Travel insurance to cover pre paid hotel when flight is cancelled in advance -2months

ElSuz

I'm trying to arrange travel insurance to avoid a situation that has happened to me previously and I can't seem to find it included in any policies I've looked at.

In November I booked flights with Vueling and booked and prepaid at hotel for later this month . Vueling emailed us to change the outbound flight but they offered us an alternative of flying a week earlier or arriving on the same day as we left. We are unable to travel earlier (and didn't want to pay for an extra 4 nights in hotel etc) so had to book flights with Ryan Air instead. I'm looking for an insurance policy that would cover this situation by either:

paying the additional flight costs

or
paying the cost of the prepaid hotel that we were unable to recover any other way (we tried the hotel, credit card and insurance)

I spoke to London Victoria who said they would cover this situation with their Premier cover but I read the policy document and they don't.

Any help much appreciated.

Thank you

glider3560

Book a refundable hotel room is my advice. I have previously been in a similar situation to you and now always book refundable rates only.

The extra small payment on the room cost is definitely worth paying to get a flexible booking. Treat the extra cost as the insurance premium.

Different online sites have different prices with different terms. Shop around to find the cheapest rate with the best terms.

ElSuz

Thanks, that's a good way to look at it.

ElSuz

I'll also not book flights with Veuling ever again!

ThinkingOutLoud_2

This is actually something that didn't use to happen so much because we all booked "package holidays" and so the tour operator sorted out any changes across the flight and hotel, etc.

The problem is with the ability to book things one at at time (which I love) we create multiple dependencies between separate contracts we enter into.

This has vexed many travel insurers as clearly they want to insure the unexpected, but how to price or underwrite for the combination of parties doing their own thing from airline to hotel to car hire, to local guide/tour or a flight to Paris and expensive concert tickets where the airline arriving two hours later means ...

And at what point does the operational decisions of an airline become the responsibility of an insurer - well start by checking the airline isn't liable - http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/flight-changes

Not sure on the specific insurers actual cover - but it is usually only on the highest cover level policies that you see something trying to address and offer protection for "dynamic packaging".

glider3560 does offer an elegantly simple solution and admirable philosophy, but sometimes the savings by pre-bookings without cancellation are significant.