This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Whenever I book an expensive vacation, I purchase travel insurance. You never know when a family emergency might arise.
I actually used it earlier this year when we postponed a planned Europe trip after the Brussels bombing. It worked perfectly.
An informative press release from Squaremouth travel insurance this week provided a good, timely reminder to ask your travel agent detailed questions about what is covered.
According to the release, manly policies cover trip cancellation if a flight is delayed for an extended period of time due to the mechanical breakdown of the aircraft, but may not extend to the failure of the airline's computer systems such as problems thousands experienced earlier this week with Delta.
"In many cases, travel insurance won't cover cancellation due to an airline's computer glitch, though more limited coverage may be available for extra expenses, like hotels or meals, due to the delay," said Squaremouth spokesperson Rachael Taft. "Affected travelers who have questions about their coverage should call their travel insurance provider's emergency assistance number."
According to Taft, many policies provide travel delay or missed connection coverage for any airline delay, including those caused by a computer glitch.
To go into effect, a flight typically must be delayed between three and 12 hours. Once this time limit is met, these benefits can cover a range of expenses. However, both benefits have a daily limit which can be anywhere from $150 to $1,000 per person.
These benefits typically cover meals and accommodations during the delay. They may also cover additional expenses to catch up to your trip or to return home. Some policies reimburse unused, prepaid expenses that were missed due to the delay.
Again, the key is that if you are purchasing travel insurance, either talk to your travel agent to see what is covered or carefully study what is covered.