Flight Delayed Or Cancelled Due To Bad Weather? Know If Your Travel Insurance Covers It
Flight disruptions due to bad weather are common in winter. Learn how travel insurance can safeguard against unexpected costs and provide emergency assistance.
Most of us find a winter vacation irresistible. After all, it's the official travel season across the world. As much as we love to travel during this period, we hate the unpredictable weather conditions during winters. Bad weather can not only cause widespread disruptions in operations of flights, trains and buses but also impact our plans.
Reports of flight operation disruptions, diversions and cancellations are routine during winters due to bad weather, and therefore, travellers need to be aware of how they can secure themselves against these risks.
Does Travel Insurance Cover Flight Delays And Cancellations?
Flight delays or cancellations can take place due to multiple reasons, including bad weather, technical issues, or operations issues. This can impact not just your travel plans but also your travel budgets as you tend to modify your itineraries at the last minute or extend your stay at the place you are stranded at.
Travel insurance can be a big help in such situations as it covers unexpected expenses.
What Does It Cover?
Among the unexpected expenses, travel insurance covers costs over and above your actual budget for food, accommodation, and transportation, leaving your pockets unhit by these circumstances.
Besides, if you have made bookings that are non-refundable—and you are not going to be able to use the service due to flight delay or cancellation—your travel insurance can reimburse the cost. Travel insurance also covers you for any connecting flight that you miss due to the disruption in flight operations. It covers the additional cost of alternate travel arrangements. There are policies that also compensate for the inconvenience caused to customers; however, not all cover this.
Another benefit of some travel insurance policies is 24/7 emergency help service in case a customer is stranded in a city that is unfamiliar. This service offers help with finding accommodation, alternative transportation option and any other crucial needs.
What To Keep In Mind?
Generally, if a traveller is informed about a delay well in advance, the policy may not cover it.
It is to be noted that some travel insurance policies may have certain underlying conditions. These conditions could include coverage on flight delays beyond a time limit only, 'cancellation by operator,' among others.
Insurers offering 'cancellation by operator' coverage do not cover cancellations caused by government guidelines, restrictions or regulations.
It is advised to carefully review the policy documents before signing them to avoid any hassle during such unforeseen situations.
