Boarding Pass

Dear Globetrotter:

Welcome to the 413th issue of your monthly overseas travel magazine.

Wondering if continuing ash clouds from the volcano in Iceland will affect a flight of yours in Europe? Charts predicting the locations of ash clouds up to five days in advance can be found on the website of the UK’s National Weather Service, Met Office. On the maps of Europe shown, the projected ash cloud overlays are updated every six hours.

In fact, ash clouds from volcanoes around the world have been tracked since the mid-1990s. The International Civil Aviation Organization has set up nine Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers on which aviation depends. They are in London; Toulouse; Washington, DC; Anchorage; Montreal; Tokyo; Darwin; Wellington, and Buenos Aires. Visit www.metoffice.gov.uk/aviation/vaac.

To encourage tourism to Thailand in the wake of the recent violence there, the Thai government has waived tourist visa fees until March 31, 2011, and issued free insurance to cover foreigners who experience loss, damage, injury or death as a result of the political unrest.

The coverage maximum is $10,000, total. A traveler who requires more than 10 days’ hospitalization will also receive free medical treatment and $1,000 daily in compensation. Those experiencing travel delays due to unrest there will get a stipend of $100 per day.

Contact the Tourism Authority of Thailand (in New York City, 212/432-0433, and Toronto, 416/614-2625).

As of May 1, visitors to Cuba must show that they have authorized health insurance that covers them while traveling there. State or private insurance from any country except the United States is acceptable, but proof of coverage must be presented. Those without it must purchase a policy from Cubatur before entering the country.

Kiosks at points of entry sell Cubatur policies, which cost about $3 per day and cover medical expenses up to $7,560. Travelers age 70 or more and those planning high-risk activities must pay additional premiums, and preexisiting conditions may not be covered.

In May, the Libyan government once again began issuing visas to American travelers.

Because of the elaborate procedures required to get a Libyan visa (including having your biographical information translated into Arabic), most travelers choose to visit as members of tour groups or cruise ship passengers.

For more info, contact the Libyan Embassy (Washington, DC; phone 202/944-9601).

In April, the European Union and the Libyan government agreed that they would both lift their bans on granting visas between them.

As of May 1, Myanmar allows Tourist Visas to be purchased on arrival. The visa costs $30 and is valid for 28 days but cannot be extended.

An applicant for a Tourist Visa must have a passport or travel documents valid for at least six more months, a return ticket, two passport-sized photos and, to show sufficient funds, at least $300 (or equivalent in foreign currency) in cash… and be staying at a licensed accommodation.

With a homestay (address required), a Social Visit Visa costs $40 and is extendable.

As before, purchasing a Tourist Visa through an embassy or consulate before arriving in Myanmar costs $20.

For more info, contact the Myanmar Embassy (Washington, DC; 202/332-3344).

The EU has set April 2013 as the deadline by which airports in Europe must have installed passenger-screening equipment that can detect liquid explosives, at which point people may resume carrying onto planes containers larger than 100 milliliters (3.38 ounces).

Companies set limits on what they are responsible for, and it’s the customer’s responsibility to know those limits.

Douglas Nason, an ITN subscriber in Los Angeles, California, was on his way to join an African safari beginning in Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe. Departing on Sept. 24, 2009, he was ticketed to fly Los Angeles-Washington, DC-Johannesburg-Victoria Falls and, finally, to the Ruckomechi airstrip in the park. Unfortunately, while waiting to board his first flight, on United, it was canceled due to mechanical problems.

Douglas was rebooked to fly to Johannesburg out of Atlanta (via Denver), but when he arrived in Georgia the airline had no record of his being booked. He was rerouted to Washington, DC, where he spent the night in a hotel before flying to Johannesburg and Victoria Falls, arriving a day late.

He had missed a prepaid night at a lodge in Victoria Falls ($220) and, needing to catch up to his group, he had to purchase a new ticket ($928) for the charter flight to Mana Pools. Aside from his checked bag’s not catching up to him for six days, he did enjoy the rest of his trip.

Upon returning home, he asked United Airlines to reimburse him for his missed flight in Zimbabwe and to provide an allowance for his baggage being delayed. He also asked to be reimbursed for his missed night of lodging in Zimbabwe.

The airline replied, “United does not absorb costs our customers incur to reach destinations not shown on their Star Alliance ticket. This includes the cost of unused prepaid hotel accommodations, special events or transportation at our customer’s destination.” United did give him a travel voucher for $250 and eventually reimbursed him $216 for baggage-delay expenses.

Douglas thought United’s stated position was odd, since his travel agent certainly included the Mana Canoe Trails flight on his documented itinerary of flights.

Douglas then filed a claim on a travel policy he had purchased for $382 specifically for the trip. Travel Guard/Mercury had him fill out forms and provide receipts, itineraries, etc., before eventually responding as follows: “… your trip was interrupted due to a maintenance problem concerning your flight, which is viewed as a carrier-caused reason. Unfortunately, carrier caused reasons are not recognized as a covered loss under the trip interruption benefit” (of your policy).

Seeing that a couple of his assumptions were incorrect, after some research I wrote the following to Douglas:

“Star Alliance is a group of airlines that work together. United is a member, but the ‘private charter’ from Victoria Falls to Mana Pools National Park is not a member. That flight, therefore, was ticketed separately from the previous flight legs and would have been out of the responsibility of United. The airline fulfilled its contract in getting you to what was your final destination as far as they were concerned, but getting you to any ongoing destinations was not their responsibility.

“Also, it is an airline’s responsibility to get you to your destination, but, unfortunately, not necessarily on the same day you expected to get there. Unavoidable things frequently happen that prevent that, and in many cases the airline cannot be blamed.

“Regarding travel insurance, the traveler is covered only for events/things listed in the policy purchased.

“I phoned Mercury Claims of Wisconsin (Travel Guard) and asked if carrier-caused reasons were EVER covered. The rep said these were covered in some of their policies in one of two ways.

“The coverage used more frequently is called a ‘missed-connection benefit,’ and that would be the wording of the heading to look for. It comes with a time stipulation, meaning coverage kicks in after a delay of, say, three to five hours or 12 hours or 24 hours. You’re covered in the event of a carrier-caused delay or a weather-caused delay, and you get reimbursed for lost prepaid expenses, additional transportation expenses, etc.

“Less frequently implemented is coverage for something with wording like ‘mechanical/operational difficulties causing carrier delay,’ and it does not have its own heading but falls under the heading of ‘trip-interruption coverage.’ It, too, has a time stipulation but may be for more than just a number of hours. This coverage kicks in if you miss, say (most commonly), 50% of your trip.

“Of course, extra coverage costs extra, and there’s no telling what may delay a flight, if anything.”

“It is clear to me that neither the airline nor the insurance firm broke any contract or rule, and I do not think you can expect any reimbursement.”

“I do believe, however, that many travelers have the same expectations that you did. By printing your story, our readers will be better equipped to decide how to schedule flights and what types of travel insurance to buy, if any.”

Douglas replied, “Thank you for explaining this to me, and please use any of this for ITN readers. In the future, I will give serious thought to cushioning my trips with more time for delays when traveling far to start a tour.”

A number of readers have written to Wayne Wirtanen in response to his “Eye On Insurance” column, and some have asked him about travel insurance that he may be selling.

Wayne sells no travel insurance and has no connection to the insurance industry. He simply studies their policies and writes about them for ITN. He continues to welcome calls, letters and e-mails from subscribers who have questions on travel insurance or are wondering what types to purchase.

May Litowsky of Houston, Texas, wrote, “Thank you for the two letters regarding travel for the physically impaired (May ’10, pg. 28). I, too, am recently handicapped and after many years of independent travel am looking for ways to continue our love of the unknown. I know we can cruise quite easily but will try land travel very soon. I am inspired now to keep going.”

Don Kinser of Hillsboro, Oregon, sent in the address of a traveler to receive a free sample copy of ITN and added the note, “I send these when I have a likely candidate; however, most of our friends are bright enough to already be subscribers. We value the magazine highly. The recent exchanges regarding chip-and-PIN credit cards (May ’10, pg. 36) being a good example of its value.”

Katrina Donnelly of Welcome Bay, Tauranga, New Zealand, wrote, “We love this wonderful magazine. My American sister gives me a subscription to it each year as a very welcome Christmas present.”

Do any of you have an interesting story about how you discovered ITN? Let me know.

Those of you with Web access, check out our redesigned website (still www.intltravelnews.com). We’ve made it easier to browse and easier to do travel-planning research with an interactive map.

Many more improvements are coming. Stay tuned!— DT