Coronavirus - Travel impacts II

[sengsational]

The American Airlines refund page has changed for me. Now it's saying "We have previously received a refund request for this ticket and it is in our queue to be reviewed. Thank you for your patience".

This might be because I opened a dispute with my credit card. AA doesn't want to refund anybody twice, hehe!

So I expect (hope) that in a month, the charge will go from a conditional refund to a permanent refund.

Today I was notified that the provisional credit was changed to a permanent credit. So they held my money for over 4 months, but I finally got it ALL back. No flimsy, expiring voucher for me!

I've still only been refunded 38% of what I expect to get back (across all of my refund requests and disputes). I hope the other disputes resolve my way. One smaller one is on this same card, and two more are on a different card.

 

[Souschef]

I, and some of the other passengers that were booked on the cruise we cancelled have received their FCC. I am hoping to get our refunds by July in time to pay the first and second installment of my estimated taxes.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

I can now see British Airways' flights for the beginning of June, and they've switched to cancelling the earlier of the two flights starting June 1. So, if they keep switching which flight they cancel each month (I know, big "if"), they will cancel the later of the two for July, and ours is the later flight. So I'll continue to play refund chicken with them, and forego the voucher for now. I hope once they post the flight as cancelled 10 days out, I'll be able to get a refund.

 

[athena53]

There is a lot of hostile buzz about Overseas Adventure Travel and refunds. If the stories are to be believed, they changed their refund policy and applied it retroactively to past payments. They are using "Force Majeure' to justify their actions. Supposedly, they also rescheduled people moving them from a 2020 tour to a 2021 tour without any input from the customer.

I guess most of its customers didn't include trying to get their money back as part of the 'Adventure' they signed up for.

I was kind of paranoid about this- the main portion of my trip was cancelled and we were sent home after the pre-trip extension, although I can't say enough about their work to get us home as options dwindled- and I'd made my own flight arrangements.

One of my fellow travelers just sent me this link.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/25/travel/coronavirus-refunds-overseas-adventure-travel.html

Briefly, OAT is stonewalling and offering credits instead of refunds even though they're HQ'd in Massachusetts and state law requires refunds. I'm willing to take a credit if the expiration date is far enough out. My friend has tried to contact them multiple times and not gotten a response.

 

[bmcgonig]

I was kind of paranoid about this- the main portion of my trip was cancelled and we were sent home after the pre-trip extension, although I can't say enough about their work to get us home as options dwindled- and I'd made my own flight arrangements.

One of my fellow travelers just sent me this link.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/25/travel/coronavirus-refunds-overseas-adventure-travel.html

Briefly, OAT is stonewalling and offering credits instead of refunds even though they're HQ'd in Massachusetts and state law requires refunds. I'm willing to take a credit if the expiration date is far enough out. My friend has tried to contact them multiple times and not gotten a response.

Tough situation for both seller and buyer. OAT wants to preserve cash and working capital. Person looking for refund is not sure that OAT will be in business next year.

 

[Sunset]

Tough situation for both seller and buyer. OAT wants to preserve cash and working capital. Person looking for refund is not sure that OAT will be in business next year.

Sure the future is uncertain, and companies like OAT and Airlines, etc appear to want to preserve their cash, but the customer will be totally screwed if they go out of business, and very inconvenienced in the meantime as the customer life may change making the trip impossible later.

These types of businesses often collect all the money in advance, yet they haven't/shouldn't have spent it yet.
They are holding onto the money to pay future costs (rent, staff, etc), and the cost of the actual trip which won't happen, and the approx 10% profit that won't happen for the trip.

The fact they won't/can't refund the money makes me feel it's like a giant ponzi scheme similar to how Bernie Madoff needed new inflow of money to pay out to existing subscribers.

 

[Scrapr]

I wonder how Rick Steves tours refunded money so fast. I was scheduled on a May tour in Paris. As soon as they cancelled I had the money in back on my CC in a week. It's hard to believe that he would have that much money on hand. I suspect he has a insurance policy that paid out. Much like Wimbledon. Wimbledon had bought a policy for years & years. Always paying the premium but never collecting...until this year

 

[gattara]

I wonder how Rick Steves tours refunded money so fast. I was scheduled on a May tour in Paris. As soon as they cancelled I had the money in back on my CC in a week. It's hard to believe that he would have that much money on hand. I suspect he has a insurance policy that paid out. Much like Wimbledon. Wimbledon had bought a policy for years & years. Always paying the premium but never collecting...until this year

I wonder too. I was so impressed with the speed of my refund from one of his tours. A smooth, easy and fast process. Makes me trust him even more than before, and I will definitely go on one of his tours on the other side of this pandemic.

 

[camfused]

It's been over 60 days and I am still waiting on refunds from Air France and Delta.

 

[harllee]

We usually go to Maine for a week or two each summer. No way we could go now. Maine has a rule that anyone coming in from out of state has to go under mandatory quarantine for 14 days. It appears the way the rule is written it lasts all summer. They just do not want any tourists coming in from out of state. I can't say that I blame them--the Maine numbers are pretty low. Not sure we would have gone anyway but impossible now.

 

[camfused]

^^^ If you give me a thousand bucks, I have a cousin that can sneak you over the border....just kidding

 

[explanade]

Several countries apparently plan to try to have a tourist season.

For instance Greece will start on June 15 with a limited set of countries and then almost all countries, subject to random testing:

Greece will allow visitors from more nations to visit the country from June 15 with rules varying according to the airport of origin.

International flights will be allowed to Athens and Thessaloniki in a bridge phase from June 15 to June 30 from countries on a list compiled by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, including the U.K. and the U.S., the country’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Saturday. From July 1, the measure is expanded to all Greek airports.

Greece’s Tourism Ministry had originally said on Friday that only visitors from 29 countries including China would be allowed to enter the country from June 15 with further nations to be gradually added to the list from July 1.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ers-to-all-continents-from-june-15-with-rules

That article has a link to EASA airports list. It lists airports of some US states, not all, which would be subject to close scrutiny for passengers originating from them.

All of EU is suppose to allow travelers from each other visit, starting from early or mid June.

 

[6miths]

Plan to visit some local attractions this year that are usually so busy that visiting in the summer season isn't worth it. Looking forward to having it seem like the 70s again but will miss spending time in Europe!

 

[Sunset]

I think it will be a hard sell to any smart person to consider: fly international to our country and we will test you, if you pass great, otherwise go home

 

[explanade]

If you're positive it would be quarantine.

 

[Sunset]

If you're positive it would be quarantine.

Sure 14 days inside a hotel room, how jolly

However, they could simply turn you away. It happens with the Province PEI

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prin...rd-turned-away-confederation-bridge-1.5533060

 

[explanade]

Yeah may be a good idea to get a test if possible before traveling.

 

[Winemaker]

Viking has cancelled all cruises til August 31st, which included our cruise. However, we cancelled ours at the 91 day out mark, we didn't think it was right to sight see/eat with a mask, or overload local facilities on route. We'll live to go another time, and more time to brush up on German.

 

[Ronstar]

Got an email from our B&B in Bar Harbor Maine. We were supposed to do an Acadia NP trip in mid August. They are closing for the summer and offered us 3 options. Full refund, rebook for Sept 2020, or rebook for summer 2021. Haven't decided yet, but I don't see Sept 2020 as a viable option - Sept won't be much different than Aug IMO.

 

[BigNick]

Got an email from our B&B in Bar Harbor Maine. We were supposed to do an Acadia NP trip in mid August. They are closing for the summer and offered us 3 options. Full refund, rebook for Sept 2020, or rebook for summer 2021. Haven't decided yet, but I don't see Sept 2020 as a viable option - Sept won't be much different than Aug IMO.

Unless reservations are expected to be very hard to come by, surely the rational thing to do is to take the full refund? Then you can rebook later if you want. Cash is king.

 

[Sunset]

I finally capitulated and took the hotel credit good for 18 months, as they wouldn't do refunds.
In fairness it was booked as prepaid meaning non-refundable, so I was simply hoping for a refund.
Don't really know if 18 months from now we will be able to go, but I'll hope

Weird update:
As above, I went ahead and took the credit for a hotel in UK for 1 night.
The day of my reservation being over, the hotel emails me, referencing an email I had sent them weeks before capitulating.
They processed a Credit Card Refund for me, and apologized for the slow response

 

[ShadowBloom]

I usually travel on group tours. Several of the companies I've traveled with have started promoting travel for next year. They're making a big pitch about how they will be sanitizing the buses and claiming tour members will have appropriate social distancing when sightseeing and at meals. All mention bringing masks, with at least one company providing them. There's no clear mention of whether travelers will be expected to wear masks on the tour bus, however.

 

[ugeauxgirl]

We're in Vegas. We had bought flights in January for a family vacation which (of course) got cancelled. We're spending 2 days here and then going to do some hiking in Utah. We got here on the 4th and crowds were sparse. Tourists are pouring into town today. All casino workers and restaurant workers are wearing masks, and there are mask dispensers and hand sanitizer dispensers everywhere. The hotel even left some in our rooms. There are signs encouraging guests to wear masks but many aren't. Some of the attractions are still closed but my boys were delighted to see that the roller coaster at the New York New York Hotel was open...

Atlanta airport was much less busy yesterday than usual, but busier than I expected. Las Vegas airport was pretty slow, but the car rental place said business had picked up a lot in the last day or two. All the restaurant and casino workers tell us they are glad to be back at work.

 

[ivinsfan]

We're in Vegas. We had bought flights in January for a family vacation which (of course) got cancelled. We're spending 2 days here and then going to do some hiking in Utah. We got here on the 4th and crowds were sparse. Tourists are pouring into town today. All casino workers and restaurant workers are wearing masks, and there are mask dispensers and hand sanitizer dispensers everywhere. The hotel even left some in our rooms. There are signs encouraging guests to wear masks but many aren't. Some of the attractions are still closed but my boys were delighted to see that the roller coaster at the New York New York Hotel was open...

Atlanta airport was much less busy yesterday than usual, but busier than I expected. Las Vegas airport was pretty slow, but the car rental place said business had picked up a lot in the last day or two. All the restaurant and casino workers tell us they are glad to be back at work.

I don't know where you are going in Utah but as a PSA..Zion national park is saying they are closing the park to visitors between 630 and 7 AM every morning. Since there is no shuttle they let in enough cars for each parking spot in the park and then close the gates. after that it's one car out and one car in. They warn it's such a big park that few cars actually leave so don't count on getting in. Another possibility might be the North Rin of the GC.

I dont know what temps you are dealing with , you could consider Valley of Fire SP in Nevada toward the Utah border or perhaps some Utah state parks such as Snow Canyon. I hope you are able to enjoy some hiking.

 

[ugeauxgirl]

I don't know where you are going in Utah but as a PSA..Zion national park is saying they are closing the park to visitors between 630 and 7 AM every morning. Since there is no shuttle they let in enough cars for each parking spot in the park and then close the gates. after that it's one car out and one car in. They warn it's such a big park that few cars actually leave so don't count on getting in. Another possibility might be the North Rin of the GC.

I dont know what temps you are dealing with , you could consider Valley of Fire SP in Nevada toward the Utah border or perhaps some Utah state parks such as Snow Canyon. I hope you are able to enjoy some hiking.

Thanks for the info! We were looking for somewhere to stop between Las Vegas and Bryce canyon and Valley of Fire State Park looks perfect. We did hear that about Zion and are planning with that in mind.