sciconf

I purchased the travel insurance as i booked my flight:
- My connection was cancelled in LHR - stuck there for over a day
- My original flight was canceled and booked on an earlier flight by AA automatically - so stayed at LAX for longer time.

I received one night stay and the hotel breakfast - also prior night dinner at the hotel. The voucher for to and from airport never worked. Happened around June 11th and just returned home.

Also on arrival, I had to purchased a train ride for 200kms as I arrived a day later. Trains also have dynamic pricing. Is this also valid re-reimbursement?

What can I claim? Tips?

jayer

The answer depends on your insurance carrier and what the policy you purchased covers. Start by re-reading that.

As for a general answer: What did you pay for out of pocket that the airline did not cover in some form? It would be an unusual policy to pay damages just for the delay itself.

The insurance carrier will want you to hit AA up for the cab rides that would not take the voucher first.

DId the train ride you purchased replace a train ride you missed because of the delay, or some other method of getting to your final destination or what? Did you lose the value of an unused ticket, or you just missed a chance to ride with somebody?

Furby

It sounds like the airline took care of the delay at LHR with meals and accommodation so you can’t claim on travel insurance for that. Transport to and from the airport during the delay can be claimed on travel insurance under trip delay because you were out of pocket on that. The train fare to catch up to your original itinerary should also be claimed on travel insurance, again under trip delay coverage. You will need receipts for all expenses to be reimbursed and documentation from the airline that they were responsible for the delay, and proof of your original itinerary to confirm that the train fare was to catch up with prior arrangements. If I recall correctly there is an area on the AA website to request such information. You cannot normally claim on travel insurance for flights being brought forward, although sometimes the airline will pay for accommodation and meals if an overnight stay was required but that can be hit or miss and European airlines are more generous on that than US airlines because of different laws. If you flew on AA metal into Europe those laws don’t apply, on the other hand if you flew on BA metal into London from LAX then those laws do apply. Your credit card may also provide trip delay coverage but the terms will likely be more restrictive than your travel insurance and you will still need receipts and the proof mentioned above.

Dave Noble

Depending on the reason for the cancellation at Heathrow you may be entitled to compensation of GBP520 from the airline whose flight was cancelled - not an insurance claim though

As far as what you can claim off of your insurance really comes down to the policy conditions. Have a read of the policy schedule and see what is covered

smartytravel

Another reason why travel insurance, so frequently touted here as a golden goose, is useless.

You pay for it, but it doesn't do anything. Great business.

Dave Noble

It can do a lot , depending on the policy- That in this situation the policy taken out by the OP may not have given him anything does not extrapolate out to insurance being useless

sciconf

My original flight was AA metal into LHR. LHR to FRA was on BA metal. My 8pm BA flight was cancelled.
BA provided overnight stay, dinner and breakfast. Their coupon to ride on a bus to the hotel didn't work since that ride does not exist.
They also gave a $16 coupon for refreshment.

AA booked on Lufthansa for the following eve which was delayed by 2 hrs. So I was there for over 24hrs. Lunch + dinner on me. Plus ride to and from the airport as the voucher didn't work.

AA flew me from LAX. Flight on AA to LAX was also previously cancelled and they put me on an earlier flight automatically.

As for Furby my final destination was around 200km from FRA. Coming in a day later, I bought the train ticket on arrival. I was staying with a friend 200km from FRA as intended.

Am I eligible for the GBP 520 - how to claim? Anything else?

Dave Noble

BA is liable to reimburse you for lunch , dinner and taxi to hotel
Since the cancellation was to a shorthaul service, depending on reason for cancellation, you may be entitled to £220 from BA

Any train ticket from airport onwards is yours - the airline is not liable for that - check whether insurance covers that

UKtravelbear

Why was the BA flight cancelled?

That will determine if any statutory compensation is due. I recall there were storms then so that would preclude any compensation. But it would depend on the exact date of travel not an “around” date.

You can claim from BA the costs of getting from / to the hotel / airport since the voucher didn’t work.

Train fare is for travel insurance, Under the regulations airlines aren’t responsible for consequential losses like that or hotels, car hire or event tickets.

enviroian

Depends. Solid coverage policies are pricy. Cheap ones yield little benefit.

YMMV.

Furby

You are not eligible for the long haul compensation of £520 because that law only applies to European airlines if flying INTO the EU. If you had flown on BA into LHR you would have been eligible but because it was on AA you are not. The law does apply to all airlines flying OUT of the EU.

You may be due short haul compensation of £220 for the delay LHR to FRA because you were flying within the EU but as others have said you have to have been delayed by two hours or more, and it has to be for a reason outside of the airlines control. ATC and weather are not under the airlines control, mechanical and delays due to airline staffing are. It also has to be on a separate ticket from your long haul journey because they will argue that it was all part of the journey from the US to FRA booked on a single ticket, and the delay was due to a non EU carrier, and therefore compensation laws do not apply, and they will be correct.

You were provided vouchers for meals and accommodation during the delay at LHR so cannot claim that on travel insurance. You can probably claim the bus fare if you have a receipt but if that is the only expense it is small and frankly not worth the time and effort.

Because a friend was picking you up, you won’t be able to claim the train fare from Frankfurt. If you had missed pre paid non refundable transport because of the delay they would pay, but in their eyes you always have had to make that trip (and pay for it) and you are not out of pocket due to the delay since you had not yet bought a ticket. The fact that your friend would have picked you from the original flight and could no longer do so, is irrelevant. They only compensate for failures of what they call a common carrier which is essentially airlines, ferries, bus, trains ships.

Furby

If you book travel insurance with $0 coverage it is very inexpensive and provides excellent medical coverage, and coverage for trip delay, and lost or delayed baggage. It does not provide for cancellation or interruption but unless you or a close relative have a serious illness the most likely reasons for claiming on travel insurance are going to be travel delay and lost/delayed baggage, or for an accident or sudden illness while on the trip. Therefore you are covered for potentially the highest monetary risk (medical) and the most likely risk (delays and lost/delayed baggage).

I do this all the time at low cost and have successfully claimed several thousand dollars of expenses on multiple trips because of flight delays and cancellations. IMO it is an excellent investment, especially in the current state of travel. I am well ahead financially in doing so. A lot of credit cards will provide trip cancellation and trip interruption so you can be comprehensively insured at very low cost if you want to fill that gap.

ijgordon

Well, maybe, but maybe not. IME, the biggest driver of the premium cost is the actual dollar amount you are insuring for against trip cancellation. That's where they reimburse you 100% of your prepaid nonrefundable costs, if you have to cancel the trip for a covered reason (and sometimes you can get Cancel For Any Reason, though it normally doesn't reimburse 100%, maybe 75%).

Trip delay coverage is usually part of a bigger policy, or you can buy a "lite" policy that doesn't include a cancellation benefit (or sometimes if you declare the cost of the trip at $0, you will still get the delay and medical benefits but no cancellation benefits, and it will be a lot less). That said, the delay coverage usually covers specific costs incurred due to specific reasons up to a limit -- either per day of delay and/or overall, and usually it requires a minimum delay before benefits kick in. That said, I haven't come across significant variations in covered reasons or coverage amounts for trip delay on different policies. Maybe worth noting that the "free" insurance with a credit card might be more limited. Amex Platinum insurance only provides delay insurance against weather and mechanical failure (and I believe lost documents and terrorism/hijacking but those are unlikely IMO). Nothing for air traffic control delays or crew availability, for example. But really at the end of the day, what your insurance will cover is spelled out in the documents, and it's important to know what your policy offers before purchasing, or before relying on it (in the case of free CC insurance).

enviroian

It’s all about trip delay coverage for me at least. Cheap policies have long time windows before you can use the benefit. More expensive policies, shorter time window. Simple.

guv1976

Don't you use a credit card which offers trip-delay coverage? Mine requires just a six-hour delay, but the benefit is limited to $500/ticket.