We’re approaching the busy time of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1st to November 30th. Living in Florida, we’re well aware of what it’s like to have travel plans thrown into chaos when a storm is headed our way. Recently, storms have been larger, and regardless of the exact path, they’ll often impact most of the state.
When a storm is on the way, airlines want to keep their planes at a safe distance. This means they’ll cancel flights to a city before the weather arrives and won’t resume service until after the storm has passed. I’ll use Florida as an example, but this would count for anywhere that’s impacted by extreme weather.
What type of coverage do you need?
Both travelers who are visiting Florida and those who live here and have vacation plans elsewhere are impacted when airlines cancel flights because of a storm. While the airline may refund your ticket price, what about the other costs of the vacation like hotels, rental cars, cruises, and tours?
Hopefully, you have travel insurance that covers trip cancellation.
In addition, the weather can cause you to have to cut your trip short. For example, if a storm pops up suddenly and will hit in a few days, you’ll want to get home before you end up stuck in the storm’s path. Otherwise, you could end up riding out a hurricane in your hotel and unable to return home for days.
That’s when you’ll need trip interruption coverage.
Do travel insurance plans cover hurricane-based delays?
Fortunately, most travel insurance plans that provide trip cancellation/interruption coverage include hurricanes as a covered risk. However, there’s one big exception. YOU NEED TO PURCHASE COVERAGE BEFORE THERE’S A NAMED STORM. According to NOAA, storms get a name when they progress from a tropical depression to a tropical storm. This means they display a rotating circulation pattern and wind speeds reach 39 miles per hour. This progression can happen quickly so if you wait until you see a storm on the television, it’s probably too late to buy insurance.
“I don’t need hurricane coverage”
You may feel like you don’t need to worry about this coverage because you don’t live in the Southeastern US. Insuremytrip lists the top 10 worst airports for hurricane-related cancellations, and only one of them is in the south. 
In addition, there are several ways a hurricane can impact your travel plans. Insuremytrip.com breaks them into these categories.
- Airline or Cruise Line Cancels or Delays the Trip Due to Weather
- Your Destination is Under a Hurricane Warning
- Accommodation Cancels a Reservation because of Storm Damage at Destination
- You Must Cancel or Interrupt because Your Home was Made Uninhabitable by a Natural Disaster
- Going Home Early because Your Destination has Become Uninhabitable while You are There
What if you have travel coverage from your credit card?
If you paid for a trip with your travel credit card, you’ll often get trip cancellation and interruption coverage. I recommend looking at the website for your card and finding a detailed explanation of the benefits to learn if you’re covered for hurricanes. I pulled up the coverage for the two cards I use the most for booking travel, the Sapphire Reserve and the AMEX Platinum Card and both cover hurricanes.
Sapphire Reserve
Named Storm Warning — A warning issued by a meteorological society with jurisdiction to issue such warning, during dates of the Covered Traveler’s scheduled travel, for a named storm that is occurring or is imminently expected to occur within fifty (50) miles of the airport, terminal, or station they are scheduled to depart from or arrive to, or their booked Provider of Lodging, and/or Host at Destination location; a Named Storm Warning does not include a government’s declaration of a state of emergency in absence of a Named Storm Warning
American Express Platinum Card
Inclement weather, which prevents a reasonable and prudent person from traveling or continuing on a Covered Trip
Final Thought
The decision about if you’re going to depend on the coverage from your credit card or purchase a travel insurance policy is up to you. I’d say that for a simple trip, the coverage from your cards should suffice. However, if you have an expensive cruise, rental property or tour package booked at your destination, paying extra for an insurance policy is worth the peace of mind. Just don’t wait until the last minute to purchase insurance.
Image by David Mark from Pixabay
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