Did i mention how much I despise the airlines?

[Rockit31]

I booked a package deal through Expedia months ago for a week in Cozumel for two. Originally scheduled for April 18th for a week stay. I was and still am terribly excited to do some diving as I was recently certified back in February. Staying at Hotel Cozumel and was probably just going to use the onsite dive shop Dive Paradise.
We April came along and American cancelled my flight shortly before it was scheduled. I was able to make arrangements with Expedia to rebook everything for May 31st. An extra cost of $170 due to increased airfare price. Ok, no biggie. All signs looked good as Mexican President stated he was opening country back up on May 30. Well just found that Hotel Cozumel does not plan to open until June 4th. So back on the horn with Expedia and try as they could, they called American and said my tickets are non refundable and that since I've already made 1 change, I cannot make anymore. I decided to call American myself and after explaining my situation the lady was pretty sure she could change my flight with no penalty but then that would mess up my package through Expedia. She suggested I call them back, ask for supervisor and have them apply for Covid waiver with Expedia's sales and support department. American would then honor the change with no penalty, only cost would be new flight cost difference. So now they tell me the new cost per ticket for just moving my dates up one week to June 5th would cost me an extra 300 dollars per ticket. I'm already in for $750 per ticket for round trip from Fresno, CA. Sheesh! So frustrated.
So if I keep my original tickets for May 31st, I would need to cancel Hotel Cozumel and eventually get full refund. Problem is, on Expedia, there are 0 hotels available for May 31st. I wandered over to CheapCaribbean.com and see a smattering of available resorts for that date and may just cancel Hotel Cozumel and book at El Cozumeleno. I've stayed there before, it's nothing fancy and the food sucks but I don't recall if they have a dive shop affiliated with the resort. Any suggestions for a diver staying there for a week?

 

[mediumone]

I can't answer your question directly, but can offer some advice:
Avoid travel agents at all costs.
When everything goes as planned, they offer some great prices and packages.
If things don't go as planned, you can almost be assured of holding a full dog walkers bag.

 

[horn34]

There are 300+ airbnb rentals available on May 31st. Check them out. Avoid resorts.

 

[littlechihiro]

You could try emailing Scuba Club Cozumel and see if they have openings. Their website currently says they're reopening May 15th.
Scuba Club Cozumel Dive Resort - Cozumel, Mexico

I've stayed at SCC twice and had good experiences both times.

 

[mediumone]

I wonder -- is the port/park going to be open on May 31?

 

[muzikbiz22]

:
Avoid travel agents at all costs..

+1, this. Book your flights direct, hotels direct, etc. 50% Biz travel and I NEVER ever use Expedia, etc. They will bite you in the butt. See if the airline has it's own package/hotel deal. The only travel agent I have had success with, and actually don't mind using is AmEx. Book direct with airlines, hotels, etc;, get points/amenities.

 

[ReefHound]

What were you thinking? Just hold your horses. Anything anyone says about re-opening, even from the President, is written in pencil. Don't try to apply ink to it. If you go through all this hassle and get rebooked to June 5th there's a pretty good chance you're just going to be going through all of this again in a few weeks. Nobody is going to turn on a light switch on some date and everything is like it was a few months ago. At this point, if I were to go in June I'd probably wait til I get to the island to see who is open and has the best room and dive trips.

 

[rick00001967]

unfortunately reefhound is right. i would have never booked the trip in the first place and certainly would not have recommended changing the dates to anytime soon. sorry for your situation. hope it works out somehow for you.
i am curious though.....how / why did expedia make a change to your flight schedule without making sure your hotel was still avail ?
if you bought an air / hotel package through them, they should have made sure everything lined up before making that change request to the airline. imho expedia is responsible for the mistake. but good luck getting a penny out of them.
i have used expedia many times due to pricing. and for the most part we are happy with the trips we have booked through them. but the above comments are true that they are horrible at providing any type of customer service or compensation, even when it is 100% their fault. been there. done that.
good luck

 

[ggunn]

I booked a package deal through Expedia months ago for a week in Cozumel for two. Originally scheduled for April 18th for a week stay. I was and still am terribly excited to do some diving as I was recently certified back in February. Staying at Hotel Cozumel and was probably just going to use the onsite dive shop Dive Paradise.
We April came along and American cancelled my flight shortly before it was scheduled. I was able to make arrangements with Expedia to rebook everything for May 31st. An extra cost of $170 due to increased airfare price. Ok, no biggie. All signs looked good as Mexican President stated he was opening country back up on May 30. Well just found that Hotel Cozumel does not plan to open until June 4th. So back on the horn with Expedia and try as they could, they called American and said my tickets are non refundable and that since I've already made 1 change, I cannot make anymore. I decided to call American myself and after explaining my situation the lady was pretty sure she could change my flight with no penalty but then that would mess up my package through Expedia. She suggested I call them back, ask for supervisor and have them apply for Covid waiver with Expedia's sales and support department. American would then honor the change with no penalty, only cost would be new flight cost difference. So now they tell me the new cost per ticket for just moving my dates up one week to June 5th would cost me an extra 300 dollars per ticket. I'm already in for $750 per ticket for round trip from Fresno, CA. Sheesh! So frustrated.
So if I keep my original tickets for May 31st, I would need to cancel Hotel Cozumel and eventually get full refund. Problem is, on Expedia, there are 0 hotels available for May 31st. I wandered over to CheapCaribbean.com and see a smattering of available resorts for that date and may just cancel Hotel Cozumel and book at El Cozumeleno. I've stayed there before, it's nothing fancy and the food sucks but I don't recall if they have a dive shop affiliated with the resort. Any suggestions for a diver staying there for a week?

Not to be piling on, but what in the world are you thinking? This pandemic isn't going away any time soon; haven't you noticed how the estimates of when we might get the all clear keep getting pushed farther and farther into the future? There's no way (in my and a whole lot of other people's opinion) that Mexico will be back to business by the end of May 2020, maybe not by the end of May 2021. We have a very long row to hoe before we can even think about taking Cozumel vacations again, and that's coming from someone (me) who was supposed to be there at this very moment. It sucks, but to quote an old Hawkwind song: This is reality, however grim.

 

[horn34]

Regardless of whether the government's decision is right or wrong, I'm betting on Coz people going back to work on June 1, with staggered openings. I wouldn't be surprised if the marine park opens first week of June as well.