 Poster: A snowHead
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Hello all, firstly I hope this is the correct area of the forum to post, and secondly I hope this hasn't been covered. I did search but couldn't find any answer.
I'm off on 4th Jan for a week and looking at insurance that would cover missed transfers. I would have thought it a common thing to be covered when getting ski insurance but it seems not - does anywhere do this?
Worst case scenario is our flight Bristol-Geneva is delayed (possible snow in Bristol that day) and we miss our Ben's Bus, which is the final one of the day (though we've allowed over 2 hours between flight arrival and bus departure). Ben's Bus mention trying to get you on one the next morning, but it looks like they only operate on Saturday's?
From calling up a few of the big insurers, they all say there must be a 12 hour delay for any compensation, which is of course irrelevant - if you miss your transfer, you miss your transfer and need another one. Some said it would fall to the airline to cover this, though this is equally unclear...
Thanks for any help!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Transfer has nothing to do with airline. They are mixing it up with a connection flight.
If the delay is because of snow, then insurance may not cover you anyway, though I doubt there will be much snow at Bristol by the weekend. Weather pattern seems to be going more north.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I would have thought that if the insurance company knew that you knew there was a significant chance of a claim and you actively looked for a policy to cover the known risk a couple days before travel they would (should) deny the claim. They could also cause you problems with getting any insurance in future.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@Chris_n, indeed but I don’t see that as @dcpbriz’s situation. Possible snow (it’s the uk so probably meaningless) may possibly lead to possible delay, may possibly lead to possible transfer miss?
That’s surely exactly what insurance is for? No?
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| under a new name wrote: |
@Chris_n, indeed but I don’t see that as @dcpbriz’s situation. Possible snow (it’s the uk so probably meaningless) may possibly lead to possible delay, may possibly lead to possible transfer miss?
That’s surely exactly what insurance is for? No? |
No, if when booking insurance when you already know there is a distinct probability of a claim i.e. there are already weather warnings in place is fraud (don't know if there are warnings for Bristol). If it was booked before weather warnings then no problem.
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@Chris_n, weather warnings, ok, maybe, argument maybe fine. I don't think there are any?
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This is the point at which someone says you should take out insurance as soon as the holiday is booked then the point above would be moot and you'd be covered if something happened and you had to cancel
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| under a new name wrote: |
| @Chris_n, weather warnings, ok, maybe, argument maybe fine. I don't think there are any? |
Just checked Met Office, 4th Jan there is a yellow weather warning for snow and ice for nearly the whole of England and Wales including Bristol.@ Holidayloverxx precisely.
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If you’re talking about destination transfer issues, then whatever your insurance, if I was on the last scheduled bus out, then I’d research some contingency for a delayed flight and missed coach. You might not like what you’d find, but at least you’d be prepared.
So if you do miss the last bus, the first concern won’t be insurance, it’ll be whether you can still get there at that time of night, or not. So for example, can you get a taxi/minivan and if so, from where and what will it cost? If not, then where are you going to stay and what’s the consensus for booking somewhere for the night in terms of accommodation? Airport hotel? A taxi into Geneva? Will you use the internet to find somewhere or go to an agency at the airport? Next morning, will it be easier get to your resort by public transport, rather than trying to book another Ben’s Bus? And so on.
Then, worst case, you have a specific plan, rather than having to work it out on the fly, and if there’s more than one of you, it avoids a lot of argument about options and competing courses of action.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Thanks for info all. I had insurance booked a month ago which I thought covered this. Vague wording so I called them a couple of days ago and they said they wouldn't. When I pointed out they'd cover a missed connected flight and this is in essence the same thing (especially as private transfers are significantly more expensive than the flights), they didn't have an answer and it ended with me talking to a brick wall.
And yes you are correct @Chris_n. I saw that LV do state that they don't cover if a warning has already been issued, but good to know they do for next year as it was a reasonable quote so thanks @Layne.
The weather outlook is improving so fingers crossed @Gored.
This hopefully will be a non problem anyway, and good shout @LaForet I looked into this last year for Les Arcs so got a rough idea what to expect. Will research further. First year back skiing in a decade last year and was taken aback by how much transfers cost.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@Chris_n, do/did you work in insurance by any chance?
I still don't see that a weather warning is enough to be considered a significant chance of a claim. There are thousands of flights which have no issue when there are weather warnings in place
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I guess it's like taking out insurance after you break your leg and know you can't go anymore.
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You know it makes sense.
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@Layne, it's not though, is it. That equivalent would be taken out insurance after the flight is delayed/cancelled. This is taken out insurance when there is a risk of it being delayed more than 2 hours/cancelled. Yes the risk is increased, but it's a long way from being a certainty.
The forecast is a 70% chance of sleet, hardly what you expect airports to be shutting down for.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| SnoodyMcFlude wrote: |
| ...This is taken out insurance when there is a risk of it being delayed more than 2 hours/cancelled. Yes the risk is increased, but it's a long way from being a certainty.... |
Agreed. So you disclose that to the insurer and they either quote an increased premium or decline to cover. If they think there is say a 20% chance of paying out £500 for a taxi they will charge you an extra £100, or probably £200 allowing for admin, profit, commission etc.. And most people would probably think the extra isn't worth it.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Can Ben's bus tell you if there are other people on your flight going to same resort? If so at least you might find a group in the same boat as you should you be delayed and could share the costs of a private transfer.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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And this is a major reason why many travellers still like package holidays with the assurance that it’s all sorted. The freedoms that self booking on the net brought from the mid noughties when everybody said the package holiday industry was dead turn out to have hidden traps. Jet2 were mocked wildly when they started doing them - now it’s a highly successful package holiday company with an airline attached.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@SnoodyMcFlude, OK I will make it more nuanced "I guess it's like taking out insurance after an injury and you are not sure if you will be able to ski with it"
As someone mentioned above that is why it is recommended you take out insurance as soon as you book your holiday and *before* circumstances arise that cause problems.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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That all said, it seems to me that this is something that can be mitigated against by the OP rather than needing insurance which is bureaucratic at the best of times. Perhaps having another transport option or a cancellable hotel on standby.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@dcpbriz, I thought this should be fairly standard for a travel insurance policy.
I know there was at least one person on the recent PiPAU bash who missed the transfer bus to Tignes due to their flight being delayed a few hours by the stormy weather and was able to claim the cost of a taxi fare from Geneva to Tignes on their insurance (I cant remember which insurer). I believe they got the insurance payout sorted in just few days.
Just looked at my annual Snowcard policy and there is cover of up to £1000 for extra travel costs and accommodation caused by missed departure, including (among other things) missed departure caused by 'labour dispute or protest, civil disturbance, mechanical breakdown or bad weather which interrupts your scheduled public transport services including booked connecting flights.'
'Scheduled public transport services' include pre-booked transfer buses, trains etc. So effectively in includes missing the departure of your transfer due to flight delay.
Compensation for delay (an amount per each 12 hours of delay) is a different part of the policy, and not intended to cover for consequential missed connections etc.
Insurance cover might seem a bit less bureaucratic if it is several hundred pounds of additional costs it is covering you for!
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| Quote: |
And this is a major reason why many travellers still like package holidays with the assurance that it’s all sorted
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This. I haven't done a package holiday in years and my basic assumption is that if stuff goes wrong, it's down to me to sort it out, whether it's in France or in the UK. If flying in somewhere on a late flight, so that a very modest hour or so of delay would have me missing the last bus, I'd probably arrange to hire a car.
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| chocksaway wrote: |
| And this is a major reason why many travellers still like package holidays with the assurance that it’s all sorted. |
That said, we've also seen times when people have been left in the lurch by TOs, so it's not always faultless.
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Sure, TOs can mess up, but then it's their fault and their responsibility to sort it out. All sorts of reasons why independent travel arrangements go wrong. Bad weather, closed passes, cancelled ferries, car break downs, accidents, delayed flights. Travelling in western Europe, with a credit card and a good book (and preferably without children) it's generally survivable! 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Layne wrote: |
@SnoodyMcFlude, OK I will make it more nuanced "I guess it's like taking out insurance after an injury and you are not sure if you will be able to ski with it"
As someone mentioned above that is why it is recommended you take out insurance as soon as you book your holiday and *before* circumstances arise that cause problems. |
I’m sure I read somewhere that you are expected to inform insurers of changes (ie. after taking out a policy) to your circumstances which might give rise to a claim, with the example given of a sick dependent or even a sick non-dependent for whom you might feel the need to cancel or curtail travel plans should things go awry
If that’s right (big IF, of course) and insurers expect to be told, eg. that your non-travelling parent has become significantly unwell a week before your holiday departs, I’m sure they would also like to be told that the chances of your flight being cancelled or delayed is now known to be higher than they would have planned for at policy inception.
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| Quote: |
I’m sure they would also like to be told that the chances of your flight being cancelled or delayed is now known to be higher than they would have planned for at policy inception.
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In the event of country-wide bad weather warnings they can probably be trusted to work that out for themselves. But yes, generally it's good to tell them about stuff, especially an accident (e.g. on ski slopes) and to avoid incurring significant expenditure without their consent.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Again thanks for all the responses, I'm now on the slopes having made the transfer by then skin of my teeth.
All staff have been excellent, Ben's Bus waited almost an hour. The insurance company I used was Campbell Irvine - more expensive but comprehensive and great comms.
Booking was through Sunweb, except the transfer that was Ben's. I would have paid the extra £100 each way for Sunweb transfers as yes it's then on them to sort it (I did this process last year).
I was somewhat pleased to see Bristol airport did close for a time due to the snow (after our flight) so the insurance was very close to being extremely useful!
Side note - after various delays, the accomodation agent left the wrong keys in the office safe. Come 3am we finally checked in to a hotel, which we're being reimbursed for. Definitely one of the more tiring and stressful holidays this year's been so far...
Thanks again for the input everyone.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| Quote: |
Side note - after various delays, the accomodation agent left the wrong keys in the office safe. Come 3am we finally checked in to a hotel
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Enjoy your skiing - you made it!
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