Travel Insurance Reviews for AIG Travel

Our trip was interrupted by a flight cancellation which threatened our ability to reach the start of our scuba liveaboard dive boat. Fortunately, we secured another flight, at an increased cost, and were able to make our cruise. The insurance would not cover the increase in cost which made us realize that the coverage was not what we expected. We now realize that if we had not gotten a substitute flight at an increased cost, we would have not been reimbursed for our liveaboard cruise which was the most expensive portion of our trip -- this is what we actually wanted covered by the insurance. Very disappointing and we will not purchase travel insurance again except for, and through, our medical provider and for medical coverage only. Paying over $1k for this insurance and not having protection against an airline cancellation is frustrating. Yes, if we understood all the details beforehand we would have known this ahead of time, but that was not the case. I am sure that is true for most purchasers.

I chose a mid-level trip insurance, just in case of a trip tragedy. We did have to file a claim because we had a medical emergency the day prior to leaving for our trip that made it impossible for us to attend. We were finally completely reimbursed after almost a month of filing the claim. I am happy that we were completely reimbursed, but the response time was not exactly up to my standards. We were given a claim representative, but when we did have an issue or needed to contact someone we just had to contact the main company & it took some time for that message to get filtered to our actual representative for a reply.

I had no reason cancelation clause and your agent kept asking me for reasons and proof for my trip being canceled. And to only refund 50% of my trip cost left me in the red. I used another insurance company for my trip to Europe this summer and had my train passage interrupted in France. I had to make airline reservations to complete my trip, and the other company refunded my airfare in full only asking for proof of train cancelation and the cost of airfare. While your company took over a month to send me a refund, this company resolved the issue in two days.

AIG wouldn’t cover my claim because I had moved up our trip by two weeks and hadn’t updated the dates accordingly. I claim not fair! We still had the same cruise trip and airfare expenses. They used this technicality to avoid payment.

This was one of the rare trips where we did need to file a claim, due to a cancelled flight. Once we submitted the paperwork and documentation, AIG processed and paid the claim pretty quickly without squawking about it. So experience with the policy was good and smooth.

We got caught up in that mess at Newark airport in June 2023. United moved our connecting flights to the next day while we were in the air, and there was an approximately four-hour line just to talk to a rebooking agent. No hotels, no rental cars available in the area. I submitted my claim for the flight since it was of no use to us being a day later, and I was VERY happy with how quickly AIG Travel Guard resolved my case. Thank you so much. This was my first time ever submitting a claim, and I was worried it would take forever, but it was completed in about a week's time.

In April 2023, I had a scooter accident in Vietnam. I filed my first claim on May 18, 2023. Since then, I have been trying to get a response from AIG related to my claim. There is no one to call. They do not respond to my e-mails. The dozen or so documents I sent could have been reviewed in an hour. Yet, over a month has gone by and I still do not know what is going on with my claim. I keep sending e-mails asking for an update or status, but get nowhere. I have already paid out $3500 in medical and travel expenses to my credit card company. The average person cannot carry this amount for more than a month. Yet, here I am still waiting on any kind of response from AIG. I feel like I will never, ever get an answer from them.

AVOID TRAVEL GUARD AND AIG INSURANCE CO
We bought AIG Travel Guard to cover our flights and rafting trip in the Grand Canyon. Our Airline (American) cancelled our flight at midnight, 8 hrs prior to departure, and couldn’t offer same day departure on another flight. We had to buy new tickets on a different airline in order to arrive in time to depart on our rafting trip. After 6 months of trying, both the ticket agent and the airline refused to refund us for the full cost of our original tickets and the additional cost of last minute booking on a different airline. We turned to AIG for coverage and our claim was denied because they said the airline cancelling your flight is not a covered reason if it occurs prior to your trip - even 8 hours prior when you have no other options. The policy will cover you if your pet gets sick and you miss your trip, so a sick hamster will get your money back but not an airline cancelling your flight. Wouldn’t you think travel insurance would cover the airline cancelling your flight before covering a sick hamster? AIG’s Travel Guard doesn’t.

Furthermore, our claims experience was a complete disappointment. First, we submitted all required documents with our claim. About 4 weeks passed and then AIG asked for all the documents again. We responded that we had submitted everything with the original claim and asked for clarification on what they were missing. There was no response and then several more weeks of silence went by and we received our denial. All the communications we received from AIG end by saying to please call with any questions. So, we called to speak with someone about our claim. The person who answered was clearly reading from a script and was incapable of providing anything other than the scripted answer. This was evident because we were read the same scripted answer multiple times. We then asked to speak with the adjuster about our claim and were promised a call. That call never came.

We did read the policy prior to purchasing it and consider the policy language vague at best. The average person would have significant difficulty knowing whether a potential travel issue would be covered under this product, and there are scenarios like ours that could affect your trip but that you wouldn’t think to ask about ahead. Except for your hamster suddenly becoming ill - that’s covered, no need to ask.

We also think Insuremytrip.com could do a better job of pointing out common travel issues that aren’t covered, and that this should be part of the comparison tool.

March 5, 2023:

Since filing a claim my wife, Gail, has done the following: Initial claim: November 2022; had to get a agent to help get a claim number on line and December 13, 2022 submitted the requested information and received a confirmation that documents submitted were received; December 23, 2022 requesting the same information; January 6 received identical correspondence from Brandyn Dang requesting more information which was sent AGAIN; January 18 email from AIG they needed more time to review my claim, January 26 sent email to AIGTravlAlerts requesting some one call my wife Gail. Gail finally spoke to someone in Customer service who said although we check on the status of our claim the web page to check on the status has not been updated and shows closed. I insisted on speaking to a supervisor who was absolutely NO help. This is very frustrating and I am not the only one having issues with AIG. I have a friend who also is await a response from AIG since November 2022. They are quick to take our money but delays, delays, request for the same information...this is a very poor insurance company.

Trip did not have the promoter ran off with the money two days before the trip left. I called the insurance report it would happen I was told by the agent edit with a 14 day grace. Period so I can couldn’t make a claim.