Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection Launches AirCare™ Abroad

Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection, part of Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance, has announced that AirCare™, the low-cost, fixed-benefit flight-protection coverage introduced last year for US domestic flights, is now also available for US residents flying internationally. AirCare™ Abroad will be made available directly to consumers through the company's website, call center and award-winning mobile app, as well as through travel suppliers and agents, up to 24 hours prior to a flight's departure.

According to the Department of Transportation, 2014 was one of the worst years for flight cancellations since 2007. Nearly four percent (69,257 flights) of U.S. flights were cancelled, compared to 1.8 percent in 2013. This year there have been nearly 50,000 flight cancellations, or 2.54 percent of all U.S. flights. According to FlightStats, in just the last 30 days there have been more than 35,700 flight cancellations around the world – including nearly 9,000 in the United States this July alone.

In response, Berkshire Hathaway Travel Insurance has enhanced both its domestic AirCare™ product and the just-launched AirCare™ Abroad with flight-cancellation coverage to compensate customers when a carrier cancels their flights.

"With the strong dollar, more Americans are travelling internationally, and we're pleased to offer a new version of AirCare™ designed specifically to meet the needs of the international traveler," said Dean Sivley, president of Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection. "As travelers continue to experience increasing flight cancellations due to an air system that appears to be stretched to its limits, we are also pleased to come to their rescue with our newly enhanced AirCare™ products that include travel assistance and our new flight-cancellation coverage for both domestic and international flights. This will ensure that our customers are protected and compensated for the most common yet most annoying disruptions wherever they travel."

AirCare™ Abroad is priced starting at $46 per round trip, per person. The policy pays $250 for flight cancellation, $50 for a delay of two or more hours and $1,000 for a tarmac delay of two or more hours. A baggage delay of more than 12 hours pays $500, and a baggage loss pays $1,000.

Domestic AirCare™ is offered starting at $34 per round trip, per person. The domestic policy pays $150 for a flight cancellation, $50 for a flight delay of two or more hours and $1,000 for a tarmac delay of two or more hours. If travelers miss their connection (only available on domestic routes) they will receive a payment of $100. If a traveler's baggage is lost or delayed for more than twelve hours, they will receive $500.

Both AirCare™ products include proactive travel-assistance solutions through MyAssist™, a global assistance and concierge service.

In addition, both AirCare™ products will feature an industry first. In addition to electronic claims processing and fast, direct-deposit payment straight to a bank account or PayPal, customers now have their claims paid directly to any U.S. debit card. Insurance claims are made in real time. Travelers can access their payments directly from their accounts moments after the claim has been processed and approved.

Travelore Tips: The Travel Insurance In Your Wallet You Didn't Know You Had

(Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

I recently wrote about a new air travel insurance plan called AirCare, which provides cash payouts on the spot if your flight is delayed more than two hours for any reason, if your luggage is lost, delayed or stolen, if a flight delay causes you to miss a connecting flight, or if you're stuck on the tarmac for more than two hours. There are surprisingly no obvious loopholes, and this is over and above what compensation you might collect from the airline, insurance policies or other sources, all for $25 per flight.

But soon after publishing the story, some readers pointed out that credit cards provide the same benefits for free. Do they? Yes and no.

READ MORE: New service covers flight mishaps for $25 a trip

What I didn't realize is that, yes, some credit card issuers have, buried in their fine print, contracts with rather extensive travel insurance. But not all do, and the benefits vary widely between issuers.

Did you ever have a laptop or iPhone stolen or "go missing" during TSA scanning, or perhaps in the plane? Depending on the cards you used to pay for your trip, your issuer's built-in, free travel insurance might have compensated you for at least part of your loss.

Did a traveling companion get sick just before departing on a trip, causing you to cancel? Did the airline lose your bags, and only offer a paltry $500 in compensation? You might have been covered and not even known it.

It's the travel insurance you probably didn't know you have.

Of course, the details of that coverage are going to be buried in fine print, in documents you probably threw away when your card showed up in the mail. Not to worry – it's easy to go back and check because it's all online.

There are three main categories of air travel insurance included with credit cards, although not all cards offer all of them:

Trip interruption or delay

Your flight is interrupted or delayed after departure due to a "covered reason" -- typically one or more (but not always all) of the following: illness, injury, labor strikes, equipment failure or weather. Needless to say, no card covers all possible causes of a delay. If it's not in the "covered reasons" (for example, a crew showing up late for your flight or congestion-related air traffic control delays), you're on your own.

Trip cancellation (i.e., when you have to cancel a trip before departure)

You or a traveling companion or immediate family member (definitions of "immediate" vary widely) become ill or injured before departure and you need to cancel your plans. For example, your son breaks his leg a week before your trip and you have $4,000 in non-refundable trip arrangements, many credit cards cover that. But in all cases, pre-existing conditions are not covered.

Lost or delayed baggage

The airline loses your checked bag, someone steals something from your carry-on bag in flight, or your bag is not lost but merely delayed upon arrival. Different cards define a delay differently: for some it's just four hours, for another it might be 12 hours. And in almost all cases, lost bag coverage is in "excess" of whatever you collect from your airline or any other insurance you might have, such as homeowners insurance (although if your policy deductible is $1,500 and the loss is $1,000, you might not have to make a claim if you present your policy's declaration page to the credit card company's representative).

Even computers, cellphones and jewelry are covered by some credit cards, although for no more than $500 per incident. But at least it's something, and airlines don't cover these things at all.

Cards vary in their deadline for making a claim, so in some cases if you've had a recent loss but didn't know you had coverage, you may still have time to file a claim retroactively to your credit card issuer (some claims can be made a full year after the loss). However, some cards require that you pay the entire cost of your trip on the card to qualify for coverage, while others settle for just a portion of the trip. One card we checked, oddly, only pays for round-trip transportation, not one-way trips. Some cards cover trips of up to 30 days, another might cover up to 60.

This free coverage will never be as extensive as a policy you purchase separately from a company like Travel Guard or Access America, but neither is it something to ignore, and if you've had a recent loss you even might be able to file a claim retroactively.

Are you covered?

Airfarewatchdog looked in-depth at some favorite credit card brands and found some with extensive benefits and others with paltry ones, even though the annual fees tend to be similar. Here's a synopsis of what they will and won't do for you next time something goes bump in the flight, along with links to their official contracts:

American Express

Chase Sapphire card

Citibank Aadvantage Signature card

World MasterCard

Capital One Venture Rewards

United Explorer Visa Platinum card

Contributed by George Hobica,  the founder of Airfarewatchdog.com. Airfarewatchdog features the best airfares on thousands of routes verified by a team of expert fare analysts.

Follow us on Twitter: @TraveloreReport

Travelore Tips: Spend $25 To Stop Worrying About Flight Delays Or Cancellations With A Flight Protection Plan Called AirCare

© STEVE PREZANT/CORBIS

Few travelers would want to relive last winter’s record level of flight cancellations and delays—by all accounts, it was a nightmare season for frequent fliers. But if future seasons are as turbulent, there’ll be at least another form of protection: A new type of travel insurance launching today is designed to ensure that put-upon fliers can get relief without having to depend on an airline to deliver it.

The flight protection plan, called AirCare, is a novel take on conventional travel insurance policies, which typically are designed to cover individuals who might have to cancel big ticket trips, like tour packages or cruises, for medical or other emergencies. But AirCare’s protection is designed exclusively for airline-related snafus. For a fee of only $25 per trip (payable up to an hour before departure), the traveler qualifies for an immediate payment for an array of flight horrors, starting with $50 for a delay of more than two hours. The payment rises in proportion to the inconvenience: For a missed connection caused by a flight delay, you get $500; ditto for luggage that’s delayed for more than 12 hours. For fliers stuck on the tarmac for more than two hours (one hour less than the federally mandated trigger for penalties on the airlines), you get $1,000. While some airlines do offer partial refunds or vouchers for some of these circumstances, the AirCare protections are in addition to whatever the airline eventually ponies up—assuming they do at all.

The plan is offered by Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection, part of a larger insurance company under billionaire Warren Buffett’s vast umbrella of investments. The travel insurer is headed by John Noel, who founded Travel Guard and is a well-known figure in the field. In an interview, Noel described the new venture as a “real game-changer,” saying that the goal is to keep it “simple and inexpensive,” offering protection for situations that rarely get covered. "We're starting a whole new industry," he notes. Although the program currently extends only to domestic travel, plans are afoot to offer protection for international flights; a more extensive suite of services are also available for an extra fee. You can also download a mobile app (for iOS and Android devices) for easy access when you’re inevitably stuck at the airport.

Follow us on Twitter: @TraveloreReport

Contributed by Barbara Peterson, www.cntraveler.com