Tom’s description of using the Chase Sapphire trip delay insurance

One of the joys of point and miles travel is the flexibility these bookings can offer. Many airline programs allow you to book flights on points and cancel up until boarding time and essentially get your points and taxes/fees back. Additionally, many premium travel credit cards include various types of travel insurance that can come in handy when the weather turns foul or your bag flies off to Siberia instead of Slovenia.

On our recent trip to Aruba, when our oldest daughter got her college schedule, she decided she would be able to join us only a few weeks out from the trip.  We were able to find decent flights on points by booking two one-way segments on JetBlue there and Southwest back. It was great to be able to make that work for her, even if we couldn’t get her on the same flights as us.

Fast forward to the trip, and from the time touched down in Aruba, winter storm Fern kept growing and growing in its predicted size and scope. We were trying to have a no worries tropical vacation, but we ended up getting more and more nervous about getting stuck for days (would that have been so bad?). We eventually decided to change our return day from Sunday to Saturday.  It was simplest to keep our daughter flying on Southwest even though we were on a different carrier. We made it home on Delta with no issues at at all, but her connecting flight from Orlando back to Pittsburgh ended up getting canceled and rebooked for early the next morning.

It took us a few moments and all of our frazzled brain power, but we eventually realized that even though we had purchased her flight with points, the taxes and fees were paid on our Sapphire Reserve. We made this realization just in time to book her a room at the Hyatt Regency in the Orlando Airport. This can be an expensive hotel, and the rate at the time was around $600. We were hoping that we could make a trip delay claim and recoup most of this, and also have the peace of mind that she’d be right at the airport to catch her morning flight.

I was wondering if it would work with a booking done by Melissa in her Southwest account for a different passenger, our daughter, on my Sapphire Reserve card, and on a changed itinerary. Additionally, the charge for the hotel was on our daughter’s credit card. Turns out it all worked out, and it wasn’t that hard.

The Frequent Miler has a good guide to credit card benefits from common premium cards. The Sapphire Reserve provides $500 of trip delay protections for each day for each ticket, even if you only pay a portion of the cost on the card (ie: just the taxes and fees). If you are delayed for greater than six hours, you can be eligible for this coverage, and this includes everyone in your household, not just the cardholder and authorized users on the card. The Sapphire Reserve has a similar $500 benefit, but it kicks in when you are delayed twelve hours or overnight.  The expenses that can be reimbursed are lodging, meals, toiletries, medications, and other reasonable expenses. You have to file a claim within 60 days to be eligible for reimbursement. 

The Process 

I had never made a claim, so I had to go www.chasecardbenifts.com. I was then prompted to register my Sapphire card and make a login. I was then presented with all of the claims I could make:

I selected Trip Delay Reimbursement and was prompted to upload:

• Itemized sales receipts for reasonable expenses incurred due to the trip delay, including:
  • Meals
  • Lodging
  • Toiletries
  • Medication
• Documentation related to the settlement or reimbursement that you received from any other insurer.
• An official communication from the common carrier (e.g., airline, train, or cruise line) confirming the delay occurred and its duration.
• Covered traveler’s itinerary showing:
  • The passenger names
  • Common Carrier ticket / travel supplier ticket cost
  • Proof of payment for the trip made with your covered card or redeemable rewards
• Settlement payment or denial from the Common Carrier claim, including vouchers, credits, or refunds. Such as meals and lodging.

I uploaded the Hyatt bill, the original Southwest booking email, the change flight email, the email that the flight was canceled, and my Chase bill.  I was prompted to select how I’d like to be paid: by check or ACH. Then I clicked “submit” and hoped it would go through!

I submitted on 1/27 and I received a letter on 2/8 that to process my claim they still needed proof of delay. I then realized that I had initially uploaded the wrong email message and was able to upload the Southwest email that specifically said the delay was due to weather. I got a notice that my claim was approved on 2/14 for $500 dollars, and on 2/17 I got notice that the ACH payment was sent to my account.  This was an easy process and getting a reimbursement like this definitely takes away some of the sting of a high annual fee card.

One final tip that we learned from this experience is that when possible, booking individual segments as one-way itineraries makes canceling and rebooking much easier. It also makes reimbursement for canceled flights much easier. This is specifically for booking on points – when booking on cash, often you will save a ton of money to book the whole thing round trip, and usually unless you buy a more expensive refundable fare, you will not be reimbursed for last minute cancellations like you can be with points.

We had originally booked our whole itinerary on American Airlines as four roundtrip flights. We canceled the return portion and booked a different flight on Delta because it was the only option to get us home before the snow. Because we were partway through the American Airlines itinerary, we didn’t immediately get the points and taxes refunded back as you typically would if it were a one-way flight. After calling and talking to multiple people, it was straightened out, but not before they refunded us the wrong amount (which of course was only a fraction of the correct amount). It eventually got sorted. We didn’t lose any money on this pivot, but man, it would have been easier if we had booked two one-way flights!

We’ve been pretty lucky over the years with our travels; this is only the second time we’ve had a significant delay to deal with. We’re glad for these credit card perks and the ease of pivoting that traveling on points gives us. We hoping not to have to test it out again, though!