5 tips to counter flight delays or cancellations in typhoon or adverse weather

Do you know you can benefit from buying your travel insurance early? That’s because some of your protection comes into effect once you’re successfully applied.

If a tropical storm or rainstorm warning (e.g. Black Outbound Travel Alert) issued before your trip has resulted in a delay or even cancellation of your flight, you’ll be entitled to file corresponding claims if you had taken out the insurance policy in advance.

But if your insurance is only purchased after the adverse weather event has announced, most insurers would consider that as a known risk and do not provide coverage.

Your claim should be submitted within 30 days of the incident and include an official proof issued by the airline stipulating that the flight delay or cancellation was caused by adverse weather.

If you have to spend extra on accommodation, transportation or even flight tickets, you should keep all the receipts of additional expenses to support your claim.

Remember to retain the following documents: 

1. Flight tickets and boarding passes
2. Letter of proof issued by the airline or public transport operator showing the length & reason of delay
3. Original receipts of additional expenses arising from the delay, such as receipts issued by hotels, airlines or transport companies (if any)

Simply input your claim information online, and upload digital copies of the relevant supporting documents. After submission, you will receive an instant email acknowledgement and a tracking number for your registered claim. You can submit claims online in a few minutes anytime and anywhere, making claim submission process easy!

Read through the terms and conditions before taking out an insurance policy as each of them provides a different coverage. For instance, in the event of a delay, most travel insurance plans only allow the insured person to claim either “fixed cash reimbursement based on hours of delay” or “additional accommodation and travelling expenses due to travel delay”.

For example, under iTravel Plus (Single Trip), if adverse weather has led to suspension of any public transport and your departure from Hong Kong would be postponed for no less than 24 hours, you are entitled to cancel the trip altogether and claim for all paid and non-refundable expenses for travel and accommodation, including theme park admission tickets, subject to a limit of HK$50,000.

Mobile apps for accommodation reservation can come in handy when you need to spend extra nights away from home due to flight delay or cancellation.

Also download a few weather and transport apps, and bookmark related websites, so you can quickly look up real-time transport options and latest weather conditions, which are particularly useful during typhoon seasons.

Furthermore, both iTravel Plus (Single Trip) and iTravel Plus (Annual) offer 24-hour Worldwide Travel Assistance* to provide appropriate support for the insured in case of emergency. Depending on the circumstances, we can arrange 24-hour worldwide emergency medical evacuation and repatriation after treatment, settle deposit for hospital admission, arrange visits by family and friends, provide legal support and even handle travel information enquiries.

*MSIG 24-hour Worldwide Travel Assistance services hotline: 3122 6899

If you have any enquiries, please feel free to contact us or find out more about our insurance plans:

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Learn more about EASY Claims and file your claims online anytime, anywhere. 

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