Yahoo Finance Cruise warning as screenshot saves Aussie from $35k blow
"It’s too late and we have closed your case. There’s nothing we can do."
An Australian woman has avoided a $35,000 hit after getting stranded at a New Zealand airport when catastrophic floods struck while she was on her way to a dream cruise of Antarctica.
Jane didn’t even know she was meant to stop in Auckland in January last year as she prepared to fly from Brisbane to Chile, and then on to Argentina so she could board the Polar Latitudes cruise and follow in explorer Ernest Shackleton’s footsteps.
“After leaving Brisbane, we landed for a technical stop in Auckland,” Jane told Yahoo Finance. “It had already started raining and we just sat there on the tarmac, doing nothing for at least two hours.”
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With record rain falling, floodwaters started rising, and a state of emergency was declared. The retired nurse had the realisation her trip - and the $28,000 non-refundable deposit - was on the line. The four-hour window she had to make her connecting flight was closing.
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“At one point, we found out that another plane had skidded on the runway and knocked out some of the lights,” Jane said. “At about six hours, we all got bundled off and were told we weren't going to be going anywhere in a hurry because the airport had closed due to flooding.”
After being moved to emergency accommodation, as some of her fellow passengers slept in the airport, the frequent traveller spent the night looking up alternative flights but she ran out of options and had to cancel.
“The cruise company couldn’t offer me a refund because I’d cancelled too close to the departure date,” Jane said. “You've got to cancel 120 days before your voyage to get any money back.”
The 62-year-old couldn’t get any reimbursement from her booking agent, MyTrip, and spent months going back and forth to gather the correct documentation to make her claim. Finally, a single screenshot was enough to get it over the line.
“It took so long to get that, for them to say: ‘It’s too late and we have closed your case. There’s nothing we can do. Goodbye’.”
“So, I got that screenshot and sent it off to the insurance so I could get the last of my money.”
Jane’s travel insurance tip
Jane had spent about $2,000 on comprehensive travel insurance with 1Cover, which saved her a small fortune in the long run. But she had a tip for other savvy travellers to help save some money on insurance costs.
“I had planned the trip a year in advance and people say the insurance can be so expensive,” she told Yahoo Finance. “But it’s a higher risk for the insurance company when it’s a long time out. So, use your credit card insurance at first, then, about a month out, swap over and get better insurance that covers everything else.”
Jane also recommends taking photographs of everything throughout the claims process because many people don’t realise how much documentation is required to approve a claim. In her case, she had to prove she was not getting reimbursed by other companies before she could get the money back from insurance.
Cruise warning: Different risks when travelling port to port
Travellers are flocking back to cruises with “vigour” after they came to a grinding halt during the pandemic. 1Cover reported a 25 per cent bump in demand for cruise travel insurance since 2019.
Australians looking to take to the water should be aware cruising has its own specific risks, and can become costly if anything does go wrong.
“If you go on a cruise, what’s the likelihood you can’t get into a port? What if you’re stranded and can’t make your cruise? These are things you have to consider,” Jane said.
As Australians - at home and abroad - deal with extreme weather conditions, 1Cover spokesperson Natalie Smith said it was really important to be proactive in protecting the investment you’d made in your holiday.
“An unforeseen natural disaster can really put a spanner in your holiday plans - a $35,000 spanner in Jane’s case,” Smith told Yahoo Finance. “If a severe weather event stops you from making your cruise or delays you from getting home, for example, these are the scenarios that travel insurance covers you for.
“Even if you’ve only paid a deposit for your holiday, it’s worth buying travel insurance as far ahead as possible to mitigate any risk that may affect your trip. This way, you have an opportunity to cancel and claim back your travel costs almost as soon as you’ve purchased your policy.”
Medical treatment and evacuation are also essential risks to consider," Smith said.
“Medical expenses on board a cruise ship are usually far more expensive than most travellers expect,” she said.
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