We’re here to pull back the curtain on trip cancellation and break down the ways you’re covered. In this post we go through the “fine print” you need to know in order to understand what’s protected under your trip cancellation benefit with your Faye plan.
First of all, what is a covered reason?
Covered reasons are specific events that may happen to you or your travel companion that deem you eligible to make a claim and receive reimbursement on approved claims.
With Faye, trip cancellation coverage is built into most plans that are purchased more than 48 hours before your departure date. Meaning you’re covered for up to 100% of unused, prepaid non-refundable trip costs, including covered flights, hotel bookings, tickets & activities. FYI: your trip cost is determined by the dollar amount you provide to us when you purchase a Faye plan so make sure it reflects the sum of the non-refundable expenses for your trip (best practice: exclude refundable expenses, i.e. refundable airfare, as it would be given back by the airlines directly). If you have any questions, you can always call our 24/7 support team and increase the trip cost pre-trip if needed.
Faye’s trip cancellation covered reasons
Now to get into the specifics of what Faye’s trip cancellation coverage protects. You can be reimbursed for any of the following covered, unforeseen events:
Medical complications and death
- Your, a family member’s, a traveling companion’s, a traveling companion’s family member’s or business partner’s death that occurs before departure on your trip.
- Your, a family member’s, a traveling companion’s, traveling companion’s family member’s or business partner’s, sickness or injury, that occurs before departure and is examined and treated by a physician prior to cancellation (unless it is not reasonably possible to do so); and as certified by a physician, results in medical restrictions so disabling as to cause you to cancel your trip.
- Sickness or injury of your business partner must be so disabling as to reasonably cause you to cancel your trip to assume daily management of the business.
- You or your traveling companion have complications of pregnancy, which are verified by medical records and such complications occur after the effective date of coverage.
- Your host at your scheduled destination is unable to provide accommodations due to a life-threatening sickness or injury, or due to their death.
- You or your traveling companion are quarantined.
Natural disasters and transportation issues
- You or your traveling companion are directly involved in a traffic accident, while en route to your scheduled trip departure city, documented by a police report.
- Mandated shut down by local government authorities of an airport or air traffic control system resulting in the complete cessation of services (other than terrorism or act of war) for at least 6 consecutive hours of your air common carrier.
- Due to a natural disaster, a mandatory evacuation is ordered by local government authorities at your scheduled destination which prevents you from traveling to or arriving at your scheduled destination.
- Your or your traveling companion’s primary residence or scheduled destination is made uninhabitable and remains uninhabitable during your trip by a natural disaster or burglary.
Friendly FYI that a hurricane is foreseeable on the date it becomes a named storm, therefore claims are only payable if a hurricane is not foreseeable prior to your effective date for trip cancellation.
Crime and financial defaults
- A documented theft of your passports or visas specifically required for your trip. A police report must be provided.
- You or your traveling companion are the victim of a felonious assault within 10 days prior to the scheduled departure date.
- The financial insolvency or financial default of an entity that directly provides travel arrangements, including an air common carrier, cruise line, tour operator, or other travel entity that causes a complete cessation of travel services if the financial insolvency or financial default occurs more than 14 days following your effective date for your trip cancellation benefit.
Benefits will be paid due to financial insolvency or financial default of an airline only if no alternate transportation is available. If alternate transportation is available, benefits will be limited to the change fee charged to allow you to transfer to another airline in order to get to your intended destination.
Work and service obligations
- You or your traveling companion are subpoenaed, served with a court order, required to serve on a jury, or required to appear as a witness in a legal action, provided you or your traveling companion are not a party to the legal action except if you must appear in a law enforcement capacity.
- You or your traveling companion or family member are called to active military duty either to serve or to provide aid or relief in the event of a natural disaster.
- You or your traveling companion’s previously granted military leave is revoked or reassigned. Official written revocation or re-assignment by a supervisor or commanding officer of the appropriate branch of service will be required. The military leave for the dates of travel must have been approved prior to the effective date of trip cancellation coverage and the leave revoked or reassigned after the effective date of trip cancellation coverage.
- You or your traveling companion are involuntarily terminated or laid off from your job. The termination notice must occur at least 1 day after your trip cancellation effective date. You or your traveling companion must have been employed with the same employer for at least 1 continuous year. This does not include temporary or seasonal employment, independent contractors, freelancers or self-employed persons.
Terrorism and travel alerts
- You or your traveling companion are hijacked.
- A terrorist incident by a recognized terror organization occurs before your trip within 30 days of your scheduled departure date in a city listed on the scheduled itinerary of your trip, provided your travel supplier (if applicable) did not offer a substitute itinerary.
- A travel alert or travel warning for levels 4 and higher is issued for cities listed on your itinerary after your effective date for trip cancellation to a destination specifically listed on your itinerary. The travel alert or warning must occur within 30 days of the scheduled departure date.
When to cancel your trip
Don’t forget that you must report cancellations to the travel supplier – like your airline – within 72 hours of the event causing the need to cancel. If the event delays the reporting of the cancellation beyond 72 hours, you should report the event as soon as possible. At Faye, we do not cover increased amounts of unused, non-refundable prepaid payments or deposits that result from all other delays or reporting beyond 72 hours.
What’s the difference between covered reasons and foreseeable events?
Faye and most travel insurance providers do not cover expected or foreseeable events or problems. Simply put, if you’re purchasing travel protection and you’re already thinking that you might need to cancel for a specific reason, then that reason is probably a foreseeable event. If this is the case, you’re better off planning your trip when there isn’t a high likelihood of canceling.
A common example of foreseeable events is a level 4 travel alert. If you’re booking a vacation and you’re destination lands on the level 4: do not travel list from the U.S. State Department and you buy travel protection after it’s on the list, you won’t be covered. However, if you cover your trip prior to your destination being placed on the list then it would be a covered scenario as it is not foreseeable yet.
Travel the Faye way
We hope we’ve managed to demystify what a covered reason for trip cancellation is! Have more questions? Contact our support team at support@withfaye.com.
