Flights to Fairbank in Dec, will I need to buy travel insurance to protect the flight cost?

[PandaBear]

Family of 3 going to Fairbank to hopefully see aurora right before Xmas for 4 days. I hope the sky will be clear but if not, at least not a storm. Will stay near the Poker Flat observatory area and booked an AirBnB with insurance, but the flight cost $2200 and the Allianz insurance with full coverage cost like $250.

Is it worth the risk if I don't? If the storm is bad enough to cancel the departure flight I would rather just cancel the whole thing if Alaska will refund me. Do they do that or I must travel on the next day? If on the return flight got cancelled can I file insurance to have it buy me a ticket going to my next destination (i.e. 2 days later to the east coast instead)?

My plan is back home by 12/24 and then 12/27 leaving for east coast.

 

[cptbarkey]

For 3 that is cheap insurance and flights. I recently paid $160 for a 2.5 week international trip just for myself with second to the top insurance.

 

[c502cid]

Read the fine print of the contract, then read it again. It's insurance, their goal is to not pay you.

 

[97K15004WD]

I bought the insurance for a trip we made to Fairbanks. Paid for itself when we got covid (probably from the airport or the plane ride). Anyway, worth every penny.

Have you been to Fairbanks before?

 

[John105]

I'm probably old fashioned in that I wouldn't even consider "insurance" on a flight. I see the same thing with concert tickets. But I did buy the insurance in case when I finish typing here it doesn't post ($3.28 per, is not a lot for post insurance)

 

[Astro14]

Why would you get insurance? Pretty sure it does not cover a flight canceled by the airline for weather. It covers you having a problem, like illness.

If the airline has to cancel, they have to re-accommodate you. No insurance needed.

But Alaska Airlines is used to operating in weather. I don’t know what you consider a “storm” but I’ve landed in Denver when it’s snowing heavily and the visibility was about 500 feet.

Now, you’re not going to see the Aurora Borealis in the weather, but the flight will make it in.

 

[PandaBear]

Yes I've been to Fairbanks like 15 years ago chasing Aurora. I was looking at a solar storm calendar and predicted the time then bought the ticket only 3 days in advance with good weather and solar activities. However, this does not work when I have to work with school schedules of kids now and school holidays must be booked months in advance just in case.

https://www.travelinsurance.com/brochure/SevenCorners/SC_Trip_Protection_Basic_AOS_T7000_2.27.24.pdf

I read the fine print and it did have some sort of delay for 12 hours clause. I also found an insurance that has Cancel For All Reason option that pays back 75% up to 48 hours before the flight. It probably would be a good insurance if the weather is so bad there is nothing to do there for us.

Regarding to "if airline has to cancel", do I have the option to refuse the start of my trip? I guess since I picked my flights to be 9pm-1am and 1am-6am in Dec, there should be a good chance I can see some aurora above the weather as well if there's action. My main concern is if I'm only staying for 5 nights, I may or may not see the Aurora and if I can tell ahead of time the weather and solar activity, I have more tools to cancel my trip and try again another time.

One question I have is: if your first leg of the flight is cancelled or delayed beyond a certain amount, can you request for the whole trip to be considered cancelled if it defeat the purpose of the trip (say you are going to a conference or a trip but you miss a huge part of it)?

 

[PandaBear]

I bought the insurance for a trip we made to Fairbanks. Paid for itself when we got covid (probably from the airport or the plane ride). Anyway, worth every penny.

Have you been to Fairbanks before?

What kind of proof did they ask for?

 

[97K15004WD]

What kind of proof did they ask for?

Medical bills, doctor's statements, prescription bills, etc. The illness occurred within the travel period, so it was covered. Glad we had it.

 

[B6_Dolphin]

I would go with a refundable (vs non-refundable) coach fare instead, which is available with Delta Airlines, for example.

You can cancel anytime up to the time of departure and receive a full refund, vs having to meet certain conditions with travel insurance.

 

[PandaBear]

I would go with a refundable (vs non-refundable) coach fare instead, which is available with Delta Airlines, for example.

You can cancel anytime up to the time of departure and receive a full refund, vs having to meet certain conditions with travel insurance.

That's a good idea except the time doesn't work for me and the cost ended up being like 50% more. I might consider this if I go with an uncertain schedule next time. Thanks.

 

[John105]

Long story short, we humans are risk averse. There will always be insurance available, just like there will always be betting and gambling available. Normally, actuaries have the probability figured out, and the house wins. Sometimes, like with Helene and Milton, they don't.

Being humans, sometimes it is worth money to make "worry" go away. Ask yourself that. Maybe the probablility is not with me, but do I feel a lot better paying $50? $100? That doesn't buy lunch anymore for a family of 4.

I've bought 2 extended warranties on cars. I should not have been able to lose. 1 was a BMW, the other was a GM. 2 vehicles where I should have beat the house. I lost on both. With the BMW, badly. Nothing went wrong and now the car is going on 18 years old (covered for 7/100 no claims). On the GM, yes, I would have broken even on full retail of the repairs. My buddy said you know better, you DIY, you'd never pay full retail so you didn't need the agreement.

Again, if money makes worry go away, it's worth something. But using probability and statistics, one should never buy optional coverage. If you're like my dad? Not even comp nor collision.

How about this one. Of all the business travel that one has done in a career, how often did a) the employer buy travel insurance b) did you forfeit a ticket (my employers always got non refundable I'm a worker bee, so a) never and, b) once in 20+ years).

 

[andrew_j]

$2200 is definitely not worth $250 of insurance to me. They’ll rebook you if something is messed up with weather.

However if you sleep better and anxiety $250 or whatever may be worth it.

 

[PandaBear]

All true about the gambling and insurance being the same thing. If it is just a normal vacation it likely doesn't matter. For me my goal is more about "can I see the aurora" instead of "can I visit Fairbank". So the best value is actually more for the cancel for all reason option on a flight that works for me (late night flight into and out of Alaska). I probably should consider Delta's free cancellation tickets instead and if this time doesn't work out I probably would book those instead next time. I'm only staying there for 5 days instead of like 10-20, so weather do play a big part of whether I can see Aurora or not (65% chance of partly cloudy or worse weather there), and also solar activities probability.

Obviously I wouldn't buy insurance for a 3 day trip to San Diego.