Access America Transport Inc.
Reviews and Complaints

i purchased an airline ticket with my credit card for a friends ticket to come visit us. i also purchased travel insurance from access america for that same ticket. my friend had to cut her trip short because one of her kids got sick. as we needed a doctors statement, i asked my friend to get it and send it to access america. which she did but for some reason access america sent the insurance check in her name instead of mine and now i am out the claim amount. how can this happen?

Access America is a total fraud. I bought this insurance and had to cancel because of severe flooding at my destination. Naturally, they denied the claim, saying the reason was somewhere on page 5 of the paperwork. I trusted that a company who American Airlines allows to sell directly on their website would be reputable. A big mistake on my part, as they have no intention of EVER paying a claim. Save your money.

Access America refuses to pay legitimate claims for canceled trips. Select another travel insurance company if you can. They use stalling and fine language tactics to refuse to pay claims.

They DO NOT PAY! They would request more and more forms until you drop the claim. It's a shameful scam!

Do not make the same mistake as me and get Access America insurance when you book a trip on Orbitz. Worst customer service, refusal to pay a claim, relentless re-interpretation of the language of the contract to avoid paying a claim, very long delay in reviewing claims, and angry phone operators who don't let you state your point.

Avoid at all means.

1/8/13
I would like to contact Chris Elliott by mail or phone. I have a complalint against Travel Guard out of Stevens Point, Wisc.
They denied me my claim. I have all correspondence between them and me along with medical records. Please contact me by phone at 651/482-9029. My name is Jonell A. Ufer at jonell.ufer@yahoo.com.
Thank you.
Jonell Ufer.

Hi Laurence,
I think you should be patient enough to solve your case with Access America before putting the companies name into mud. You bought an Insurance Package and cancelled it and then you want a claim? Doesn't make a dam sense.

Hi Laurence –

Jackie from Access America’s Help Team here. Sorry to hear about your frustration. Please email us at help.team@accessamerica.com with your policy number if you have additional questions.

All the Best,
Jackie, Access America’s Help Team

Access America’s Help Team here, and we’re sorry that you are frustrated. I don’t know the exact details of your case, but I I'd like to point out that travel insurance is like any other type of insurance, in that there are terms, conditions and exclusions that affect coverage. We provide a list of covered reasons for trip cancellation in the insuring policy, which we strongly encourage all customers to review when they receive it. And we offer a 10-day free look, with the opportunity to cancel the policy at no cost if it doesn't meet your needs. Please see our FAQs: http://bit.ly/b4T45T. Also worth noting are articles and resources on travel insurance, such as this one: http://bit.ly/dZ683i.
If you’d wish to further discuss your case, please email us at help.team@accessamerica.com with your name and policy number so we can find out more.

Thank you,

also victim to the internet scams of hotwire and access america, these are the new usury companies that are ripping off consumers. the biggest airlines employ them to scam consumers. hotwire are lazy, rude, and competent thieves who will no doubt be on their knees soon.

Dear @suvkix,
Access America’s Help Team here. I’m sorry to hear you are frustrated with your travel insurance. I don’t know the details of your case, but please remember that travel insurance is like any other type of insurance, in that there are terms, conditions and exclusions that affect coverage. We provide a list of covered reasons in the insuring policy, which we encourage all customers to review when they receive it. Plus, we offer a 10-day free look, with the opportunity to cancel the policy at no cost if it doesn't meet your needs.

You may want to check out articles and resources on travel insurance, like this one: http://bit.ly/dZ683i. Please email us at help.team@accessamerica.com so we can find out more about your case and we’ll be back in touch.

Indeed, they are a total fraud. I cancelled my trip because the purpose of my trip had ceased to exist. (It was to represent a client in court.) They claim their policy has an exclusion for travel pursuant to "a business or contractual obligation." They were happy enough to take my premium without asking the purpose of my trip.

I've already complained to:

1. Attorney General Office in Virginia because the company is based in Richmond.
2. The California Insurance Bureau (that's where I'm based).
3. The Better Business Bureau

There is only one way to deal with these companies -- which is to take action. I cannot tolerate companies that take advantage of people in tragic times.

I've already complained to:

1. Attorney General Office in Virginia because the company is based in Richmond.
2. The California Insurance Bureau (that's where I'm based).
3. The Better Business Bureau

There is only one way to deal with these companies -- which is to take action. I cannot tolerate companies that take advantage of people in tragic times. Please take action as well. Maybe collective we can stop this from happening again.

I too got stranded in route from Phoenix with a lay over in Philadelphia. Due to bad weather, the flights were canceled.. and since it was bad weather US Airways was under no obligation to pay for a hotel. After spending an entire day with the airlines, the only way to get home was AMTRAK train. After filing a claim for the additional expenses to get home, access America Denied the claim stating the airlines must have complete cessation of all services for 24 consecutive hours. How bent is that? Us Airways could have done a better job at rerouting customers that day, including me.. but I guess since they are not obligated.. why should they?

I booked a flight online in February 2009 for travel to and from Dallas with hotwire.com . I purchased travel insurance with AccessAmerica. The reason for the trip is that I sued some folks out that way and I had a set court date. The court changed the date at the last minute so the trip was cancelled.

AccessAmerica insurance contract states:
INDIVIDUAL TRAVEL INSURANCE POLICY
Section#:
6. You being required to serve on a jury, served with a
court order or subpoena.

Their response to my claim appeal is pending. They do send a letter reccomending the American Arbitration Association that, for a small fee from me, can arbitrate. LOL. They are messing with the wrong guy!

I wish I had done some research on Access America BEFORE buying this insurance during the purchase of my flight! My family is on a work assignment in Germany, I received a phone call that my father had a slight heart attack and made the decision to fly back to the United States. I purchased the insurance in case his health did not improve during the week I was scheduled to be there. Unexpectedly my father went into renal (kidney) failure and passed away. I contacted Access America and told them I would need to extend my trip for funeral arrangements. I was told..."No problem, you'll just need a copy of the death certificate". Upon returning to Germany I sent in the documentation of the death, and expense of the flight change. The company has denied the claim saying that because the death certificate states that he went into kidney failure one week prior to his death, this is considered "A PRE-EXISTING condtition"! The insurance was purchased on the 28th of January, and my father died on the 4th of February, so even with this denial I knew this was 8 days from purchase to death and I figured they would have to cover. Now they are saying that the policy didn't go into effect until the 29th of January so therefore WAS within the one week period. What a Joke! I can't believe a company is allowed to operate so "SHADILY" in our country! And what are these airline companies doing using these UNRELIABLE company's within thier websites? This is not over.

This company is a fraud. Orbitz and Cheaptickets.com and Hotwire need to drop them before they ruin them. I purchased a ticket for international travel and was asked to purchase insurance by orbitz. due to the price of the flight $1200 I decided to purchase it for my family. But a month later, my wife was confirmed pregnant. Upon subsequent visit to the doctor she was told not to go to the trip because of history of pre-eclampsia.
So I canceled her ticket and applied for a claim with Access America. It was denied because pregnancy was not covered. They only pay if something happen to the pregnancy during the trip. so, if my wife decided to go and looses the pregnancy then she be covered, but if she takes preventative measures and follow the doctors recommendation not to go because she risks complications, then it would not be covered. This is unacceptable.
I filled an appeal and waiting to see how it goes. But I am looking to take it all the way to court if need be. Any advice will be appreciated.

I've already complained to:

1. Attorney General Office in Virginia because the company is based in Richmond.
2. The California Insurance Bureau (that's where I'm based).
3. The Better Business Bureau

There is only one way to deal with these companies -- which is to take action. I cannot tolerate companies that take advantage of people in tragic times. Please take action as well. Maybe collective we can stop this from happening again.

I am a travel agent and have been selling this insurance for many years. They offer a policy which is supposed to be a "perk" for agents that covers all travel for a year. I purchased this in May 2017. I never thought more about it and went ahead and planned a trip for us for October. I got very sick 2 weeks before and only then did they advise me that the policy I purchased does not cover trip cancellation. It begs the questions: HOW IS THIS POLICY A PERK! AND WHY WOULD ANYONE BUY SUCH A POLICY since cancellation is precisely what you are trying to cover? They are completely denying the claim and I am out $5000. Their own information says cancellation is covered but now that I look at it, the policy does not. What a fraud this is and I would feel responsible if they had done this to any of my clients. Please file this so others do not fall into this trap..

Prior to our Baltic cruise, our AAA agent offered an insurance alternative (Access America underwritten by BCS Insurance Company). This trip insurance -- according to the agent -- offered better coverage and higher limits, so we opted for the Access America coverage.

During the cruise our biggest piece of luggage (never used before this trip) was damaged. A wheel was shattered which prevented the case from rolling.

This could have happened at any of 3 or 4 different places, but was first noticed when we picked up the bag at the Copenhagen airport on the last day of our trip.

Upon arriving home, we filed a claim with Access America, but it was rejected because we had not reported the damage to the airline or cruiseline within 24 hours of the occurrence.

Even though we explained that we had no way of knowing when the damage might have occurred over a 10 day period, the Access America computer said "No tickee, no money". To back up their rejection a crass rejection letter from Access America, stated that we did not exercise Due Diligence.

So, if you purchase trip insurance from this company, you should be prepared to check each piece of luggage at each stop and be willing to spend the extra time finding the baggage office in a foreign airport or cruise terminal.

Because in the end, if you have a claim, you will have to satisfy the Access America computer to receive anything. Don't expect any "real world" understanding by this outfit.

I am truly sorry it has come to this, however, I think it is very important you know the contractual breach with Access America and myself. On September 8, 2017, I purchased a travel protection policy from Access America for travel on October 29-31, 2017. I later changed the dates with American Airlines and paid a penalty to change the dates to November 12, 2017. I reviewed the Access America policy number AMR00001801066 which was issued on September 8, 2017 to figure out if I had to contact Access America to change the original dates. There was no reference in the contract to contact Access America to change dates. On November 10, 2017, I contacted American Airlines and Access America to cancel my revised travel date of November 12, 2017 because of a seriously ill family member who later passed away on November 12, 2017. I started a claim with Access America on November 10 and retained a physician certification form from my family member's doctor who clearly stated: "He will need his family support at this time." After contacting Access America, they said my claim will be denied because I changed the travel dates from my original travel dates in October, 2017. I challenged their decision becasue there is no reference in the contract stating I am required to contact Access America to notify them of the change. They still denied the claim although there is not a written clause stating the insured is required to contact Access America in the event travel dates change. Obviously, this is emotionally challenging because I had purchased an insurance policy for protection and when needed, the insurance carrier is not honoring the claim. I think it is only fair for Access America to honor the trip cancellation protection of $391.40 for which it was issued.

I purchased Access America ticket insurance via CheapTickets (which is itself a brand name for Orbitz). My flight was from California to Europe, and I was stopping in North Carolina to visit my mother on the way home.

While I was in Europe, my 91 year old mother was hospitalized for an obstructed bowel. I discovered her hospitalization two days before my scheduled departure for North Carolina, while I was in a remote part of Wales. I rescheduled my trip for the next day.

Access America first told me they would not help with rescheduling the trip. Cheap Tickets told me it was impossible to reschedule the trip. When I was back in the US, Access America did not accept my mother's subsequent death as an indication that perhaps my rescheduling of my trip was legitimate. After I got them a letter from her personal physician, they conceded that there was no preexisting condition.

Their personnel were unbelievable obnoxious. Cheap Tickets was actually worse than Access America, with their supervisor lying to me about updates they'd made to my Delta records. The Delta agents, who were sympathetic and superb throughout the ordeal, actually laughed when I repeated what the Cheap Tickets supervisor claimed to have done.

Delta sells travel insurance for which they receive an affiliate profit sharing percentage on their website when you buy an airline ticket.

The travel insurance is provided for by Access America and is intentionally designed to lead the consumer to believe if anything goes wrong due to flight interruptions and/or medical emergency that you are fully covered.

Not so! When a medical emergency occurred on our plane from Rome to JFK (New York City) on October 23rd, 2017 our plane was rerouted to Newfoundland, Canada for four hours. Upon finally arriving four hours late in JFK, I missed my connection to Orlando, Florida.

I remained hopeful considering I bought the $25 travel insurance through Delta and Access America.

I incurred $225 in hotel and travel expenses as a result of having to spend the night in New York and getting a rental car in Orlando, Florida (because my wife was to pick me up on Friday October 23rd and had plans on October 24th).

I therefore had to get a rental car and paid for a hotel and takeout food in New York... all amounting to $225.

Access America however only gave me $150 ...far less than a hotel in New York City (where Delta is based and headquartered) costs per night.

Travel Insurance through Delta and Access America is deceptive and a scam if they have no intentions of fully reimbursing, they should not portray and purport such when selling you their travel insurance product.

Consumers be forwarned the travel insurance at $25 is not worth it considering it doesn't even cover you for a hotel in New York or major cities across the world, where hotels cost $200 a night and more.

Based on a recommendation on Delta Airlines' website I purchased travel insurance from Access America. Subsequent to purchasing the ticket my wife received a diagnosis of cancer from the findings of a routine medical examination. We had no reason to expect this diagnosis, otherwise I would not have spent $461.80 for the ticket and $26.55 for the travel insurance. Today I received a denial of claim for refund of the ticket purchase from Access America, citing my wife's cancer as a preexisting condition. As far as I'm concerned, Access America is a bunch of crooks and Delta Airlines is nothing more than a shill for their con.

Approved Access America claim. They allegedly issued me two checks in April. It is now July, and I still haven't received either of them.

Access America approved my airplane ticket refund claim after weeks of letters and jumping through hoops including, but not limited to, being put on hold for 45 minutes while they looped one solid minute of “the Cannon in D” over and over and over again (I kid you not).

I’m pretty scarred from the whole ordeal and quite possible won’t go to another wedding ever again for fear of having flashbacks of that painful 45 minutes. I mean come on, if that doesn’t say “we’re a bunch of crooks who just want you to go away, ” I don’t know what does.

I booked my ticket through Orbitz which gave me the option to pay $25 bucks or so for "insurance." I figured Orbitz is a respectable company, they wouldn't advise their consumers to purchase something that's a total scam. Wrong.

Access America supposedly issued me two separate checks for the two tickets I booked (even though my claim was only for one of those tickets). Their website claims the checks were sent on April 27th.

It is now late July and I still haven't received either check, which most definitely means they never existed. I give up!

Hello –

We are very sorry to hear of your wife’s illness, and we sympathize with you both. We wanted to ensure that you saw the response we posted to your comment yesterday. Travel insurance is like any other type of insurance in that there are terms, conditions and exclusions that affect coverage. As you may know, the product you purchased did not include coverage for existing medical conditions. Our claims department reviews the physician statement form submitted by your doctor, and bases their determination on the information we receive from your doctor. Once again, we are very sorry that we could not cover you and your family this circumstance.

If you have further questions on the outcome of your claim, please feel free to email us at Help.Team@allianzassistance.com.

Regards,
Jackie, Help Team

Hello –
Thank you for voicing your concerns, we are very sorry to hear of your wife’s illness and we wish you both the best. I don’t know the exact details of your case, but I’d like to point out that travel insurance is like any other type of insurance in that there are terms, conditions and exclusions that affect coverage. As you may know, the product you purchased did not include coverage for existing medical conditions. Our claims department reviews the physician statement form submitted by your doctor, and bases their determination on the information we receive from your doctor. I’m very sorry that we could not cover you this circumstance.
If you have further questions on the outcome of your claim, please feel free to email us at Help.Team@allianzassistance.com.

Regards,
Jackie, Help Team

I mean read your policy. It says right there to file a claim with them first. Plus I would always check it anyway! I would want to know who messed it up! I would blame them instead of a company that just insures.

I bought a travel insurance policy from Access America Travel Insurance. I was travelling to Canada to see my family for a quick weekend. I bought the insurance because it was cheap, about $25 to cover the cost of my flight just in case. The day after I arrived in Canada, my father, who was 96 years old at the time passed away from old age. I had to cancel my trip home (non refundable ticket), as I had to stay few extra days to arrange for the funeral etc. I purchased a new ticket, and submitted all of my stuff to Access America Travel Insurance to cover the cost of my new $220 discount fare to get home. They asked for a copy of the death certificate which I supplied. The death certificate, issued by the Government of Quebec Canada does not list a cause of death for a 96 year old who dies of old age. I also supplied a copy of the funeral home burial certificate which does list the cause as natural. Access America refuses to pay because the cause of death is not listed. They told me to find a doctor to write a letter on his letterhead listing the cause of death as natural. None of this BS was in the policy and terms and conditions that they sent me when I purchased this policy. The policy is supposed to cover you for various different circumstances including the death of an immediate family member. What a scam this company is. I am filing complaints with the State Insurance Commissioner, The BBB and perhaps in small claims court. Stay away from Access America travel Insurance.

I purchased additional trip cancellation coverage from Access America via continential airline website. My 10 month old son ruptured his ear drum and was medically unable to fly.
After submitting the claim to access amercia, I received a letter 42 days later stating the claim had been denied. The policy I purchased was trip cancellation should a medical emergency, illness and medical situation occur which would prevent you from flying in order to received a refund for the purchased airline tickets.

Back in February of 2011 my fiancee and I took a trip up to Washington state for a 9 day vacation we had planned for two months. We flew with JetBlue and I decided to purchase Access America travelers insurance just for safety reasons. During the middle of our vacation I realized I needed to change the city where we would be flying out of since we changed our travel itinerary around last minute. I made the necessary changes with JetBlue and when I got back home to Southern California I contacted Access America in order to make a claim to get a refund for the amount I paid to change my travel itinerary. Access America stated that they would only pay 80% of the total amount I paid JetBlue since it was a non-medical emergency, which I was fine with since that's what it stated in their policy. I submitted the claim and got two refund checks two weeks later, one for me and one for my fiancee.

When I received the checks everything looked good at first until I looked my fiancee's check and realized that they had messed up her last name. I immediately contacted Access America and told their customer service representative about the error. He looked up my claim and realized that indeed they had made a mistake on her last name. He was very apologetic about it and said that they would send me another check with her correct last name on it, which they did. Two weeks later another check arrives, however her last name was STILL incorrect on it. I called them again stating that the error was not corrected the first time. While on the phone they transferred me to somebody in their check division. The man sounded very shady and kept calling me by the wrong name over the phone which really annoyed me. I told him about the error they made and he said, "well I can't believe we actually did that again." I told him, "well why else would I be calling you?" The guy stated that they would be mailing ANOTHER check with the correct name once again. I asked him, "are you sure it's going to be the correct name this time?" He stated yes. The check arrived two weeks later and this time it had my fiancee's correct last name on it.

This whole ordeal took 6 weeks to be made right in the end and think that is absolutely ridiculous. I'm going to think twice before purchasing travelers insurance with Access America in the future.

I purchased Access America through my Delta airline ticket. When I tried to collect on my claim, it was denied. Delta had cancelled my originating flight and I was unable to make connection in Atlanta en-route to St Maarten. I had to pay for hotel room, etc. ACCESS AMERICA IS A FRAUD.

Hello,

Jamie here with Access America’s Help Team. We’re sorry to read about your frustration and would like to find out more. Please contact us at help.team@accessamerica.com with your name and policy number.

Dear @Shimmy1,
I'm Bree with Access America’s Help Team. I'm very sorry to hear of your father's passing. We’d like to look into your case. Please email us at help.team@accessamerica.com with your full name and policy number. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Get your or your fathers doctor to write a letter on his letter head listing the cause of death as natural.

Access America has a reputation for not paying claims. Indeed, there are so many complaints online about this company that one wonders if they EVER pay a claim. In my case, they did not, and before I'd even submitted al the information requested they told me they would not pay my claim. They would, however, let me scramble around collecting the materials they asked for . I'd fallen into one of their loopholes. Even though I had bought and paid for the plane tickets, bought and paid for the insurance, within a month of the aborted trip got back surgery from a reputable surgeon who filled out the appropriate form for Access America, they would not pay. When I spoke with the Florida Department of Insurance about the situation, they said Access America is not, technically, an insurance company. It's a financial company. Thus the Florida Department of Insurance has no jurisdiction. More and more the US seems less the "land of the free, " and more the land of the scam.

Dear @DinitheGreat,
I’m with Access America’s Help Team. We’re sorry to hear about the difficulty you encountered in filing and resolving your claim. We’re glad that travel insurance turned out to be a good investment for you as you did receive reimbursements, but we apologize for the confusion regarding the correct name on the check.

Your experience isn’t typical, and it certainly isn’t indicative of the high level of service we strive to deliver to our customer. Thanks for the feedback; we’ve passed this on to the appropriate teams so that we can learn from this mistake.

Thanks for giving us the opportunity to serve you.

was the claim denied because it was an existing condition?

They make your life miserable until you finally give up. I would never recommend their services.

Purchased travel insurance and at a time when people are being evacuated from the Middle East and we cancelled our trip, they deny my claim, citing denial due to riots, which is specifically mentioned as not covered. I'm sure that is true, but it makes no sense whatsoever. Apparently, the reference is buried and that the insurance is actually only for medical conditions. What a rip off! Who in the devil would want to travel into an area where riots are occurring?

I agree that so far this "insurance coverage" is nothing more than a huge headache that we do not need right now. My daughter and her roommate were in Japan when the Earthquake and Tsunami hit and after almost a week decided to come home due to the uncertainty of the reactors and how the radiation could affect them. We rebooked their flights and paid almost $800.00 to get them on a plane quickly. I filled out about 35 pages of claims and submitted them and immediately they were denied. They said it was due to them choosing to come home becuase of a travel bulletin - apparetnly there is a clause in the insurance that won't cover travel bulletins. So, now they say we can appeal - you bet we will appeal and they should be ashamed. Major disaster in Japan but they cannot manage to say yes to the claim? I guess all I have to say at this point is NEVER AGAIN!

I have used Access America this year with no problem; 100 per cent of my money was refunded within 2 weeks. I had an accident day before my plane trip to Venice to catch a cruise line. Went to my doctor, and she said NO TRIP, you can't walk. I filed necessary paper work, had doctor fill out Medical Claim, had all my "ducks in a row" and had no problem in getting my refund returned, over $10, 000 was cost of total trip including air, hotel, and cruise for 18 days. A lot of people I noticed on the complaints area had a lot of pre-existent conditions and I can understand that they would not get reimbursed, read the fine print. There is cancellation insurance out there that can be purchased for cancellation for no reason at all but it is very costly starting out at $700 and up depending on price of trip.

I agree that Access America is a waste of money. I bought their travel insurance when I purchased a ticket through Delta. I filed a claim when I had to cancel my trip due to a job interview which was during the time I would of been gone. And of course they denied the claim. I would never buy travel insurance through this company again and sure do not recommend it to anyone. They are just a complete rip off!

This is not a good company, they make every effort not to reimburse your claim.
If you do not want to waste your money do not purchase any insurance from them. I have really very bad experinece with them.

I've already complained to:

1. Attorney General Office in Virginia because the company is based in Richmond.
2. The California Insurance Bureau (that's where I'm based).
3. The Better Business Bureau

There is only one way to deal with these companies -- which is to take action. I cannot tolerate companies that take advantage of people in tragic times.

I bought Access America through AAA and had an accident overseas when traveling (I hit my head and had to have cosmetic stitches put in on my face and had to see several doctors for that :((). I filed the claim and they denied it and then said that they are going to contact the hospital overseas to verify that I really had a trauma. It's been a year since they paid only for the parts of the new tickets I had to purchase when I had a trauma. Not only they didn't pay what they owed me but are also accusing me of frauding them claiming that my documents are not genuine. I am flabbergasted at the impudence of this company and I feel sorry because I even bothered to file a claim with them, considering that the amount was not that high, since most of the money I had to pay of my pockets with no receipts given me at the hospitals, but what receipts I was fortunate to get from doctors and file for the support of my claim, Access America is telling me that they are fake..Enough that I my whole vacation was spoiled because of the face trauma and now I have to tolerate all this emotional trauma in top of that? What's happening, aren't they supposed to protect my interests when I am traveling?

I just got screwed by this company also. I booked a flight, and selected the option for insurance in case of change in 10 days after booking. We then needed to make an emergency change due to a Visa problem. I called Orbitz, was referred to Access American Voice mail service and was not helped. I then went to the web and BBB and seen how many complaints this scam was running. What can I do to resolve my problem with this company?

i experiance the same problem they are clearly operating under fradulant practices they denied my husband claim for trip clacellation
for preexisting conditions my reply unless jesus him self told us that she was going to die how would we know the insurance clearly states protection for travel and canellation for any reason but when time to pay they use the crock standard any reason you have we are not paying because we are nothing more than web sight crooks using insurance

I'm having a similar problem with Access America.