Airline compensation for missed connections is extremely limited. This is why you need missed connection coverage for your trips.
10 March 2011This travel insurance coverage provides reimbursement for flight change fees or additional transportation costs required to meet a cruise or tour in the event of a missed flight connection due to accident or bad weather.
Brenda’s art and wine tour across Italy was a complete success. As she boarded her first flight home, she kept thinking of the gorgeous landscapes she saw on canvases and from her balcony.
The first leg of Brenda’s return trip was delayed for several hours due to mechanical problems, and her connection in the States was on a different airline. Brenda had originally scheduled plenty of time for the connection, but that time was rapidly eroded by the delay in Rome. Brenda’s trip insurance included missed connection coverage, so she wouldn’t be stranded when she got to the States. She called the assistance line before leaving Rome and when she landed in the States, they had negotiated a new flight to finish her trip home and would be sending her reimbursement for the additional flight charges.
Airline compensation for missed connections is extremely limited, which illustrates the important of Missed Connection coverage and travel insurance:
Of course, if you are meeting a tour or cruise departure time, having the airlines give you a refund or re-book your flight may not be enough to help you meet the next leg of your trip on time.
This coverage provides reimbursement for unused pre-paid expenses and reasonable additional expenses, including meals, transportation, and accommodation, when you miss a connecting flight or cruise departure due to one of the following covered reasons:
It’s important to note that this coverage does not cover travelers in all situations. If you oversleep and miss your return flight home, for example, missed connection coverage won’t provide reimbursement.
Package travel insurance plans often provide this type of coverage, as well as airline trip protection plans. Travel medical plans don’t provide coverage for missed connections.
Damian Tysdal is the founder of CoverTrip, and he believes travel insurance should be easier to understand. He started the first travel insurance blog in 2006.