hurnik

Just wanting to confirm:

Delta.com says that if I use my Amex Delta Reserve companion cert for I fare (in this case), for roundtrip that it's non-refundable. I click on the link for the details and it clearly says non-refundable. That's fine by me.
What I want/need to ensure that this is truly non-refundable (meaning if I cancel there's NO ecredit/voucher/whatever). Mainly for travel insurance purposes.

Thanks!

ijgordon

Non-refundable means you cannot get a refund to the original form of payment.
Non-changeable means "use it or lose it" which is only the case for Basic Economy fares (possibly with exceptions for a fee).
Otherwise, all main cabin/first class tickets are changeable - pre-pandemic you would have to pay $200 to change it, now there is no charge. Effectively, you get a voucher for the full value of the ticket, although it can only be used by the same passenger.

hurnik

Thank you very much for the reply. Well rats, was hoping it was truly 100% non-refundable (no trip credit, etc.) Travel insurance considers that "refundable", and thus, won't reimburse you (and if you can't use the credits, they expire and then you're out money that won't be reimbursed).

Oh well, guess the only way to really cover oneself is to use award miles.

xliioper

FWIW, while they continue to call BE fares "non-changeable", they can be cancelled for eCredit with a $99 deduction for domestic tickets and $199 for international. Likewise, BE awards can be cancelled for partial refund with 9,900 mile deduction on domestic awards and 19,900 on international.

sydneyracquelle

This happened to me. My ticket was 100% good for future DL travel. My companion had a $24 credit good for future travel for exactly what I paid for their taxes. So in the end I lost $0 and the companion certificate was wasted.

dlflyer00

Every US airline does this now, so it seems like bad travel insurance if they consider every non-BE ticket to be refundable.

ijgordon

What exactly are you looking to accomplish? Just trying to protect your airfare cost in case of cancellation? For what reasons do you have in mind?
Obviously a mileage ticket (in Main Cabin or higher) is fully refundable, but also you can usually purchase fully refundable tickets for a nominal up-charge (may only be ~$150 on domestic), which may not be much more than a good insurance policy with cancel-for-any-reason. So you could buy refundable and then get a more basic travel insurance policy.

hurnik

So the issue is still COVID and the mandatory 5-day quarantine. I've already lost a $250 AA credit voucher (I mean AA was good about extending it for like 2 years, but ended up losing it anyway due to expiration), and a JetBlue credit as well (JetBlue would not extend more than 2 weeks which is nothing, IMO, but it is what it is).

Every travel insurance policy I've seen in the US (insuremytrip and squaremouth) will treat a credit/voucher as a "refund" and they will obviously not reimburse you, as that would be a double-dip (you'd get your say, $700 back AND a $700 travel voucher, which obviously isn't the intention for insurance to give you free stuff).

So if I have to cancel (we cannot get a CFAR policy in NY, contrary to what the ex-governor said 2 years ago), while pretty much all the airlines will issue a credit voucher, the probability is quite high, IMO, that I won't be able to use it before it expires.

I have no problem purchasing a fully refundable fare, but you cannot use that for the Amex Delta certificates, AFAIK.

So, in my situation I'd rather have a truly non-refundable/non-credit for the insurance to reimburse me my money, or I'll have to use award miles, since those can be re-deposited (although you run the risk of devaluation or something so that you may end up using 2-3x the miles when you try to rebook).

hurnik

It's not the "refundable" part, it's the fact that if you were issued a full (future) credit for the flight, the insurance will not reimburse you your money, as that would be double dipping. When you fill out the claim form, they'll ask you if you received any credit/voucher, and they will verify with the airline as well.

ijgordon

What is this mandatory quarantine? Many countries don't require pre-entry testing and it's certainly not required for domestic travel. No test, no positive, no quarantine. If you're actually worried about illness, just isolate ahead of your trip as much as possible.

Hmm, wouldn't you just re-schedule the trip for sometime in the next year?

I'm not 100% sure here, there should definitely be I/Z fares that are refundable under current fare structures; if the web won't let you "upgrade" to a refundable fare when booking the cert, I'd think you could try calling, unless there's a specific prohibition against refundable fares in the T&Cs.

Truly non-refundable/non-changeable (use it or lose it) has never existed for domestic first class tickets. They've always been changeable for a fee, typically $200 pre-pandemic.

hurnik

If flying internationally, you need a negative COVID test to return via air to the US (at least AFAIK, the rule is still in effect). So I book my timeshare for Mexico, get COVID and now I have to quarantine in my hotel room for 5 days.

Nor would I travel with COVID (at least knowingly). Let's say I want to use my BOGO for October in FL at my timeshare and Disney. Get the sniffles shortly before, and want to make sure, get tested and have a positive test. Surely one would not want to get on the plane and possibly infect others, let alone go out and about (even at Disney). Thus, tickets would have to be cancelled.

As for rebooking, that's not always an option. The ecredit has to be used in the person's name (whose originally traveling, regardless of who paid for it, so I can't like book a ticket for a relative and use my eCredit). I've already lost $250 in AA vouchers because I've rebooked 3 times (had to cancel each time), so it's not always an option. Now, if I could at least rebook for someone else, then possibly.

Changeable, I don't really care about, insurance would cover change fees in most cases (although fare difference, not necessarily). Oh, need to change to next week on 1 day notice, sure, it'll cost 3x more for the ticket now.

Anyway, looks like award miles or fully refundable fares are the only way to travel (IMO) now without dumping money down the drain. (already lost close to $10,000 on a trip to the Maldives, rescheduled twice over the last 2 years).

ijgordon

I guess I'm confused because how would you cancel the flight if you're already in Mexico? Getting stuck outside the country is a separate issue until the US rescinds this law and that should be covered by insurance.

Eh, that's a personal decision. (Ducks). Just don't test, you don't need to.

I guess I'm also just surprised you've had such issues re-scheduling, at least the domestic trips. Or using the value for another trip even if not to the same destination. I understand lengthy/expensive international trips may be harder, and frankly, I'm still not planning any of those. (I was planning to go skiing in Europe in March, but booked a mileage ticket and thus had no problem with fully refunding).

WGM

Not applicable if you are using a companion certificate; the are domestic only.

sydneyracquelle

I’ve been able to use companion certificates to Canada by booking to Buffalo far in advance and waiting for schedule changes. Surprised that I got no pushback. And DL even covered all of the extra taxes by doing an even exchange.