Insuring Vouchers

[deec]

My husband has had unexpected heart health issues.  We must cancel our late December Antarctica trip.  Hoping it is postponing not cancel.  If we use our "Cancel for Any reason" we will end up with about $28,000 in vouchers.  If we use the vouchers to rebook they are then useless if we must cancel again.  We would never travel without the ability to insure the cost of trip.

Has anyone been able to insure the value  of a Viking Voucher through a third party insurance company?

Thanks so much for your collective knowledge.

Our TA is checking too.

[LindaS272]

Augh! So sorry to hear this Dee! Yes, 3rd party insurers will insure vouchers. I will ask my husband what he had done for us and post more later. Many on these boards have recommended advice from Steve at the insurance store so I suggest you check there too.

 

Edited November 19, 2022 by LindaS272
Add insurance store link

[LindaS272]

Check this as well. https://tripinsurancestore.com/blog/how-to-insure-a-future-cruise-or-travel-credit/

[CCWineLover]

53 minutes ago, deec said:

My husband has had unexpected heart health issues.  We must cancel our late December Antarctica trip.  Hoping it is postponing not cancel.  If we use our "Cancel for Any reason" we will end up with about $28,000 in vouchers.  If we use the vouchers to rebook they are then useless if we must cancel again.  We would never travel without the ability to insure the cost of trip.

Has anyone been able to insure the value  of a Viking Voucher through a third party insurance company?

Thanks so much for your collective knowledge.

Our TA is checking too.

Dee - We are so sorry, but wishing Patrick a full recovery!  Saw his pictures on FB.  Give him our best. 

We use the TripInsuranceStore with Steve to insure our cruises - specifically because you can get insurance for cruise vouchers.  He only works with a limited number of insurance firms, so you also don't have to sort through things.  We've been using the IMG-SE plans.

Very easy to deal with on the front end.  Have never filed, so don't know how that end is.

Good luck!  You'll get to Antartica eventually - positive thoughts.

Kent

[deec]

1 hour ago, LindaS272 said:

Check this as well. https://tripinsurancestore.com/blog/how-to-insure-a-future-cruise-or-travel-credit/

thanks,  this gives us hope that it will be possible.

[powderhorn]

https://www.aig.com/travel-guard       Travel Guard through AIG insurance will cover vouchers in Canada....just went through that with them around our trip in 2 weeks.....you can try them in the US.....reasonable rates as well....take care....

[Babr]

If it is a health related issue, why not file a claim for reimbursement in cash? Unless it is an excluded pre-existing condition, it should be a covered reason for cancellation.

[Heidi13]

4 hours ago, deec said:

My husband has had unexpected heart health issues.  We must cancel our late December Antarctica trip.  Hoping it is postponing not cancel.  If we use our "Cancel for Any reason" we will end up with about $28,000 in vouchers.  If we use the vouchers to rebook they are then useless if we must cancel again.  We would never travel without the ability to insure the cost of trip.

Has anyone been able to insure the value  of a Viking Voucher through a third party insurance company?

Thanks so much for your collective knowledge.

Our TA is checking too.

 

Dee, sorry to hear of your husband's health issues.

 

If you get the insurance answered and opt for vouchers, please note that you can also request multiple vouchers rather than a single voucher each.

 

When we cancelled the WC, as we have no guarantee DW can ever cruise again, I opted for the cash. Viking tried everything to have us accept vouchers. Since we walked away from a significant voucher from the 20WC, they would have replaced the voucher, if we accepted new vouchers, and indicated they would provide multiple vouchers of $10K each.

[millybess]

1 hour ago, powderhorn said:

https://www.aig.com/travel-guard       Travel Guard through AIG insurance will cover vouchers in Canada....just went through that with them around our trip in 2 weeks.....you can try them in the US.....reasonable rates as well....take care....

Powderhorn, another option is tugo.com. They will cover our vouchers, which are about half the cost of our trip In May.  It’s a Canadian company with offices in Vancouver and Montreal. 

[zalusky]

2 hours ago, Babr said:

If it is a health related issue, why not file a claim for reimbursement in cash? Unless it is an excluded pre-existing condition, it should be a covered reason for cancellation.

 

Ditto!  We had a Viking Midnight Sun sailing this summer with about $28K invested as well and got Covid a week before.  My wife continued to test positive through the sailing date.  We chose to cancel for insurance reasons rather than get the voucher.  It took about 60 days but we got all our money back sans insurance premiums.  Yes the vouchers would have move that over as well but we did not want the risk.  No more Tripmate coverage for us.

[Babr]

2 minutes ago, zalusky said:

 

Ditto!  We had a Viking Midnight Sun sailing this summer with about $28K invested as well and got Covid a week before.  My wife continued to test positive through the sailing date.  We chose to cancel for insurance reasons rather than get the voucher.  It took about 60 days but we got all our money back sans insurance premiums.  Yes the vouchers would have move that over as well but we did not want the risk.  No more Tripmate coverage for us.

Thanks. I was trying to understand why anyone would settle for a voucher if cash reimbursement were an option. Any bonus FCC is of limited value since it can’t be insured by third-party. Coverage includes only the original value for which you paid cash, not goodwill or incentive FCC granted by the cruise line.

[deec]

Voucher worth is considerably more than cash value.  If we can insure the trip that is what we will do.  We can easily do an extended voyage to use voucher but even better if we can spread it over a couple of cruises.  If my husband can go to Antarctica we will rebook that.  We are needing to cancel to close to date of the cruise to transfer the booking.

 

Thank you all for your well wishes and good advice.

Edited November 19, 2022 by deec

[zalusky]

3 hours ago, deec said:

Voucher worth is considerably more than cash value.  If we can insure the trip that is what we will do.  We can easily do an extended voyage to use voucher but even better if we can spread it over a couple of cruises.  If my husband can go to Antarctica we will rebook that.  We are needing to cancel to close to date of the cruise to transfer the booking.

 

Thank you all for your well wishes and good advice.

I don’t believe you can split a voucher.  All money has to be applied to a single cruise.  I am also u clear if you can use it as a down payment.  Please correct me if I am in error.

[CurlerRob]

4 minutes ago, zalusky said:

I don’t believe you can split a voucher.  All money has to be applied to a single cruise.  I am also u clear if you can use it as a down payment.  Please correct me if I am in error.

 

Please see @Heidi13's post in #8 - Viking has offered to subdivide large vouchers in the past, but each individual voucher has to be fully used on a single trip.

 

Regarding voucher use for a down payment, my personal experience is that the entire industry fights tooth and nail against allowing us to use a voucher as a down-payment, but it appears to be an industry practice versus a written T&C. I challenged Viking to point me to the documentation on this, and they were unable to do so. The RFG language is very opaque - "Voucher can be used on any new Viking cruise and will be applied at booking" - really leaves the down payment question open. 🍺🥌

[Babr]

2 minutes ago, CurlerRob said:

 

Please see @Heidi13's post in #8 - Viking has offered to subdivide large vouchers in the past, but each individual voucher has to be fully used on a single trip.

 

Regarding voucher use for a down payment, my personal experience is that the entire industry fights tooth and nail against allowing us to use a voucher as a down-payment, but it appears to be an industry practice versus a written T&C. I challenged Viking to point me to the documentation on this, and they were unable to do so. The RFG language is very opaque - "Voucher can be used on any new Viking cruise and will be applied at booking" - really leaves the down payment question open. 🍺🥌

 

The down payment question is addressed in Part A of the Viking policy stating the limitations applied to the use of vouchers. It seems to be written in the policy even if it isn’t elsewhere in T&C.

 

https://www.tripmate.com/plan/print_certificate/51037F40-3FBF-4F09-9FE9-811768D45CFD

 

[CurlerRob]

3 minutes ago, Babr said:

 

The down payment question is addressed in Part A of the Viking policy stating the limitations applied to the use of vouchers. It seems to be written in the policy even if it isn’t elsewhere in T&C.

 

https://www.tripmate.com/plan/print_certificate/51037F40-3FBF-4F09-9FE9-811768D45CFD

 

 

Thanks, I was aware of that - but the document comes from the TripMate CFAR optional insurance coverage. It certainly applies to vouchers generated under that plan.

 

My reference (perhaps unclear) was to the Viking RFG - the program that was introduced during the post-Covid restart and generated a separate set of vouchers. I have not found any documentation similar to the TripMate language that is associated with the RFG or in Viking's T&C document - and I wouldn't accept contractual terms from separate contract that I didn't sign. 🍺🥌

[Babr]

8 minutes ago, CurlerRob said:

 

Thanks, I was aware of that - but the document comes from the TripMate CFAR optional insurance coverage. It certainly applies to vouchers generated under that plan.

 

My reference (perhaps unclear) was to the Viking RFG - the program that was introduced during the post-Covid restart and generated a separate set of vouchers. I have not found any documentation similar to the TripMate language that is associated with the RFG or in Viking's T&C document - and I wouldn't accept contractual terms from separate contract that I didn't sign. 🍺🥌

 

You are correct. I was not considering RFG. I guess those are governed by the catch-all phrase “ Other restrictions apply; call for details.”

 

[CurlerRob]

7 minutes ago, Babr said:

You are correct. I was not considering RFG. I guess those are governed by the catch-all phrase “ Other restrictions apply; call for details.”

 

 

Quite possibly - that phrase is beloved by corp. lawyers, and usually translates as "the rules are what we say they are at the time you ask". 😈

 

I'm not slagging Viking here. When we accepted a grossed-up voucher in lieu of cash for a cancelled past voyage, I was clearly aware that we were assuming a degree of risk. I just find it interesting that the risk manifested itself in a way I never anticipated (no voucher for down payment), nor would have thought to ask about.

 

But, that's why it's called risk 😢!   🍺🥌

[zalusky]

56 minutes ago, CurlerRob said:

 

Please see @Heidi13's post in #8 - Viking has offered to subdivide large vouchers in the past, but each individual voucher has to be fully used on a single trip.

 

Regarding voucher use for a down payment, my personal experience is that the entire industry fights tooth and nail against allowing us to use a voucher as a down-payment, but it appears to be an industry practice versus a written T&C. I challenged Viking to point me to the documentation on this, and they were unable to do so. The RFG language is very opaque - "Voucher can be used on any new Viking cruise and will be applied at booking" - really leaves the down payment question open. 🍺🥌

What is the definition of a large voucher?  Is it specific or the luck of a nice agent?

[Babr]

16 minutes ago, CurlerRob said:

 

Quite possibly - that phrase is beloved by corp. lawyers, and usually translates as "the rules are what we say they are at the time you ask". 😈

 

I'm not slagging Viking here. When we accepted a grossed-up voucher in lieu of cash for a cancelled past voyage, I was clearly aware that we were assuming a degree of risk. I just find it interesting that the risk manifested itself in a way I never anticipated (no voucher for down payment), nor would have thought to ask about.

 

But, that's why it's called risk 😢!   🍺🥌

 

Yes, Viking is pretty clear that they must be used entirely by the expiration date with no refunds, no cash value, no re-issue, no reinsurance under Part A, no - - -on and on and on. That is why a voucher has no appeal to me. I’d rather have more control over the decision about when and where to sail.

 

Even though several third-party policies will insure vouchers in the amount you originally paid, there is no coverage for vouchers in excess of that. And it creates a new set of problems in determining initial deposit date if you want a pre-existing conditions waiver or CFAR coverage.

Edited November 20, 2022 by Babr

[LindaS272]

5 minutes ago, zalusky said:

What is the definition of a large voucher?  Is it specific or the luck of a nice agent?

Someone posted here sometime in the last year or so that they were able to split a $20k voucher into two $10k and apply to different trips.

[Heidi13]

11 minutes ago, zalusky said:

What is the definition of a large voucher?  Is it specific or the luck of a nice agent?

 

We cancelled a World Cruise with a 30-day extension, so it would have been well over $100K. Viking tried everything to convince us to accept vouchers, so depends on the agent on the other end of the phone.

[zalusky]

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

 

We cancelled a World Cruise with a 30-day extension, so it would have been well over $100K. Viking tried everything to convince us to accept vouchers, so depends on the agent on the other end of the phone.

That I can understand because world cruises are one of a kind.  It’s not like you have a lot of substitute choices.  Traditional itineraries are more a dime a dozen and easily replaceable.  So I could see them being tougher.

[Babr]

10 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

We cancelled a World Cruise with a 30-day extension, so it would have been well over $100K. Viking tried everything to convince us to accept vouchers, so depends on the agent on the other end of the phone.

 

Of course they did. It would have been a sweetheart deal for them. You take all the risk and keep putting new money in for deposits and perhaps additional fare unless you can find cruises in the Goldilocks range that matches the value of each voucher. Otherwise you forfeit any overage. If you can’t use them, they keep it all or whatever is left.

 

Did they offer to extend the expiration date as well?

[JDincalif]

22 hours ago, powderhorn said:

https://www.aig.com/travel-guard       Travel Guard through AIG insurance will cover vouchers in Canada....just went through that with them around our trip in 2 weeks.....you can try them in the US.....reasonable rates as well....take care....

We too (in the US) were able to insure voucher amounts through TravelGuard/AIG, and were reimbursed without issues when covered events interrupted our cruise.