Political Unrest in Equador

[MN Lakeman]

Just as I was about to book my AA flights to Quito for our January Galapagos dive trip, I caught this on MSN :

Ecuador revolt: 'They wanted blood' - World news - Americas - msnbc.com

Airports were closed for a while to international flights.

 

[leadweight]

Too bad, and it kind of reminds me of the things that happened in Honduras about 16 months ago. Things like this don't help tourism any. It's worse for dive tourism due to the long advance reservations with operators (Galapagos more so than most places) and widespread no refund policies. I wonder if trip insurance covers political risk.

 

[scubafanatic]

...additionally, I'd be reluctant to spend any tourist $ supporting the economy of a country (Equador) who's government is so totally anti-American/leftest and so completely 'in bed' with the likes of Chavez and Castro, moreover, the government of Equador supports narco-terrorism by sponsoring FARC terrorist bases for cross border attacks on Columbia (an American ally).

 

[DiveTheGalapagos]

And to summarize the impact on Galapagos travelers... airports were closed Thursday morning.

 

[Dom@DiveAdvice]

With all the press and media attention this event got around the world, it had minimal affect on travellers and is unlikely to be repeated - or lets says just as likely in Paris, London, New York or Chicago !! It was a wages dispute gone a bit wild - tyres were burned in the streets and shots were fired and airports closed very briefly. We had two dive groups there at the time and they were a little nervous but bascially unaffected. I don't believe anyone was actually physically hurt except the President did get a lung full of tear gas that will not make him very forgiving to the protesters demands. Time to move on and put that one behind us.

 

[RJP]

Was in the Galapagos Islands at the time - non-issue.

 

[wanderlass]

If you have a scheduled liveaboard trip and airport was closed causing you to missed the trip, are operators considerate enough to let you rebook on a later date? Or goodbye USD5,000?

 

[RJP]

If you have a scheduled liveaboard trip and airport was closed causing you to missed the trip, are operators considerate enough to let you rebook on a later date? Or goodbye USD5,000?

"considerate"?

Try "foolish" as the proper word.

Liveaboard operators recommend trip insurance for a reason... because being that "considerate" is a good way to go out of business. Think about it... instead of YOU saying goodbye to the $3900 bucks, the operator would be out that money - TIMES 16 passengers. That's $62,400 of revenue out the window. Then add in the cost of perishable food, crew salary, and other fixed and variable costs. Then consider the fact that the Galapagos boats are booked 1-2 years ahead of time. How's an operator going to re-book an entire boat in any reasonable fashion?

Know I know that some folks will say "But RJP, it would make sense to do it from a goodwill standpoint. Imagine the bad press if they took those people's money!" And you''d have a bit of a point there. I'm sure the boat would work with you on something, but I'd rather doubt they'd be "considerate" enough to simply give you 100% credit towards a future cruise.

That being said, the airport was only closed for a short period of time. More likely the boat would wait in port for the passengers to show up - seeing as it would likely effect most incoming passengers who frequently arrive on the same flights, wouldn't make sense to sail empty. Then they'd do their best to modify the itinerary to give folks the best trip possible under the circumstances, and maybe offer a few hundred bucks towards a future trip. I really don't think you can expect much more "consideration" than that.

 

[wanderlass]

That's a very good point, RJP. But I don't see the reason why you're frenzied and sarcastic about it. Do you own one of these liveaboard boat? Thanks anyway for the tip, I will go get one of this insurance.

 

[Mossman]

Liveaboard operators recommend trip insurance for a reason... because being that "considerate" is a good way to go out of business. Think about it... instead of YOU saying goodbye to the $3900 bucks, the operator would be out that money - TIMES 16 passengers. That's $62,400 of revenue out the window. Then add in the cost of perishable food, crew salary, and other fixed and variable costs. Then consider the fact that the Galapagos boats are booked 1-2 years ahead of time. How's an operator going to re-book an entire boat in any reasonable fashion?

One problem with that assessment is that many trip insurers won't cover this sort of incident. For instance, according to AIG Travelguard, "This plan does not cover any loss caused by or resulting from: (e)war or act of war, whether declared or not, civil disorder, riot, or insurrection." When I was headed to Indonesia earlier this year via Bangkok, right in the middle of the red-shirt rebellion there, I was biting my nails worrying about the possibility of an airport closure due to "civil disorder" and me being out thousands notwithstanding a fancy trip insurance policy.