A couple eloping to Puerto Rico was grounded in New York — where their travel insurance arranged a last-minute wedding

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• When Jeremy and Adam Geinitz's flight was canceled, their wedding plans went into disarray.
• Their travel insurance policy reimbursed their costs — and the company arranged a wedding in New York.
• Their policy was $299 and covered the whole trip.

In September 2022, after being together for 15 years, Jeremy and Adam Geinitz were on their way from Denver to New York to elope in Puerto Rico when Hurricane Fiona derailed their plans. During their flight they got a message that their connecting flight from New York was canceled.

Thankfully, they had purchased travel insurance for the trip.

Getting stuck in New York

"My heart stopped," says Jeremy, who messaged Faye Travel Insurance while on board. "We thought we might just go back to Denver, but Faye told us to stay in New York, and they would try to get us out the next day."

They found out there would be no flights on any airlines until Monday, September 19. The news wouldn't get any better. The Monday flight was canceled. The insurance company booked them a flight on Tuesday, a day before they were scheduled to get married, but then the couple heard from the hotel that they should not come, as the hotel was without power and water and was uninhabitable.

There are no words to describe their disappointment. The couple had originally wanted to get married in Italy, but the pandemic delayed their nuptials. It looked like, again, their big day wasn't going to happen.

Their travel insurance company arranged a wedding

But their insurance company offered another solution. "They asked if we wanted to get married in New York since we were already there," says Adam.

The couple liked the idea, so the company helped arrange an appointment for a marriage license at City Hall for September 22. The company flew AJ Steele, who worked in business development at Faye, to New York to perform the ceremony. On September 24, the couple had two friends who lived in New York serve as witnesses to the ceremony in Central Park near the iconic Bow Bridge.

"Everything fell into place," says Jeremy.

Adam says Faye had their backs from start to finish.

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Their insurance went the extra mile

They were grateful for Faye's assistance in getting a hotel in New York. "That was a pain in the butt because we weren't the only ones stranded. There were a lot of people going to different parts of the Caribbean that were impacted by the hurricane," says Jeremy.

From the moment they landed in New York, the couple benefited from their $299 whole-trip travel policy. Faye reimbursed them each $200 for the canceled flight. As the delays continued, Faye sent them each another $200, which helped pay for warmer clothing, as they had packed mostly shorts and sandals for Puerto Rico. Faye also helped cover costs incurred for a few nights in New York hotels, their unused prepaid expenses in Puerto Rico, and airline change fees. The couple's claim of $2,300 was paid.

"They even did little things that meant the world," says Adam, "like getting corsages for us at the last minute." Faye made a video of their staff wishing the couple congratulations.

For sure, coordinating a wedding isn't a typical offering from any travel insurance company. "This was an extraordinary situation that we addressed with extraordinary measures," says Faye Travel Insurance CEO Elad Schaffer. "We are so incredibly happy that we had a helping hand in making Adam and Jeremy's big day happen."

Jeremy has previously worked in the insurance industry, but this was the first time the couple purchased travel insurance. It will not be the last. "It was important to get insurance as it was our big day," says Jeremy. "To this day I stress to my friends to get insurance, even if they're just going to see their grandma one state over. You never know what can happen."

This September, on their anniversary, the couple will return to the spot where they got married to renew their vows — and finally put wedding rings on each other's fingers, as they had originally planned to buy rings in Puerto Rico.