Does anyone have travel insurance that covers award flights to recommend?

[jennytime4u]

Hi, I’m going on an RTW flight using Qantas points with ONE World. Does anyone have experience with getting insurance that will cover cancelled flights to ensure no lose of points? Thanks

[w.hiew]

There is a slightly related topic that may be of interest.

Is there a credit card complimentary insurance that covers award bookings?

Hi, This just happened. I was unable to claim my flight delay. This was just a small amount. Can you imagine this happen on your around world trip in business class when you need medical insurance? On all my credit cards I have to purchase the full ticket on the card in order to activate the insurance on the card. My current solution is to upgrade ticket only, at least I have purchased a full fee economy ticket on my credit card. Or purchase third party insurance. Has anyone encountered t…

I personally have the Amex Platinum and CBA Diamond card. Amex Plat travel insurance activates by paying for flights in and out of AU with the card (even paying the taxes count). CBA one activates by just telling them your travel dates, destination, etc.

I have (touch wood) never had to claim (from memory) but have heard great things about Amex Plat travel insurance (via Chubb). Obviously this is not a card that everyone has.

So I would suggest going through the credit cards that you have and looking through the travel insurance PDS to see whether they mention award bookings and what their payout is for award bookings. Some pay the revenue price of similar tickets. Some may pay out the points in $ by assigning a predetermined cent per point value.

There are probably too many policies in the market so you will have to look into the PDS in detail on how to activate insurance, claim conditions, claim limits, etc.

If you don’t have a credit card that covers award booking, you probably have to look at buying a standalone policy if you want to be covered. Again, I don’t know which policies would cover award bookings. You probably have to do your own research.

Unless of course, others have done this and can share their findings/experience.

[Larkey]

I explored this last year for a RTW trip using Asia Miles. I have an Amex Platinum Charge card and I emailed Amex to ask if their insurance covered airfares purchased with points. The answer was that the trip must be purchased using points earned through the Amex Rewards program. “Booking with your Frequent Flyer Points will only work if every single point used was converted from your American Express rewards points, otherwise, it will not activate the travel insurance.” The Asia Miles I had used were earned via another program. This applies specifically to Amex but it would be worth checking other card insurances. I purchased 3rd party insurance to ensure I was covered.