Refundable Air Fare or Travel Insurance ?

can · Nov 21, 2017

We are wanting to book airfare and due to senior mom health issues, not sure if it is better to purchase refundable air fare or travel insurance? Wondering if anyone has had to do this and what you went with and how easy/complicated was it. Thank you!

scrapquitler · Nov 21, 2017

Southwest. You can change your flights with no penalty, and if you need to cancel, you can apply the full value of what you paid for a new flight within a year, you only have to pay the price difference if there is one. And if your flight price goes down between when you book and the flight, you can get the difference refunded.

ibob52 · Nov 21, 2017

The SWA senior-airfare .. flown from my airport is $300 one way.

There are often times when that price is higher than a non-senior-airfare.

To me it's like paying a extra $100 for a refundable airfare ($100 per one way trip)

Lewisc · Nov 21, 2017

Senior fare with Southwest is refundable back on your credit card. It's typically more expensive then wga fare.

sam_gordon · Nov 21, 2017

Southwest is not always the best price or most convenient. Also, you have a limited time to use the credit. And you have to use it within a year of when you booked, not a year of when you made the change.

Without doing research, I'd guess travel insurance would be cheaper than a refundable fare. Go to insuremytrip.com and put in your information. Look for a plan that will cover what you're worried about.

barbliny · Nov 21, 2017

Check the airlines emergency event policy.

We ran into a situation where we had to cancel a flight on Frontier in October because of an emergency with DD (who was not flying with us). We were able to get our deposit back from Disney for the room - even though it was only 2 days before we were scheduled to arrive. We thought that we would be completely out the airfare - we usually fly Southwest and are used to the flexibility they allow. I went on their website and found they had a great emergency policy - in fact it worked out to be more flexible than SW. I got a letter from her doctor and sent a scan of that and their online electronic form. I had my approval 2 hours later - no change fees, all of my funds were available to rebook a flight in the next 90 days and I could book a flight that departed up to 12 months from the day of the original flight. We've already taken the re-booked flight and it was very easy to re-book online.

I was very pleasantly surprised!

https://www.flyfrontier.com/travel-information/travel-policies/

nacho113 · Nov 21, 2017

can said:
We are wanting to book airfare and due to senior mom health issues, not sure if it is better to purchase refundable air fare or travel insurance? Wondering if anyone has had to do this and what you went with and how easy/complicated was it. Thank you!

The big problem with travel insurance is that "pre-existing conditions" are not covered so senior mom with health issues may not benefit from travel insurance unless you purchase the (really expensive) "cancel for any reason" travel insurance

sam_gordon · Nov 21, 2017

nacho113 said:
The big problem with travel insurance is that "pre-existing conditions" are not covered so senior mom with health issues may not benefit from travel insurance unless you purchase the (really expensive) "cancel for any reason" travel insurance

Is the mom travelling?

ETA: I thought pre-existing conditions are covered if you purchase the insurance within 24 (?)hours of purchasing the tickets.

OrangeCountyCommuter · Nov 21, 2017

READ the policy.

Let me repeat that

READ the policy

Do NOT trust what someone on the phone says until you see it in writing!

I am traveling with my 80 year old mother. My policy did cover pre-existing under certain conditions!

musika · Nov 21, 2017

sam_gordon said:
Is the mom travelling?

ETA: I thought pre-existing conditions are covered if you purchase the insurance within 24 (?)hours of purchasing the tickets.

Totally depends on the insurance policy that you book. I purchased travel insurance for my senior parents when they traveled to Scotland. Up to age 70, you can generally get a "covers everything including pre-existing conditions" policy that won't cost you an arm and a leg. Post age-70, it gets a lot trickier. Best to do a close scan of the fine print on any policy being considered.

sam_gordon · Nov 21, 2017

Here's the next question... is the mom travelling? I had assumed not. Does that change whether a pre-existing condition would apply? As mentioned, the best bet is to read a policy before agreeing to it.

scrapquitler · Nov 21, 2017

But travel insurance has very strict rules about when you can actually get a refund with the policy. SW you don't need to justify anything with them, just change your flight. And it doesn't cost extra to do it.

rwdavis2 · Nov 21, 2017

nacho113 said:
The big problem with travel insurance is that "pre-existing conditions" are not covered so senior mom with health issues may not benefit from travel insurance unless you purchase the (really expensive) "cancel for any reason" travel insurance

Not always true. AIG Travelguard, I believe, waives the pre-existing conditions if you buy insurance within 2 weeks of booking the trip.

yellowfish78 · Nov 21, 2017

Buying refundable airfare and travel insurance are two different things.

If something happens in the middle of your trip and you have to get home (for a covered reason) then insurance would normally cover the difference in airfare cost during the claim process. Yes, Southwest is refundable and there are no change fees, but you're still out the difference of the fare cost.

bumbershoot · Nov 21, 2017

sam_gordon said:
Is the mom travelling?

ETA: I thought pre-existing conditions are covered if you purchase the insurance within 24 (?)hours of purchasing the tickets.

Not all plans have pre existing conditions waivers. You have to know what you’re buying.

sam_gordon said:
Here's the next question... is the mom travelling? I had assumed not. Does that change whether a pre-existing condition would apply? As mentioned, the best bet is to read a policy before agreeing to it.

Again you have to know what you’re buying. Make sure what you’re buying covers cancellation for health reasons of those left behind.

scrapquitler said:
But travel insurance has very strict rules about when you can actually get a refund with the policy. SW you don't need to justify anything with them, just change your flight. And it doesn't cost extra to do it.

But that doesn’t give you money unless you buy the more expensive fares. It just gives you a trip in the future. And if you have to change the flights and the new flights cost more, you’re out more money than the original flight.

Kaytie · Nov 21, 2017

sam_gordon said:
Southwest is not always the best price or most convenient. Also, you have a limited time to use the credit. And you have to use it within a year of when you booked, not a year of when you made the change.

And the credit has to be used by the original passenger.

can · Nov 22, 2017

Thank you all for your responses. Mom is not traveling, because her health is so up and down, asking for ourselves to decide if we should even attempt booking a trip.

musika · Nov 22, 2017

can said:
Thank you all for your responses. Mom is not traveling, because her health is so up and down, asking for ourselves to decide if we should even attempt booking a trip.

In that case, it doesn't sound like a pre-existing condition waiver you need, but rather some form of trip interruption insurance with a "cancel for any reason" type clause. Again, look at the fine print very carefully before you purchase to ensure it will cover your type of situation. It will not be cheap, but will be cheaper than losing the cost of your whole trip should something happen.

CarolynFH · Nov 23, 2017

Also check the credit card you use to pay for the ticket. Some CC provide very good coverage if the trip has to be canceled or interrupted. We’ve had personal experience:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/t...-credit-card-update-see-post-5-24-17.3574158/

Dis703 · Nov 23, 2017

FWIW, we don't do either. We have a credit card that offers coverage for travel cancellation and interruption. I had to use it last year when my son and I both got sick with the flu and had to postpone our trip for a few weeks. It worked out great.

I also book with Frontier which will wave the change fee for "emergency reasons." They were awesome about allowing me to cancel with no fee and issuing a quick credit so I could rebook on a flight for later in the month.

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