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Make sure you READ Expedia's cancellation plan before you buy it.

othermanc

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othermanc Collaborator

+ othermanc

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I purchased a trip on United airlines and noticed Expedia offered a cancellation plan for $19. I added that to the the bill and thought I'd done a smart thing. Turns out I'm not going to take that trip after all, so I called Expedia to enact my cancellation. They asked if it ws for a medical reason and I honestly said "no" but I was not going on that trip after all. No good...it only applies to medical reasons, which she said was clearly stated in the policy. Granted I didn't read through the policy so I guess I don't really have a legitimate gripe, except that it wasn't obvious that the condition of application was ONLY medically. So here's how it ended up: after they enforce United Airlines $200 change/cancel fee and Expedia's $19 I'd get about $44 refunded and THAT could only be applied to future United Airlines flights that must be completed within one year of the original booking.

I'm still waiting for her supervisor to call me back but it's been nearly one hour. I doubt I'll get any satisfaction. Let the buyer beware, and READ THE WHOLE AGREEMENT!

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Rudynate Grand Master

Rudynate

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My travel agent once tried to sell me cancellation insurance. I said I wasn't interested for this reason, and his reply was "you can get to the airport and decide you don't like your parking spot and you're covered". I like that kind.

 

Kevin Slater

 

 

That's something I would think about buying.

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LaffingBear Veteran

LaffingBear

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Check and be aware of benefits of your credit card benefits.

 

Platinum, Gold, Signature, etc. etc. often come with benefits they promote when marketing the card for new enrollments, but rarely promote to current members

 

Travel insurance is often included when using the card. Rental car, trip cancellation, etc. So is purchase guarantee. Some even offer a concierge who'll help you with just about anything. I know someone who got the card concierge to help them find a specific breed of puppy to buy.

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BenjaminNicholas Grand Master

+ BenjaminNicholas

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You should always read the fine print before agreeing to anything

 

Travel insurance works, but it's within a very finite window of circumstance. They make you jump through considerable hoops to agree to pay out a claim.

 

Laffing gives great advice: If you have a premium cc, look at your benefits and see if they can help. More than once, I've relied on Amex to get me out of an odd situation and it's why even with a $350+ year fee for their card, they have a client for life in me.

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Rudynate Grand Master

Rudynate

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You should always read the fine print before agreeing to anything

 

Travel insurance works, but it's within a very finite window of circumstance. They make you jump through considerable hoops to agree to pay out a claim.

 

Laffing gives great advice: If you have a premium cc, look at your benefits and see if they can help. More than once, I've relied on Amex to get me out of an odd situation and it's why even with a $350+ year fee for their card, they have a client for life in me.

 

 

The thing to remember about ANY sort of insurance is that when you ask the carrier to do what you paid them to do, they will do everything they can to get out of doing exactly that thing they agreed to do.

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maninsoma Grand Master

maninsoma

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I had to engage in quite a struggle with a different travel website (though I think it's ultimately owned by the same company as Expedia) that had a prominent banner indicating there was no fee if the trip was canceled within 24 hours (which many or most airlines offer when you book direct with them) but then tried to reduce my refund by $50 per ticket when I canceled the reservations within two hours. It took me disputing the charge with my credit card company and providing screen shots of their promise (which contained no fine print that indicated there would be anything less than a full refund) to get my money back in full. I wrote to their corporate office and told them that even though 90% of my air travel had been purchased through their website over the past decade that I would never use them for a future trip, regardless of what sort of promotion they were having.

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LaffingBear Veteran

LaffingBear

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The thing to remember about ANY sort of insurance is that when you ask the carrier to do what you paid them to do, they will do everything they can to get out of doing exactly that thing they agreed to do.

Thats fairly accurate.

 

Know the industry. For example, even their industry lingo is revealing. What do insurers call money paid out in claims? A LOSS.

 

Thats not a snide commentary. They live & die by their Loss Ratio, which is

 

Claim dollars paid out

Premium dollars received

 

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quoththeraven Grand Master

+ quoththeraven

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The thing to remember about ANY sort of insurance is that when you ask the carrier to do what you paid them to do, they will do everything they can to get out of doing exactly that thing they agreed to do.

There are some exceptions, but they can be pricy. For example, AMICA (which I believe is still a mutual company) is terrific about handling auto insurance claims.

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Kevin Slater Grand Master

Kevin Slater

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I belong to USAA, But never have bought coverage from them. I got a quote once for homeowners' insurance and it was twice the rate I was paying to another carrier. It was far better coverage, though.

 

I suspect it was an apple to oranges comparison. Years ago when I shopped around to confirm USAA was a good rate, one of the major firms asked me who I was currently with. When I said USAA, she said "so why are you wasting my time? We can't beat them".

 

It might be worth your time to call them back and see what they would charge to match your current level of protection.

 

Kevin Slater

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quoththeraven Grand Master

+ quoththeraven

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Re: USAA

 

You get exactly what you pay for. I've done business with them not only with insurance, but investments, and it's always a pleasure communicating with them.

That's probably true for insurance. AMICA is pricy but the service is great and they're not out to deny claims for the hell of it.

 

USAA appears to be in the same category.

 

But when it comes to mutual fund investments, "you get what you pay for" is almost certainly not true. A lower expense ratio is better and easily achievable if you invest mostly or entirely in index funds. (The research shows that over time, active managers underperform the market, so index funds have a higher return, are less risky and carry lower expense loads, which also affects the rate of return.)

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BenjaminNicholas Grand Master

+ BenjaminNicholas

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But when it comes to mutual fund investments, "you get what you pay for" is almost certainly not true. A lower expense ratio is better and easily achievable if you invest mostly or entirely in index funds. (The research shows that over time, active managers underperform the market, so index funds have a higher return, are less risky and carry lower expense loads, which also affects the rate of return.)

 

Agreed, but many of my best investments have come in higher risk areas: When you're younger, you can take the risk without as much fear of betting the entire farm.

 

Overall, I'd tell anyone to have a diverse portfolio, with a little bit of everything to keep life interesting, but that's just me :)

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quoththeraven Grand Master

+ quoththeraven

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Agreed, but many of my best investments have come in higher risk areas: When you're younger, you can take the risk without as much fear of betting the entire farm.

 

Overall, I'd tell anyone to have a diverse portfolio, with a little bit of everything to keep life interesting, but that's just me :)

That works fine if it's a small enough percentage of assets and you have a solid base of asset value to begin with.

 

I realize my allergy to non-mutual fund investments is partly due to risk aversion (though I invested heavily in equity funds - usually around 75-80%) and partly because it's not how I want to invest my time.

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