As travelers are forced to rethink trips due to the COVID-19 coronavirus, airlines are being praised while trip insurance remains a source of frustration.
A recent survey conducted by travel app TripScout finds that 85% of traveler that have canceled or rescheduled trips have received or are expected to receive some form of refund or credit for future travel.
Furthermore, 69% of travelers say that airlines and local regulators made it easy to understand the impacts of their specific trip.
Says Konrad Waliszewski, co-founder and CEO of TripScout: “Our data shows that traveler sentiment with the airline industry is very high right now.
“Cancellation credits have been relatively painless, information has been consistent and clear. Travelers are mostly pleased with how the airlines are handling the COVID-19 pandemic."
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Meanwhile, Waliszewski says “trip insurance providers are receiving significant backlash from travelers.
The survey of more than 2,400 respondents couldn’t identify a single traveler who was reimbursed by insurance for COVID-19 reasons.
According to TripScout, the only instances that resulted in reimbursement were policies that allow travelers to "cancel for any reason" or were due to claims that were unrelated to COVID-19.
“Unless you purchased ‘cancel for any reason’ coverage, which most travelers don't, then you're out of luck,” says Waliszewski.
“While this response might be consistent with the policy's terms and conditions, it certainly has not been aligned with the traveler's expectations at the time of purchase.”
Among travelers with trip insurance, 68% received it through purchased policies and 30% received it through a credit card.
The survey by TripScout also finds that 77% of travelers have canceled or rescheduled travel plans, 60% plan on traveling just as much in 2020 as they originally anticipated and 34% are booking refundable travel for dates in the future.