i hope you don't mind i'm making this its own topic, i've seen mention of it in other topics but didn't want my query to get lost...

who has travel insurance and how is it helping them with these postponed/cancelled shows?

I work for a tour operator.
We issue by default a travel insurance to our customers in case they have to cancel their trip.
Depending on how many days before departure you get a partial refund.
For example, if you cancel 30 days before you get 100% refund apart froma small fee to cover our expenses, about 30 €.
15 days you get 50%, 3 days you get 30%, no reufunds beyond that term.

Prior to traveling to Shanghai I spent an extra 30 dollars for travel insurance. This would have insured me for a full refund on my air ticket and partial refund on the hotels. Was worth it.

ok, sounds promising. the company i saw only pays out for terrorism, weather, physical injury (your own i think)..

can it be bought after you buy your flight?

and, any company names would be greatly appreciated...

The travel insurance is worth nothing when it comes to situations like this. If you buy a travel package from a conrect travel company that is different. They will offer you the whole package. Tickets to the show, hotel and the travel. And you can buy insurance in case the show is cancelled. Because they have special deals to cover the entire package. But if you buy tickets on your own, the travel insurance is only valid for your own health plus your nearest family. That is why the advice is to make sure you are able to cancel any hotels and any flights until last minute. When you follow the Stones that is quite important, because they all get older and there are always something coming up sone time on every tour; you just don't know where and when.

Bjornulf

Travel insurance is usually/only valid if something happens to you. So advise you to tell the insurance company that you are ill and can't go. Of course that is fraud :-)

If you tell them you are ill and you are not it is more or less the same as stealing money from others. It is about moral. Once you start moving borders of your moral you are closer to robbing old ladies and cheating others. Insurance fraud is moving all your cost over to other innocent insurance payers, same as tax fraud or bootlegging and so on.

Bjornulf

well, insurance companies have less morals than most of us do. And let's all be honest, who didn't rob an old lady in his life.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-05-25 10:43 by Harm.

I've decided to give it a try. Cause my plane-ticket and hotelroom is already charged, there is no way to get the money back or cancel.

My grandfather worked in an injurence company untill he retired a few years ago. I'm gonna call him today to get some advice.

And if it works, I'll try to get something for my day off at work too.

I'll let yo know after I've reached him.

I started purchasing insurance for expensive travel, mostly due to my parents age & health and the fact that a trip could be interrupted at any time by a call from home. Travelsafe (dot com) was recommended to me by a tour company recently and they have a "cancel for any reason" policy that allows you to recover most of your money if something happens. I haven't needed to make a claim yet, but it's good to know it's there if I do.

Harm Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> well, insurance companies have less morals than
> most of us do. And let's all be honest, who didn't
> rob an old lady in his life.

LOL - ok - thanks everyone for your input!

Little Queenie, I don't quite understand, are you trying to get insurance now? Are you in Europe or the USA? I have a friend that owns a travel agency so I can ask her (she's VERY sharp) but explain your situation a little bit better if you're still around. MB.

I think if you claim you are ill.

They will want some kind of proof from your Doc.

I've just been speaking to British Airways (I have Milan & Brussels flights booked with them using air miles). I can re-arrange the flights up to 24 hours before the original flight dates i.e. 1st & 22nd June.

If they have spare seats !!!

So suggest anyone with airline tickets to contact the airline.
Hotels are no problem most only need 24 hours notice of cancellation - check your booking.

note: I told them why i had to change and ended up chatting about the Stones. It helps to build up a rapport with the staff they get to be more flexible with any rules.

Yeah, with British Airways you better have an inside friend for the rules..Ever time they find some problem.... Now I switched Airlines and there's no more problems....

yikes - i have british airways right now for my current flight - the orbitz statement (through whom i bought) said its non-changable, non-refundable. i'll call anyway

MB: i am thinking about booking another flight for the later leg of the european tour..

I always buy the cheapest flights, so that means no refund. A part of the game. If you pay more, you get more service.

yea but even cheap, non-refundable airline tixs can be used as a credit towards another flight if you dont use them, call the airlines...

My grandfather (ex insurence agent) and my insurence paper says that it won't cover this.

You don't get any money if the intension/purposion of the trip disappears. (that wasn't good English..)

So I've lost my money to both airplaneticket and hotelroom.
I must have been stupid thinking this would go...