more travel questions - booking backup (refundable) flight?

[georgiegirl]

Nosy but how does this work? The only time travel insurance was purchased for me was when we went on our cruise in 2019. We didn’t need to use it and we had no cancelled, or re scheduled flights. So I would assume that if you buy trip insurance and you have to cancel or change your flight or you are late to the connecting flight the
insurance covers it? In your case though you had to rebook your whole trip right?


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Supposedly our policy covers up to $600 per new ticket. We only bought one way tickets TO Maui, since we couldn’t find any round trip ones that were decent. Not totally sure what our insurance will cover though. We once used travel insurance back 8 years ago and one of our kids got sick and we left a day late. They reimbursed us for the one night we missed. The airline let us change without charging us, which was very unusual at the time.

[basil]

Be lucky the $1500 isn’t a stretch for you then. If your gut is telling you to book back up tickets then do that. Check to see if the pre cruise activities are refundable now. Also stay off the FB pages for travel those seem to be a breeding ground for people who only have problems and kind of like Dr. Google cause unneeded anxiety. Good luck though and hope everything goes as planned.


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I mean, I wouldn't prefer to spend an extra $1500 if I didn't need to! But compared to the total cost of the trip....The activities that are planned are refundable >24 hours. Not sure what would happen if we cancelled <24 hours due to flight delays. I just don't really want to miss them.

However, DH thinks I'm out of my mind! Nothing will happen with the flight, except something will go wrong with the cancellation process and we will lose a bunch of money. Just seems that is less likely than our flight getting cancelled. It so hard to tell how difficult it may be to rebook if we needed to. https://www.theatlantic.com/newslett...celled/661385/

[georgiegirl]

I mean, I wouldn't prefer to spend an extra $1500 if I didn't need to! But compared to the total cost of the trip....The activities that are planned are refundable >24 hours. Not sure what would happen if we cancelled <24 hours due to flight delays. I just don't really want to miss them.

However, DH thinks I'm out of my mind! Nothing will happen with the flight, except something will go wrong with the cancellation process and we will lose a bunch of money. Just seems that is less likely than our flight getting cancelled. It so hard to tell how difficult it may be to rebook if we needed to. https://www.theatlantic.com/newslett...celled/661385/

Is there a layover involved? If so that doubles your risk of having a cancelled flight AND makes it that much more difficult to rebook. You mentioned your traveling group is 6 people…again, that will make it difficult to rebook. The airlines only have to rebook you on their flights, which can be several days later. Do you have travel insurance?


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[basil]

Is there a layover involved? If so that doubles your risk of having a cancelled flight AND makes it that much more difficult to rebook. You mentioned your traveling group is 6 people…again, that will make it difficult to rebook. The airlines only have to rebook you on their flights, which can be several days later. Do you have travel insurance?


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Yes, we have a connection. No direct flights from Boston to Anchorage, unfortunately. We do have travel insurance, but I just don't want to miss the trip!

[o_mom]

The airlines only have to rebook you on their flights, which can be several days later.

This is not true. If they cancel the flight or make a "significant change" they have to refund you. https://www.transportation.gov/indiv...ection/refunds

Airlines will immediately rebook you, or offer credit, etc., in hopes that you won't demand a refund, but they are required to refund your fare.

[California]

Creative thinking! Do you have a morning flight? That gives you a little wiggle room. Less likely to be delayed. And if they cancel the flight, there's more of a chance that there will be one later on the same day.

If you can get refundable tickets, it could be worth it for the peace of mind. My DH took my girls on a trip over spring break and their flight was canceled. It delayed their trip by a day but fortunately they had built in some flexibility. Over the past six months my son has had several delayed and canceled flights (including an unexpected overnight in Denver.) Again, none created a crisis for us but boy, do we feel for everyone who missed important life events. He's seen a lot of upset people. DS is now careful to book flights that go through cities where he's got family to stay with. One of the benefits of a big extended family!

[basil]

I had originally booked a morning flight, but schedule changes now have us leaving at noon, connecting through EWR, which I have read is particularly bad. We do have a 3 hour layover though, so some time built in.

I just need to convince DH that there is little risk involved in the back up flight. There is no reason we wouldn’t be able to cancel the refundable ticket if the first flight went as planned, right?

[nfceagles]

I’m increasingly of the opinion that you should do it (and disappointed in myself for not thinking of it myself!). 6 people to rebook and you can’t just decide to drive if you need to. I came very close to leaving the airport and driving from CT to St Louis last week, but AK wouldn’t even be an option.

Make sure the timing works and you would have time to make the call if your first flight is delayed or cancelled. And that you have a way home if you don’t board your original flight.

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[Liziz]

You know, for a flight that starts a major event (the cruise) where getting there on time is crucial, this seems like a really good idea these days.

We had a situation at Christmas time where we flew across the country, then wanted to return earlier than the original ticket (hosts tested positive for covid right before we arrived). It was practically impossible. Our airline had zero availability for the next 7 days. Checked all the other airlines -- there was a grand total of 2 tickets available, both at over $4k a piece and we needed 4 tickets. And this was between two *major* hubs, it's not like we were trying to fly into or out of a teeny airport with limited daily flights. I was shocked at how impossible it was to find tickets. (for the record, we ended up just getting an AirBnB - since we couldn't stay with the covid+ intended hosts - and staying until our original flight was due to return as there were no other options).

The experience made me realize how tenuous air travel can be these days, and how essential backup plans are!

[georgiegirl]

This is not true. If they cancel the flight or make a "significant change" they have to refund you. https://www.transportation.gov/indiv...ection/refunds

Airlines will immediately rebook you, or offer credit, etc., in hopes that you won't demand a refund, but they are required to refund your fare.

Yes, you will get a refund. But previously, they had to book you on another carrier if they couldn’t accommodate you in a timely fashion. The refund isn’t super helpful since booking next day tickets is always more expensive, so you end up completely screwed over