This trip to Hokkaido was my first time driving in Japan winter with my kid. I booked the car on QEEQ and chose a Subaru Levorg Estate from Be Kobe. It was an automatic car and for a parent like me it felt safer and easier to drive. Our plan was to pick up the car around the evening on February 10 around seven and return it on February 24 in the afternoon around four. The plan looked perfect and I thought everything would go just like that. The trouble started with our flight. We were flying from Australia and the flight kept getting delayed. When we finally arrived at New Chitose Airport it was already close to nine at night. My kid was sleeping and waking up again and again on the plane. When he woke up he kept asking me when he could see the snow. I was a bit nervous inside but I did not want him to feel that so I tried to speak calmly and comfort him while I kept checking the time. When we took our bags I started to realize that by the time we reached the rental office it would be outside normal business hours. We pulled our luggage and walked with the kid to the Be Kobe office. It was very cold outside and the snow on the ground had turned into a hard layer of ice. The staff at the counter still helped us finish the paperwork but they told me that because we were picking up the car after hours there would be an extra late pickup fee of about ten thousand yen. I froze for a second. My first thought was that the delay was not my fault. But it did not feel right to argue a lot at that moment. My kid was tired and I just wanted to get the car and leave so I paid the fee with my card and told myself I would think about it later. After we reached the hotel I started to read the insurance I bought more carefully. In the AXA Full Coverage I found a part that mentioned delayed vehicle pick up. When I saw that line I felt a bit more confident. At the same time I had no real experience with claims. I was not sure if this late pickup fee from the rental company would really be covered. That night after my kid fell asleep I sat alone by the window looking at the snow outside and thinking about whether I should try to claim it. Ten thousand yen is not a tiny amount for a family trip. In the end I decided to contact customer support and explain what happened. I told them that our flight was delayed and because of that we only reached the rental office after business hours and then were charged this fee. I pulled out the flight information and checked the times again. That flight really landed around nine at night on the same day we were supposed to pick up the car. When they asked about the amount and the currency I checked the receipt carefully and told them the numbers one by one. They asked me to prepare flight delay proof and also the boarding pass and itinerary. During those days I was taking care of my kid in the snow and at the same time using my phone to search my emails. I went through the airline messages and tried to find all the proof I could. This was my first time doing something like this so I worried that I might miss some document and then the claim would fail. After I sent the documents I still did not feel fully sure. I could only wait for news. Every time my phone buzzed I would check it at once to see if it was about the claim. My kid did not care about this at all. He only cared about playing in the snow and going to the hot spring the next day. For me it felt like I had a small side task during this trip. I hoped I could get that extra fee back. Later they contacted me again to confirm the fee amount and the currency. I checked the ten thousand yen and how it changed into US dollars and I did not want to say it wrong. For someone like me who is not used to dealing with insurance these small details suddenly became very important. I felt a bit nervous but also felt that I was not just accepting this extra cost without doing anything. After some time I got the message that the claim was successful and that AXA Full Coverage would pay me back for the late pickup fee caused by the flight delay. When I saw the message I was in the hotel room folding my kid's clothes. At that moment I felt a big relief. I also felt that it was really worth it that I chose this coverage when I booked the car. I remembered how I felt that night when we rushed to the office with luggage and a sleepy child and how worried I was about time and money. Now those feelings slowly calmed down. For a parent traveling with a child money is one part but the bigger thing is the feeling of safety. Knowing that when something like a flight delay happens someone is willing to help cover this extra cost makes the trip feel more complete. It made me think that for our next self drive trip I will read the insurance parts more carefully again and look for similar protection. This time I really felt that this kind of coverage is not just a small add on. It actually helped me when I needed it.
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