Fecal matter happens. With alarming regularity. And travel provides boundless opportunities for it to hit the fan.
Those of you who read my last blog post know that I never made it to Alaska. When United offered to cancel my flight because of bad weather, promising a full refund, I jumped at the chance. I had hoped that my credit card trip cancellation insurance would refund the ground portion of the trip, but at that point, I was ready to take the loss. That’s how hot, tired and hungry I was.
Fortunately, my Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa came through! This travel cancellation/Interruption coverage is included when you pay for the trip using the Chase Preferred credit card. The maximum covered amount is $10,000 per trip, per person, which is certainly adequate for most of the trips I take. There is also evacuation insurance of up to $100,000. To me, the card is well worth the $90 annual fee.
Because OAT (Overseas Adventure Travel, my favorite travel company) now requires a minimum of $200,000 in evacuation insurance and $50,000 in medical coverage when traveling to remote areas, I bought an annual policy for my 2026 trips via Squaremouth (on line) from Trawick. When I filed the claim, I told Chase about the other coverage, including that it was secondary, and said that the two insurance companies can figure out what liability each have, without my involvement. (It’s called subrogation).
The filing process was easy. The best part– the check was deposited into my checking account on August 27. Considering that I filed the claim on August 11, I thought that was pretty darn fast.
I didn’t have as much luck with United. Although United attempted to reimburse me (over 20 times, I learned when I finally got connected to a human), there was a computer glitch.
Using the text feature offered by United didn’t really help. I’ve discovered that AI sometimes isn’t all that intelligent, but it certainly is frustrating, although unfailingly polite. It was only when I called and insisted on speaking to a HUMAN (Yes, I HAD to shout at the Interactive Voice Response system) that the problem was identified and resolved. Greg, the customer service representative was EXCELLENT. Not surprisingly, he shared my view on the effectiveness of AI.
So, what have I learned? Both United and Chase Visa were great about refunding the full cost of my trip, but it took a little extra effort on my part to get the needed human intervention.
I was grateful that I kept good records, which helped when I filed the claim with Chase. To figure out what happened with United, I needed both the ticket number and the confirmation code. Fortunately I had retained both.
So what about 2027? I have 4 trips planned, three of which require evacuation insurance coverage of more than what Chase offers. This time, I decided to use an agent, Dan Drennan, who in the past has been very helpful. He suggested that I deal with Allianz directly and gave me their phone number (866-884-3556), because the annual policies he could offer were more expensive than what I could buy directly from Allianz. That’s what I like about Dan—he’s very honest, helpful and treats his customers well. Here’s his phone number, for anyone needing help with travel insurance : 402-343-3621.
I learned that annual policies offer only secondary coverage. Because Chase only covers the first $100,000 toward evacuation, if the need arose and the cost was over $100,000, I would have to file claims with both Allianz and Chase. I sure hope that never happens, for MANY reasons!
I also learned that I would have to wait till at least 60 days before I wanted the annual coverage to go into effect to purchase a policy. In the interim, however, I was able to get a quote and was pleased to see that Allianz offers exactly what I need at a reasonable price. It was a little over $800 for the full year, for the most comprehensive plan. There are cheaper alternatives available.
My next trip starts in 5 more days. Remember my earlier statement about fecal matter happening? Well, last weekend, a volcano erupted in Indonesia, grounding over 3,000 flights. The airports were all closed for a couple of days. How lucky am I to be flying to Indonesia a week AFTER the excitement!
I hope you’ll join me on my OAT trip to Borneo, Java, Bali and Komodo Island. Although I have been forewarned that the internet is somewhat slow and frequently sporadic, I plan on posting whenever the opportunity arises.
Destination NOW 