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

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So, final confirmation on cancellation of my trip just came in. Due to the fact that we used a specialliced travel agent, we will get all of our deposits and air fare back by Friday and did not have to haggle with anyone. The money will go straight into 3 weeks on Cuba though :)
 
I haven't read through all if this yet, and I'm not certain our circumstances will matter for the purposes of the type of data you're collecting, but I'm always willing to participate. So ...

Our original plans had been a week on Vancouver Island in December. We weren't using a travel agency. Our goal was to make it a road trip and visit some national parks along the way.

We had planned to rent an AirBnB, but the managers of the accommodations required a non-refundable deposit well in advance. We weren't willing to commit to that until we were closer to our actual travel dates and we knew for certain the border between the US and Canada would be open.

Since the border has remained closed, we have opted to shift our plans into January and focus on northern Washington rather than Vancouver Island.

Plans are easily changed when it's just two of you and you're "winging it." No flights to worry about. No major reservations.
 
Nov. 10 I used Expedia to book an Air Canada direct flight to Cozumel, also my hotel (Casa Mexicana) for a 1-week trip Nov. 26-December 3. Received an email message Nov. 11 (evening) and a text message from Expedia stating Air Canada has cancelled the flight. Can't find any other direct flights to Cozumel for November or December. In the past I have done the Cancun/bus/ferry drag-bag routine but it's circuitous and tiring.

Can't get through to AC and no call-backs available--waiting time is 1+ hour. Expedia refunded me for the hotel and said AC is offering up a travel voucher for the flight. Looked at Air Canada's web site and there are some direct flights scheduled for January, but who knows, maybe it will be a rerun of what I'm experiencing now.

Anyone else on SB done a dance lately with Air Canada trying to chase a refund for a flight booked with a 3rd party web site?
 
It seems likely given the surge of cases globally that air travel will be disrupted for many months to come. While AC and others are promoting Caribbean travel, I suspect that the ad campaign was conceived and ramped up when things were looking a bit more promising. Sadly, many folks have ignored the best advice on how to stay safe that has been repeated ad nauseum, and now we are all stuck with the consequences.
 
One more trip cancelled since my last post somewhere way back.

Jan. 2021 2 week trip to Aruba - Had a flight change with American Airlines that would have had us spending the night in Chicago instead of the original 3 hr layover, on the way home. As we knew we weren't taking this trip we called to cancel flight. All miles used were returned and money for the return trip for me. Only thing we paid for that we couldn't change was $79 to purchase 2000 miles for my wife, so although no refund, we still have the miles.

The resort we were staying at was to basically be a freebie - we sat through a short presentation of our friends vacation club (hosted at our friends house.) Paid $200 which was a deposit to be refunded and we paid $275 on top of that to get a 2 bedroom - our friends did the same and we scheduled the 2 weeks back to back (did the same thing 4 ½ years ago for trip to Antigua but it only cost $75 to upgrade to 2 bedroom unit.) We are getting the $200 back but losing the $275. Bummer. So for all of the 2020/21 trips we had planned since February and before, the only thing not refunded was the $275 - not bad.

Because of being a timeshare owner, the $$ we had refunded was banked and had/has to be used by the end of Dec. so we have booked a 2 week trip to Cozumel next Nov/Dec. Still need to plan a future trip. Hope I'm not replying to this thread again next year to say we cancelled the Coz trip.
 
I have had two covid cancellation experiences which have forever changed the way I will book trips in the future. I gave the sponsoring dive shop a $1500 deposit in early 2020 for a late May 2021 trip to Cuba. Around July 2020 I was asked to pay the remainder . Having not had much work due to Covid and thus being a bit low on vacation money I requested my spot be sold to someone else, which usually was easy to do because the dive shop often had a waiting list. I learned that a total of 8 had cancelled the liveaboard trip and the deposit was non refundable. The deposits would be used to sell the remaining spots for less because the trip was on and needed to be paid for. ( The trip is still planned and there is now a waiting list to join it). I still feel reluctant to travel to Cuba, even though I have been vaccinated, so I accepted the loss of money along with my decision to not travel abroad nor put down more money. The other experience is a Blue Manta trip which I have fully paid for and was scheduled for November 2020 and was cancelled and is rescheduled for November 2021. We have been advised not to get airline tickets till we hear from the trip organizer in early June. Does not appear now that Indonesia is even open to foreigners so not sure what will happen with that trip. Unless I had bought cancel for any reason insurance back when I put down the deposits I could not get a return on the money I have spent. So lesson learned. In future I will ask more questions about deposits, and will only go on trips with a bit more flexibility. Realize the pandemic has hurt a lot of people and I have no doubt the diving travel industry is suffering, but I will be much more cautious before paying for a trip.
 
good !

personally, still waiting (since oct 2020) to receive 1650 usd for a flight cancelled by the airline.... (bought via edreams.es)
Same here. Bought tickets for a flght to Bali September 2020 via Travel2be and still waiting for a refund. I have contacted the airline to find out whether or not they had refunded Travel2be. Their answer was "not yet".
 
I've had a deposit in for Hornby Island Diving on the west coast of BC for three years now. Last season they were totally closed and they've canceled my booking for this year as well. They offered to refund the deposit if full so I can't blame them, they've treated me right, just disappointing.
 

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