Free Credit Card Travel Insurance - coverage for missed connections due to late incoming?

[couchlife]

Hi

Does your free credit card travel insurance (FCCTI) buy you an airfare when you miss a connection due to late arrival of the preceding flight, when traveling on separate itineraries?

I was travelling on MH from KUL to BKK on Itinerary A, and connecting to EK418 (rest in peace...) from BKK to SYD later that evening on Itinerary B. The MH departure in KL was delayed by a few hours while still on the ground, and also in the air due to weather, resulting in a super late arrival into BK and a missed connection. MH didn't want to know as they fulfilled their end of the bargain and got me to my destination, and EK didn't want to know because I got to their flight late.

Enter Citi Prestige and Allianz insurance, which covered me accom, food and a return EK flight home the following night (I took screenshots to show a return flight was cheaper than a one way).

Is this coverage unique to Citi Prestige, or do other FCCTI cover this scenario? I called AMEX/Chubb today cos I am in the market for a new credit card, and the guy confirmed they do not cover a return flight home in this scenario.

The appropriate section is on Page 47 of the Citi/Allianz PDS: "If... you miss your arranged travel because your preceding flight was delayed or cancelled... we will... pay for... any part of your travel and accommodation arrangements scheduled to be used during the period of cover provided for your journey... that you have rescheduled."

I couldn't find anything similar in the AMEX/Chubb or Westpac/Allianz PDS. Am I missing something? For me this is the most important thing in travel insurance after medical.

Appreciate any thoughts.

 

[exceladdict]

Interesting. I'll check out the PDS for my current card, whose provider seems to change annually.

 

[woodyren]

I was contemplating the same thing just yesterday. The wind delays in Sydney raised the possibility of us missing a rewards flight to the USA from Brisbane this morning. Luckily we didn't have an issue but I will be following this thread with interest and revisiting my CBA card insurance T&C's.

 

[theblank]

I noticed AMEX/CHUBB had several deficiencies in their credit card travel insurance policy, (Dont ask me what) so I made the point of never using it.
My preferred as of today is ANZ.

anyway, every Credit card policy has the their PDS online. You can quite easily read through them all, you might get lucky

 

[exceladdict]

This is interesting for Bankwest Cards, underwritten by Zurich as of 1 Oct 2018, under cancellation costs and additional expenses:

Cancellation Costs
If, due to circumstances outside your control and unforeseeable at the relevant time [snip] you have to rearrange your journey, we will pay the reasonable cost of doing so [snip]
BUT
We will not pay for claims caused by: [snip] cancellations, delays, rescheduling or diversions to your scheduled or connecting transport, unless it is due to a strike, riot, hijack, civil protest, weather, mechanical breakdown, natural disaster or a collision affecting your mode of transport.

Additional Expenses
We will reimburse your reasonable additional accommodation (room rate only) expenses and additional transport expenses [snip] if a disruption to your journey arises from any of the following reasons: Your scheduled or connecting transport is cancelled, delayed, rescheduled or diverted because of a strike, riot, hijack, civil protest, weather, mechanical breakdown, natural disaster or a collision affecting your mode of transport.

These very much seem like delays not listed would not be covered - 'late inbound aircraft' etc, which is the reason for my recent delays on QF and VA. How does this compare to others'? If not on the same ticket, and thus not protected, I could foresee myself being in a world of hurt losing a big itinerary as a no-show.

 

[couchlife]

This is interesting for Bankwest Cards, underwritten by Zurich as of 1 Oct 2018, under cancellation costs and additional expenses:

Cancellation Costs
If, due to circumstances outside your control and unforeseeable at the relevant time [snip] you have to rearrange your journey, we will pay the reasonable cost of doing so [snip]
BUT
We will not pay for claims caused by: [snip] cancellations, delays, rescheduling or diversions to your scheduled or connecting transport, unless it is due to a strike, riot, hijack, civil protest, weather, mechanical breakdown, natural disaster or a collision affecting your mode of transport.

Additional Expenses
We will reimburse your reasonable additional accommodation (room rate only) expenses and additional transport expenses [snip] if a disruption to your journey arises from any of the following reasons: Your scheduled or connecting transport is cancelled, delayed, rescheduled or diverted because of a strike, riot, hijack, civil protest, weather, mechanical breakdown, natural disaster or a collision affecting your mode of transport.

These very much seem like delays not listed would not be covered - 'late inbound aircraft' etc, which is the reason for my recent delays on QF and VA. How does this compare to others'? If not on the same ticket, and thus not protected, I could foresee myself being in a world of hurt losing a big itinerary as a no-show.

Thanks for taking the time to look into it and respond.

This has come up in discussions with the insurer before - normal late inbound aircraft are considered "operational" delays, not mechanical, and are therefore not covered.

So it's looking like a +1 for Citi Prestige, given they cover you for delays for any reason - accom, meals, transfers, Telstra Day Pass, and of course the flight home.

 

[exceladdict]

Just checked what I thought was a reputable paid provider but it excludes:

Transport Provider caused cancellations, delays or
rescheduling other than when caused by strikes.

 

[Happy Dude]

Thanks for taking the time to look into it and respond.

This has come up in discussions with the insurer before - normal late inbound aircraft are considered "operational" delays, not mechanical, and are therefore not covered.

So it's looking like a +1 for Citi Prestige, given they cover you for delays for any reason - accom, meals, transfers, Telstra Day Pass, and of course the flight home.

Citi Signature, World and Platinum too.

Its a very good policy as you've described. Activating it is a little more painful than others though, particularly for full coverage of a family.

 

[aspro2]

I think I've tried to gather information on this point twice before over the years on AFF with no response. Either people aren't using (trying to use) this insurance feature or are always making their separately ticketed connections.

It's nice to have this report about the Citi cards, especially as it's Allianz so that other Allianz policy wordings can probably be compared easily. Amex/Chubb is no surprise at being poor, but also not particularly exceptional. I've found very few policies which would even seem to cover the OP's scenario, and (thankfully) have never had to test one out. For other reader's benefit, it's worth searching in policies for terms like "travel delay", "connections", "pre-paid arrangements" when trying to research this... and of course the numerous exclusions.

 

[couchlife]

Thanks for everyone's response. It seems to verify my hunch that the Citi Prestige cover is quite good and should continue to be my go-to (other than leaving plenty of time for connections if on separate tickets). Amex/Chubb really does seem to be poor.

Here is a bit of gold for those following this thread (actually I would liken it to Unobtainium): If you read the PDS further, you will find:

"we will... pay the cost of a higher class of travel...if that is the only class or rate available."

I confirm this is true. I had left out some detail about the EK418 flight home I mentioned above - My BKK-SYD leg was actually in F (but the return SYD-BKK was in Econ). Of course, I took screenshots to confirm that all Y and J seats were taken.

 

[theblank]

It's nice to have this report about the Citi cards, especially as it's Allianz so that other Allianz policy wordings can probably be compared easily.

ANZ Premium Cards insurance seems to not have any exclusions.

Page 42 " If you have to cancel any pre-paid travel arrangements due to any unforeseen or unforeseeable circumstances outside of your control we will pay you..."
also see page 52.
https://www.anz.com.au/content/dam/anzcomau/documents/pdf/premium-cards-insurances.pdf


but then we go to the General Exclusions section, there is no cover where:
"the cancellation or delay of travel arrangements due to mechanical breakdown of transportation or failure of the carrier to operate the service. This exclusion does not apply to ‘Section D1 Travel delay’ or ‘Section D2 Missed connection - special events’"

Interesting that Citibank specifically include Mechanical Breakdown, and ANZ Exclude it,

 

[couchlife]

Either people aren't using (trying to use) this insurance feature or are always making their separately ticketed connections.

When you make the mistake of flying MH you defintely won't be making your (separately ticketed) flight connections. I thought 5 hours would be plenty but no.

 

[couchlife]

ANZ Premium Cards insurance seems to not have any exclusions.

Page 42 " If you have to cancel any pre-paid travel arrangements due to any unforeseen or unforeseeable circumstances outside of your control we will pay you..."
also see page 52.
https://www.anz.com.au/content/dam/anzcomau/documents/pdf/premium-cards-insurances.pdf


but then we go to the General Exclusions section, there is no cover where:
"the cancellation or delay of travel arrangements due to mechanical breakdown of transportation or failure of the carrier to operate the service. This exclusion does not apply to ‘Section D1 Travel delay’ or ‘Section D2 Missed connection - special events’"

Interesting that Citibank specifically include Mechanical Breakdown, and ANZ Exclude it,

Good to know, although it reads like coverage is limited to the amount you paid, and not more.

Section B2 "EMERGENCY TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS AND ACCOMMODATION EXPENSES" on Page 43 looks interesting and potentially useful too.