Experience in cancelling cruise and air—medical ??

[mmsoko]

Our cruise is just two weeks away.  Advised by doctor to cancel.  We do have Princess insurance. Booked air on our own. No insurance for flights.
   What should we expect in this process?  Any experience?    Any advice; tips would be appreciated. 

[Coral]

Check your credit cards to see if air is covered that way.

 

It is easy to file a claim with Aon. You can upload the documents Princess or your TA will have sent you when you cancel. There was a form my doctor had to fill out which I uploaded also. On that form, you do have to give the authorization for them to request medical records. It took exactly a month to pay the claim.

Edited January 30, 2020 by Coral

[jimdee3636]

The doctor's report will be crucial. He or she should make it clear that traveling by air and/or sea is off-limits at this time, and explain why. If you can't get sufficient medical documentation, you can still file a "cancel for any reason" claim, but that will only get you future cruise credit, not a monetary refund.

 

As for air, unless your flights are on Southwest you'll probably be looking at change fees, although, as coral has pointed out, maybe the credit card you used to pay for your flights might offer some protection.

[Coral]

I cancelled my cruise due to bronchitis. The doctor had to fill out patient name, patient's diagnosis, date of first exam of diagnosis, date of latest treatment, date symptoms first appeared, dates seen for condition and then 4 check boxes. Had the patient previously received medication for this, was patient hospitalized, was patient treated by any other medical professional and if the sickness/injury result in medical restrictions disabling to cause cancellation of the trip. The doctor has to list their name, address and phone number. Below that, you have to sign authorizing them to access medical records.

 

I saw my doctor first and they advised cancelling and wrote a note. I later found the form and dropped it off at the office and they called me when she had filled it out.

 

I believe this is the website I used: https://www.aontravelclaim.com/#/home  

 

If you click on the "What do I need to do to file a claim" you will be walked through the process.

Edited January 30, 2020 by Coral

[beach_fever_4ever]

We recently had to cancel our flights on American due to a health issue. We had to submit a letter from the doctor stating the medical reason for not flying. The letter has to be on the doctors office letterhead. If you look on your airlines cancellation policy you should find all the documents that they need for cancellation and refund.

 

We had the money back in our account in 2 days.

[JF - retired RRT]

1 hour ago, beach_fever_4ever said:

We recently had to cancel our flights on American due to a health issue. We had to submit a letter from the doctor stating the medical reason for not flying. The letter has to be on the doctors office letterhead. If you look on your airlines cancellation policy you should find all the documents that they need for cancellation and refund.

 

We had the money back in our account in 2 days.

Were those tickets refundable or nonrefundable?

[BarbinMich]

We were not able to get a refund (except port fees) on a cruise we had to cancel the day (it was a Sunday) before sailing a few years.  I got the form from AON and sent it to our dr. to fill out, but then nothing happened.  DH wasn't seen by the doc until two days later.  I never explored where the problem lay.  Did not see the form the dr. sent in.  My DH "froze" at the door as we were leaving for the airport.  He came out of it, but I didn't think it was wise to take our scheduled Panama Canal cruise in case the problem or something else arose while on the cruise.  No problem getting air (which we arranged) and hotel in FLL cancelled/refunded.  As it turned out, this was a fortuitous thing.  He developed a hernia which needed surgery two days later!

[hm9912]

An annual policy from Allianz is cheaper and more comprehensive than Insurance from Princess.

 

https://www.allianztravelinsurance.com/

 

Howard

[beach_fever_4ever]

2 hours ago, JF - retired RRT said:

Were those tickets refundable or nonrefundable?

They were nonrefundable tickets purchased with an American Airlines Mastercard. I think death or a valid medical reason are the only ways to get a refund on nonrefundable tickets without trip insurance.

[JF - retired RRT]

Just now, beach_fever_4ever said:

They were nonrefundable tickets purchased with an American Airlines Mastercard. I think death or a valid medical reason are the only ways to get a refund on nonrefundable tickets without trip insurance.

Thanks.

[cnd crsr]

On 1/30/2020 at 12:25 PM, mmsoko said:

Our cruise is just two weeks away.  Advised by doctor to cancel.  We do have Princess insurance. Booked air on our own. No insurance for flights.
   What should we expect in this process?  Any experience?    Any advice; tips would be appreciated. 

We had to cancel a cruise 3 days before leaving for medical reasons . Had Princess insurance, our TA emailed the forms from AON, we had our MD fill them out and then sent them in, refund for full cost of cruise minus insurance was here in 4 weeks.

Air we had booked separately, no refund but a credit to use within a year. There was a penalty on the air, can't remember the exact amount.

Sorry you will be missing your cruise and hope you get to cruise soon.

[KevintheIrishDJ]

Aon will not refund port tax or sales tax.  You get that from Princess.  We are trying to find out if Princess will reinstate FCC or do we ask Aon to reimburse us.

[Coral]

55 minutes ago, KevintheIrishDJ said:

Aon will not refund port tax or sales tax.  You get that from Princess.  We are trying to find out if Princess will reinstate FCC or do we ask Aon to reimburse us.

Aon reimbursed it for me. I didn't have a choice.

[Tedferg]

We had similar experience to others above who had successful refunds. Our friends who were travelling with us, but booked seperately, also got a full refund.

[Tedferg]

3 hours ago, hm9912 said:

An annual policy from Allianz is cheaper and more comprehensive than Insurance from Princess.

 

https://www.allianztravelinsurance.com/

 

Howard

We had previously used separate insurers but after 75 the premiums were much higher.

[Coral]

4 hours ago, hm9912 said:

An annual policy from Allianz is cheaper and more comprehensive than Insurance from Princess.

 

https://www.allianztravelinsurance.com/

 

Howard

I do both Princess and Allianz depending on the situation. For example - if I am doing a coastal, Princess is fine as I don't need medical coverage as my medical insurance covers me in ports. On European vacations - I want Allianz for medical. Sometimes I do Princess and buy Allianz to cover just a small part (tours) to get medical coverage. I agree - Allianz is a great company and has some great policies.

[Kwaj girl]

4 hours ago, hm9912 said:

An annual policy from Allianz is cheaper and more comprehensive than Insurance from Princess.

 

https://www.allianztravelinsurance.com/

 

Howard

Coverage levels for Trip Cancellation are rather low.....plan with highest premium only covers trips up to $5000

[Coolmama_1]

I had Allianz and my mom fell and broke her hip 1 day into the first leg of a b2b. I had to get off the ship and insurance covered my flight change and cruise. 

[coo359a2]

Does anyone have a specific plan/policy other than cruise insurance if you are over age 75? 

[Coral]

1 hour ago, Kwaj girl said:

Coverage levels for Trip Cancellation are rather low.....plan with highest premium only covers trips up to $5000

I don't do the annual plan. I buy a plan my agent sells.

 

Thanks for pointing that out.

Edited January 31, 2020 by Coral

[KevintheIrishDJ]

3 hours ago, Coral said:

Aon reimbursed it for me. I didn't have a choice.

Reimbursed what?

[Coral]

1 minute ago, KevintheIrishDJ said:

Reimbursed what?

Sorry - I thought you said Future Cruise Deposit but you said Future Cruise Credit. 

 

They would not reinstate the Future Cruise Deposit.