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Supposed to be affiliated with Princess…

Supposed to be affiliated with Princess cruises but the two companies do not work together to resolve issues. They are a nightmare to work with. No one knows what to do … continually transferred to different people who don’t have answers.

Date of experience : June 16, 2023

The absolute worst

The absolute worst. Had to cancel a trip/cruise for an illness that happened right before the cruise. Submitted all the medical documentation showing there was absolutely no safe way to make the trip as scheduled. Completely denied. What is even the point of having the insurance? Would never buy from them again or recommend them to anyone.

Date of experience : March 15, 2024

Total Rip Off - Don't Buy Their Trip Coverage

I took a cruise on 3/3/24 and purchased the vacation protection thru AON in the event me or my guest were unable to go on the cruise (because it had been booked since 2020), anything between the time I booked it and the time of the cruise could happen which is why I paid for the protection. Well turns out I learned that my guest was unable to attend, so I had to find someone else to join me on the cruise. In doing so Carnival charged me $229.00 because my original guest was unable to make it (made no sense to me, but I had to pay it). Carnival advised me to turn in a claim with AON for a reimbursement of the charge. I contacted AON and was provided with a REF# and I was advised that there was nothing they could do for me. I advised them that I paid for the cruise protection plan and I was requesting that they provide me with the protection that I willing paid for. Although the Rep. was polite, she was unable to award coverage. I have no idea why Carnival is doing business with them. Had I read the reviews I would not have purchased the vacation protection coverage. A total rip off, next time I won't pay for the coverage (I cruise annually). AON will not get another opportunity to deny me the coverage that I paid for (NEVER). They can improve by providing the coverage that they sell (by paying claims). Buyer Beware!

Date of experience : March 03, 2024

I purchased AON Travel Insurance for a…

I purchased AON Travel Insurance for a cruise. While on the cruise, I got sick, so I went to the clinic on the ship and asked to see the doctor. Twice I was told that my respiratory infection was not serious enough for the doctor to see me. I was given medications. I saw my doctor immediately after arriving home. AON has denied my claim as I didn’t see a doctor for my medications. WHAT A SHAM!

Date of experience : December 12, 2023

delay, deflect, don't pay - is their business model

Went on a cruise in June 2023, lost (or stolen) item worth $150. As of today (8 months later), being told we only cover what your home owners insurance does not cover. It took many phone calls and misleading descriptions, including that they would cover it but only if I called a certain number. It feels like they are purposely saying and doing things to cause so much delay and frustration that you just give up. They are right, my time is no longer worth the loss. I partially blame Princess Cruises for having this company as a suggested link while booking the trip. We put trust in their suggested Insurance partner only to be denied on a technicality that does not sound legit (no proof was provided by them).

Date of experience : February 19, 2024

AON TRAVEL INSURANCE IS A SCAM

Had to cancel my Europe cruise 9 months before the cruise departure date. I had to file a claim to get my $900 deposit back. AON travel insurance has been stringing me alone for months and months. I informed them that my medical records are available to them as my medical provider will not fill out AON extensive paperwork. AON response is that since my medical provider has not responded they are closing my claim unless I can provide them more details about my claim. When did the burden fall upon me? I have given everything I have to AON and I am no closer to my refund than I was day one. This is a scam. They do nothing and then deny the claims for lack of information. SCAM.

Date of experience : November 01, 2023

AON Insurance Buyer Beware !!!

We were scheduled to go on a 23 Day Cruise in April of 2024 that was cancelled due to unrest in the Middle East and was replaced with an itinerary we felt was less safe than the original itinerary. When we filed a claim with AON for a refund we were denied and basically told that unless one of us had passed away prior to embarkation we could not get a refund. (which I doubt would have even happened then). This insurance company is a fraud and I would never recommend them to anyone...Travel Agencies and Cruise Companies would be wise to use any another travel insurance agency if they wish to keep their loyal customers.

Date of experience : February 16, 2024

Class action lawsuit anyone?

Our cruise line canceled the trip due to unrest in the Middle East. The insurance company refuses to refund our monies and wants us to use it on a future trip. However, this trip was time specific for a particular purpose i.e. 50th birthday, which will not occur again in the future. Based on all of the reviews, and the fact that this company is keeping money for a trip that was canceled not by the customer, but by the business for which they are providing insurance, (Along with all the other horrendous things I have seen people being denied compensation for which should be covered), it seems to me a class action lawsuit is in order. I feel that’s the only way everyone will get their money back. I have no idea how one goes about initiating a class action lawsuit, but I feel there is power in numbers. These people are crooks!

Date of experience : February 22, 2024

Wife paid for the travel insurance…

Wife paid for the travel insurance without reading the fine print, or reviews, her fault and our loss. If, in the opinion of Aon, you don't qualify for coverage, you are out of luck unless you're willing to go to court, which would cost more than the award, which is likely what they are counting on. Stay away from this company.

Date of experience : January 28, 2024

I don't recommend this insurance…

I don't recommend this insurance company. Ask your travel agent questions prior to agreeing to purchase their insurance. They will encourage you to buy and not tell you it only covers specific reasons for canceling. If you decide to take a credit they only pay 75% of the money towards your next cruise. I will keep you posted on how the process goes. They aren't making it easy so far.

Date of experience : January 12, 2024

April 2024 Cruise

We planned a cruise for April 2024 and we had to cancel in January of this year due to my husband having Muscular Dystrophy and has taken several falls and is very unstable. I submitted a letter from his doctor like they requested and I submitted the invoice as requested and now they want full medical records to review. The letter from his doctor also stated that if they had further questions to please contact her and she gave her number from the Neurology Dept at University of Virginia Hospital. AON did not contact the doctor but sent another request to me for same information. We are apparently getting the same run around that everyone else has been getting. My question is why are the cruiselines dealing with such a poorly rated insurance company. Have they been reported to BBB before? Bottom line is that I am more concerned about the health of my husband which has a disease that there is no cure for than dealing with a company that has no respect for a human life.

Date of experience : January 01, 2024

Don't deal with AON

Don't deal with this company. We planned a cruise for us and our two sons’ families. We purchased travel insurance through AON. One daughter-in-law became pregnant after booking and ended up with some health issues and concerns. Not a “normal” pregnancy. They declined our claim. Waste of our money and time. We are done with Royal Caribbean as well for associating themselves with AON. Other options available.

Date of experience : August 01, 2023

Regent 7 Seas Explorer Horrible -AON Terrific

Regent 7 Seas Explorer allowed passengers to embark for Alaska without even testing their temperature boarding. Sure enough, I got COVID19. I had a severe case and needed emergency ship medical care. The Regent charged me $4350 for one day's worth of care; they took no responsibiity for anything. AON paid every single bill. It took time as they have step by step procedures but in the end, they paid every penny.

Date of experience : September 04, 2023

Claim denied for father-in-law that died before cruise

This company is horrible and I would never purchase travel insurance again if they are the insurers. My wife's father passed away 2 months before our cruise. I submitted the claim and 10 months later its denied. I've been sending additional paperwork and calling and they keep saying trying again in 30 days. Its total BS and they should be investigated.

Date of experience : April 03, 2023

AON refused to consult and pay our…

AON refused to consult and pay our claim. They refused to assist in anyway. Do not use Norewegain and AON. When you contact one company they blame events on the other. The Norwegian / AON banner page states "Cancel for any Reason". Well the airlines shutdown. Our flights were cancelled, ( we allowed 2 extra days to arrive) ...nothing. The airlines refunded Norwegian so they credited our account the airfare, ~$1,000. AON refused to pay anything...DO NOT USE......0 stars if available, out $5000.

Date of experience : December 23, 2022

If I could give ZERO stars I would

If I could give ZERO stars I would. Claim submitted May 14, 2022 with 8 follow up's either email or phone thru Aug. 2, 2022. Absolute WORST travel insurance company. Made mistake of purchasing Aon for April/May Transatlantic cruise; purchased thru NCL. NEVER AGAIN. ALLIANZ is the BEST travel insurance; they process claims quickly and efficiently.

Date of experience : August 02, 2022

They do all they can not to pay

They have done everything they can to not pay. They have requested the exact same forms multiple times. Their software says they received it each time. Then I get a request for the exact same item over and over and over. They would not accept a 3 page document from an Urgent care. My husband had to go to his Primary Care before traveling and get a letter from his primary care physician. They say that letter is not enough to prove he could not travel. I thought after sending the same documents over and over and over that they would pay. Then I got another request for a document I have already sent multiple times. DO NOT PURCHASE their insurance you will not get any money back.

Date of experience : December 16, 2023

Scam artist take your money dont want to pay claim

Purchased the travel insurance for a cruise on Royal Carribean my husband had to be hospitalized had surgery's 20 days before departure. Now they will do anything to get out of paying i am appealing a denial at this moment i wish i had read all the previous reviews mostly 1 stars i would never have used them. I gave one star if i could give less i would. they tell me they are reviewing it and reaching out to doctor but i think its smoke and mirrors. i will be on this company constantly till they do what is right

Date of experience : September 15, 2023

Despicable tactics

We booked a Royal Caribbean cruise, and I had previously purchased AON, just in case. Well, my husband had a critically high fever a few days before the cruise. He also needed emergency surgery. I had completed all the necessary documents, had the surgeon fill out the required forms, which I downloaded to the AON claim, etc. This medical emergency was well within the criteria to get our money refunded. I received an AON email just a few short days after submitting everything that our case was closed. I called AON and was advised that it is the responsibility of the cruise line, not the travel protection. I advised them that the cruise line did not request medical documents, as that is the job of AON. The agent gave me an ongoing litany of excuses. I cannot imagine how Royal Caribbean utilizes the service of such a horrid, unethical, unprofessional company. This is a vicious cycle and an exercise in futility. However, I refuse to let thousands of dollars go to waste because of this unethical company. I am now to the point of going back to Royal to which they are referring me to AON. I am starting to think this whole thing is a calculated effort.

Date of experience : January 02, 2024

Never Buy AON Policy

Complete scam. Will do anything to not honor your policy even though paid in full in good faith . My dying brother in law had a last request to go on a cruise . He was bed ridden and passed away . That’s why we bought the policy . AON refuses to work with us . They actually are blaming Royal Caribbean . NEVER BUY THE INSURANCE POLICY

Date of experience : November 29, 2023

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RETURNING TRAVELERS

• Protection Plan Benefits
• Request a Claim Form

It is important to refer to your plan description for specific details on the program you have purchased. The following information is provided as a general guideline only.

Please read about the benefits typically available in travel insurance and travel, passenger and cruise protections plans:

Trip Cancellation/ Trip Interruption:

If your plan includes "Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption" protection you may be entitled to reimbursement (up to the dollar limit specified in your plan) if you are prevented from taking or completing your trip due to a covered reason. Please refer to your plan description for further explanation.

Trip/Travel Delay:

If your plan includes "Trip Delay" or "Travel Delay" protection and the flights departing to, or returning from, your travel arrangements (tour, cruise or other) are substantially delayed, you may be entitled to reimbursement of the cost of catching up with your trip, or for the expenses resulting from delays returning home - up to the dollar limit specified in your plan.

Reimbursable expenses may include additional airfare, meal and lodging expenses (if not provided by your airline). The coverage may also include reimbursement for the days of your trip that are missed, again, up to the trip delay coverage limit indicated in your plan description brochure. Per day limits may also apply. The trip delay coverage usually "kicks in" after delays of a specified number of hours, also indicated in your plan description.

Baggage Protection:

If your plan includes "Baggage Protection" you may be entitled to reimbursement for loss, theft or damage to baggage and personal effects. Additionally, you may be entitled for reimbursement for expenses of necessary personal effects purchased while at a destination other than your place of residence if your bag was delayed or misdirected by a Common Carrier for more than 24 hours from the time you arrived at the destination stated on your ticket. You must be a ticketed passenger on a Common Carrier. The amount of the reimbursement is not to exceed the dollar limit specified in your plan.

Medical Protection:

If your plan includes "Medical Protection" you may be entitled to reimbursement for Emergency Evacuation, Repatriation of Remains and Accident and Sickness Medical Expense. Please refer to your Description of Coverage for more details and plan dollar limits.

Rental Car Damage:

If your plan includes "Rental Car Damage" protection and if while on a covered trip your rental car is damaged due to a covered reason, you may be entitled to reimbursement (up to the dollar limit specified in your plan). Please refer to your plan description for further explanation.

Security Deposit:

Provides reimbursement (up to the dollar limit specified in the plan description) to a property owner for covered damages that occur to their property as a result of a renter. Please refer to your plan description for further explanation.

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• Aon Travel Insurance Review

Before you plan your next trip, consider an Aon travel insurance policy.

No one enjoys paying for unused vacation time, and that is what Aon Affinity travel insurance helps you avoid.

With more than three decades of experience in the travel industry, Aon is ready to provide assistance for all kinds of travel problems from emergency medical to baggage delays.

About Aon Travel Insurance

Arch Insurance Company underwrites Affinity’s policies and markets them under the name RoamRight .

Children are included free of charge on a one-to-one basis with each paying adult traveler, making this company an ideal choice for families.

Aon’s plans adjust to your needs, offering everything from comprehensive to minimal emergency-only coverage.

Financial Stability

The financial ability of any insurance company to meet claims is an integral part of the buying process. If every traveler makes a claim, can Aon Affinity travel insurance fulfill the obligations of its customers?

An A- rating from both Standard & Poor’s and A.M. Best suggest it can.

Even if a major natural disaster affects thousands of travelers, the company is well-positioned to handle the payouts.

Aon Travel Insurance Coverage & Plans

Here is a list of the plans and coverage offered by Aon Travel Insurance.

Elite Travel Insurance Plan

• The Elite Travel Insurance Plan is the most comprehensive plan available through Aon and lets you cancel a trip for any reason. If you have a scheduling conflict, worry about the weather, or if there’s a family emergency, this coverage kicks in to reimburse your related expenses. For each paying adult, you can add a child for free, making this an appropriate option for families and small groups. The policy comes with high coverage amounts for lost baggage or travel delays to help smooth out any issues while on the road. In addition to the listed coverage options, several add-ons and riders are available to cover unusual situations, such as high-risk sports or rental cars. You also have the option to increase medical coverage limits or upgrade your plan to be able to cancel for any reason.

Preferred Travel Insurance Plan

• The Aon Affinity Travel Insurance Preferred Plan includes a standard list of covered reasons to cancel your trip. If you have jury duty or the school year extends unexpectedly, this mid-tier coverage reimburses the cost of a canceled trip. If you purchase this coverage within 21 days of making your trip deposit, it includes preexisting conditions, so you don’t need to carry a special medical rider. For every adult policy, one child under the age of 18 is covered for free, making this a great option for anyone vacationing with kids. While the Preferred plan comes with coverage for the most common travel interruptions, it also has optional add-ons for when you might want a little extra. For example, you can purchase the ability to cancel your trip at any time with guaranteed reimbursement up to the policy maximum or upgrade your travel health insurance to handle any emergencies that crop up while you’re out of the country.

Essential Travel Insurance Plan

• When you need basic travel insurance to cover cancellations for weather, illness, or injury, the Essential Aon Travel Insurance Plan is a solid option. This basic coverage kicks in for a single scheduled trip, paying reimbursement costs for covered travel expenses. If you or a family member get sick or you need to travel back home to deal with issues such as a break-in or flood , you can skip the trip without losing your deposit or any money already paid. You can also add coverage to your existing Essential plan in order to cancel your trip for any reason. Under the standard plan, only listed unexpected circumstances provide reimbursement, but with the cancel any time coverage, you get everything back up to the policy limits, even if the issue wouldn’t be covered under the regular plan.

Pro Plus Travel Insurance Plan

• When buying a trip through a travel agent, Aon travel insurance offers the Pro Plus plan. This plan includes most of the coverage available through the Elite plan, with the notable exception of work-related cancellations. However, if you have a military deployment, or a hurricane threatens your destination, your trip expenses are covered. Besides the basic coverage options, you can also add protection for things like extreme sports activities or equipment rental. With these add-ons, you can plan a fun, adventurous vacation without worrying about any scrapes, dents, and bruises along the way.

Multi-Trip Annual/Trip Cancellation Travel Insurance Plan

• Most Aon Affinity travel insurance plans cover a single trip, but with the multi-trip annual option, you’re covered for an unlimited number of travels all year long. If a trip is fewer than 30 continuous days, it’s covered by this insurance policy. Choose a coverage level that matches your costs from one of four multi-trip policies: $2,500, $5,000, $7,500, or $10,000. Match your trip maximum with your expected costs and enjoy peace of mind when planning a visit to any location.

Aon Travel Insurance Costs

The cost of Aon travel insurance varies depending on coverage levels, the age of the insured, the length of the trip, and several other factors. In general, price ranges between four and eight percent of the trip’s total cost.

If you’re older, the cost of insurance tends to be higher because the included medical coverage is likelier to be needed. Your destination can also impact the price of the policy; if you’re traveling somewhere with higher risks, expect to pay more for travel insurance. For example, a cruise in the Atlantic during the hurricane season might be more expensive to insure than one outside of the storm season.

For those who frequently take trips, annual travel insurance might be the best option. As an example, a 35-year-old Maryland resident can expect to pay a $320 premium for the year. Get a quick quote using the calculator on the company’s website and enjoy 14-day free look period, during which time you can still get a full refund.

If something does happen, and you need to make a claim, you can use the online portal, call the toll-free number, or use the 24/7 mobile app, which makes it easy to start the paperless process as quickly as possible. Once you send in your claim and receive confirmation, the review typically takes no longer than 30 days.

Customer Reviews & Reputation

Part of buying travel insurance is obtaining peace of mind. That means that you want to work with a company that offers excellent customer service in the event of a personal emergency. This company, a trade name for Arch Insurance Company, has no negative reviews on the Better Business Bureau (BBB) website, making it a highly regarded option for those seeking trip insurance.

However, Trustpilot information is less enthusiastic, with a rating of 3/10 and 22 negative Aon Affinity travel insurance reviews. Nonetheless, this is in line with the industry, since many of the larger companies show lower ratings.

Customer Assistance Services

With 24/7 support available through a user-friendly mobile app, you can get in touch with Aon at any time of day, which is essential when traveling across time zones. The RoamRight app has a variety of useful tools including language translation, document storage, travel tips, and emergency contact info and aid.

The website offers an easy and instant quote calculator so that buying travel insurance is a painless process. Policyholders can access their account, view policy details, and start the claims process.

Aon Travel Insurance Phone Number & Contact Information

• Homepage URL: https://www.roamright.com/
• Provider Phone: 1-800-699-3845
• Headquarters Address: 2345 Grand Blvd Ste 900, Kansas City, MO 64108-2685
• Year Founded: 1982

Additional Providers

There are several other travel insurance providers that deserve consideration as well which you can see in our Best Travel Insurance Companies article.

These companies didn’t make our list of top providers but we have created some more detailed reviews  that you can view below:

• Allianz Travel Insurance Review
• Carnival Travel Insurance Review
• Chubb Travel Insurance Review
• CSA Travel Insurance Review
• Expedia Travel Insurance Review
• Hotwire Travel Insurance Review
• IMG Travel Insurance Review
• InsureMyTrip Travel Insurance Review
• JetBlue Travel Insurance Review
• John Hancock Travel Insurance Review
• Medjet Medical Transport Insurance Review
• Orbitz Travel Insurance Review
• Patriot Travel Insurance Review
• Priceline Travel Insurance Review
• Progressive Travel Insurance Review
• Red Sky Travel Insurance Review
• Ripcord Travel Insurance Review
• Travel Insured International
• Travelex Travel Insurance Review
• USAA Travel Insurance Review
• USI Affinity Travel Insurance Review 
• World Nomads Travel Insurance Review

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• Solar Eclipse 2024

‘20 or 30 Super Bowls.’ Drivers and Officials Brace for Massive Eclipse Traffic Jams

M elissa Schleig, a postmaster who lives in Strasburg, Virginia, drove more than 400 miles southwest to the Smoky Mountains to see the 2017 solar eclipse. The travel experience was miserable.

“It should have taken us about six to seven hours to go down there but it took us about a little over six hours just to go about two hours south of here. It was insane,” said Schleig, who began to drive down the day before the eclipse. 

At least 5 million people traveled for the 2017 eclipse, according to a journal by the Institute of Transportation Engineers, but even more are expected to gather to witness this year’s total solar eclipse on April 8. Already, an estimated 31.6 million people currently live in the roughly 115-mile wide path of totality —compared to the 12 million that did in 2017. 

“Having a total solar eclipse pass through the U.S. is kind of like having 20 or 30 Super Bowls happening all at once,” says Richard Fienberg, project manager of the American Astronomical Society's Solar Eclipse Task Force. “So many people are gathering for the spectacle over a long distance.”

Read More : How Cities Around the U.S. Are Celebrating the Eclipse

Transportation agencies are coordinating with the National Weather Service to spot areas of high interest for eclipse viewing to better prepare for traffic delays, but they say the impacts are unavoidable. “The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) knows that there is great interest in this rare solar event, and that’s why we want everyone to be aware of the real traffic and safety impacts,” FHWA Administrator Shailen Bhatt told TIME in an email. “We want people to remember this day and this experience—that may be once in a lifetime—for all the right reasons.”

This year Schleig, who is part of a Facebook eclipse chasing group, is traveling to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls to view the eclipse. And she’s hoping to learn from her 2017 mistakes: she’s planning to avoid the traffic by extending her trip from April 4 through the 10th, instead of driving the day before like she did last time.

How bad will traffic be? 

The FHWA says Schleig has the right idea. It is advising people to drive early, and stay longer in the town where they’re viewing the eclipse to avoid traffic. The FHWA says it's hard to predict which cities or states will be most impacted by the eclipse traffic-wise, but they predict up to 5 million people will be traveling to the path of totality between Texas and Maine.   

While drivers and officials are looking to the 2017 eclipse for hints of what is to come, traffic will likely be much worse this time. That’s because the 2024 path of totality—the area where the moon will completely obscure the sun—is a 3-hour drive away from 8 major cities with a population greater than 2 million, including Chicago, Houston, and Toronto. By contrast, the 2017 eclipse path of totality was a 3-hour drive away from only three larger metropolitan areas: St. Louis, Kansas City, and Portland, Ore.

Read More : How to Use Your Smartphone to Take Photos of the Solar Eclipse

If the expected 5 million visitors were to leave the path of totality as soon as the eclipse ends, the ensuing traffic would be equivalent to 71 sold out football games ending all at once, according to a journal by the Institute of Transportation Engineers.

Where are people traveling?

Several eclipse chasers, like 62-year-old photographer Beth Hutter, told TIME that they were planning to travel to Texas because it has the lowest chance of cloud cover. “We didn't want to take a chance that the day of the eclipse it [would be] overcast and rainy,” said Hutter, who is traveling from Michigan to Kileen, Texas five days before the eclipse. “We made the mistake of trying to drive home the same day [for the 2017 eclipse]... So thankfully, because we're going to be right there, I don't think we're going to have to deal with the traffic nightmares that most people are going to have.”

Texas Department of Transportation media relations director Adam Hammons says that up to one million out-of-state visitors may be traveling to view the eclipse, in addition to the millions that already live in the state and will likely also be driving to different areas/cities.  

Hammons says the eclipse runs through I-35, which is a significant corridor in the state that traverses through small towns as well as larger metro areas like Austin, Dallas, and Fort Worth. “It really goes through a large portion of Texas,” he says. “There’s going to be some possible significant delays on these major corridors and/or farm roads…Give yourself extra travel time. Plan ahead your trip, plan your route,” Drivetexas.org, a website that shares real-time traffic updates, could be helpful in deciding which way to go. 

Regardless of where you choose to see the eclipse, Hammons says it's important to have a safe, designated place to park and enjoy the experience—as long as it's off the shoulder of the highway.

Read More : Here’s What Determines How Long the Total Eclipse Will Last in Your Location

Other states like Arkansas, which has a population of some 3 million people , could see anywhere from 300,000 to 1.5 million visitors. (State officials have cited varying estimates .) The most extreme traffic will be seen along AR Highway 70 to Benton, AR Highway 65 from Conway to Greenbrier, and more. "There’s no doubt our Interstates and highways could be tested," Arkansas Department of Transportation Director Lorie H. Tudor told TIME in a statement, "but we have put forth our best planning efforts and we are cautiously optimistic that we are as prepared as possible to address any foreseeable issues that may arise."

New York is another state expecting a high volume of visitors and traffic. Many residents and out-of-state visitors will be traveling to the western and northern regions of the state, with Niagara Falls being an area of high interest. "We are expecting as many as a million people to come to Erie County solely for the eclipse," says Peter Anderson, press secretary for the Erie County executive, where Niagara Falls is based. According to data collected by Priceline and shared with TIME, Buffalo, New York has the second highest average airfare price compared to the travel cost to seven cities along the path of totality— including Dallas, Indianapolis, and Cleveland—at $999, and the most expensive average nightly hotel room cost among those cities listed at $476.

Still, for many of the eclipse watchers, braving bad traffic will be worth it. “It's just one of those things where you just realize your place in the world, and how small you are in comparison to the rest of the universe,” says Hutter. “The world just kind of stops.”

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• Jane Fonda Champions Climate Action for Every Generation
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Fact Check: About the Rumor 2024 Solar Eclipse Will Pass Over Every US City Named Nineveh

The United States has seven towns named Nineveh and all of them will fall in the path of totality during the April 8, 2024, solar eclipse.

False ( About this rating? )

For a couple of minutes on April 8, 2024 , in a narrow, curved band across North America, one of the greatest spectacles in nature will occur: a total solar eclipse. Being in that path at exactly the right time is the only way people on the continent will be able to look directly at the sun without damaging their eyeballs until the next North American eclipse in 2044, and so millions of people from around the world will flock to cities in the path of totality, including Dallas and Indianapolis.

Eclipses do not discriminate, so anyone in the path of totality will be able to see the sun fully obstructed by the moon. However, some people  have claimed online that there's one interesting coincidence about the eclipse's path of totality: It will pass through every city in the United States named Nineveh. That name is shared by an ancient city in modern-day Iraq that was described in the bible as "evil." 

Snopes received an email from a reader who requested that we check the claim about cities named Nineveh in the eclipse path. In our research, we discovered that many of the people making the claim were Christians who were interpreting the eclipse as a bad omen . 

Contrary to the claims, Snopes discovered that the path of totality in the eclipse does not pass through seven cities in the United States named Nineveh — it passes through just two. But before counting places named Nineveh, we must first briefly clarify how eclipses work.

How Eclipses Work

A total solar eclipse is caused by the moon and the sun being in exactly the right place at exactly the right time. The moon fully blocks the light from the sun, casting a large shadow on the earth.

Those completely inside the moon's shadow, called the umbra, are the only ones who will be able to look directly at the sun without eye protection. It's the small path of the umbra that people travel to in order to see the total solar eclipse. The website GreatAmericanEclipse.com created a visualization of the shadow's path across North America.

Outside the umbra, in a much larger area where the moon blocks only some of the sun, viewers will experience a partial solar eclipse, where the sun looks like it has a giant bite taken out of it. You cannot view a partial solar eclipse without special eclipse glasses. The entirety of the continental United States will be able to see a partial solar eclipse on April 8, just as the entirety of the United States (even Alaska and Hawaii) was able to see a partial solar eclipse in  2017 . 

The cool part (partial) of an eclipse can be seen from a very large area, as long as you wear eclipse glasses. The really cool part (total) of an eclipse can be seen only in a small area. It is the total eclipse that people have thought held religious significance since practically as long as humans have had eyes to see and religions to follow.

To quote the essayist Annie Dillard :

A partial eclipse is very interesting. It bears almost no relation to a total eclipse. Seeing a partial eclipse bears the same relation to seeing a total eclipse as kissing a man does to marrying him, or as flying in an airplane does to falling out of an airplane. Although the one experience precedes the other, it in no way prepares you for it. 

Places Named Nineveh

We started with Wikipedia's list of places named Nineveh to get a general idea of where to look. Of course, we cross checked those results with more-reliable sources of knowledge, including Google Maps and data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Wikipedia listed just six places in the U.S. named Nineveh, which made our claim of seven dubious to begin with. Checking the locations of those places on Google Maps, we found that three were actually townships, a term used for county subdivisons in some states. 

The first was the largest, Indiana's Nineveh Township (south of Indianapolis), which contains a small hamlet of the same name. Both the township and the hamlet will indeed fall in the path of the total eclipse.

Next, Wikipedia listed two townships in Missouri — one in Adair County (about halfway between Kansas City and Davenport, Iowa) and one in Lincoln County (about an hour northwest of St. Louis). But neither of the two townships contained a village named Nineveh on any of the maps we looked at. Furthermore, neither of the townships fell in the path of the total eclipse. 

The fourth place on Wikipedia's list, Nineveh, New York, is about 30 minutes east of Binghamton. We found it marked on maps but, again, it did not lie in the path of totality.

Fifth: Nineveh, Pennsylvania, roughly halfway between Pittsburgh and Morgantown, West Virginia. This Nineveh was marked on maps, but it was also outside of the total eclipse. It was also the last Nineveh listed by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sixth, we found Nineveh, Virginia, an hour and a half west of Washington, D.C. This was the easiest to check: Nobody in the state of Virginia will be able to see full totality during the eclipse. We did not find a label for Nineveh on maps, and buildings located in the area had their postal addresses listed as White Post, Virginia.

That completed the Wikipedia list, but various posts about the supposed line-up listed two more Ninevehs located in the U.S.: one in Texas and one in Ohio.

Nineveh, Texas, was not marked on maps, nor did it have a post office. It was located not far off of Interstate 45 halfway between Houston and Dallas. This one was close, but we eventually confirmed that it would be outside of the zone of totality by referencing nearby cities that also were outside of totality.

Nineveh, Ohio, was a similar story: not found on maps, no post office, no Census data. But this Nineveh, 30 minutes northwest of Dayton, was finally our second hit.

In total, we counted two places named Nineveh in the United States that could be found in the path of totality.

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"A Total Eclipse Is near. For Some, It's Evidence of Higher Power. For Others It's a Warning." USA TODAY , https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/03/23/2024-total-solar-exclipse-religious-implications/72869724007/ . Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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Noah. "The Upcoming U.S. Eclipse Just Got Even Stranger!" WLT Report , 4 Mar. 2024, https://wltreport.com/2024/03/04/upcoming-u-s-eclipse-just-got-even-stranger/ .

The APRIL 8, 2024 ECLIPSE & The 7 Cities Named Nineveh | The APRIL 8, 2024 ECLIPSE & The 7 Cities Named Nineveh | By Messiah GuguFacebook . www.facebook.com , https://www.facebook.com/100067092253715/videos/the-april-8-2024-eclipse-the-7-cities-named-nineveh/397509926249711/ . Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

The April 8 2024 Eclipse and the 7 Cities Named Nineveh . www.youtube.com , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLkxKT65IFc . Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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2018 Primetime Emmy & James Beard Award Winner

In Transit: Notes from the Underground

Jun 06 2018.

Spend some time in one of Moscow’s finest museums.

Subterranean commuting might not be anyone’s idea of a good time, but even in a city packing the war-games treasures and priceless bejeweled eggs of the Kremlin Armoury and the colossal Soviet pavilions of the VDNKh , the Metro holds up as one of Moscow’s finest museums. Just avoid rush hour.

The Metro is stunning and provides an unrivaled insight into the city’s psyche, past and present, but it also happens to be the best way to get around. Moscow has Uber, and the Russian version called Yandex Taxi , but also some nasty traffic. Metro trains come around every 90 seconds or so, at a more than 99 percent on-time rate. It’s also reasonably priced, with a single ride at 55 cents (and cheaper in bulk). From history to tickets to rules — official and not — here’s what you need to know to get started.

A Brief Introduction Buying Tickets Know Before You Go (Down) Rules An Easy Tour

A Brief Introduction

Moscow’s Metro was a long time coming. Plans for rapid transit to relieve the city’s beleaguered tram system date back to the Imperial era, but a couple of wars and a revolution held up its development. Stalin revived it as part of his grand plan to modernize the Soviet Union in the 1920s and 30s. The first lines and tunnels were constructed with help from engineers from the London Underground, although Stalin’s secret police decided that they had learned too much about Moscow’s layout and had them arrested on espionage charges and deported.

The beauty of its stations (if not its trains) is well-documented, and certainly no accident. In its illustrious first phases and particularly after the Second World War, the greatest architects of Soviet era were recruited to create gleaming temples celebrating the Revolution, the USSR, and the war triumph. No two stations are exactly alike, and each of the classic showpieces has a theme. There are world-famous shrines to Futurist architecture, a celebration of electricity, tributes to individuals and regions of the former Soviet Union. Each marble slab, mosaic tile, or light fixture was placed with intent, all in service to a station’s aesthetic; each element, f rom the smallest brass ear of corn to a large blood-spattered sword on a World War II mural, is an essential part of the whole.

The Metro is a monument to the Soviet propaganda project it was intended to be when it opened in 1935 with the slogan “Building a Palace for the People”. It brought the grand interiors of Imperial Russia to ordinary Muscovites, celebrated the Soviet Union’s past achievements while promising its citizens a bright Soviet future, and of course, it was a show-piece for the world to witness the might and sophistication of life in the Soviet Union.

It may be a museum, but it’s no relic. U p to nine million people use it daily, more than the London Underground and New York Subway combined. (Along with, at one time, about 20 stray dogs that learned to commute on the Metro.)

In its 80+ year history, the Metro has expanded in phases and fits and starts, in step with the fortunes of Moscow and Russia. Now, partly in preparation for the World Cup 2018, it’s also modernizing. New trains allow passengers to walk the entire length of the train without having to change carriages. The system is becoming more visitor-friendly. (There are helpful stickers on the floor marking out the best selfie spots .) But there’s a price to modernity: it’s phasing out one of its beloved institutions, the escalator attendants. Often they are middle-aged or elderly women—“ escalator grandmas ” in news accounts—who have held the post for decades, sitting in their tiny kiosks, scolding commuters for bad escalator etiquette or even bad posture, or telling jokes . They are slated to be replaced, when at all, by members of the escalator maintenance staff.

For all its achievements, the Metro lags behind Moscow’s above-ground growth, as Russia’s capital sprawls ever outwards, generating some of the world’s worst traffic jams . But since 2011, the Metro has been in the middle of an ambitious and long-overdue enlargement; 60 new stations are opening by 2020. If all goes to plan, the 2011-2020 period will have brought 125 miles of new tracks and over 100 new stations — a 40 percent increase — the fastest and largest expansion phase in any period in the Metro’s history.

Facts: 14 lines Opening hours: 5 a.m-1 a.m. Rush hour(s): 8-10 a.m, 4-8 p.m. Single ride: 55₽ (about 85 cents) Wi-Fi network-wide

Buying Tickets

• Ticket machines have a button to switch to English.
• You can buy specific numbers of rides: 1, 2, 5, 11, 20, or 60. Hold up fingers to show how many rides you want to buy.
• There is also a 90-minute ticket , which gets you 1 trip on the metro plus an unlimited number of transfers on other transport (bus, tram, etc) within 90 minutes.
• Or, you can buy day tickets with unlimited rides: one day (218₽/ US$4), three days (415₽/US$7) or seven days (830₽/US$15). Check the rates here to stay up-to-date.
• If you’re going to be using the Metro regularly over a few days, it’s worth getting a Troika card , a contactless, refillable card you can use on all public transport. Using the Metro is cheaper with one of these: a single ride is 36₽, not 55₽. Buy them and refill them in the Metro stations, and they’re valid for 5 years, so you can keep it for next time. Or, if you have a lot of cash left on it when you leave, you can get it refunded at the Metro Service Centers at Ulitsa 1905 Goda, 25 or at Staraya Basmannaya 20, Building 1.
• You can also buy silicone bracelets and keychains with built-in transport chips that you can use as a Troika card. (A Moscow Metro Fitbit!) So far, you can only get these at the Pushkinskaya metro station Live Helpdesk and souvenir shops in the Mayakovskaya and Trubnaya metro stations. The fare is the same as for the Troika card.
• You can also use Apple Pay and Samsung Pay.

Rules, spoken and unspoken

No smoking, no drinking, no filming, no littering. Photography is allowed, although it used to be banned.

Stand to the right on the escalator. Break this rule and you risk the wrath of the legendary escalator attendants. (No shenanigans on the escalators in general.)

Get out of the way. Find an empty corner to hide in when you get off a train and need to stare at your phone. Watch out getting out of the train in general; when your train doors open, people tend to appear from nowhere or from behind ornate marble columns, walking full-speed.

Always offer your seat to elderly ladies (what are you, a monster?).

An Easy Tour

This is no Metro Marathon ( 199 stations in 20 hours ). It’s an easy tour, taking in most—though not all—of the notable stations, the bulk of it going clockwise along the Circle line, with a couple of short detours. These stations are within minutes of one another, and the whole tour should take about 1-2 hours.

Start at Mayakovskaya Metro station , at the corner of Tverskaya and Garden Ring,  Triumfalnaya Square, Moskva, Russia, 125047.

1. Mayakovskaya.  Named for Russian Futurist Movement poet Vladimir Mayakovsky and an attempt to bring to life the future he imagined in his poems. (The Futurist Movement, natch, was all about a rejecting the past and celebrating all things speed, industry, modern machines, youth, modernity.) The result: an Art Deco masterpiece that won the National Grand Prix for architecture at the New York World’s Fair in 1939. It’s all smooth, rounded shine and light, and gentle arches supported by columns of dark pink marble and stainless aircraft steel. Each of its 34 ceiling niches has a mosaic. During World War II, the station was used as an air-raid shelter and, at one point, a bunker for Stalin. He gave a subdued but rousing speech here in Nov. 6, 1941 as the Nazis bombed the city above.

Take the 3/Green line one station to:

2. Belorusskaya. Opened in 1952, named after the connected Belarussky Rail Terminal, which runs trains between Moscow and Belarus. This is a light marble affair with a white, cake-like ceiling, lined with Belorussian patterns and 12 Florentine ceiling mosaics depicting life in Belarussia when it was built.

Transfer onto the 1/Brown line. Then, one stop (clockwise) t o:

3. Novoslobodskaya.  This station was designed around the stained-glass panels, which were made in Latvia, because Alexey Dushkin, the Soviet starchitect who dreamed it up (and also designed Mayakovskaya station) couldn’t find the glass and craft locally. The stained glass is the same used for Riga’s Cathedral, and the panels feature plants, flowers, members of the Soviet intelligentsia (musician, artist, architect) and geometric shapes.

Go two stops east on the 1/Circle line to:

4. Komsomolskaya. Named after the Komsomol, or the Young Communist League, this might just be peak Stalin Metro style. Underneath the hub for three regional railways, it was intended to be a grand gateway to Moscow and is today its busiest station. It has chandeliers; a yellow ceiling with Baroque embellishments; and in the main hall, a colossal red star overlaid on golden, shimmering tiles. Designer Alexey Shchusev designed it as an homage to the speech Stalin gave at Red Square on Nov. 7, 1941, in which he invoked Russia’s illustrious military leaders as a pep talk to Soviet soldiers through the first catastrophic year of the war.   The station’s eight large mosaics are of the leaders referenced in the speech, such as Alexander Nevsky, a 13th-century prince and military commander who bested German and Swedish invading armies.

One more stop clockwise to Kurskaya station,  and change onto the 3/Blue  line, and go one stop to:

5. Baumanskaya.   Opened in 1944. Named for the Bolshevik Revolutionary Nikolai Bauman , whose monument and namesake district are aboveground here. Though he seemed like a nasty piece of work (he apparently once publicly mocked a woman he had impregnated, who later hung herself), he became a Revolutionary martyr when he was killed in 1905 in a skirmish with a monarchist, who hit him on the head with part of a steel pipe. The station is in Art Deco style with atmospherically dim lighting, and a series of bronze sculptures of soldiers and homefront heroes during the War. At one end, there is a large mosaic portrait of Lenin.

Stay on that train direction one more east to:

6. Elektrozavodskaya. As you may have guessed from the name, this station is the Metro’s tribute to all thing electrical, built in 1944 and named after a nearby lightbulb factory. It has marble bas-relief sculptures of important figures in electrical engineering, and others illustrating the Soviet Union’s war-time struggles at home. The ceiling’s recurring rows of circular lamps give the station’s main tunnel a comforting glow, and a pleasing visual effect.

Double back two stops to Kurskaya station , and change back to the 1/Circle line. Sit tight for six stations to:

7. Kiyevskaya. This was the last station on the Circle line to be built, in 1954, completed under Nikita Khrushchev’ s guidance, as a tribute to his homeland, Ukraine. Its three large station halls feature images celebrating Ukraine’s contributions to the Soviet Union and Russo-Ukrainian unity, depicting musicians, textile-working, soldiers, farmers. (One hall has frescoes, one mosaics, and the third murals.) Shortly after it was completed, Khrushchev condemned the architectural excesses and unnecessary luxury of the Stalin era, which ushered in an epoch of more austere Metro stations. According to the legend at least, he timed the policy in part to ensure no Metro station built after could outshine Kiyevskaya.

Change to the 3/Blue line and go one stop west.

8. Park Pobedy. This is the deepest station on the Metro, with one of the world’s longest escalators, at 413 feet. If you stand still, the escalator ride to the surface takes about three minutes .) Opened in 2003 at Victory Park, the station celebrates two of Russia’s great military victories. Each end has a mural by Georgian artist Zurab Tsereteli, who also designed the “ Good Defeats Evil ” statue at the UN headquarters in New York. One mural depicts the Russian generals’ victory over the French in 1812 and the other, the German surrender of 1945. The latter is particularly striking; equal parts dramatic, triumphant, and gruesome. To the side, Red Army soldiers trample Nazi flags, and if you look closely there’s some blood spatter among the detail. Still, the biggest impressions here are the marble shine of the chessboard floor pattern and the pleasingly geometric effect if you view from one end to the other.

Keep going one more stop west to:

9. Slavyansky Bulvar.  One of the Metro’s youngest stations, it opened in 2008. With far higher ceilings than many other stations—which tend to have covered central tunnels on the platforms—it has an “open-air” feel (or as close to it as you can get, one hundred feet under). It’s an homage to French architect Hector Guimard, he of the Art Nouveau entrances for the Paris M é tro, and that’s precisely what this looks like: A Moscow homage to the Paris M é tro, with an additional forest theme. A Cyrillic twist on Guimard’s Metro-style lettering over the benches, furnished with t rees and branch motifs, including creeping vines as towering lamp-posts.

Stay on the 3/Blue line and double back four stations to:

10. Arbatskaya. Its first iteration, Arbatskaya-Smolenskaya station, was damaged by German bombs in 1941. It was rebuilt in 1953, and designed to double as a bomb shelter in the event of nuclear war, although unusually for stations built in the post-war phase, this one doesn’t have a war theme. It may also be one of the system’s most elegant: Baroque, but toned down a little, with red marble floors and white ceilings with gilded bronze c handeliers.

Jump back on the 3/Blue line  in the same direction and take it one more stop:

11. Ploshchad Revolyutsii (Revolution Square). Opened in 1938, and serving Red Square and the Kremlin . Its renowned central hall has marble columns flanked by 76 bronze statues of Soviet heroes: soldiers, students, farmers, athletes, writers, parents. Some of these statues’ appendages have a yellow sheen from decades of Moscow’s commuters rubbing them for good luck. Among the most popular for a superstitious walk-by rub: the snout of a frontier guard’s dog, a soldier’s gun (where the touch of millions of human hands have tapered the gun barrel into a fine, pointy blade), a baby’s foot, and a woman’s knee. (A brass rooster also sports the telltale gold sheen, though I am told that rubbing the rooster is thought to bring bad luck. )

Now take the escalator up, and get some fresh air.

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