themicah

I don't see any geographic restrictions in the terms.


The language you are quoting is from the "Trip Cancellation & Interruption Protection". And the way I read it, if you (1) pay for your plane ticket with AA miles + another credit card, and (2) pay for other portions of the trip (hotels, rental cars, etc.) with the Citi AA Exec card, then both the miles and the cash AA Exec card purchases would count toward the coverage cap (although I have no idea how they value AA miles for this purpose).

For the "Trip Delay Protection" (which is the subject of this FT thread), the language refers to paying a portion of the "Common Carrier Fare" (not "Trip"), so in your scenario your Trip Delay coverage would be capped at the value of the AA miles only (other trip-related expenditures wouldn't increase the cap, even if they were charged to the AA Exec card).

joshwex90

If I book something wholly with my Citi card, is there any reason for me to purchase a separate trip delay/cancelation policy (through the airline or OTA), or can I subsist on the card's policy?

themicah

If you're comfortable with the coverage limitations and exceptions of the Citi card policy, then I wouldn't pay extra for duplicate coverage.

But you should definitely read the Citi policy to make sure you understand what it covers and what it doesn't, and if there's something that's not covered that you really want covered, it's possible some third party policy might be worth it.

jphripjah

I booked a group tour to Socotra Island, Yemen earlier this year. A niche destination.

The tour was supposed to depart Salalah, Oman by charter flight to Socotra.

A bunch of us flew to Oman only to learn at the very last minute that tour was canceled because charter flight operator couldn't get permission to leave Yemen mainland and fly to Socotra.

The tour company then refused to refund the $1,500 I had pre-paid for the tour, claiming that their terms and conditions said I would bear the risk of cancellation.

Anyway, I disputed the $1,500 charge and Citi upheld that dispute and credited me $1,500. I also submitted a claim to Virginia Surety Company under the trip cancellation insurance for reimbursement of my flights to/from Oman, hotels, etc.

They initially denied that claim with a form letter suggesting they only cancellation due to illness/death/accident.

I sent an appeal letter last week to a VP there, which is what their terms say Nevada residents should do. Got an email today saying they are honoring my claim and reimbursing me the additional $1,071 I asked for.

StatusChallenged

Got reimbursed on an award flight that I booked 20 hours before time of flight. Covered 3 ubers, a hotel, and 2 meals (no tip). The ubers were not paid for on the Citi card, for some reason it wouldn't let me add the card when I tried.

nesnith

Glad to hear you were reimbursed. ^

Do you mind sharing the details on your claim? What documents did Citi request as evidence of delay/cancellation? Did you run into any hiccups, hurdles, or signs of reluctance while dealing with the claim agent?

StatusChallenged

I sent in original flight itinerary, included screenshot of notice of delay, and actual itinerary taken. Also sent in hotel stay, and uber ride reports, which were both paid on other cards.

They did request receipts from restaurants instead of screenshots from my Citi account, which is what I originally sent. And they deducted tip from those.

msc25

My flight was delayed twice, eventually cancelled and rebooked the following day.

I decided to rent a car and drive from JFK to Montreal. I called Citi (Virginia Surety) twice while at the airport to confirm coverage and was assured the rental car would be covered. Surprise, surprise they denied my claim because I chose to rent a car to continue my trip. After a bit of back and forth, they approved and paid the claim because of the lack of clarity in the terms and conditions. They also pulled up the recorded calls to verify the misinformation.

It was a huge pain but, I was successful. They really do need to update their T&C to prevent confusion.

joshwex90

Why wouldn't they have covered? Because they only cover trip cancelation, not doing what you can to make your trip work?

And why did they relent? Because of the recordings?

Furby

I was extremely impressed by Citi Prestige insurance. I had a cancelled flight that resulted in us missing an international connection. Due to this we were delayed 24 hours waiting for the next available international flight and that in turn meant that we missed yet another flight (on a separate ticket) at our international destination. All flights paid for on Citi Prestige. They paid for our hotel and meals in the US while waiting for our rebooked international flight, and because we subsequently missed our next connecting flight at our destination, they paid for replacement flights and our hotel and meals while we waited on the replacement flights the next day

I emailed all of the required documentation with the original claim form (it was clearly stated what was required). I received a response about one week later with approval, and a check arrived about 4 days later.

Having now looked at the coverage available on the various cards that are out there, I have to say that Citi Prestige have the broadest coverage out of any of them by a long shot. IMO the coverage, and the customer service was outstanding. I will keep this card for sure. Kudos to them for standing behind their benefit.

xSTRIKEx6864

No tip paid or Citi wouldn't reimburse it?

Nirvana91

My wife and I are scheduled for a 6:15am flight tomorrow, that flight has been cancelled (I haven't been able to obtain an explanation as to why the flight was cancelled yet, the weather in both cities is fine both tonight and tomorrow) and the earliest flight they could put us on is 9 hours later. We booked the trip with Delta SkyMiles but paid for the taxes & fees with the Prestige card. We are still at home as this was the beginning of our trip, so we will not incur any lodging expenses, but are we eligible for meal and ground transportation (taxi) reimbursement to the airport in this situation?

Nirvana91

Just to follow-up on this myself as a data point... I went ahead and submitted for reimbursement for breakfast and the taxi and they did indeed cover most of it. I didn't receive the whole amount, but about 95% of what I requested. Maybe I tipped too high for their liking or something. Either way, I'm very pleased with this. I would have rather had everything be on time but this helps the sting a little.

akr1970akr

So I just got denied on a claim.

Background

We were traveling from PHL > SFO and had various flight delays at PHL, which ended up pushing our arrival time in SFO back by 3+ hours.

We had arranged for a car service to pick us up there, and they (rightfully) billed us for the added time the driver had to wait. Total was $88, which actually was broken out in to $60 for the wait and $18 in a mandatory tip since the pickup was after midnight.

We uploaded all the proof of delay and receipts and received back the letter denying the claim. It states

The loss your claiming is not covered under the program. The claim is being denied, the loss you are claiming is not covered under this program. This benefit provides coverage if a Covered Travelers Trip on a common carrier is delayed for at least 3 hours and it covers expenses incurred during the delay such as lodging, ground transportation, meals, and personal or business necessities.

I'm baffled why it was denied.

We met the definition of covered travelers, the delay occurred on a common carrier, and the ground transport expenses happened while we were delayed, and the time was greater than 3 hours.

The guide book states:

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.
The coverage provided by this benefit is secondary. This means if the
Common Carrier or another source reimburses the Covered Traveler(s)
for any expenses, this benefit will cover only unreimbursed amounts.
To take advantage of this benefit, the following conditions must apply:
■ The delay is caused by the Common Carrier.
■ The Covered Traveler’s passport, money or other travel
documents are lost or stolen.
■ The Covered Traveler(s) are not able to board because of
overbooking.
■ The Covered Traveler’s Trip is delayed because of severe
weather, a natural disaster, a previously unannounced strike,
a quarantine or hijacking.


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Any thoughts on what I should say when I call them for either escalation / reconsideration?

seawolf

How/when did you ultimately travel PHL-SFO?