read the fine print on any travel insurance policy you wouldn’t waste your money

Point taken!  I think many of us just buy the "offered" insurance for peace of mind.  But I bet most of us buy it with a scenario in mind that is not actually covered...

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7 hours ago, Pooch said:

Well if we can at least get an FCC, hubby & I have an October cruise booked on Explorer he can join.  Ok but maybe I don’t want to deal with the stress of that again!!😄😄

Also, if he gets FCC, you can have it transferred to you......if he doesn't want to sail again. 

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