flight insurance (and delays)
May 25, 2014, 9:37 am
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Join Date: Dec 2000
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flight insurance (and delays)
In the past, I've had a very low opinion of the insurance policies that sites like Ctrip and many of the mom and pop outfits on Qunar attempt to sneak in, sometimes as a condition of purchase. But, on Friday, I witnessed one of my friends call Ctrip and receive a Y300 payment for a 3.5 hour delay (the entire process took less than 3 minutes!). So, I did a bit more research. Ctrip's insurance costs Y20 and the delay portion kicks in at the 3 hour mark. This means that if you are delayed my more than 3 hours 6.6% of the time, you come out ahead.
Based on my experience, this proposition is a winner for the insurance companies when applied system wide. However, if I had bought insurance on all of my flights during the course of the past year, I'd be up by ~Y1,200 (after backing out the insurance fees). Why is that? 1) My primary route --SHA-NNG-- is seemingly about as low priority as it gets (routes that compete directly with HSR, like PEK-SHA, are high priority). 2) More often than not, I fly in the afternoon/evening, which almost guarantees a 1 hour delay because the inbound airplane is rarely close to on time. 3) Add a 1 hour ground stop to the mix, and we're already at 2 hours. 4) To bridge the gap between hour 2 and hour 3, you really just need a hint of bad weather or PLA activity anywhere along the planned route.
Obviously, I'd prefer on time flights to the $50 consolation prize, but as long as the status quo remains, I'm going to start buying insurance on a case by case basis.
Based on my experience, this proposition is a winner for the insurance companies when applied system wide. However, if I had bought insurance on all of my flights during the course of the past year, I'd be up by ~Y1,200 (after backing out the insurance fees). Why is that? 1) My primary route --SHA-NNG-- is seemingly about as low priority as it gets (routes that compete directly with HSR, like PEK-SHA, are high priority). 2) More often than not, I fly in the afternoon/evening, which almost guarantees a 1 hour delay because the inbound airplane is rarely close to on time. 3) Add a 1 hour ground stop to the mix, and we're already at 2 hours. 4) To bridge the gap between hour 2 and hour 3, you really just need a hint of bad weather or PLA activity anywhere along the planned route.
Obviously, I'd prefer on time flights to the $50 consolation prize, but as long as the status quo remains, I'm going to start buying insurance on a case by case basis.
Last edited by moondog; May 25, 2014 at 9:52 am
