Are airlines responsible when you are stranded at a connecting airport?

@Linkat,

Travel insurance is different, it’s for things like health.

All holidays booked through travel agents who are members of ABTA are automatically entitled to replacement flights, hotels etc.

Having said that not all travel agents are members.

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@izzythepush,

Interesting... My US healthcare plan covers my emergency health care expenses while I am abroad.

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@izzythepush,

izzythepush wrote:

Travel insurance is different, it’s for things like health.

All holidays booked through travel agents who are members of ABTA are automatically entitled to replacement flights, hotels etc.

Having said that not all travel agents are members.

Yes - on the very rare occasion we had obtained it, we actually had to use it once. About 5 or 6 years ago one of my daughter's was visiting a college for an athletic camp and to visit the college. She ended up getting a concussion and was not able to fly - we got all our money back - I usually do not buy this insurance but the airline convinced me of it this time and a few other cases. The other thing is you need to read everything very closely, because if you do not fill it out completely and/or miss something they will reject it and also before submitting all the paperwork and the claim read everything - there are so many exceptions one of which was if they are injured playing a sport they will not cover. So you need to ensure you word what happened carefully to make sure it is not one of the exceptions of coverage. I found the less said with just the minimum needed, the better.

They don't like paying out the money.

Another case that I paid insurance was a concert - it was near the time when covid started happening - I said we should buy the insurance in case any of us gets sick. Well it was canceled so we did get our money back - but in this case the insurance was not necessary, however, if they held the concert and one of us was ill from covid we would not get our money back.

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@maxdancona,

maxdancona wrote:

Interesting... My US healthcare plan covers my emergency health care expenses while I am abroad.

Do they cover for your flight/hotel, car rental, etc? That is what the travel insurance covered - so we could not fly due to health reasons so we were reimbursed for the flight

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I am pleasantly surprised to see on comment sections and in other places and after “news” reports of this most people commenting on the negative towards this family.

The more I think about this one news story the more ridiculous it seems. On top of it for this “reporter” suggesting if you don’t get what you want from an airline when something happens to bash them on social media and you will.

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@maxdancona,

I don’t have a healthcare plan. I don’t need one.

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@izzythepush,

izzythepush wrote:

I don’t have a healthcare plan. I don’t need one.

Completely curious - if you do not have a healthcare plan, then what happens if you are out of the country and you required medical attention - would you be covered or would you need to pay out of pocket?

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@Linkat,

It depends on the country, it used to be that there was a reciprocal arrangement between EU countries. I don’t know if it still applies, everywhere else we take out insurance first.

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@Linkat,

Linkat wrote:

maxdancona wrote:

Interesting... My US healthcare plan covers my emergency health care expenses while I am abroad.

Do they cover for your flight/hotel, car rental, etc? That is what the travel insurance covered - so we could not fly due to health reasons so we were reimbursed for the flight

You have a point, but the economics just don't make sense. I looked it up, the claims ratio for travel insurance is below 40%. This means that for every $100 you pay on insurance, you can expect on average to get $40 back (this is an average, some people will get more and some less).

You might remember a few months back I had a mini-stroke during a trip. My medical expenses were mostly covered. During my two day stay in the hospital, I lost a hotel reservation. It cost me about $240 which I simply lost (I did whine a bit, but that is another story).

I am always offered travel insurance which I decline. I think it costs around $20. Now I travel about 6 times a year, so the fact that I wasn't hospitalized in the past 10 years (before this), I saved a lot of money .... you get the idea. It is playing a slot machine.... if I had paid $20 each time, after 30 time I would have paid $600 to win $240 (and because of psychology, I probably would have felt I won something).

If you travel a lot, and the travel insurance will only pay a thousand dollars or so (if you are covering plane tickets and hotel rooms)... it almost never makes financial sense.

If you are talking about a single big trip that is at risk and that you will only take once or twice a lifetime... it may make sense to insure it. The less money involved, the less insurance makes sense.

But with such low claim ratios... it is hard to justify it even in that case.

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@maxdancona,

Yeah I agree - I rarely take out travel insurance. It is funny because the one we took out - there was some reason I was on the phone for the flight rather than just on the website but anyway they convinced me this one time to take out the insurance. Since we were just booking the flight with them - it would only cover the flight.

And wham that was the one time we had an injury where my daughter could not fly. But to be honest besides that concert ticket insurance - I have never taken one out again. Especially after I read all the fine print to get reimbursed for this flight. There were so many exceptions that you had to be aware of - that you had to carefully word what had happened.

I realized after what a scam it was and I doubt most people read everything through so thoroughly. Thanks for once for being on hold so long - I thought of reading everything and thank the doctor for just writing a basic note stating just that she had a concussion and should not fly. He said the more basic, the less they question.

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@Linkat,

Linkat,

I want to say you are perhaps the only person to get along with both Izzy and I (and on the same thread to boot).

You are a special person. I am glad you are here.

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@Linkat,

Oh for our health insurance when traveling - another pain in the a$$. Again you have to follow through and be persistent. My daughter was away and was having severe pain - so bad she went to the emergency room. Even before she went I looked up our insurance and found that the hospital near by was "in the network". Our insurance does cover out of the network but you need to meet a higher deductible or pay out of pocket until you reach it. Since we already met the "in the network" deductible we would only need to pay 10%.

The bill comes in for the hospital that looks good. Then we get a second bill for the doctor and it was for the full amount (at hospitals they charge doctor and emergency room separately). I called the insurance company and they said oh, that's because the doctor is out of the network. And I said wait so you are telling that if you to a hospital that is in the network you need to ask the doctor seeing you (while you are in an emergency room) whether he is in the network and then ask for a different doctor if he is not.

Answer was no - if you go to an emergency room that is deemed in the network and are seen by a doctor that is out of the network the insurance company will change that and they are considered in the network. So yeah you get in the network coverage but you need to realize this and then contact your insurance company.

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I've never purchased travel insurance and no one I know has, either. Wait - my travel buddy paid $100 for a year of coverage. I have no idea how extensive that coverage was or what the deductible was. I won't be travelling with her again.

She's back in the psych ward now (4th time in a year) so I can't ask her. This time she was shouting a filthy word at the top of her lungs over and over from her condo rooftop and threatening to throw her dog over the edge.

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@maxdancona,

thanks - I may be special in an odd way but really it is simply listening to others and appreciating what they have to say (at least that is my take). Maybe it is in part because I have had to deal with difficult clients so I have a thick skin and just see through stuff that some others may be offended by - I don't know. I do tend to get along with most walks of life.

https://memegenerator.net/img/instances/61440474.jpg

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@Mame,

Mame wrote:

I've never purchased travel insurance and no one I know has, either. Wait - my travel buddy paid $100 for a year of coverage. I have no idea how extensive that coverage was or what the deductible was. I won't be travelling with her again.

She's back in the psych ward now (4th time in a year) so I can't ask her. This time she was shouting a filthy word at the top of her lungs over and over from her condo rooftop and threatening to throw her dog over the edge.

Does it cover for getting thrown off an airplane before take off? If so, I would say that was a good investment for her.

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@Linkat,

She was on her condo roof top, not a plane, lol. No one has gone anywhere since Jan 2020, including her. Unless you were a politician taking a holiday. We had several of those! And they were fired or told to resign.

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@Mame,

Mame wrote:

She was on her condo roof top, not a plane, lol. No one has gone anywhere since Jan 2020, including her. Unless you were a politician taking a holiday. We had several of those! And they were fired or told to resign.

Yeah well if she would do it on a condo roof I can picture her doing something equally off her rocker like screaming on a plane or trying to open the door in flight.

Overall it seems a good investment with some one in her state of mind.

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A few years ago, my daughter (early teens) and I missed a flight from Guadalajara, Mexico to Boston. After a taxi broke down (a long story that wasn't our fault) we arrived just 45 mintues before the flight was supposed to leave. We desperately tried to get to the desk, but the attendant told us we were too late.

It was early morning we waited over an hour for the staff to show up (and we couldn't get through to anyone helpful on the telephone at that time) we were told that there was nothing they could do. The only fight in the next couple of days would add $3000 to our ticket prices (with the $350 change fee). I was furious but they were unsympathetic.

The sickly-polite but unmoving Delta employee explained that since I had bought the cheapo-economy flight that was the policy and that was all there was to it.

We ended up taking a 10 hour bus ride to Mexico city with a last minute cheap (and quite uncomforable) hotel stay for a reasonably priced flight on another airline the next day. It was the only way to get home in a reasonable time without spending an extra $3000.

I was furious at the time. But the Delta employee was technically correct. Those were the rules. I wrote a nasty letter and received a pittance... I think a couple hundred dollars in flight credits which I never used.

I swore that day that I would never fly Delta airlines again. But that was a lie. If Delta offers me the flight I need at a lower price ($50 less would do it) than their compitition, I will sell my soul again. For me (as for many people) it is about getting the cheapest price.

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There are ways many of these nonrefundable cheaper airfares...you need to be polite, persistent and lucky. I have been lucky on more than one occasion. I think in part because I think k of my approach. You need to be humble and pretty much simply ask for their help.

I had bought my daughter at the time a minor a round trip flight ..she was really going to only use one way but it was cheaper to buy round trip than one way. We were originally going to drive to the location .. She was going to stay with family and then fly back....the reason to drive changed so basically she wanted to still visit family.

So I called the airline told them she who is a minor and her cousin booked the trip...which was true (however her cousin was over 18) and booked the flight backwards ..I purposely mentioned my daughter was a Minot as a minor cannot legally engage in a contract. Anyone she switched everything to work for us with no fees even though it was a nonrefundable ticket ...I even offered to pay for whatever processing fee it would be ...usually $100 bucks but she did it without anything.

She said they would do this one time...again I was apologetic and kind but realizing mentioning she was a minor and booked it worked.

Always ask but ask nicely and be willing to say you erred. I told her I would not allow them to book it on their own.

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@Linkat,

Linkat wrote:

There are ways many of these nonrefundable cheaper airfares...you need to be polite, persistent and lucky. I have been lucky on more than one occasion. I think in part because I think k of my approach. You need to be humble and pretty much simply ask for their help.

And if you get someone unwilling to help, wait a few minutes and call back. And call back. And if they're still not willing to help, maybe they aren't able to, so escalate it up to their supervisor.

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Are airlines responsible when you are stranded at a connecting airport?

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