Complain about a product or service

Access America Travel

Robin of Pomona, MO August 2, 2009

My Son was a deployed Marine on the USS Boxer and Their last stop before coming home was in Hawaii. They have a program called the "TIGER CRUISE" where A family member can meet them in Hawaii and ride the ship from Hawii to California to welcome them home after being deployed. I purchased my tickets to welcome my Son Home and ride the ship back with him but knowing the Military and the possiblility of having to turn the ship around and go back to the Middle East i bought the insurance to protect the hard earned money for the air plane ticket to Hawaii. So that if for some unforeseen problem came up i could get the money back for the ticket.

Well I received notice from the Ship that the 3 ships that were hauling the Marines my Son was with, had been QURANTINED with flu like symptoms. That they had to cancel the "TIGER CRUISE" due to the QUARANTINE of the Ships.I have a letter from the SHIP'S COMMANDER stating such. i let the airline know and the Insurance company ACCESS AMERICA know and filed a claim- they denied the claim for the following reason: "As your insuring agreement indicated, this is a named perils travel insurance program, which means it covers only the specific situations, events and losses included in this document, and only under the conditions we describe. Unforfunately, the cancellation of your cruise onboard the USS BOXER due to an outbreak of flu onboard the ship is not included among those reasons."

In the policy which i have a copy of that i printed off covers illness of traveling companion- every member of the military that was on the USS BOXER was going to be my TRAVELING COMPANION and it also covers QURANTINE I have a letter from the commander of the ship being QURANTINED!SO why wasn't this covered? What about supporting the MILITARY??? Why am I seeing so many complaints about this company and nothing being done about it. Why is this company still in business? Has a class action suit been filed? IF NOT HOW DO I DO IT? With money being so hard to come by people can't afford to be scammed this way by companies like this.What about all the other Families of the MILITARY that lost out on their airlines tickets being refunded by this company because of the Ship being QUARANTINED?

Keith of Albany, GA July 26, 2009

This insurance isn't worth the paper its written on. My wife; 20 Active Duty Military Member purchased me (civilian) an airline ticket to Dubai (1151.) to meet with her while she attended a conference. We purchase travel insurance to cover an possible change in her schedule as military function change with little notice. We were told at the time of purchase that the insurance would cover such an event. I was informed five days after the ticket purchase that conference dates were changed and we need to reschedule.

I call Access America Travel to inform them of the change... Then they informed me that the change was not covered due to the reason I was not the military member. None of this was explained at the time of purchase. It would appear we feel for the bait and switch. The gave me an option to refund my purchase of the insurance of 65. This insurance isn't worth the paper its written on.

Roy of Albany, GA July 7, 2009

Access America is a fraud. Warning! It will do you no good to purchase this insurance option. I purchased it via Delta.com and am surprised a carrier like Delta is duped into offering it. I had to change my return date to the tune of 150.00 which I expected. I called Access America and they said "no problem, you're covered". Guess what? They lied. I'm out 150.00, but I've read stories of people out thousands due to unforseen emergencies.

JD of Silver Spring, MD June 9, 2009

I purchased travel insurance through United's website, because I am the caretaker for my grandfather. Two weeks before my trip, my grandfather's lung cancer came out of remission and he required 24-hour care. Even though the physician's form documented this fact, Access America denied my claim because of a pre-existing condition.

When I called to inquire, the claims agent said that a cancer diagnosis "is never stable" and given that fact, that it was "stupid" of me to plan a trip. She was incredibly cold and rude.

michael of mount vernon , NY June 4, 2009

I purchase 3 airline tickets from jetblue, plus insurance from access america. my wife had surgery on her left breast. I cancal the airline tickets. Access America will not return my money 2,442.60

K of Amesville, OH June 2, 2009

Our travel agent set us up with Access American last October for a trip with Carnival. We had to cancel due to health problems. We had the necessary Dr. report. It was suppose to be no problem receiving our money in 3 months (we received our airfare back within two weeks!) It's now 7 months. We received 949.00 out of 2995.00. We did receive about 200.00 from Carnival right after cancellation.

We've called the travel agent. Apparently some mix up in how change of status was only for my husband (with health issue) and not me. Carnival was paid twice for the same room but say we "gave" away the room to friends because they show someone stayed in the room. How is that possible when Homeland Security? NO ONE can go in your place on a cruise or airline EVER. They have to have record of it. We paid insurance to cover health cancellation and we have to keep calling and fighting for our money? Is Carnival or Access America a charity case?

Kevin of rvc, NY May 20, 2009

My airline cancelled that route and I had to buy tix with another carrier at an additional cost. A rep from Access America told me to file a claim. They denied the claim and cancelled my policy before the trip! I want to sue but I don't have an address, only a PO Box. Can anyone help?

Neil of McLean, VA May 15, 2009

I live in Virginia and was advised in March that my mother who was 87 and in a nursing home in Florida and under hospice care was having difficulty breathing. The nursing home believed that she would live for at least another week. I booked a flight on US Air and purchased what was described on the US Air website as travel protection insurance. My mother passed away the next day requiring me to change my flight. I paid a 150 rebooking fee and filed a claim with Access America. They required me to provide them with a death certificate.

They denied my claim since they claim that the policy I purchased does not cover for "any loss that results directly or indirectly from any mental or nervous health disorders." Since my mother's cause of death was listed as Alzheimers, Access America contends that this falls outside the coverage of the policy. I talked with two Access America employees who said that while death is covered, some causes of death are excluded. Why should travel protection insurance exclude certain causes of death? Of what use is travel protection insurance if certain causes of death can be excluded? It is clear that they exist solely to deny claims and make money. Someone ought to file a class action lawsuit against Access America on behalf of all who have been misled by this company.

Mai of Morganton, NC May 4, 2009

My girlfriend and I ususally try to take a drip once a year and just have a girls week. We decided on Cancun, Mexico. We booked early in Feb. thru Orbitz.com for August 2, 2009. And bought what we thought was insurance incase "WE" cancel. The insurance was Access America. Do not buy that crap. I called and the lady read a script for me over and over again. She kept repeating what the brochure had said. the explanation on orbitz was "Protect your trip investment with Access America. This comprehensive product offers a wide range of benefits including trip cancellation/interruption coverage for non-refundable trip costs up to 10,000 and emergency medical coverage. Important limitations apply. See terms and conditions."

It made it sound so good. I dont know about you, but these terms and conditions use so much garbage that you cant understand. We thought we were covered under "cancellation". It turns out that neither Oribitz.com or Access America cared about our health, saftey or our lives because of the H1N1 (Swine flu). granted our trip was not until August 2, 2009. But who knows what will happen then. and the all fo these advisory to not travel to Mexico because of the drug war and now the flu. Neither Orbitz nor Access America cared. Access America kept reading the script that unless it was a medical emergency (with doctor's note) and death in the family, fear of flying was not covered. HELLO!! I'm not afraid to fly. I'm afraid of dying from the flu! Orbitz said they could cancel our flight and refund the hotel b/c that has not been charged yet. We would get back a total for the 2 of us 309.96 minus the 25.00 cancellation fee from the hotel. We paid 978.68. So we each would lose 346.86 or a total of 693.72 down the drain.

I am so upset beyound word. We even offered to rescheduled a much later date, we of course would pay the current air fare, plus 50.00 agency rebooking fee. In other words be out more money. Never use Orbitz or Access America Travel Insurance.

Robert of Placencia, OTHER April 22, 2009

I booked my daughter's holiday visit thru Orbitz who use Access America as their supplier of trip insurance. My daughter's Boxing Day flight out of Victoria to Vancouver was canceled due to a snow storm. Air Canada's first available rebooking was 5 days later and it required an extra day layover in San Salvador so we were looking at a 6 day interruption on a 16 day vacation. I went online and found flights for the next day on American Airlines thru Seattle.

We had trip interruption & cancellation insurance so they would cover us for the difference right? Well I got my daughter to call Access America to double check (I couldn't call because Access America doesn't accept collect calls from Belize) and they told her "no problem". I booked the flights & got my daughter to cancel the rebooks. I also went to Access America's website & initiated a travel claim. The net cost to us for the flight changes totaled 536US but Access America is refusing to pay. In the fine print of their insurance policy under cancellations due to weather it states "Your airline, cruise line, or tour operator or travel supplier stops offering all services for at least 24 consecutive hours where you're departing, arriving or making a connection..." So it does not matter that Air Canada couldn't fly between Victoria & Vancouver for 2 days or they couldn't get us replacement flights until 5 days later, as long as they could make one flight to Timbuktu, we aren't getting reimbursed.

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