Am I Covered If My Airline or Travel Provider Goes Bankrupt?

It’s unfortunate, but it happens: Your airline, tour operator, or hotel goes bankrupt or stops operating for financial reasons. While this may cut your trip short, World Nomads’ travel insurance plans offer some protection for this case scenario.

What’s covered?

To be covered under a World Nomads plan, the bankruptcy must have happened more than 14 days after the effective date of your policy (that’s 12am local time at your destination the day after the premium is received).

For airline bankruptcies or default, coverage is limited to the change fee if alternative flights to your destination are available through other carriers (in many cases, partner airlines can accommodate passengers of the carrier who went bankrupt). 

As a first step, we recommend that you get in touch with your travel provider directly to see if you can get a refund or make alternative arrangements if you happen to be stranded or delayed due to the cessation of operations. Try to gather as much information as possible and keep a record of your correspondence to submit with your claim. 

Once you’ve verified what your travel provider can or can’t provide, you can make a claim under two sections of your policy: Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption. Under the first case, you’ll be reimbursed for your non-refundable, pre-paid trip expenses. For Trip Interruption, you can get covered for the non-refunded unused pre-paid land and sea accommodations for your trip if you return home. If you continue traveling to your next destination, you could get compensated for the missed accommodations, in addition to any other covered transportation costs that you may have incurred because of the incident.

For example, on a trip with multiple destinations, suppose you missed a hotel stay and can’t get to your next destination because one of the airlines you booked declared bankruptcy. In this case, you could claim the unused accommodation at the first destination and the cost of the new flight to keep you going to your next stop.

What’s not covered?

Bankruptcy means the total cessation of operations due to financial insolvency, with or without a filing. The plan doesn’t cover:

  • When a travel provider is still running or offering services even if a bankruptcy has been declared.
  • When you’ve been offered alternative arrangements by the travel provider (Change fees are covered.).
  • Concerns about a potential bankruptcy.


This is only a summary of coverage and does not include the full terms and conditions of the policy. You should read your policy wording in full so you understand what is and isn’t covered. That way there won’t be any surprises if you need to use it. If you have any questions, please contact us.



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