Yes, if you’re on an expensive trip, you should always purchase travel insurance. But I’ve just learned that there’s a new membership called Delay Defense that offers more than just monetary compensation.
Now, I haven’t tried this yet, so I can’t personally attest to it. But I did want to make you aware of it. I’m seriously considering a membership because the service arranges for and pays for rebooking you if you’ve been delayed. Memberships are available for single trips or on an annual basis (covering 10 trips), starting at $5 per round-trip.
Benefits cover incidents, including common flight distribution events such as current and impending aviation infrastructure failures, unruly passengers, in-flight medical emergencies, and back-to-gate mechanical failures. You get 24/7 access to travel consultants who can quickly rebook flights—even on a different airline or at a different airport—and arrange for overnight accommodations, all without incurring any out-of-pocket expenses.
“Travelers today are completely in the dark when it comes to their rights and options when flights go wrong,” according to Delay Defense CEO Ross Thompson, “When a flight to Milan was forced to return to New York after four hours in the air due to an unruly passenger, travelers were left with meal vouchers—nothing more—because it wasn’t technically the airline’s fault. We created a better way to protect passengers.”
Here are the membership tiers and current prices. All of them offer an overnight hotel benefit, no out-of-pocket expenses, 24/7 travel consultant access, open to all nationalities, and available for both domestic and international travel:
Smart Membership: $1,000 in membership benefits for $5 per single trip or $45 for annual individual membership (10 trips).
Platinum Membership: $2,500 in membership benefits for $15 per single trip or $135 for annual individual membership (10 trips).
Black Membership: $5,000 in membership benefits for $25 per single trip or $225 for annual individual membership (10 trips).
Note that family membership costs vary depending on the number of covered family members.
If you try this out and use the membership, please report back!
Melanie Votaw is the Publisher and Executive Travel Writer of LuxuryWeb Magazine. She has visited more than 50 countries on 6 continents and written for such magazines as Executive Travel, Just Luxe, Business Insider, South China Morning Post, Travel Mindset, and more. She is a member of the International Food, Wine & Travel Writers Association, New York Travel Writers Association, and International Travel Writers Alliance. Melanie's photography has won awards, and she has also written 43 nonfiction books as either the author or ghostwriter.
Great post! Really appreciate the way you explained everything so clearly. Learned something new today—keep sharing more like this.