“I have argued my point to deaf ears”

by Christopher Elliott on September 23, 2009

celebrity cruiseIs the Jones Act a legitimate reason for a travel insurance company to deny a claim, or a convenient excuse? Depends on your perspective.

The Jones Act prohibits foreign-flagged cruise ships from transporting passengers between two ports within the United States. And if you’re Mariann Cutroneo, it’s a cop-out. She and a friend recently missed their Celebrity Alaska cruise because of a mechanical problem with a flight, and were unable to meet the ship at the next port. Her travel insurance company paid her $150 in compensation — just a fraction of the cost of her vacation.

If you’re Access America, it’s a legitimate reason to deny her claim. Not only is the Jones Act a strictly-enforced law, but there’s a provision in its insurance contract that addresses a Jones-related cancellation.

So who’s right?

Let’s begin with Cutroneo’s case.

I planned a trip to Alaska for last June. It was a cruise tour with Celebrity. My airfare was with Air Canada.

I arrived at the airport in plenty of time, was seated on the aircraft. As we taxied out, the airplane developed mechanical problems and had to be returned to the terminal. About an hour later, we were informed me that we had to leave the aircraft and the plane would be delayed until it could be serviced. That later changed to canceled.

We were schedule to board ship that afternoon in Vancouver. The airlines tried to accommodate us by redirecting us to another airline, but nothing would get us to Vancouver in time to board the ship. Air Canada offered to fly us to Seattle, provide lodging and fly us to the first port of call. However, due to the “Jones Act” we were not able to board in Ketchican, Alaska.

Before we go any further, I should probably tell you a little about the Jones Act, also known as the Merchant Marine Act of 1920. It states that “no foreign vessel shall transport passengers between ports or places in the United States, under penalty of $200 for each passenger so transported or landed.” And since cruise ships are foreign-flagged vessels, that applies to Cutroneo’s case.

And now, back to her story …

Since I had insurance with Access American covering the entire trip, I called them immediately to notify them of the problem. They assured me they would take care of it, just write them with all the information including the letter about referencing the “Jones Act”. I did all that. They later informed me that the trip was not canceled but considered a trip delay and would only give us $150 in compensation.

I have argued my point to deaf ears. I have written letters, the last one dated August 19, asking them to reconsider. I have written to the Insurance Commissioner of New Jersey, asking for his help. I have heard from neither.

My travel agent also tried to no avail. Access American insists this is a trip delay, not cancellation and therefore we are not entitled to further compensation.

Can you help?

I asked Access America about Cutroneo’s situation.

We are very sorry that Ms. Cutroneo and Ms. Marshall were not able to embark on their cruise. We understand and sympathize with their frustration. We are glad that we could cover them under the Trip Delay benefit of their travel insurance policy. Unfortunately, we could not honor their claim for Trip Interruption because the reason they could not continue on their trip was that they were prohibited from doing so by a government regulation (the Jones Act) and “government prohibitions or regulations” is a specific exclusion within their travel insurance policy.

In other words, they canceled because of the Jones Act. Case closed.

Or is it?

Cutroneo contends that her trip was interrupted because of a mechanical delay on her inbound flight. Access America says the mechanical problem was just a delay.

The bigger issue, though, is the value of travel insurance. Travel agents and cruise lines rarely miss an opportunity to tout the benefits of reliable coverage. But Cutroneo just lost her entire cruise — a cruise she had taken the trouble to insure. A case like this really undermines your faith in travel insurance. At least it does for Cutroneo.

(Photo: Tomas Mascardo/Flickr Creative Commons)

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Tagged as: access america, Alaska, Celebrity, cruise, Jones Act

  • Bruce Hovanes

    This situation begs an interesting question regarding a cruise recently taken by my mother. It left out of Seattle (NCL ship), went up to several ports in Alaska and then, when returning to Seattle, was scheduled to make a stop in Victoria, B.C. (I assume mainly so that they would be in compliance with the Jones Act by adding in a foreign port). Due to bad sea conditions, the ship didn’t dock and/or no one was able to get off in Victoria. Does this mean that the ship was in violation of the Jones Act, having gone only to U.S. ports and being a foreign-flag vessel? How do the cruise lines handle this kind of issue? Do they just suck it up and pay the fine? Thanks.

  • Bruce Hovanes

    Sorry, Holland America ship, not NCL.

  • Bodega

    Their first mistake was to fly to the city of departure on the day of sailing. I do feel badly for them, but by flying on the day of sailing is a gamble and they lost.

    Why would Mr. Elliott ask if the Jones Act was a legitimate reason for not paying when it states it in the insurance contract. This is where the traveler should be reading the contract BEFORE taking it out and asking the ‘what if’ questions. Insurance can be taken out at any time, so there was no rush to purchase, unless preexisiting conditions are an issue and then there is a 14-21 day window, depending on the insurance company, to get the coverage. This gives the travelers read the terms and conditions of the contract over and call the toll free number to get questions answered. The cruise was not canceled and the passenger did not cancel due to covered reasons.

  • DCTA

    “Since I had insurance with Access American covering the entire trip, I called them immediately to notify them of the problem. They assured me they would take care of it, just write them with all the information including the letter about referencing the “Jones Act”.”

    Not exactly true. She did not immediately call Access, she called after the fact – after the cancellation and her decision to give up. I sell Access America with almost every single cruise I sell – and my clients are told (verbally and in writing on my invoice), “…at the onset of any problem, call Access America prior to working any vendor such as air carrier, cruise line, etc.” If you call Access America and work with their staff and do what they tell you to do, you are almost always covered/re-imbursed. I suspect that Air Canada was not looking at any other airlines that may have had seats in First Class that would have got her to Vancouver in time – but the Access America staff would have and would have put her on one of those, reimbursing for that cost….

    Secondary is the fact that I know of no sensible Travel Agent who would not try to at least argue a client out of a planned arrival in Vancouver on day of departure from that port – most especially if she was originating anywhere east of Denver.

    And by the way, I’ve seen Access America claims paid off in similar cases even when Access has said “no” the first two times – it may take 18 months, but it is worth pursuing.

  • Kevin

    “no foreign vessel shall transport passengers between ports or places in the United States, under penalty of $200 for each passenger so transported or landed.” And since cruise ships are foreign-flagged vessels, that applies to Cutroneo’s case.

    Could she have just paid the fine and joined the ship in Ketchican??

    I was on a Princess sailing with a group in Hawaii (10 Day Repo to Mexico) boarded in HNL and I got off at the last port before sailing to Mexice (OGG I think) it was a hassle but I paid my fine and went to the airport.

    I wonder if they were given the option to pay a fine and save thier vacation or if they were just told ‘sorry cant help”??

    Kevin.

    PS Bodega – PLEASE there is no way the clients (even if they did read all the fine print) would have EVER thought to ask this kind of question before traveling. I’ve been in the biz 20 years and I NEVER would have asked this type of question.

  • Bodega

    Kevin, if she had read the contract and the Jones Act is mentioned (we don’t sell Acess, so I don’t have a brochure of theirs to look at) she should have looked into that and asked about it. The coverage we sell doesn’t mention the Jones Act. The coverage we sell will pay for unused nonrefundable expenses if the the passenger is delayed for 5 hours or more. Each company has different benefits exclusions.

    Sadly, the decision to fly the day of sailing was a bad one.

  • http://metaphortravel.com David Ourisman

    Lesson # 1 — never plan to arrive in your city of departure the same day as your cruise begins … for this very reason

    Lesson # 2 — Did she purchase her insurance through a travel agent? Agencies have preferred relationships with different insurance companies and have access to sales reps who can cut through this kind of nonsense.

    Lesson # 3 — Different companies have different coverages. Travelex says this, for instance:

    MISSED CONNECTION
    This benefit covers missed Cruise departures that result from cancellation or delay (for three (3) or more hours) of all regularly scheduled airline flights due to Inclement Weather or any Common Carrier caused delay. Maximum benefits of up to the amount shown in the Confirmation of Coverage are provided to cover additional transportation expenses needed for You to join the departed Cruise, reasonable accommodation and meal expenses and nonrefundable trip payments for the unused portion of Your Cruise. Coverage is secondary to any compensation provided by a Common Carrier. Coverage will not be provided to individuals who are able to meet their scheduled departure but cancel their Cruise due to Inclement Weather.

    My take — despite what Access America says, the mechanical problem caused a cancellation of a flight (that was presumably insured, right) that caused her to miss the entire cruise. She should sue them in Small Claims Court and/or use the arbitration process most likely referred to in the policy itself.

  • warped

    In most cases they would’ve been allowed to pay the fine (the fine is currently $300 per person) and board in Ketchikan – it was up to the Captain. And the cruiselines usually allow it on Alaska cruises (now if you try the same in Key West they usually deny boarding).

    Bruce, when the ship misses making the foreign port call the cruiseline, yes it is a violation and the cruiseline just eats the fine because the US government doesn’t make exceptions for things like bad weather or a medical emergency.

    And one correction to the story, the actual law in question here is the Passenger Vehicle Services Act. It acts the same way as the Jones Act but the Jones Act covers cargo, not passengers.

  • DCTA

    “Could she have just paid the fine and joined the ship in Ketchican?? ”

    Absolutely. And had she called the Access America 24 hour assistance number, they probably would have come up with that AND WOULD HAVE REIMBURSED THAT COST TO HER UNDER “Trip Interruption”!

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  • OTC

    Another Chris Elliot story that can be condensed into one sentence

    “Passengers were morons that made multiple mistakes, flying in the day of the cruise, not reading the insurance, and not contacting the insurance company first, now they’re moaning about being the victim of some evil company and want Chris to bash them publicly so they relent.”

  • Nooch

    The majority of travel customers are not travel agents and do not work for airlines or cruise lines or travel insurance companies. They are NOT experts in all the details regarding all things that could go wrong.

    How many non-travel industry people have ever heard of the Jones Act or
    the Passenger Vehicle Services Act or the Merchant Marine Act of 1920?

    They just want to pay their money and enjoy their trips. They depend on the so called “experts” to look after them when things don’t go according to plan. It’s easy to blame the customers for all the things they COULD have done but it still comes down to a business (airline, cruise line, travel agent or in the case especially Access America) to take care of the customer. That’s the whole point in paying the money, regardless of what the “fine print” says.

  • http://www.altourleisure.com Deb

    I think there are two major lessons to be learned here.
    The first is that no one should ever fly to their cruise ship departure city on the same day that cruise is due to depart. ALWAYS start your travel a day or two prior. This is common sense and her travel agent obviously was at fault not to have advised this.
    The second is to always use the best travel insurance company out there which is definitly Travelex. They are the ONLY company that sells primary coverage so that they pay first before any other claims are submitted to private insurance, etc. It sounds like her travel agent obviously was not very experienced…..
    It is a shame this happened and I believe that her travel agent should take some responsibility if this woman was not advised properly. However, since I do not know the whole entire story I cannot say for sure.

  • Joel Wechsler

    I am in complete agreement with DCTA’s first post. I would never let one of my clients arrive at a cruise port on day of departure no matter where it is. The risks of weather, mechanical and other delays are just too great.
    While OTC’s judgment is a bit harsh, in the last analysis he/she is correct.

  • DCTA

    “They are the ONLY company that sells primary coverage so that they pay first before any other claims are submitted to private insurance, etc. It sounds like her travel agent obviously was not very experienced…..”

    This ONLY pertains to medical.

    As I said above, we don’t know whether the TA suggested/prodded/begged that she go into Vancouver a day early – we only know that she did not.

    But the biggest lesson here – is rely on the people you have contracted to make the booking for you – did she try to call the Travel Agent? Did she try to call Access? Did she try to call the Cruise Line, agents of whom would/should presumably informed her of the Jones Act and explained the fine, etc…… but really, it seems like she tried to “fix” it all on her own and then made a decision to “cancel”.

  • Kweed

    Deb, I’m sure it wasn’t a question of experience with the travel agent, rather, the travel agent would only sell whatever plan they would get the best commission for. Sorry, but travel agents aren’t insurance agents, and don’t have access to all the best plans out there, only the ones they have an agreement to sell. (PS. Travelex is not the ONLY plan that sells primary coverage. Another example of someone trying to push one exclusive plan)
    So aside from flying out the same day, the first mistake was buying the insurance from a travel agent, the second mistake was not researching Access America first. They are notorious for not paying claims.
    Ditch the travel agent, forget the comparison websites, and find a LICENSED INSURANCE AGENT who WILL inform you of such things as the Jones Act, since it IS germane to cruisers. And for some exciting reading, do a Google search for Access America Scam or Access America Grievances, and check out first hand accounts from real consumers who wasted their money on the plan that gives other travel insurance plans a bad name.

  • Tony Azpeitia

    Wow! Best comments I’ve seen. I find that clients book their own air to save money. I just advise of those risks. In that conversation, I discuss going one day early or booking their air with the cruise line. This gives the cruise line the responsibility (and any related problems and costs) of getting you to that ship.

  • DCTA

    Kweed – you’re dreaming if you think an Insurance Agent (yeah, go to your local Nationwide broker) is going to know about or even inform of the Jones Act!

    Travelex. Travel Guard and Access America all have good standings in claim closings – you can look it up, I think they are all over 95%.

    Yes, i work with “preferred” insurers – Travel Guard and Access America – because I have developed relationships with them – I know who to call to help my client and over the years have managed to get every single claim paid even when the first response has been “no”. And that is why Travel Agents work with a “preferred” vendor – not because of the commission. Guess what? They ALL pay very, very high commissions to us – the determining factor is best coverage for the client and be service.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    It makes sense to show up a day or two early for a cruise or land tour instead of arriving on the day of departure.

    While OTC’s comments are direct and blunt…it is right on.

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