Travel insurance suggestions for separate PNR flight bookings to Europe?

[MarthaWolf]

Hi there, am flying to Singapore on FF points then onwards to France/Spain on a separate booking/airline - have cover from Allianz via Citibank Plat card used to pay for (business) SIN-CDG-BCN flights. Just wondering if anyone has preferred cover specifically in case of missed connections with multiple PNRs?

 

[tdimdad]

All travel insurances are the same in this regard: you need to check the policy detail for travel disruptions. Pretty much all of them cover missed connections but with different details included. They don't really depend on how you've arranged you ticketing but some do spell out expectations on the duration of your connections and how much the incoming flight needs to be delayed for the cover to apply. One that comes to mind immediately is minimum 4 hours in between the flights and the incoming delay needs to be >90 mins to be eligible for cover.

Though, already for your own peace of mind and certainty, it'll be good if you left a day between the connections just in case your first flight AU-SG is cancelled and you're rebooked for next day (or the original flight is heavily delayed).

 

[MarthaWolf]

One that comes to mind immediately

Which one? Which ‘some’? Thank you and well aware of all the rest of it, just after anyone’s recommendations, especially if they’d had to claim for J class. Won’t be spending a day in SG but more than 4hr stop on the way over at least, less concerned about return.

 

[tdimdad]

You may already be covered by your existing travel insurance.

This is how CoverMore has worded their policy (section 11, page 40):
"If within 72 hours of Your scheduled departure time, Your prepaid, scheduled transport or cruise is cancelled, delayed or rescheduled which means You won’t make it in time to get Your pre-booked connection, We will pay:
• the Additional public transport and accommodation costs You incur to arrive in time to catch the pre-booked connection or to catch up with Your scheduled itinerary (if You are unable to arrive in time), less any refunds or credits from the scheduled transport or cruise provider. This includes flights and transport to the next port of Your cruise and any accommodation costs;"...

Whether you rely on your CC's complimentary insurance or want to take out an additional one really depends on your own preferences. I have a comprehensive policy in addition to the CC insurance because the CC is quite limited but I want to be covered for certain potentially expensive events (e.g. high medical fees, a family member attending the local hospital, medical evacuation / transfers, etc). So far, I've been lucky enough to not need to (or care to) claim through TI (knocking wood) so no experience if a specific company performs particularly well or not.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

All travel insurances are the same in this regard: you need to check the policy detail for travel disruptions. Pretty much all of them cover missed connections but with different details included. They don't really depend on how you've arranged you ticketing but some do spell out expectations on the duration of your connections and how much the incoming flight needs to be delayed for the cover to apply. One that comes to mind immediately is minimum 4 hours in between the flights and the incoming delay needs to be >90 mins to be eligible for cover.

Though, already for your own peace of mind and certainty, it'll be good if you left a day between the connections just in case your first flight AU-SG is cancelled and you're rebooked for next day (or the original flight is heavily delayed).

I think it’s actually the opposite!

Most travel insurance companies *DON’T* cover missed connections! At least in terms of providing onward travel. (Most will cover a delay for food and accommodation.)

The exception is that most will cover alternative arrangements for important events, that you cannot miss… for example you are a keynote speaker at a conference. (Don’t know how many times they’re had to pay out on that one!) But it’s rare to find a policy that essentially covers a late inbound form of transport.

Covermore is one, I think Worldnomads is another. And there might be one or two more. But it’s the exception rather than the norm.

Always read the PDS!

 

[transpactraveller]

I'm currently looking for a good travel insurance product that would give me some cover for being a 'no show' missing a connection on a separate booking.

I've given myself 5 hours between flights, but there's always a possibility of a major delay.

I'm reading a lot of PDS but finding it hard to work out if I'd be covered or not for that scenario. If anyone has any recommendations, please let me know!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I'm currently looking for a good travel insurance product that would give me some cover for being a 'no show' missing a connection on a separate booking.

I've given myself 5 hours between flights, but there's always a possibility of a major delay.

I'm reading a lot of PDS but finding it hard to work out if I'd be covered or not for that scenario. If anyone has any recommendations, please let me know!

See post 5, covermore and worldnomads. check the PDS of each. At a minimum, they usually want to you be scheduled to arrive at the connecting point at or before check-in opening for the connecting flight. So 3, possible 4 hours.

 

[Sandro]

I ran into a similar situation once when I booked two separate flights on different tickets. What I learned pretty quickly is that many travel insurance policies only cover delays in terms of meals or accommodation, but not necessarily the cost of a completely new flight if you miss the connection. That detail is often hidden deep in the policy wording.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I ran into a similar situation once when I booked two separate flights on different tickets. What I learned pretty quickly is that many travel insurance policies only cover delays in terms of meals or accommodation, but not necessarily the cost of a completely new flight if you miss the connection. That detail is often hidden deep in the policy wording.

Correct. But it’s not particularly hidden ‘deep’ within the policy… everything is within the policy. You might think the ‘missed connections’ needs to be highlighted and given prominence, but someone else might think the ‘you need a motorbike licence in your home country in order to be covered for scooter rental in another’ requires prominence… and so on. You’d basically be repeating the policy in its entirety.

 

[LondonAussie]

You do need to read the policies carefully, especially the exclusions.

I looked into Covermore last year and found their cancellation cover excluded pretty much every reason you could think of for not travelling apart from being unexpectedly medically unfit for travel. They also did not cover the cost of any flights or accomodation paid for in advance of buying the policy - you had to buy the insurance before booking your trip.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

You do need to read the policies carefully, especially the exclusions.

I looked into Covermore last year and found their cancellation cover excluded pretty much every reason you could think of for not travelling apart from being unexpectedly medically unfit for travel. They also did not cover the cost of any flights or accomodation paid for in advance of buying the policy - you had to buy the insurance before booking your trip.

That last sentence doesn’t sound right! I know they don’t cover any insured events before buying the tickets… and there might be a cooling off period, but to have to hold a policy before buying tickets would need to be disclosed in big bold print, otherwise it potentially covers nothing!

 

[Gladstone Tim]

For peace of mind when I have a particular need to be covered, I either email or on-line chat with the insurer and keep a copy of the response. As others have mentioned, what you think you are covered for and what you are actually covered for might be two entirely different situations.

 

[Scarlett]

You do need to read the policies carefully, especially the exclusions.

I looked into Covermore last year <snip>... They also did not cover the cost of any flights or accomodation paid for in advance of buying the policy - you had to buy the insurance before booking your trip.

This was not my experience with claiming for a travel problem in 2024 with Covermore.

I had separate flights (5 hour connection in CAI) on separate tickets. Original flights booked Jun24, travel insurance booked Jul24. Inbound flight was delayed and I missed the connection. I booked and paid for replacement flights. Covermore covered up to the maximum of the policy $3000 minus the excess (was $100 or $200), for that missed connection.

Covermore is more expensive than other policies but remain my choice for connections. (as long as you know of and meet the criteria in the pds)

 

[transpactraveller]

I've been looking into Covermore and reading complaints that they made some changes to their policies in 2025 to remove some of the cancellation cover that was previously included in their International Comprehensive Plan. They changed it into an optional add-on called "Cancellation Plus" (with an increase to your premium) and this now excludes anything you've already paid for more than 48 hours prior to buying travel insurance.

Amusingly the other complaint that kept coming up was people who bought it via Shopback for cashback and never got the cashback or spent a lot of time chasing it up.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I've been looking into Covermore and reading complaints that they made some changes to their policies in 2025 to remove some of the cancellation cover that was previously included in their International Comprehensive Plan. They changed it into an optional add-on called "Cancellation Plus" (with an increase to your premium) and this now excludes anything you've already paid for more than 48 hours prior to buying travel insurance.

Amusingly the other complaint that kept coming up was people who bought it via Shopback for cashback and never got the cashback or spent a lot of time chasing it up.

“cancellation plus” essentially allows you to cancel for any reason… even a change of mind.

It makes sense for the 48-hour rule in that case… otherwise you’d buy your tickets and a year later you decide you don’t want to go, so you pay a small premium to ‘plus’ and have your trip refunded.

The standard ‘cancellation’ - for unforeseen events - doesn’t appear to have the same 48-hour rule.

 

[transpactraveller]

Also to bring it back to the original topic, in most of the PDS I've read, when they refer to missed connections, this is usually about a missed connection that means you now won't get you to your destination on time to attend a "special event" (usually defined as a wedding or funeral, or a pre-paid concert or sporting event).

It sort of reads like they assume your missed connection is on the same ticket and the airline would accomodate you on their next flight, but that would be too late to make your "special event" and you need to buy an alternate to get there in time. Hence the cover being limited to a niche set of "special events".

Also where many provide cover for flight delay, some limit it to delays caused by severe weather (or natural disaster) and explicitly exclude delays due to mechanical issue or "operational reasons".

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Also to bring it back to the original topic, in most of the PDS I've read, when they refer to missed connections, this is usually about a missed connection that means you now won't get you to your destination on time to attend a "special event" (usually defined as a wedding or funeral, or a pre-paid concert or sporting event).

It sort of reads like they assume your missed connection is on the same ticket and the airline would accomodate you on their next flight, but that would be too late to make your "special event" and you need to buy an alternate to get there in time. Hence the cover being limited to a niche set of "special events".

That’s right.

And why covermore and world nomads provide that extra protection for ‘any reason’ not just the niche events. Although some have caveats like having to allow sufficient time between connections… which in at least one policy means arriving by before check-in has opened for the connecting flight (so at least three hours). Which is fair enough…mits not there to help with 45 min MCT policies on the only flight of the day!