Cancelled/postponed trips due to COVID - please share your outcomes

[David Novo]

I have a Red Sea LOB for early October and paid 15% until now. 35% more due on Sunday and I am on the fence on whether to just cancel.
BlueO2 would reschedule if at the time of the trip:
1) I have Covid-19;
2) There are travel restrictions (banned) to leave Portugal;
3) There are travel restrictions (banned) to enter Egypt.

I still think there is a lot of "stuff" that can be hitting the fan in October that does not fit in any of the categories above. What are your thoughts?

 

[peeweediver]

I have a Red Sea LOB for early October and paid 15% until now. 35% more due on Sunday and I am on the fence on whether to just cancel.
BlueO2 would reschedule if at the time of the trip:
1) I have Covid-19;
2) There are travel restrictions (banned) to leave Portugal;
3) There are travel restrictions (banned) to enter Egypt.

I still think there is a lot of "stuff" that can be hitting the fan in October that does not fit in any of the categories above. What are your thoughts?

I'll be curious what replies come in on this question and what you decide to do. We have a trip to Turk-Palau in November and the next payment will be next month. We already paid, hefty price, for airfare. My concern is that even if travel is allowed, do we really want to get sick and quarantined in either of those places...or Guam...maybe better health care on Guam? No clue what United will do as to credit, etc. I'd rather lose the money than be sick on either Island, but knowing what the outbreak will look like in November is a hard call. For your situation, I'd probably cancel if you haven't paid airfare. Being on a live-a-board with folks who may or may not be infected at the time of departure is unappealing. Truthfully, no good answer on your situation that I can see.
Rob

 

[O-ring]

Do you lose the 15% if you cancel?

 

[rongoodman]

My trip on the Socorros Aggressor was canceled a couple of days ago due to Mexico shutting things down. The company sent me a choice of dates next spring to re-schedule and I'm all set for March, unless something else happens.

I also just got an email from Delta extending the period during which I can reuse my flight credit from one to two years.

 

[David Novo]

Yes, I lose 15%, around 200 bucks as I did not yet buy airfare. I have to admit I am leaning towards canceling...

 

[Kimela]

We had a bus tour of Eastern Europe planned for May 21 (no diving) through Trafalgar. We received the email below. Bottom line is we will get 100% credit of the monies spent on the land portion (on our own for airfare with United) toward the purchase of a trip in the future, through 2022. Of concern is it appears United's policy is we can book for 12 months from our original issue date, which was December of 2019 (so we have 9 months - so we won't be able to use the airfare $$ up through 2022 unless United makes some sort of accommodations).

Also of note is we canNOT use our 'cancel for any reason' because the contract language states they will refund 75% of 'non-refundable' monies - and Trafalgar offering us future travel credit is considered a 'refund' (or at least doesn't qualify as 'non-refundable'). It's a bit frustrating, but it's not like we were going to stop traveling. I'd rather have my own cash in hand rather than be forced to find something else, especially with things still being so uncertain.

"Through the peace-of-mind program Trafalgar will automatically issue a future travel credit valued at 100% of all monies paid towards land and Trafalgar travel insurance if selected.

This future travel credit can be used by yourself or gifted to other friends or family (with the exception of the travel insurance premium) and are valid on any new 2020, 2021, or 2022 departure within the Travcorp brands (Brendan, Contiki, Costsaver, Insight, and Trafalgar).

Nothing needs to be done on your end and the future travel credits will automatically be issued to you in several weeks. When you are ready to use your future travel credit please contact us at 1-800-935-2620 by providing the number below to your travel consultant to apply your vouchers on your next vacation.

This policy does not apply towards vacations that include the Oberammergau Passion Play. Please call us for more details."

 

[O-ring]

Yes, I lose 15%, around 200 bucks as I did not yet buy airfare. I have to admit I am leaning towards canceling...

For $200 I would probably cancel. I went through a similar mental exercise recently, but the cancellation penalty was $2000 and I decided to ride it out and see what happens. For $200 I would have cancelled everything and just waited to rebook if/when things go back to quasi-normal.

 

[BDSC]

I have logged Damai as giving a 60% voucher. If this turns out to be incorrect, I will change it but a couple sources have confirmed this.

Not only are they keeping 40%, but I’ve been told by someone who is dealing with them on a canceled trip that they want anywhere from $1500 - $2000 per person as a rebooking fee. That seems unbelievable but that’s what I’m being told.

 

[outofofficebrb]

Not only are they keeping 40%, but I’ve been told by someone who is dealing with them on a canceled trip that they want anywhere from $1500 - $2000 per person as a rebooking fee. That seems unbelievable but that’s what I’m being told.

Someone mentioned to me they are offering a discount on the rescheduled sailings which should offset the 40% they are keeping but that they are charging a reschedule fee (what you just quoted) that basically offsets the discount and gets everyone back to square 1....screwed.

 

[Dan]

FYI, my French Polynesia Master rebooking fee is $0.00