I haven't traveled much in the five years since diagnosis, except long car trips. I am planning to fly from NY to LA for Christmas. I was overwhelmed by trying to find flights on the Expedia/CheapO Air, etc., websites. I tried a travel agent but they don't do simple domestic trips anymore; she recommended Google. I found a flight, but it is nonrefundable, unlike some I found on the other websites.
I looked at travel insurance -- but it looks like it won't help.I learned today that this extreme exhaustion I feel sometimes after I do too much has a name: post-exertional mallaise, or PEM. Certainly related to cancer and treatment. I am afraid I will feel just too crummy to make the trip worthwhile. It seems with a pre-existing condition, many criteria have to be met for the insurance to work, and one has to have a "doctor's note" basically to use it for illness, and I don't think I could get one for collapsing this way, not actually sick.
Has anyone dealt with this? Gotten cancellation insurance for a nonrefundable flight? Succeeded in collecting on the insurance?
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TammyCross
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I got insurance for a trip to Portugal where the first week was independent travel and the second week was a knitting retreat with a group which was prepaid . The day before the retreat, I got Covid. My insurance ended up paying me for the cost of the retreat package, for taxi rides that I had to take because I couldn’t go in the coach, for isolation hotel room, for doctor, excess cost of return flight. The first thing I did was to get a Portuguese doctor to certify my Covid, I do think that doctor certification is important. So… insurance does work. It was some work because of glitches in uploading receipts and some communication issues but the customer service people were pretty helpful and I was quite dogged.
Yes I had my entire trip to Japan, hotel, transfers, and airfare etc. insured then refunded by Travel Guard the first time I was diagnosed with Early Stage Breast Cancer. I have used Travel Guard for other trips since I have been diagnosed with MBC. They are very easy to work with and I have had excellent experiences with them. Worth a phone call to see if they will cover your airfare and the price.
I buy travel insurance for cruises, which are about all I do anymore. I’ve never had to use it fortunately. However, I had a non refundable ticket on Delta(I backed out of the flight while at the airport- I get crippling anxiety thinking about turbulence.) Three other family members flew on the same itinerary that day, so not sure if that helped. When I got home from the airport, I wrote to Delta, told them I have metastatic cancer and that some days are so bad that previous plans just don’t work out. They were kind enough to refund the total price of the ticket. I wrote a paper letter, thinking they would have to take more time to read it than an email. I was so grateful. So, maybe try that if you ever get stuck. You never know what might work.
There is a company/app called Squaremouth where you enter your information and they provide a list of travel insurance companies with prices for your trip. I found that very handy.
Well, now I have a cold. Travel Guard looked good. It was much more expensive than the one I looked at, but that is probably because the coverage is better. I followed the advice of the travel agent who wouldn't help and looked up flights on Google, found Jet Blue was the best, then went to the Jet Blue site. They have a cancellation policy. (They must overbook!) Up until the time of the flight, except for Blue Basic, which is sold out. Seems too good to be true. I didn't make a reservation. I have travel anxiety, but it is mostly anticipatory.
So now this cold, and my roommate, who has not been working, hence hasn't paid rent, announced she is going home for Christmas, won't be here to take care of my cat, one thing she does well. Her friend who could do it is also going home. I don't seem to be able to cope with anything.
Have you tried just going to the airline's website to book the fare you found?
I don't know which airline you're looking at but I know some major carriers simply charge a bit extra for a refundable fare and some, like American, have an in-between fare that gets you a credit for future flights, which sometimes you can use for others, sometimes only for you (trip credit vs. flight credit, not sure which is which). They also promote some form of trip insurance at the end, which I wouldn't take if all you're interested in is knowing you'll get your $$ back if you need to cancel.
I always search for fares on the aggregators (Matrix-ITAsoftware is my preferred, which is what's behind google's, I think...) the **book on the airline sites**. This makes it much easier to deal with anything unexpected.
I started with some of the websites. JustFly is sending me multiple emails a day. I found it taxing. I wanted to talk to someone so I could say, "Well, what if I went Sunday, or Friday?" That kind of thing. I had to start from scratch plugging in the parameters each time. What the travel agent who wouldn't help me said was to look at Google and then when I found a good flight, go to the airline. That is what I did. Worked much better.
I believe you can get a credit toward another plane flight on a non-refundable ticket. Just won’t get your money refunded. I travel often and have never bought flight insurance. Also, it’s recommended to purchase airline tickets directly from the carrier to avoid any confusion.
Dear TammyCross-----Whatever you decide about the cat, airline or insurance, please go with the others to CA for Christmas. It is all so exhausting with the cancer but we. need to carry on with our lives.
Yes, that is what I decided. But now I cannot get a cat sitter. My roommate, who has not worked and therefore has not paid rent, suddenly announced she is going home to Tennessee for a few weeks. I am very annoyed. She won't be working for another month. I have to find someone to stay with Skip, and today he is unwell. I don't want him to be alone except for one expensive visit a day. Too much for a week. I should be saying this in private chat.
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