AirNZ Travel Insurance Scam

I have blogged HEAPS about AirNZ and 99% of the time I am very positive about it.

However as pointed out by Lance Wiggs on his blog, AirNZ’s new (well re-applied) policy of having insurance added automatically on all domestic flights (ie opt-out) is as close to a scam as I can think of from a major NZ company.

As I said in my email to AirNZ today:

The new policy of having insurance added automatically on Domestic bookings is VERY VERY annoying.

Having to write to you about it is also a waste of my time (can you tell I am annoyed?)

I like 99% of what AirNZ does – and I am normally a major fan.

To me this practice is close to being a scam.  Please change it.

This one is simple – insurance, like any add on should be opt-in not opt-out.  Lance says it so much better that I do (and explains it real well), so read his post on it too if you wanna know more.

The more I think about it the more it annoys me, and IMHO breaches Fair Trading Act rules about deceptive conduct around pricing.  At the very least its dodgy, and AirNZ is normally so good.

You can send AirNZ feedback here, but make sure you hit “send anyway” when they try to take you to this page to explain why insurance is automatically added.

Black and White Version: BAD AirNZ.  Change your insurance opt-in practice, and now please.

PS: I would love to challenge them in the Disputes Tribunal with a I didn’t know I was buying it tactic.  I think I would win, since its not a reasonable expectation of the price to add something on.

PPS: If you have booked travel with insurance and change your mind you have 14 days (as long as you haven’t flown or claimed yet)