Missing a connection produces two separate questions: who must get you to your destination, and who pays for what the delay cost. The answers depend heavily on how the trip was booked.
One ticket creates one journey
When both flights are issued on a single ticket, the carriage contract covers the whole itinerary, and the airline generally undertakes to carry the passenger onward when its own delay breaks the connection.
Rebooking is then an airline operation rather than a purchase, and the traveler is not buying a new flight at short notice.
The insured loss in that situation is usually limited to incidental costs, because the largest expense has been absorbed.
Separate tickets create separate contracts
Two independently purchased flights are unconnected agreements. The second carrier has no obligation arising from the first flight's lateness and treats the passenger as a no-show.
The replacement flight is bought at whatever the fare is on the day, which is typically the point at which the amount at stake becomes significant.
Some travel policies address exactly this gap, and some do not, so the distinction is worth confirming before relying on it.
Policies define a qualifying gap
Missed connection benefits commonly require that the original connection met a stated minimum time and that the delay exceeded a defined threshold.
A connection booked below the airline's own minimum, or arranged privately across two tickets, may fall outside the definition regardless of what caused the delay.
These conditions exist because the insurer is pricing a specific risk rather than the general possibility of a tight itinerary failing.
Evidence follows the airport, not the phone
Assessment relies on documents showing the original booking, the actual arrival time of the inbound flight, and the cost of what was purchased to recover the journey.
Airlines can usually provide written confirmation of a delay at the time, which is far easier to obtain at the desk than after returning home.
Receipts for meals, transport and accommodation incurred during the gap generally need to be itemized rather than estimated.
Overlapping protection is common
Cover can arrive from more than one direction at once, including a policy purchased directly, a benefit attached to a payment card, and the airline's own obligations.
These interact, and most policies pay only the loss remaining after other sources have responded, so the same cost is rarely recovered twice.
Specific terms vary by product and by jurisdiction and change over time, so the documents held for a given trip are the only reliable reference.