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| Plan ahead |
| by Brian Kelly |
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Like many of you this week, I was devastated watching the tragedy unfold in Hawaii. I’ve been to Maui and it’s an unbelievably beautiful island, and the people are so welcoming. It’s heartbreaking to see the devastation.
At The Points Guy, we are supporting the Maui Strong Fund and have teamed up with Lonely Planet to donate $25,000 to the relief efforts. If you also want to help, you can learn more about the organization and donate here.
Donating miles or cash via airlines
Hawaiian Airlines has updated its website with a message encouraging loyalty members to donate HawaiianMiles, which will be used to transport volunteers and staff members to Maui. Up to 30 million miles in donations will be matched by the airline for the month of August, and you must log in to your account to donate.
American Airlines is supporting the Red Cross disaster relief efforts, and AAdvantage members can earn 10 AAdvantage bonus miles for every dollar donated to the Red Cross via its microsite (minimum $25 donation).
Canceling or postponing a trip due to extreme weather
A lot of people are asking on social media, “What should travel companies do in these situations?” Well, luckily, the airlines are pretty generous and have waivers in place to allow travelers to change or cancel their flights without a fee. We saw Southwest Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines offering $19 fares to help people get off the island.
And for the next several months, the island is going to need hotel space for relief crews and displaced residents, so if you have a trip to Maui coming up, I highly recommend you change it. In fact, local officials are asking everyone to.
The tricky part here is what travel companies should waive and what travel insurance should reasonably cover.
That’s a tough situation, especially for so many Airbnb and vacation rental owners — many people can’t afford to lose all their income. So thinking that locals who own homes and rent them out should give free refunds is slightly problematic.
As one homeowner told me, “I am a small business. I am not an insurance company and if people want to insure against weather-related events, I shouldn’t take the hit. People should insure their trips.”
I can’t say I disagree with that. Now, for the large corporations, I do believe they should go above and beyond — I’m proud to see the airlines doing it — and I hope hotel companies do the same.
Airbnb has activated its “extenuating circumstances policy” for parts of Maui. Eligible guests with reservations will receive a full refund, and both hosts and guests can cancel bookings penalty-free, the company said Wednesday.
An Expedia Group spokesperson told TPG: “We are working with hotel partners in Maui to institute a flex policy for affected bookings through August 23. This means that travelers with upcoming bookings in the impacted area can change or cancel their hotel booking without penalty. The flex policy can be accessed when you engage with a virtual agent once you log into your account or provide your itinerary number to the virtual agent.”
We are seeing more and more extreme weather events all over the world; who would have thought there would be wildfires in Maui from hurricane winds? We are in a time of unprecedented weather events, and we have to plan for them. It’s no longer just about avoiding the Caribbean during hurricane season.
How to protect your trip
TPG has a comprehensive guide to the best credit cards for trip cancellation and interruption insurance. Generally, this type of insurance will cover nonrefundable expenses, such as airfare, accommodations and activities, if you need to cancel your trip (or the remainder of your trip) due to a natural disaster, like a wildfire.
However, credit card insurance policies can vary, so check the benefits guide for the card you used to book your trip for specific exclusions.
Also, note that you must have booked your trip before the natural disaster starts in order to be covered. So now that the wildfires are a declared emergency, if you booked a new trip today, it likely wouldn’t be covered.
If you need to file a trip cancellation or interruption claim:- Check your credit card’s benefits guide to check if you are eligible for coverage and what the limits are.
- Call your credit card’s benefits administrator or start a claim online.
- Determine which documents you need to collect.
- Submit the documents within the required timeline.
Buying additional insurance coverage
You can always purchase travel insurance separate from your built-in credit card protections. Katie Genter wrote a guide about when to buy travel insurance versus when to rely on credit card protections and how you can weigh the pros and cons. Some credit cards don’t cover additional travelers like friends or co-workers, and some policies might exclude adventure sports.
Depending on the needs of your trip, sites like InsureMyTrip and Squaremouth allow you to shop for plans that may fit your travel needs and compare coverage and pricing for multiple policy options at once.
Various membership associations, such as USAA, AAA and Costco, also offer travel insurance policies for purchase. Typically, these organizations partner with a specific provider, so you may want to compare the policies offered through the organization with other policies to get the best coverage for your trip.
There’s also a type of coverage referred to as “cancel for any reason” coverage, which can be expensive. You might only get 75% of the trip cost back, so depending on the trip, it might not be worth the hefty premium.
Steven Benna, marketing manager for Squaremouth, told TPG: “Many travel insurance policies can cover travelers who need to cancel or interrupt their trip due to a natural disaster, such as the Hawaii wildfires. This can include cancellation coverage for travelers who are unable to travel because their destination is uninhabitable or under a mandatory evacuation due to the fires, as well as interruption coverage for travelers whose trips are cut short.”
He added, “However, travel insurance is designed to cover unforeseen events. In order for coverage to be available, the traveler must have bought their policy before the fires began.”
The case for points and miles
This is also why I recommend using frequent flyer miles and credit card points for flights and hotels, as they can have more flexible cancellation policies.
Earlier during the pandemic, card issuers like Chase and American Express were bending the rules a bit due to the circumstances, so my tip is, it never hurts to ask. Even if it’s technically not covered under the card policy, but you’re a good customer or have a premium card, sometimes they will make exceptions.
Here are a few additional resources for you to check out:Earlier this week, I recorded a podcast episode this week with my dear (hilarious) friend Heather McMahan where I discuss points and miles tips, fatherhood, and traveling with Dean. You can listen here.
Safe Travels,
BK
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| Photo Credit: WYATT SMITH/THE POINTS GUY. |
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