Late train costs traveller an $800 flight – does insurance cover it?
Not in a rush to get to the airport? That cost this Aussie $800 (and it won't be covered by insurance)
An Aussie traveller recently forked out $800 in fees to change a flight after their airport train was late. Heading home from Tokyo, they were on the Narita Express when the train line was unexpectedly closed.
Now this is the sort of cost that would normally be covered by travel insurance. There's no way to predict the airport train will be cancelled. Least of all in Tokyo, a city infamous for it's on-time public transport.
But in this case, many insurers could deny the claim. All thanks to this traveller not giving themselves enough time to get to the airport.
'Reasonable care' to avoid disruption
Travel insurers will only reimburse you costs that you took 'reasonable care' to avoid. The standard for reasonable care is often laid out in the product disclosure statement for your policy.
For missed flights, travel insurance will only pay out if there were both unforeseen circumstances, and if you planned to get to the airport with enough time to spare.
For most travel insurance, that means getting to the airport 3 hours before an international flight, or 2 hours before a domestic flight. Here are a couple of examples of the wording that insurers might use:
- Insure4Less (Excel plus): It says it will only cover the cost of missed flights if you "plan to arrive at your departure point in advance of the travel carrier(s) earliest scheduled check-in time." So if check-in opens at 9.00am, you need to plan to get there before 8.59am!
- CoverMore: It will cover what it calls 'Missed Port (embarkation)' costs if you "miss a flight from unforseen circumstances, and "You have allowed the minimum connection time between transport as stipulated by Your Transport Provider", which is normally 3 hours for international flights.
Missing flights: An expensive habit for millions
A recent Finder survey found 16% of Australians have missed a flight because they were running late. That's over 3 million people, with an average bill of $437 for their oversight.
Many of those people will be able to claim that cost back on travel insurance, but only if they've took those reasonable steps to get to the airport on time.
Of course, many of those tardy travellers will have been late because of their own mistakes. In that case, they're on their own. Soz.
Proper preparation prevents p*ss poor performance
Want to not pay thousands of dollars for a missed flight? Take out travel insurance and plan ahead.
"My father drilled into me the importance of getting to the airport for flights at least 3 hours in advance, and it's one of the best pieces of advice he ever gave me," said Finder's editor at large and resident travel tragic Angus Kidman.
"Apart from the potential insurance benefits, it also means you don't start your trip stressing about whether you'll make it through check-in and security in time."
"For domestic flights, I'll settle for 2 hours, but internationally, 3 is always the go. And as I've got lounge access through savvy accumulation of frequent flyer points, it's no hardship."