happychic

Glad it worked out. I hope your little one feels better!

Kylash

Has anyone had any luck getting reimbursed if a potion of the total ticket price was covered by gift registry funds?

Had a bag lost, or at the very least delayed 3+ hours tonight with United. I put 5/6 of the fare purchase on my prestige but $100 of travel bank cash (from a United gift registry) was automatically applied to the total fare.

Or an I out of luck?

themicah

The T&Cs since May 15, 2016 require that "all or at least a portion of the Common Carrier fare was paid" with your card. So you should be fine as long as you booked after May 15.

If you booked before May 15 but traveled after May 15, it's possible they could argue that the old T&Cs (which required you to pay the full fare with your card) invalidate your claim. But I suspect not.

Exiled in Express

I received an approval for a partial amount (~75%) of the expenses submitted. No explanation provided on the reason for denial though I can decipher what was and wasn't paid from the total amount. Meal and ground transportation during the delay were paid, bag storage and inflight food charge were not paid. I did request their reasoning, hopefully I get a reply.

BigFlyer

I assume their denial would be based on the idea that the delay protection only covers the items specifically enumerated in the brochure/policy - there is no blanket coverage of any and all items related to the delay. Baggage storage is not explicitly covered, and they will claim that the inflight meal is not a reasonable and necessary expense incurred during the delay. Seems to me they are correct on the baggage, closer call on the meal. What is covered, per the brochure:

WHAT’S COVERED
This benefit covers the following expenses, as long as they are
reasonable and necessary for the Covered Traveler to incur during
the delay:
■■ Lodging.
■■ Ground Transportation.
■■ Meals.
■■ Personal or business necessities, such as toiletries, or items
that the Covered Traveler(s) needs when delayed.

inY

Anybody know how this interacts with EU flight delay compensation and being secondary coverage? Let's say I'm eligible for €600 compensation due to EU regulations. On finally arriving at the destination from the EU, onward ground transportation is closed and I need a hotel so I ask Citi to. The airline isn't paying for that hotel. But they should be paying me €600 in cold hard cash.

themicah

At least when I did a claim in 2015 (it's possible the process has changed somewhat), one of the things they ask for is "Written proof of settlement or outcome of the claim filed with the airline or common carrier." So if the airline gives you €600, I'd say it's insurance fraud if you make an overlapping claim from Citi (assuming you didn't have more than €600 in delay related expenses).

runnnerdude2k2

My experience with them was quite the opposite. Was reimbursed without any issues.

esf

It's not about one experience. I have been using my Citi cards extensively and thus submitting several claims (Trip delay, Trip cancellation, Price Rewind, etc.) . I attest their tendency to deny claims has increased significantly. Some claims go through smoothly yet other claims that are equally solid get denied based on unreasonable excuses.

NewNole2001

That's great. It took me filing a complaint with my state's Consumer Affairs agency to get my completely legitimate claim approved.

And based on the flurry of activity on this thread right after my troubles, as well as my interaction with higher level supervisors at Citi while dealing with my claim, I think that Citi has placed some pressure on Virginia Surety to loosen the purse strings a bit.

Because it's causing Citi to lose customers.

seawolf

I was also reimbursed last summer without issue. Last flight for YUL-LGA cancelled. Rebooked next morning. On claim form, I stated YUL-LGA cancelled and provided proof from AA. That was it. Insurer didn't even asked how I was reaccomodated to evaluate how long the delay was.

NewNole2001

Was your flight in a delayed status before it was cancelled? I was told that because my flight was not in a delayed status for at least three hours before it was cancelled that I was not delayed.

Somehow it did not my brain explode when being told this repeatedly.

seawolf

My flight was cancelled outright.

The situation you described is completed wrong. The CSRs that dealt with your case is pulling it out of thin air. The flight does not need to be in a delayed status for claim to apply. Delay is original scheduled arrival time vs. actual arrival time.

In any case, my proof from AA simply stated AA1234 was cancelled due to ATC. No mention of delay. No mention of me being accomodated on next day flight. That was sufficient enough for my claim.

NewNole2001

Well, that's awesome that your claim was handled without incident; however, my experience, as well as many others has been completely opposite to your's. Also, as I mentioned in one of my earlier posts from back when I was first going through this ordeal, based on what I was told by a second or third level supervisor, there had been a noticeable number of complaints regarding Virginia Surety pulling shenanigans like they pulled with me.

So I'm very happy that your claim was handled as it should have been handled, with minimum fuss. And I'm hopeful that today Virginia Surety has had their hands slapped enough by Citi to put out an edict that they loosen the purse strings, lest they lose their contract. But none of that changes the absolutely ridiculous explanations I was given by several Virginia Surety employees. Customer service reps, Claims adjusters, and their supervisors. This was over multiple calls. It was not a single rogue claims adjuster.

happychic

Agree with NewNole. My experience was more drawn out than it needed to be. To be honest, when I get myself a Chase Sapphire card later this year, I will probably move my travel spend to Chase card and cancel Citi Prestige. My flight from EUG-LAX last summer was delayed for ten hours (but GA kept telling us it was only delayed one hour at a time so we stuck around the gate area for.. ten hours total). Flight was eventually cancelled and rescheduled for the next day. When I called in to get reimbursement for the out of pocket trip delay expenses after I got home, they kept giving me the runaround. First it was that the flight was cancelled and not delayed, so my expenses were not eligible (only found this out weeks later as they did not call or send me email or mail on the status). When I pointed out that it's not true and resent all my documentation, there was no response for weeks. When I finally followed up, I was told my claim was rejected, with no notification planned sent to me. I resent all my documentation and more and escalated to another supervisor and made a stink out of it. Finally, it was approved. I can tell you that the whole saga wasn't really worth my trouble. At the end, I was just fighting them on principle.

I'm glad some of you got your claims approved so quickly and hassle-free. For the rest of us, that hasn't been the case.