First claim ever on travel insurance

[Rono]

Folks, after some 40 plus years of travelling regularly overseas for business and pleasure things finally came unstuck.

We have just returned from a holiday overseas.
My wife and I booked flights Syd-Doha-Istanbul-Riga return with a travel agent.
Sydney - Doha - Istanbul legs were Qatar each way
The Istanbul - Riga legs were with Turkish airlines both ways.

Our last return leg home from Doha to Sydney with Qatar turned out to be the problem.
The flight was delayed due to operational issues we were all told and it ended up being over 5 hours late into Sydney International.
We arrived so late in the evening that we missed our scheduled Virgin flight from Sydney to Adelaide - Virgin recorded us as a no show.
(NB: I had booked separately to the other flights Sydney - Adelaide - Brisbane for my wife and I. I assumed incorrectly that as both airlines were partners they would communicate and be supportive.)
As the Sydney international terminal was virtually empty at that late hour - at 11.30pm I had to book a hotel for the night.
On contacting Virgin first thing the next morning I was given the option of getting flights to Adelaide but only by flying Sydney- Melbourne - Adelaide and had to pay for one way tickets for both of us.

I have travel insurance for both my wife and I with AHM -

What lessons should I learn from this? We are both nearing retirement and will be planning a lot more o/s travel.

What has been AFF members' experience with claiming say expenses where flight connections have been missed?

I will be looking to lodge a claim with AHM by month end.

regards
Rono

 

[markis10]

As the flights are on seperate tickets they are not connections, you may struggle to get coverage depending on the limitations of your insurance.

 

[Pushka]

Folks, after some 40 plus years of travelling regularly overseas for business and pleasure things finally came unstuck.

We have just returned from a holiday overseas.
My wife and I booked flights Syd-Doha-Istanbul-Riga return with a travel agent.
Sydney - Doha - Istanbul legs were Qatar each way
The Istanbul - Riga legs were with Turkish airlines both ways.

Our last return leg home from Doha to Sydney with Qatar turned out to be the problem.
The flight was delayed due to operational issues we were all told and it ended up being over 5 hours late into Sydney International.
We arrived so late in the evening that we missed our scheduled Virgin flight from Sydney to Adelaide - Virgin recorded us as a no show.
(NB: I had booked separately to the other flights Sydney - Adelaide - Brisbane for my wife and I. I assumed incorrectly that as both airlines were partners they would communicate and be supportive.)
As the Sydney international terminal was virtually empty at that late hour - at 11.30pm I had to book a hotel for the night.
On contacting Virgin first thing the next morning I was given the option of getting flights to Adelaide but only by flying Sydney- Melbourne - Adelaide and had to pay for one way tickets for both of us.

I have travel insurance for both my wife and I with AHM -

What lessons should I learn from this? We are both nearing retirement and will be planning a lot more o/s travel.

What has been AFF members' experience with claiming say expenses where flight connections have been missed?

I will be looking to lodge a claim with AHM by month end.

regards
Rono

First. Be prepared for a first knock back. Keep pursuing the claim.

Presuming you have all your records for late arrival, and also original and post delay flights.
If you paid through Credit card then if you meet the criteria they may be better placed to claim with. Check through all the PDS and determine which category you can claim under.

Dont expect an immediate result, they may continue to ask for paperwork that they didn't request at the beginning. We've made a few claims with success, with varying companies, and patience and persistence is the key if you think you have a case.

 

[RooFlyer]

What lessons should I learn from this?

A big one would be that if you are flying on separate tickets, allow a large buffer between arrival of one and departure of another - exactly to accommodate circumstances you unfortunately encountered. For domestic -> international, I nearly always fly the day before and stay overnight in the connecting city. Int -> domestic I allow at least 5 hours and if the departure is blowing out, I'll contact my travel agent to get a later onward flight (or if not booked through TA, go online and do it myself). If everything's on time, I'll see if I can 'fly ahead'.

If I'm connecting with a cruise departure - arrive two nights prior.

 

[Seat0B]

Please come back and report what happens with your insurance claim.

 

[Wing Nut]

Goodluck. We've made a claim with 1Cover, not a problem. We even had real people call us who knew their stuff. Once we got all the docs together, the claim was approved and paid. HOWEVER, 1Cover only paid half the total amount and said we had to claim the other half from Westpac Allianz as they provide travel insurance with my credit card. Fair enough we thought until we started processing the claim on Allianz. What a cluster f...k of a site, no wonder they have a bad wrap. Mrs Nut had to save the claim and walk away before the laptop was thrown through the window. We'll revisit this on the weekend. Good luck with your claim if it's through Allianz.

 

[Happy Dude]

What has been AFF members' experience with claiming say expenses where flight connections have been missed?

It really depends on the reason for the delay.

The one time it happened to me, it was because of a mechanical issue with the aircraft. The airline (EK) handed out a paper statement to provide with a TI claim.

I had TI with 1Cover and their policy excluded "mechanical failure of transportation" or some such - and still does AFAIK. So my claim for a missed connection and first night of a pre-paid hotel stay, which was not EK's issue, was denied.

Hard to believe anyone would use 1cover.

The lessons I learned were 1) don't book separate flights, which is not always possible so if flights are separate bookings, 2a) ensure there's enough time between them in case things go awry, or 2b) make the connecting flight, and any other bookings, refundable.

 

[Mwenenzi]

Folks, after some 40 plus years of travelling regularly overseas for business and pleasure things finally came unstuck.

We have just returned from a holiday overseas.
My wife and I booked flights Syd-Doha-Istanbul-Riga return with a travel agent.
Sydney - Doha - Istanbul legs were Qatar each way
The Istanbul - Riga legs were with Turkish airlines both ways.

Our last return leg home from Doha to Sydney with Qatar turned out to be the problem.
The flight was delayed due to operational issues we were all told and it ended up being over 5 hours late into Sydney International.
<snip>

With separate SYD tickets you did not have a connection or transit. Just a flight that landed at an airport and you just happened to have another totally separate flight leaving from the same airport. All you own risk and travel insurance, if they cover.

As the flight was Riga-Istanbul-Doha-Sydney EU261 applies. Latvia is part of the EU, as is Turkey.
From my readings for the operational delay, even later transits, EU261 still applies.
Air Passengers Rights Regulation - Wikipedia

Cash compensation
If the requirements for a compensation are met, Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 obligates the operating carrier to offer each passenger a lump-sum payment of:<a href="Air Passengers Rights Regulation - Wikipedia">[18]</a><a href="Air Passengers Rights Regulation - Wikipedia">[19]</a>

1. €250, in the case of a type 1 flight;
2. €400, in the case of a type 2 flight;
3. €600, in the case of a type 3 flight.<a href="Air Passengers Rights Regulation - Wikipedia">[20]</a>

Where a passenger has been rerouted due to cancellation or denied boarding, the above amounts are payable if the passenger's actual arrival time exceeds the scheduled arrival of their originally booked flights, by two/three/four hours for type 1/2/3 flights respectively. But if rerouting only exceeds the arrival time by less than these thresholds, half of the specified amounts are payable as compensation.<a href="Air Passengers Rights Regulation - Wikipedia">[21]</a>

Said cash payments merely serve to compensate a traveller's inconvenience and do not replace or form a part of any potential reimbursements for unused tickets, trips in vain, additional transport costs, meals and accommodation

Airlines are not obliged to provide cash compensation in the case of extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if the airline took all reasonable precautions, according to Article 5, Paragraph 3

Getting the 2 x €600 out of QR for EU261 will be very hard. Are business in EU that will take the claim for a fee, often about 30%.
As Sydney was the final destination EU261 duty of care cannot be expected to apply, Even at the late hour of arrival. But could try for the hotel based lack of suitable transport at the time.