The excitement first felt uncovering cheap travel options including cheap airplane tickets, discount hotel rooms, and cheap vacation packages, can dull quickly after arriving at the airport only to then face significantly delayed or cancelled flights.
Now there is a new type of travel insurance that is paying customers up to $1,000 for enduring flight problems sometimes within hours of those problems occurring.
Less than 77 percent of all commercial flights arrived on time in May, down from almost 80 percent in April. Airlines also canceled more flights during the month: 1.9 percent compared with Aprils 1.1 percent.
In May the government received 3.34 reports of mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers compared with a mishandled baggage rate of 2.92 per 1,000 passengers in April.
AirCare is offering a policy through Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection designed to ease the stress of air travel. The policy costs $25 per domestic trip and pays out the following:
$50 if a departing or connecting flight is delayed by two or more hours
$500 if a flight delay leads to a missed connection
$500 if misplaced luggage is delayed by over 12 hours
$1,000 if a tarmac delay is over two hours.
$1,000 for lost or stolen bags
This policy was designed to offer coverage for the common day to day travel concerns.
This product is unusual both for its low price and for offering coverage for being stuck on a runway for an extended period of time.
AirCare today is available in 42 states. The company has plans to expand coverage, at a more expensive per trip price, to international flights in the near future. A plan that would cover multiple flights at a discount may be offered as soon as sometime this fall.
Customers are allowed to purchase travel insurance up to one hour before their schedule departure.
Today 30 percent of American travelers buy some type of travel insurance. 40 percent of respondents to a recent survey said they would consider insuring a future trip for trips costs costing $500 per person or more.
The biggest deterrent to customers purchasing travel insurance is the high cost of many policies and the inconvenience of submitting claims.
In the event of a delay, AirCare tracks a travelers flights and automatically deposits any money due directly into the customers PayPal or bank account. The automatic claims paying feature is innovative and convenient for travelers. Concierge travel assistance is available to help customers rebook if desired.
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