Travel Solutions: Credit card claim lost at sea after cruise cancelation

Last summer, I booked a Viking Cruise with my father and wife. At the airport, my father suffered a medical emergency and had to be rushed to the hospital. We missed our cruise.

Since I had purchased the cruise using my Chase Sapphire Reserve card, which covers cancellations when you’re traveling, I filed a claim for the value of the cruise and plane tickets.

I submitted all of the documents, but Chase is taking its time with the claim. It’s coming back and requesting information it already has, such as a travel ID number.

I have provided them with all this information. If they had read the claim, they would have clearly seen they already had what they were asking for. I had to upload the same Viking Cancellation Statement four times before someone at Chase finally accepted it.

I want my claim approved and the full $19,148 paid, as per the Chase Sapphire Reserve benefits. Can you help me? — Brent Feinberg, Canton, Georgia

A: As I review the voluminous paper trail between you and Chase, it appears the company was working on your claim, but it was slow. The underlying problem with your case is that it dragged on for nearly three months. Even the most complicated claims shouldn’t take more than a month.

The Chase Sapphire Card has a lot of bells and whistles for travelers and is heavily promoted by travel blogs. But stories like yours make me wonder if it is worth the $550 annual fee. You might have applied for a garden-variety cash-back card instead, bought a travel insurance policy for your cruise, and saved some money.

Appealing this to someone higher up might have worked. You can always send a brief, polite email to one of the Chase executive contacts I list on my consumer advocacy website, Elliott.org.

I contacted Chase on your behalf. A senior claims specialist worked with you to fast-track the claim, which Chase has now paid in full.