COVID-19 and Travel Insurance Claim - August 2023

Background

Three days before the end of our March 2023 Antarctica expedition, aboard Quark Expedition's Ocean Adventurer, my wife tested positive for COVID-19. She was one of six passengers out of the 100 passengers that became infected.

She was immediately quarantined in a separate cabin and her meals were delivered to her cabin for three days. When the other guests were out on zodiacs or kayaks, she and the other infected guests were permitted to get fresh air on the outside decks.

After my wife's positive test, I was required to mask up during on-board gatherings and consume my meals in our original cabin. I was also permitted to participate in outdoor expedition activities. These controls were likely due to the possibility that I could test COVID-19 positive before the end of the expedition and infect others. I ended up negative for the entire trip and remained so after returning to the US.

We received a letter from the Quark Expedition staff confirming that my wife became COVID-19 infected before we disembarked the Ocean Adventurer at King George Island, Antarctica. We presumed this would serve our travel insurance as formal illness documentation.

During the two-hour flight from King George Island to Punta Arenas, Chile, the six COVID-19 guests were seated together at the back of the plane and separate from the other airplane travelers. 

Upon arrival at Punta Arenas, Chile, we needed to add a second hotel room for two nights to continue the quarantine. 

Insurance Process

After returning to the US, we determined that we could seek reimbursement for the cost of the second hotel room and for trip interruption. From past experience, getting paid from a travel insurance claim is time consuming and can take some time to finally receive a check from the insurance company. 

We submitted an online claim and noted:

• The letter confirming an illness from the on-board expedition staff was insufficient for our claim. A letter from a licensed physician was needed to complete the insurance claim. We had to contact Quark Expeditions to send us a physician-signed letter.
• The insurance wanted a copy of the Quark Expedition trip invoice. Quark provided a 'repeat guest' $1,000 trip discount. The insurer reduced the total trip expense by this discount amount and then pro-rated its payment on a per day cost basis (trip cost for one passenger/number of trip days*number of days one traveler was in ship quarantine). 
• Our airfare was handled independently from our Quark Expedition arrangements. Although our air travel itinerary was not changed due to illness, the travel insurer requested a copy of all paid airline invoices and boarding passes. I presume the boarding passes confirmed that the flights were actually taken.
• The travel insurer paid the claim for a second hotel room for two nights in Punta Arenas.  

Lessons Learned

• Retain all expense documentation, before, during and after the trip.
• While your airfare may have been handled separately from the trip and not part of an insurance claim, retain all air expense documentation.
• Retain a copy of your airline boarding passes.
• Be sure to have a formal letter, signed by a physician, documenting any illness diagnosis.
• Retain all hotel receipts.
• Travel insurer claim processing is not quick and, in our case, took four months to receive final insurance payment. 
• Final thought: We weren’t fully prepared for splitting into two ship cabins. For example, we didn’t bring duplicative toiletries, such as toothpaste and floss. The limited on-board store did not stock such supplies. Our fellow passengers came to our assistance.