Travel insurance for flight cancellation

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Accepted answer

There are a number of companies that offer "Cancel for any reason" travel insurance. Googling for that phrase will find you countless hits that cover the various options available.

However, all of these plans have very specific requirements about when the policy must be purchased (near to the time the ticket is purchased), and when the trip must be cancelled (generally more than 48 hours before flight). They are also generally very expensive.

So in short, whilst what you're asking for does exist, it's not going to work for your specific circumstances.

However, you've said that your ticket is "non-refundable". Non-refundable means that you can't get the value of the ticket back as cash, but with most airlines you can get the value back - minus a fee - for use in purchasing a future ticket. Presuming it's a domestic flight, the fee will normally be in the $150-200 range, so you'll be able to keep at least half the value of your ticket. In order to get this value you normally need to cancel before the time of the flight.

Given that your plans are changing due to "work issues" you may also be able to ask your employer to cover the change fee. Obviously that will depend on exactly what the "issues" are...

Upvote:2

I was in a situation where I bought a non-refundable ticket without any insurance that I could not use. Of course I wasn't allowed a refund but I was allowed to change the ticket to future trip for a change fee. Just be sure to call the airline before the departure date and they should be able to do it.

When purchasing tickets I almost always see an offer for travel insurance but it's not something I've ever taken advantage of. I assume it works though.

Upvote:4

Non-refundable means they can't refund you, but you might be able to cancel the flight and get credit towards a future flight. If this works, there may be a fee involved, but it could be minimal or non-existant.

Most travel insurance companies require valid proof. You can look at World Nomad's (or some other company's) policies online to see if any of the inclusions for trip cancellation could apply to you. No one here will try to condone lying, and I would simply try to get the flight cancelled, or sell it off.

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