News
Travel expert highlights 3 tips ahead of hurricane season
The 2024 hurricane season is in full swing and is expected to wreak havoc on travelers around the world with flight delays and cancellations.
Brian Kelly, founder of the dots guya travel website, shared three ways travelers can protect their wallets during the season.
First, Kelly said, buy travel insurance. In May, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimated an 85% probability of an above-normal hurricane season. This was proven correct when Hurricane Beryl became the first category 5 storm to form in the Atlantic Ocean in early July. The storm caused more than 1,300 flight cancellations and 1,000 delays in a single day.
“[Hotels] will not reimburse you in most cases if there is a hurricane,” Kelly told Yahoo Finance. “That’s up to you to insure your trip.”
On average, travel insurance costs between 4% and 6% of the total cost of the trip, according to Forbes Advisor Travel Insurance Rate Analysis. Kelly advised travelers to obtain third-party travel insurance rather than purchasing insurance through their airline.
A group of passengers wait to board a flight inside Mexico City International Airport on July 5, 2024, following flight delays due to Hurricane Beryl. (Gerardo Vieyra/NurPhoto via Getty Images) (NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Kelly’s second tip, however, encourages travelers to book their flights directly with airlines.
Although airlines allow passengers to change flights free of charge, and the US Department of TransportationThe new rule requires airlines to provide immediate and automatic cash refunds to travelers when due, but travel agencies are not required to follow that same standard.
“I was just talking to one of our followers today,” Kelly said. “They’re having a terrible time trying to change a flight due to the hurricane through an online travel agent. So book directly with the airlines as much as possible.”
As a third tip, Kelly recommended that travelers turn to their credit cards, which often have free hurricane protection “when airlines don’t cover it.” While coverage varies from card to card, travel protections commonly include trip cancellation and interruption insurance, baggage delay insurance, trip delay insurance, and lost baggage reimbursement. Forbes described the best credit cards for travel insurancewith the Chase Sapphire Reserve card topping the list.
Read more: Chase Sapphire Reserve Review: A Premium Travel Card with Luxury Perks and Flexible Rewards
“If the airline won’t give you what you want, always pick up the phone, call the credit card you used to purchase the ticket, because they can help you with delays and cancellations and with rebooking your ticket,” Kelly said.
Maya is an intern at Yahoo Finance.