UPDATE!! - Canadian flights NOT covered thru Disney's Trip Insurance!

[DaniB]

My understanding was that Disney's trip insurance would cover airfare. Even airfare that was not purchased through them. Several people on DIS have mentioned it, and even my TA mentioned it.

I purchased it for our kid-free trip (Sept 19 - 28th). Which never happened as my mom was diagnosed with heart failure a few months before and we had to cancel our trip. (My parents were going to look after the kids).

I submitted a claim and received a cheque for $200 today. Our airfare was $841.xx CAN.

Under the explanation of payments it states "$200 is the maximum under the Trip Cancellation Benefit. This check includes payment for your airline e-tickets. By cashing this check you are agreeing to the terms & conditions of your policy. If these airline e-tickets are used or exchanged for future travel, or if you receive a refund for the tickets, we will seek reimbursement of our payment."

Now, I have NOT been refunded any monies through Air Canada. Nor have I used the tickets. I logged into Air Canada and cancelled our tickets before the flight.

Did their policy change recently? Has anyone else ever made a claim and received the full amount back? I'm going to phone after I eat some lunch. I have yet to even eaten breakfast and don't want to phone while I'm hungry/grumpy.

If this is their policy and that's it.. then I would rather send back their $200 and use the $841.xx sitting in credit before it expires Sept 2012. However, I really would have preferred the full amount back as I don't even know if we are going back next year.

(I was not quite sure where to put this... here, budget, transportation?)

 

[DaniB]

Well I phoned. And now I have to wait 24-48 hours for someone to phone me back.

 

[MaryPA]

I am very sorry to hear about your Mother. I hope she gets well soon! I am sorry that you had to cancel your trip.

I have no experience with that company. My only knowledge is the trip insurance that I have previously booked would not have covered it - it only covered the traveling persons for illness - not a family member not going.

I truly hope you get your money back and get wonderful recovery news about your Mother.

Please post with the response you get from the company.

 

[GenGen22]

I am very sorry to hear about your Mother. I hope she gets well soon! I am sorry that you had to cancel your trip.

I have no experience with that company. My only knowledge is the trip insurance that I have previously booked would not have covered it - it only covered the traveling persons for illness - not a family member not going.

I truly hope you get your money back and get wonderful recovery news about your Mother.

Please post with the response you get from the company.

I agree with Mary. I booked with AAA and we insured our trip but it's only for the hotel/DDP/park tickets. I got my flight from Delta separately and was given the option of insuring my flight separately.

 

[larryz]

Here's some interesting reading. Know anyone who works in the media?

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-07-09/...nce-claim-denial-airline-tickets?_s=PM:TRAVEL

 

[belleandthebeast]

Disney's insurance does cover airfare. Or maybe it's a different policy for Canadian residents?

I'm wondering if someone at the insurance company messed up. $200 is the deposit on the package. It sounds to me like that's what they refunded you.

I would definitely wait to hear from the insurance company.

 

[poohbear8]

I was looking at the policy my TA sent me and it looks like the $200 is for a trip delay. Here is what is says:

Schedule of Benefits
Trip Cost Trip Cancellation & Interruption
$ 600 Trip Delay ($200 maximum per day)
$ 2,000 Baggage & Personal Effects
$ 500 Baggage Delay
$ 10,000 Sickness Medical Expense
$ 10,000 Accident Medical Expense
$ 20,000 Emergency Evacuation and Repatriation of Remains
$ 25,000 Accidental Death & Dismemberment

My TA told me my air was covered also, even though I booked it on my own. Please be sure to update this. I'd like to know for sure.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Try reading the full policy and not just the summary.

 

[Blessed_wth_Triplets]

Disney insurance does cover airfare...I called in detail about this before our last trip and asked questions...but they won't refund what you paid for your airfare...they WILL cover the fees to change/cancel airfare. So if the fees to change were $100 per ticket...maybe that is what they refunded you? I'd call your airline and find out what it will cost to transfer your tickets to a new date...and that is what you should get from the insurance company.

 

[DaniB]

Thanks for all the replies! Just a quick note to let you know I'm STILL waiting to hear from someone. I'm going to phone them again right now. I'll be back later to update.

 

[TLinden16]

I'm going to move this to our resort board, since that is where packages are discussed.

 

[DaniB]

I truly hope you get your money back and get wonderful recovery news about your Mother.

Thank you Mary.

Here's some interesting reading. Know anyone who works in the media?

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-07-09/...nce-claim-denial-airline-tickets?_s=PM:TRAVEL

That was an interesting article. Glad to hear she did get her money back in the end. Hope her daughter came back home!.

My TA told me my air was covered also, even though I booked it on my own. Please be sure to update this. I'd like to know for sure.

Are you American or Canadian? Turns out there's a catch!

Try reading the full policy and not just the summary.

I thought I had read the full policy. And it does not say much in there. But now I'm wondering if what my TA sent me was just a summary. Something I will have to look into more tomorrow.

Disney insurance does cover airfare...I called in detail about this before our last trip and asked questions...but they won't refund what you paid for your airfare...they WILL cover the fees to change/cancel airfare. So if the fees to change were $100 per ticket...maybe that is what they refunded you? I'd call your airline and find out what it will cost to transfer your tickets to a new date...and that is what you should get from the insurance company.

You know, during my conversations today with Travel Guard and Disney, no one actually explained WHAT the $200 refund was for. Frankly with the information I was given, I was upset and forgot to inquire.

 

[DaniB]

All right. CANADIANS in particular had better listen up to this!

For our 2010 vacation my TA advised that Disney Travel Insurance will cover airfare (booked by Disney OR yourself) for certain reasons. I checked with CMs at Disney's main booking phone number. I also phoned Travel Guard. Each time, I was told yes, this is correct.

Disney's website goes into a little more detail about their Travel Insurance (when you go through the booking process) and even specifies:

"Trip cancellation/interruption, including coverage for nonrefundable unused prepaid airfare purchased through Walt Disney Travel Company, your Travel Agent or on your own, for covered reasons..." (I'm only listing the reason pertaining to my case).

• A disabling sickness, injury or death causing trip to be cancelled
It also says: "Vacation Insurance may only be purchased by residents of the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada." Again, confirmation that airfare is covered.

So we paid for it in 2010. Never needed it. Paid for it again in 2011. This time we needed it and are being refused coverage.

I phoned Travel Guard again this afternoon. They said that Disney is only allowing them to cover $200 of the $840. They supposidly did not know why. I was told I had to contact Disney. I then phoned Disney. The CM also said airfare should be covered. She phoned Guest Relations to look into it. After being put on hold twice, she and the other CM from Guest Relations came up with the answer. (Which they received from Travel Guard when Guest Relations phoned Travel Guard directly).

Here's the kicker (catch). Particularly for Canadians!!

Yes - Disney's Insurance will cover your airfare if you cancel for a covered reason. Yes, you will be covered even if you are Canadian. However, your airfare must have been purchased for a flight ORIGINATING in the States!! So if we had flown out of Buffalo again this year (we did for 2010), it would have been covered. But because we opted for Air Canada (Toronto) this year (worked out better this time around) - Disney will NOT cover our airfare!

Needless to say I am not happy. Nowhere can I find this information listed. And no one knew. Not my TA. Not the CMs on the phone. No one on DIS (though I'm sure Disney doesn't care about that ). And no one at Travel Guard. Not one person from 3 different companies, including the 2 that really matter - advised me of this.

The CM I spoke with this afternoon advised me to e-mail Guest Relations directly with my experience, thoughts & feelings. I will be composing that e-mail tomorrow. I wonder what they will say.

 

[mjwheelerali]

So sorry to hear that you are going through all of this...I hope your mom continues to improve.

I just wanted to thank you for sharing your battle with all of us, so that we can be knowledgeable of the policies. I just happened to book our flights out of Buffalo (luckily!), but when booking the insurance, at no point did they mention the difference between departing from Canada or the USA in terms of restrictions!

Thanks again and good luck!

 

[DebbieB]

All right. CANADIANS in particular had better listen up to this!

For our 2010 vacation my TA advised that Disney Travel Insurance will cover airfare (booked by Disney OR yourself) for certain reasons. I checked with CMs at Disney's main booking phone number. I also phoned Travel Guard. Each time, I was told yes, this is correct.

Disney's website goes into a little more detail about their Travel Insurance (when you go through the booking process) and even specifies:

"Trip cancellation/interruption, including coverage for nonrefundable unused prepaid airfare purchased through Walt Disney Travel Company, your Travel Agent or on your own, for covered reasons..." (I'm only listing the reason pertaining to my case).

• A disabling sickness, injury or death causing trip to be cancelled
It also says: "Vacation Insurance may only be purchased by residents of the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada." Again, confirmation that airfare is covered.

So we paid for it in 2010. Never needed it. Paid for it again in 2011. This time we needed it and are being refused coverage.

I phoned Travel Guard again this afternoon. They said that Disney is only allowing them to cover $200 of the $840. They supposidly did not know why. I was told I had to contact Disney. I then phoned Disney. The CM also said airfare should be covered. She phoned Guest Relations to look into it. After being put on hold twice, she and the other CM from Guest Relations came up with the answer. (Which they received from Travel Guard when Guest Relations phoned Travel Guard directly).

Here's the kicker (catch). Particularly for Canadians!!

Yes - Disney's Insurance will cover your airfare if you cancel for a covered reason. Yes, you will be covered even if you are Canadian. However, your airfare must have been purchased for a flight ORIGINATING in the States!! So if we had flown out of Buffalo again this year (we did for 2010), it would have been covered. But because we opted for Air Canada (Toronto) this year (worked out better this time around) - Disney will NOT cover our airfare!

Needless to say I am not happy. Nowhere can I find this information listed. And no one knew. Not my TA. Not the CMs on the phone. No one on DIS (though I'm sure Disney doesn't care about that ). And no one at Travel Guard. Not one person from 3 different companies, including the 2 that really matter - advised me of this.

The CM I spoke with this afternoon advised me to e-mail Guest Relations directly with my experience, thoughts & feelings. I will be composing that e-mail tomorrow. I wonder what they will say.

I would keep fighting. I would ask where it says that flights must originate in the US. They can't just make something up that is not in the policy.

Travel Guard is an insurance company, they should not be taking direction from Disney on settling claims, they should be independent.

 

[DaniB]

I would keep fighting. I would ask where it says that flights must originate in the US. They can't just make something up that is not in the policy.

Travel Guard is an insurance company, they should not be taking direction from Disney on settling claims, they should be independent.

Yes, I am. I will be e-mailing Guest Services tomorrow. I'm wondering if I have the full policy though. Cheshire Figment mentioned a "summary" and I wonder if that's what I have, when I thought it was the policy itself.

 

[HeatherLassell]

I would definately get a hold of the full policy from your TA. Not a new one that Disney may send you.

It seems totally unfair of them to say they will cover airfare for Canadians ONLY if there flight originates in the US. What sense does that make? That is beyond ridiculous! I'm in CANADA. Why should I have to drive 4 hours to the nearest US airport? Hmmm Disney!

 

[poohbear8]

I have the PDF file (9 pages) that my TA sent me and I can't find anything that says anything about where the flight started.

There is this little bit: This is only a brief description of the insurance coverage(s) available under, policy series
T30284-T30298NUFIC. The Policy contains reductions, limitations, exclusions, and
termination provisions. Full details of the coverage are contained in the Policy. If there
are any conflicts between this document and the Policy, the Policy shall govern.

That makes me wonder if they can use that to say it is in the Policy, but not the paper they send out.

Also, the bottom of the last page has a "8/09 Travel Guard", which makes me wonder if there is a newer version that they are handing out now? I got this Sept. 14th.

I hope it works out for you. Stay on top of it and don't let time go by. There are notes about claims and the time they need to be done by. (90 days I think it said)

 

[DaniB]

Hey, would you mind e-mailing me that? The document I received from my TA is only 5 pages long. I wonder what the difference is.

Mine also says 8/09 at the bottom.

 

[discnewbie]

Here's the kicker (catch). Particularly for Canadians!!

Yes - Disney's Insurance will cover your airfare if you cancel for a covered reason. Yes, you will be covered even if you are Canadian. However, your airfare must have been purchased for a flight ORIGINATING in the States!! So if we had flown out of Buffalo again this year (we did for 2010), it would have been covered. But because we opted for Air Canada (Toronto) this year (worked out better this time around) - Disney will NOT cover our airfare! .

That is RIDICULOUS. Thank you for sharing this with us.... I really hope you get a FULL refund. Unbelievable.