Travel Insurance Reviews for AIG Travel

We purchased the plan because we were traveling with small children and I was afraid they might get sick before our trip. But, my mother in law became very ill and we were afraid to leave town. She ended up passing away on Nov. 14. We will replan our trip to outer banks in the spring. I will definitely purchase insurance through your company. That reassurance is comforting in today’s world. Thank you so much and I will definitely recommend your company.
Warmest regards,
Dina Compton

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.

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.

I filed a claim because, after making an Airbnb reservation, the place was revealed to be infested with bedbugs. Airbnb would not refund because the host would not cooperate. They urged me to file a claim with my travel insurance.

The adjuster sent a series of absurd emails which suggested that I would only be compensated if I KEPT the reservation and CONTRACTED bed bugs. This is a public health nightmare, and especially galling because I'd upgraded coverage because of the constant shuffling of plans around COVID.

I want a plan that covers pet emergencies. They are family too

Had to contact my state’s Insurance Commission and the Wisconsin BBB to get fair treatment. Things are finally resolved after endless humiliation and hassle and only resolved thanks to the Insurance Commissioner and the BBB.

I had a bad experience of not “reading the fine print” and I had a weather hazard event that caused disruption in my trip and my claim was denied because I did not read the fine line of how those events are categorized. I felt it was useless policy and didn’t help me at all when I needed it.

The claim was for Trip cancellation due to illness.

The good part is that they spotted an inconsistency in the Doctor's Report and, instead of just denying the claim, they sent a clarification email with a form for the doctor to fill out. Once this form was returned to them, they paid promptly and fairly. So they actually care about their customers.

The bad part is that it took them 10 weeks just to look at the claim after I filed it. And most of that was before the Pandemic.

So expect to be treated fairly, but don't expect fast service.

We always buy trip insurance when we travel to skiing. Prior to this year, only once in 10 years have we had to make use of the secondary medical coverage benefit in these trip insurance policies, and in that prior experience the coverage, service, and support were exceptional. This year we had a party-member injured on the trip and we were shocked and disappointed to learn the coverage did NOT include continuing medical care required after our return from the trip. In the previous experience, the secondary medical benefit provided a full year of follow-up care for the injury incurred during the trip (after our primary coverage benefit). In the policy we bought this year, not a single cost incurred for treatment once we returned from the trip is included for coverage. This difference in (absence of) secondary medical coverage benefit needs to be made very clear in the highlights presented when a person is shopping in your on-line market. Sure - buyer beware. I get that. So, you got me once, but I will bring my shopping business somewhere else every other time going forward. We are very unhappy. We feel very cheated. We are telling everyone we know to be beware of your service.

This review isn't for this specific purchase but rather in general for AIG Travelguard insurance. We have traveled extensively for about 20 years and have always purchased Travelguard insurance for our overseas and sometimes our domestic trips. We have had to completely cancel 2 trips over the years due to a family death and a serious family illness and had one trip extended due to an airline disruption. All three claims (the most recent was in 2018) were paid quickly and completely with no issues whatsoever from AIG TG. All staff that I spoke with for questions or assistance prior to filing the claims were helpful and knowledgeable. It is hard to know which insurance to pick unless you know someone who has had to file a claim - I definitely recommend this company based on my experiences so far.