Trip Protection Makes Flying Less Stressful

Delay Insurance sounds like a good idea in this age where flights rarely leave or arrive on time. Some airlines are now offering this service to passengers…for an extra fee they will take care of the hotel, even the car rental, in case of a long delay. Many passengers are jumping aboard, figuring that the odds are good that they will be able to cash in on their insurance policy.

Air Canada launched a new ‘travel assistance’ service that allows you to pay an extra $25-35 per ticket and get this guarantee. You will get a hotel room, even a ticket on another carrier, in case of a long delay. With the purchase, you get a special number to call and agents on the other end of the line who can book hotels, find seats on other Air Canada flights, or pay for rental cars if it appears that this is a quicker way to get you where you want to go.

Of course, other companies besides airlines have offered some form of this trip insurance for many years. MH Ross Insurance, for example, offers a $35 policy with a maximum payout of $100 per day and you can get a policy from Travel Insured International that covers up to $500 if you are delayed more than six hours.

Northwest Airlines offers a cheaper version: $15.52 on a $345 ticket gets you trip protection, trip cancellation and interruption protection, but no delay protector. If you want that it costs $18.97 on that same $345 ticket, but you get up to $500 in case something goes wrong.