So much for the price lock. (Illustration by Dustin Elliott)
🔒 The lock that wasn’t — Pay early, the pitch goes, and the price can’t move on you. Overseas Adventure Travel sells that promise under a brand name, the Good Buy program, and writes it into Section 7 of its contract. Michael Hughes paid 10 months ahead of departure. But he got an invoice anyway.
On Backchannel, I’m asking members how they check that a travel insurance policy is real, and who is underwriting it, before they hand over a card number. I’d love to get your comments.
For Members Only: The Federal Trade Commission has lifted the ceiling on Amazon Prime refunds from $51 a person to $200 and widened the pool of customers who qualify. The next round of payments starts Oct. 1, and there’s no form to fill out. So how do you keep yours from slipping past you? — Christopher Elliott
FEATURED ARTICLE
My tour operator promised a price lock — and then broke it
Michael Hughes prepaid his Spain and Portugal tour almost a year out to lock the price under Overseas Adventure Travel’s Good Buy program. When Air France canceled his flight, OAT rebooked him on Delta and mailed him a bill for $670, which an agent told him would buy Comfort+ seats. At the gate he learned no upgrade had ever been reserved, and OAT then said the money covered a fare increase its own contract barred. So does a price lock mean anything?
OUR UNDERWRITER
Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection covers consumers and their travel dreams, backed by Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company’s financial strength and security. Choose travel insurance designed specifically to your trip and travelers, plus the fastest claims payments in the travel insurance industry. Get more information at Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection.
💊 “It wouldn’t have happened without your intervention”
Lisa’s physical therapy center kept overbilling her month after month, and she thought she had no choice but to pay.
Then she turned to our advocacy team. We couldn’t believe the red tape she was facing, so we jumped in to help. Within a few days, her clinic reversed her charges.
“It wouldn’t have happened without your intervention,” she says.
We couldn’t help people like Lisa without you. Thank you.
📌 Here’s what you missed this week
Catch up on the latest stories from the Elliott Report
My tour operator promised a price lock — and then broke it
Michael Hughes prepaid a Spain and Portugal tour 10 months early under Overseas Adventure Travel’s Good Buy program, which advertises protection from cost increases. After Air France canceled his flight, OAT billed him $670 more and gave him two conflicting explanations for the charge.
When your Daryl Hall concert is canceled but the refund is out of touch
Robert Logan paid $489 for a pair of StubHub tickets to a Daryl Hall show in Denver, and after Hall canceled it he called six times and got the same promise to escalate the refund in four or five days. His bank turned him down too, saying the Fair Credit Billing Act’s 60-day window had closed because he bought the tickets in June.
Is it worth paying extra for a “risk-free” vacation?
Celia Dunlap paid $805 for travel insurance before a 40-day Southeast Asia tour, and when the operator cut the trip to 10 days the policy didn’t cover her cancellation, leaving her with a nonrefundable $4,500 ticket. The Atlantic hasn’t produced a hurricane all season, and Caribbean bookings through one insurance marketplace are running 21% ahead of last year anyway.
Have we forgotten the lessons of 9/11?
Gateside by TSA PreCheck lets vetted travelers without tickets clear the checkpoint at 13 airports, and it arrives alongside the end of the shoe rule and a review of the liquids limit. A 2019 GAO audit found that none of nine vulnerabilities identified through covert testing had been formally resolved.
Pace the frontier? In travel, AI is already making our lives miserable
Air Canada’s chatbot told Jake Moffatt he could claim a bereavement discount after he flew, which wasn’t the airline’s policy, and the airline argued to a tribunal that the chatbot answered for itself. Algorithms already set your airfare and rank who gets the last seat out of a meltdown, and nothing requires anyone to tell you where you stand.
Is travel insurance useless in a crisis? Here’s what you need to know
Janice Lintz filed a claim after civil unrest in Nepal closed the airspace and canceled her flights, and her credit card policy denied it because no one had classified the protests as terrorism. Security memberships are absorbing the demand that insurance won’t, with one provider reporting nonmedical evacuation requests up 31% in a year.
Rover left my dog home alone for 17 hours, and now it refuses to pay the vet bill
Luke Gilbertson’s Ring camera caught his Rover sitter shut in another room for 17 of the 24 hours she was booked, while his dog, Stewie, vomited and later needed care for a swallowed object. Rover denied the $5,272 claim as an illness of undetermined cause and sent him $276 for the sitting.
OUR UNDERWRITER
Cavalry Elite Travel Insurance takes the worry out of travel by providing 24/7 access to medical and security professionals combined with the best medical evacuation and security extraction services. Cavalry gets you home safely when you need it most. Learn more at Cavalrytravelinsurance.com
💬 Today on Backchannel: How do you know your travel insurance policy is legit?
Is this travel insurance policy real?
More travelers are buying coverage at checkout, through an app or from a company they’ve never heard of, and the certificate arrives by email with the underwriter’s name buried in fine print. I’m working on a story about how you tell a real policy from a worthless one before a claim puts it to the test. What made you stop and check, and what did you find? Give me your feedback on Backchannel.
OUR UNDERWRITER
EMBARK Beyond is a luxury travel advisory dedicated to creating thoughtfully designed experiences that go beyond a destination. Focused first on client needs, we have built (and continue to build!) relationships with the world’s most sought-after lifestyle and fashion brands to open the world - beyond imagination - to our clients. Find out more at EMBARK Beyond.
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