This article is reposted from US Credit Card 101 Knowledge Planet, originally written by Sedonaz.

10 Essential Things to Know About Trip Delay Insurance

We often see people in our member groups asking whether a specific situation qualifies for trip delay insurance. The goal of this article is to help readers quickly determine whether they qualify when travel delays happen, so they can maximize their credit card benefits. It summarizes common questions that come up both in our member groups and on US credit card forums.

1. The difference between Trip Delay insurance and Trip Cancellation insurance: simply put, whether your flight is canceled or delayed, it generally falls under Trip Delay insurance, not Trip Cancellation insurance.

2. Which card to use when buying airfare: considering airfare rewards, travel-category cash back, and insurance coverage, premium points cards are usually a good fit. Cards with a 6h/overnight threshold are the best choice, such as Chase Sapphire Reserve, since they are easier to trigger for trip delay coverage.

3. Common restrictions: AMEX requires you to purchase a round trip ticket and pay the full fare.

4. Who can be covered: the cardholder and family members.

5. Figure out who is responsible, and ask the airline for written proof of the delay reason as soon as possible. Credit card insurance usually covers two common causes: weather and mechanical failure. If the delay is caused by the airline, go directly to the airline.

6. Do not cancel your ticket. Do not cancel your ticket. Do not cancel your ticket. Credit card travel insurance does not cover the ticket cost itself. The better strategy is to first get the airline to rebook you for free, then use the credit card insurance to cover other expenses during the delay.

7. How delay time is calculated: 6 or 12 hours. The calculation is based on the time difference between the original itinerary and the revised itinerary. Be sure to save your actual boarding pass or airline email. If you miss a connection for a covered reason, moving to a later flight may be enough to trigger trip delay coverage.

8. Continuing from point 7: when delays happen, you can usually change flights for free, and there is often a lot of flexibility. When contacting customer service, you should know exactly what you want, and it helps to look up the flights you want in advance on websites like Google Flights.

9. What is covered? Reasonable expenses, mainly meals, lodging, toiletries, medication, and similar necessities. Using it for shopping is generally unrealistic. It only covers losses incurred during the delay period.

10. What if you still have specific questions or a corner case? Download and save the Guide to Benefits booklet. It provides detailed answers for all the fine-print questions.

Real-World Example 1:

One afternoon at the Las Vegas airport, I was relaxing in the lounge with some food and drinks and made my way to the gate without rushing, only to discover that my Frontier flight had been delayed by 12 hours. I immediately grabbed a gate agent and asked for the specific reason for the delay, and learned that it was due to a mechanical issue, which qualifies under credit card insurance. Since my schedule that day was fairly flexible, and the new departure time had changed from midday to 2:00 a.m., I decided to rebook.

With a normal airline, when a delay happens, you can usually contact the ticket desk inside security, and the mobile app often gives you rebooking options as well, so you can pick the flight you want. But with an ULCC like Frontier, there is generally no ticket counter after security, so you need to go to the baggage check counter for rebooking and similar issues.

So I looked for Frontier staff while also contacting customer service on my phone. Although the line at the airport rebooking counter was huge, the WhatsApp customer service seemed slightly more reliable and moved me to the earliest available option, which was the next morning.

I found a seat, quickly picked a hotel, calculated the costs, and booked the rental car and hotel. Half an hour later, I was already driving a Q5 from the national ee aisle on my way to the Conrad at Resorts World. No way was I going to let a flight delay ruin the mood. After resting in the room for a bit, I organized the insurance claim materials.

That night I went out for Japanese food. I have to say, for the US, the Asian food scene in Las Vegas is actually pretty good.

The reimbursement timeline for this trip delay claim was:

  • Two days later: received Frontier's email stating the reason for the delay.
  • A few days later: submitted the claim materials.
  • A few weeks later: received an email saying Case approved.

Real-World Example 2:

I was on JL 46 CDG-HND with a continuing HND-ITM segment, and my final destination was Kyoto. At CDG check-in, I was told that an earlier flight had been delayed by 1h30m because of a volcanic eruption, so I directly photographed the airline's notice as proof of the delay reason. My onward JL 131 segment had also already been protected onto JL 133.

Since I had not yet booked lodging for that night, and figured that after all this I would be arriving in Kyoto very late, plus I wanted to try JAL's 767, I decided to switch to a flight the next day. After arriving at HND, I ran into a transfer agent holding a sign. After a brief conversation, I was directed to the counter. At the transfer counter, I asked to be changed to the next day's JL 121, and then I sat in the chair next to the transfer desk for 15 minutes and booked a hotel in Tokyo.

That evening I went to a drugstore to buy some necessities and found an izakaya for dinner. The next day, I bought a piece of clothing at montbell.

A few weeks later: after some back and forth, the case was approved and everything was reimbursed.

About

If you have any of the cards below, they are very good options for buying airfare just in case you need the protection:

For more detailed introductions to trip delay insurance and comparisons across different credit cards, see:

For more trip delay claim examples, see: