This is where the story gets a little murky. Chauvin-DeCaro and her husband were scheduled to dine at Table, an upscale restaurant owned by Jen Royle in Boston's North End. In screenshots posted to X during a social media exchange with what appears to be Royle, Chauvin-DeCaro is chastised for disputing the $250 reservation cancellation fee.
A wild story ahead. Last month we had to cancel our trip to Boston after I was hospitalized. As a result, I had to use travel insurance to get my money back on our hotel, train and restaurant reservations. Today I received this message from @tableboston pic.twitter.com/d7jc84rllJ
– chase away the it girl from travel insurance (@trevorshowvan) February 22, 2024
“I just wanted to personally thank you for screwing over my restaurant and staff when you disputed your cancellation fees,” the message read. “I really hope that in the future you will be more respectful of restaurants, especially small businesses like mine. Pathetic.”
In a heated exchange, the restaurant insists the $250 charge was a credit card dispute while Chauvin-DeCaro points out his use of credit card travel insurance, even noting that “the decision to using it to cover high cancellation fees was not taken lightly. .”
Filing an insurance claim with your credit card company is different from filing a dispute. For many travelers, your credit card may have built-in travel protections and you might not even know it. Here's how to use it correctly.
How credit card travel insurance works
Whether it's a trip around the world — or in Chauvin-DeCaro's case, all the way to Boston — having travel insurance can provide major relief if things go wrong. Flight delays, lost luggage, illnesses, injuries and other unforeseen events can disrupt even the best-laid plans.
There is dozens of credit cards with built-in travel insurance coverage, which includes policies such as trip interruption and cancelation; delayed and lost luggage; rental car blanket; emergency Medical assistance and more. Your credit card contract will detail this coverage.
Many popular credit cards, like the Platinum Card from American Express or the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card, offer these benefits. “If you have a travel-focused card, there's a good chance you're getting travel protection benefits without even realizing it,” says Stella Shon, credit card expert for Improved points. “Every cardholder has an online benefits guide from their issuer, so the first step is to check it.”
To be eligible for coverage, a traveler must use that specific card to make travel purchases and provide proof, as with any insurance policy. When it comes time to file a claim, it's usually possible to call a specific number or do it online, Shon says.
File an insurance claim or dispute a charge
Although it may seem semantic, there is a major distinction between a disputed charge and a travel insurance claim, according to Gary Leff, credit card expert and founder of the association. View from the wing Blog.
“Disputing a credit card charge is possible when you did not actually make a purchase that you were charged for, when the product or service provided is not as described, or when you do not receive what you purchased “, Leff. said. In other words, a dispute is about risks when the transaction itself goes wrong. A chargeback can be requested on any credit card under the Fair Credit Billing Act.
Conversely, integrated credit card travel insurance, underwritten by a third-party company and labeled “trip interruption” or “trip cancellation,” for example, works differently. Typically, premium credit cards like the Platinum Card from American Express or the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card offer this benefit.
The card's travel insurance provides reimbursement for non-refundable payments and other travel-related expenses when incidents occur before or during a trip. While monetary compensation is a primary benefit, travel insurance has another valuable benefit: peace of mind.
“You may have agreed to make a purchase, but circumstances beyond your and the merchant's control mean you can't take advantage of that purchase,” says Leff. In other words, travel insurance covers risks outside of a transaction. In both cases, travelers must provide documentation to accompany the claim.
Then, on the merchant side, there are key differences between a customer disputing a charge and filing a travel insurance claim. Axel Hellman, co-founder of a transport company OurBus, states that “a travel insurance claim has no impact on the business.” Hellman notes that he usually doesn't even know if a client has an insurance benefit.
Neither Chauvin-DeCaro nor Royle responded to an interview request from The Washington Post. Spokespeople for American Express and Chase say there will never be a situation where a credit card travel insurance submits a dispute on behalf of the cardholder.
However, a disputed invoice filed by a customer can have “significantly negative” consequences. “Companies like ours not only face fines in disputes, but they could potentially lose their processing privileges,” says Hellman. “It doesn’t matter if the dispute is valid or not. »
Meanwhile, the social media exchange between Chauvin-DeCaro and Royle continued to escalate and ended with Table's owner threatening legal action.
A combination of an insurance claim and litigation may have been at play here. Leff suspects Chauvin-DeCaro may have contacted her credit card company to make an insurance claim and the agent initiated litigation on her behalf. This further highlights the importance for travelers to distinguish between the two.
