artnbarb
1000+ Posts
Are we all now regretting have paid varying sums of money for travel insurance, only to find out that it's useless under the circumstances when you're most likely to need it? I'm feeling both mad and sad that the fine print always seems to be in favor of the big guy. And yes, I acknowledge the fact that by buying those tours, hotel rooms, airfares, etc, that I AM agreeing to THEIR rules. I get it. I knew "they" would come out okay, and I accepted their terms - until I realized how really skewed the terms are.
We recently booked a package vacation. It was an impulse buy, something that we'd never considered doing, but when I received an email for NYC, then a transatlantic cruise, then London, I jumped on it. My two favorite cities in the whole world!!! And we could afford to see Hamilton in London! And then it all fell apart, and the travel agency is returning my money as such:
Are you all scrambling to cancel stuff? Or are you re-scheduling rather than re-cancelling? If so, you're probably not nearly as stressed as I am, thinking of all these vouchers that have to used within a finite period. If the vouchers are good from one year from the date the flight was originally purchased, (January), the longer it takes to be "safe" to fly, the shorter my window to use the airfare! We'll each have potentially $1100!
And on top of all this, the idea of not getting to Italy at all this year is really upsetting. First world problems, yes, but thanks for letting me vent.
We recently booked a package vacation. It was an impulse buy, something that we'd never considered doing, but when I received an email for NYC, then a transatlantic cruise, then London, I jumped on it. My two favorite cities in the whole world!!! And we could afford to see Hamilton in London! And then it all fell apart, and the travel agency is returning my money as such:
- a voucher from United for the value of our domestic flight to NYC. Unless United changes the rule, I'll be allowed to "change" this flight without a penalty or fee, but I'll probably have to use it within a year. I'm hoping that means I can book something on day 364, then still have another year to fly. We'll see.
- another voucher from United for the cost of our TA airfare from London to Tampa. Same questions as above.
- Our choice of a full refund OR 125% credit towards a cruise, good until December 2022. Generous, maybe, but the chances of us taking another cruise, especially with a specific cruises line, are slim - so we took the 100% refund It'll just go back on our credit card
- From the travel agency who put all this together, a credit for the balance that covered the ground transportation, land tours and hotels, valid for one year. the chances of us using this are really, really low. Am I wrong to feel that I got the short end of this stick? I think it's about $1300 for both of us. I'm sure there's no way we'll ever get a refund, but I'd like to write an email to the company and ask for one.
Are you all scrambling to cancel stuff? Or are you re-scheduling rather than re-cancelling? If so, you're probably not nearly as stressed as I am, thinking of all these vouchers that have to used within a finite period. If the vouchers are good from one year from the date the flight was originally purchased, (January), the longer it takes to be "safe" to fly, the shorter my window to use the airfare! We'll each have potentially $1100!
And on top of all this, the idea of not getting to Italy at all this year is really upsetting. First world problems, yes, but thanks for letting me vent.