{"id":15545,"date":"2015-07-08T11:43:44","date_gmt":"2015-07-08T15:43:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tripcentral.ca\/blog\/?page_id=15545"},"modified":"2016-01-18T13:19:06","modified_gmt":"2016-01-18T18:19:06","slug":"cancellation","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.tripcentral.ca\/blog\/travel-insurance\/cancellation\/","title":{"rendered":"Interruption and Cancellation Insurance"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"tripsense-travel-insurance-Interruption-and-Cancellation-Insurance\"<\/a><\/h6>\n
I don’t intend to cancel<\/a>
\nCredit Cards<\/a>
\nLast Minute Travel – Zero Prior<\/a>
\nChange of Mind \/ Cancel for Any Reason<\/a>
\nSupplier Cancellation Waivers<\/a>
\nTrip Interruption<\/a>
\nCovered Risks<\/a><\/h6>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

“I don\u2019t intend to cancel, so I don’t need Trip Cancellation Insurance.”<\/strong><\/h3>\n

No one intends to cancel when they book a vacation.\u00a0 When people say this, they really mean, \u201cunder current circumstances, I see no reason why I would cancel\u201d and this is exactly what cancellation insurance is about.\u00a0 Cancellation insurance covers unexpected risks that will result in the loss of all of the\u00a0non-refundable payments for your trip.<\/p>\n

We routinely see customers declining insurance and then needing to cancel unexpectedly.\u00a0 Even though we have advised our customers of the non-refundable nature of their payments, some defy reality and insist that we press their case with our supplier to waive cancellation or change penalties.\u00a0 Our suppliers\u2019 non-refundable provisions and terms and conditions for changes are set in stone in contracts that we cannot modify.\u00a0 Large travel suppliers have hundreds of calls per week with customers requesting that penalties are waived because of their \u201cspecial circumstances.\u201d This falls on deaf ears and cancellation penalties are not waived.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s such a serious issue that the Ontario Government requires travel agents to offer both medical<\/a> and cancellation insurance at the time of booking, and it is required that we record whether the insurance is purchased or declined on our invoices.\u00a0 Please understand that if you decline cancellation insurance, we cannot \u201cmake your case\u201d with the supplier \u2013 it is a waste of time.\u00a0 If you are ready to take the risk that you write off the entire cost of your trip, this is a risk calculation that only you can make.<\/p>\n

If you do not foresee any reason to cancel, you can save a bit by not taking the Concierge Club Plan which has a higher and costlier change of mind benefit.<\/p>\n

You can also purchase concierge club ZERO PRIOR insurance which covers all other risks but the cancellation if you are willing to take that risk.\u00a0 And, if you have good group plan coverage for emergency hospital medical<\/a> you can purchase non-medical zero prior \u2013 which then only covers trip interruption, baggage delay and loss<\/a>, etc.<\/p>\n

If you think it is still too expensive, then read our\u00a0blog post<\/a>\u00a0on the benefits of spending on travel insurance.<\/p>\n

Many people say \u201cI don\u2019t intend to cancel\u201d \u2013 of course!\u00a0 If someone intended to cancel, they probably wouldn\u2019t make travel arrangements in the first place.\u00a0 Before we get into what is covered and what is not, let\u2019s just quickly explain why you need cancellation coverage in the first place.<\/p>\n

Why is Travel Non Refundable?<\/strong><\/p>\n

When you make travel arrangements, you are holding space that the airline, hotel, and other travel suppliers are prevented from selling.\u00a0 Also, the price of travel is highly competitive and subject to the market fluctuations of supply and demand.\u00a0 Just like the stock market, travel prices bounce up and down like a yo-yo.\u00a0 If travel was refundable, people would cancel and demand a refund when the price goes down.\u00a0 Yet, they would expect to hold their reservations if the price went up.\u00a0 If reservations could be cancelled at any time, travel suppliers would have no idea how many people were showing up for their flight or checking into their hotels, resulting in empty seats and rooms.<\/p>\n

In order to offer lower prices and fill unsold airline seats and hotel rooms, travel suppliers started offering lower prices for non-refundable reservations.\u00a0 So the non-refundable terms and conditions became the norm for leisure travel arrangements typically planned in advance.<\/p>\n

Can\u2019t I just send someone in my place if I have to cancel?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another thing people think is that if they can\u2019t go, they\u2019ll just send someone else in their place.\u00a0 In other words, if I get sick, my sister can go, etc. It doesn\u2019t quite work like that.\u00a0 Travel suppliers have very specific rules about name changes basically to avoid speculation of advance sales.\u00a0 You know how ticket scalpers buy up tickets in advance and sell later for a premium, or sometimes dump below face value at the very last minute?\u00a0 This would be the case if name changes were allowed.\u00a0 Speculators would buy blocks of space for resale and compromise the travel supplier\u2019s pricing strategy.\u00a0 It\u2019s for this reason, that it\u2019s not typically allowed. Supplier conditions vary, but most treat material name changes (as opposed to correcting a misspelling) as a <\/a>cancellation.<\/p>\n

\"tripsense-travel-insurance-credit-cards\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Credit Cards<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Few credit cards offer adequate cancellation insurance with their annual fee.\u00a0 In the unlikely case that your card covers cancellation insurance, you need to find out if it covers all of your travelling party or just you.\u00a0If you want to compare your credit card and see its coverage, visit the Insure Eye Credit Card Comparison Tool<\/a>.\u00a0There will be limits to their coverage, and you may need to \u201ctop up\u201d your cancellation coverage.\u00a0 We can do that for you, charging you only for the additional limit of coverage.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the fine print.\u00a0 We know our cancellation coverage offers the best coverage on the market, but the covered risks and exclusions are in all insurance policies.\u00a0 The only way you will really know what\u2019s covered and what\u2019s not is to get hold of the fine print and read <\/a>it.<\/p>\n

Last Minute Travel \u2013 Zero Prior<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Premiums for cancellation insurance are not adjusted for short or last minute advance booking periods, so the premium is the same whether you book six months in advance, or at the very last minute.\u00a0 The probability that a covered risk would \u201cpop up\u201d at the very last minute is less than when you have months in advance.\u00a0 While medical reasons for yourself and your immediate family can appear at any time, it\u2019s unlikely, for example, that you will be subpoenaed to court at the last minute!\u00a0 If you involuntarily lose your job just before a last minute trip, you\u2019ll probably still want to go, versus losing it before or after making a big final payment on an exotic vacation.<\/p>\n

Some people are game to risk it at the last minute.\u00a0 Cancellation coverage is the more expensive component of the package insurance, and you can purchase ZERO PRIOR coverage \u2013 which essentially gives you ALL THE REMAINING COVERAGE (emergency hospital medical, trip interruption, baggage, etc) without the cancellation prior, a good alternative for last minute bookers.<\/p>\n

Of course, when you buy zero prior coverage, if you do have to cancel before you go, there will be no refund for the trip cost <\/a>itself.<\/p>\n

\"tripsense-travel-insurance-change-of-mind\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Change of Mind \/ Cancel for Any Reason<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Many people assume cancellation insurance is in fact, \u201cchange of mind\u201d, but it is not. Our concierge club plan offers the best change of mind coverage on the market.<\/p>\n

This will cover any reason – even ridiculous reasons – that you may want to cancel your trip and make a claim against the non-refundable penalties associated with cancellation.<\/p>\n

Common \u201cChange of Mind\u201d reasons you may not want to take your trip:<\/p>\n