Travel Changes?

[disneyphx]

Just read this thread with much interest.
We had an April SoCal Escape that was just cancelled - we held out as we preferred a full refund if at all possible. Mainly as the trip worked for those dates this year, but it was not a must do.
We have a NatHab trip booked this summer - they emailed several weeks saying ‘we are watching’ - as they have trips all,over the world, we expect not to hear for a while.....we will likely wait to see if they cancel, or if they don’t if travel,restrictions allow us to cancel - our air is booked via London.
We have travelled with Tauck twice - I see references to their Great service here - is that a general reference or to how they are currently managing things? I know this should likely be on the other options thread....

 

[pdsgator]

All - wanted to provide an update. First appreciate everyone’s well wishes and thoughts.
We finally got things sorted out with Disney. It’s been a stressful few days but ABD finally got clarity but only afternoon they cancelled the trip. To clarify, Disney didn’t abandon us. We were in process real time and there weren’t commitments defined on to get us home. We booked air travel on our own - not through Disney. They did say to call our CC travel company - we tried but were up all on night on hold for over 3 hours (twice) before getting disconnected. We ended up just buying one way tickets to get home. We requested ABD to reimburse for the one Way flights since they put us in the position and they did take up the flag pole and agreed. Moreover, They did get one day scheduled of the trip in - as expected the guides on the ground were great, even thought their livelihoods had been turned upside down. So ABD did refund the trip and agreed to pay for our flights. We are still eating the original flight costs and the costs of the trip that we have booked outside of the trip and expenses. They did not send the guides out until we leave tomorrow so we didn’t feel stranded when they finally decided to cancel.

I am still upset the way this whole thing was handled. They tried to explain since folks were in route they weren’t going to cancel the trip. But they failed to acknowledge that their ridiculous inflexibility made it so much worse given the uncertainifty of what unfolded.

We leave tomorrow. Sydney is a ghost town. We tried to make the best of it. I wouldn’t say we would not go on another ABD trip but I think ABD could Have handled this better. We decided if they cover our flight home, we will deal with the other stuff. Maybe they should do more for putting us in this position, I don’t know. The guides locally were great. In the end, we have to keep in mind that our impact has been one of inconvenience while there are really good people that are losing their jobs, losing their health and face much more difficult things than this. After tomorrow, it will be an interesting way to remember how we “celebrated“ our 20 year anniversary!

 

[disdel]

pdsgator, glad to hear you've gotten things to progress. And happy 20th anniversary.
Thank you for the updates.

 

[debraW76]

@pdsgator thanks for the clarification. Hoping you get home safely.

I realize since my trip is in June that things may very well be back to normal and it is too early for ABD to just call the trip now. However, I would feel better about ABD if they would send out ANY information to us. Just an email stating they are monitoring the situation and will make changes accordingly would make me feel more at ease.
I just received an email from Disney springs with an update on their plans for the next couple of months. I do not have any reservations with them, I am assuming I received this because I was just on their generic mailing list. I’ve received other similar emails from Delta, Southwest, Marriott, and Hilton. If they can send out a mass email, why can’t ABD? Especially to those that actually may be impacted. I’m just disappointed in their total lack of communication.

 

[SteveW8002]

@pdsgator thanks for the clarification. Hoping you get home safely.

I realize since my trip is in June that things may very well be back to normal and it is too early for ABD to just call the trip now. However, I would feel better about ABD if they would send out ANY information to us. Just an email stating they are monitoring the situation and will make changes accordingly would make me feel more at ease.
I just received an email from Disney springs with an update on their plans for the next couple of months. I do not have any reservations with them, I am assuming I received this because I was just on their generic mailing list. I’ve received other similar emails from Delta, Southwest, Marriott, and Hilton. If they can send out a mass email, why can’t ABD? Especially to those that actually may be impacted. I’m just disappointed in their total lack of communication.

Absolutely agree with this. I've received communications from every other travel related company that I use, airlines, hotels, cruise lines, etc. Nothing from ABD. They didn't even have a statement on their website until 5 days ago. Yes they are certainly scrambling behind the scenes to figure this thing out, but to provide their customers such little guidance is not acceptable. How difficult would it be to send an update? Would it be that hard to relax PIF dates until things are clearer? I'm not impressed.

 

[TXTransplant]

Absolutely agree with this. I've received communications from every other travel related company that I use, airlines, hotels, cruise lines, etc. Nothing from ABD. They didn't even have a statement on their website until 5 days ago. Yes they are certainly scrambling behind the scenes to figure this thing out, but to provide their customers such little guidance is not acceptable. How difficult would it be to send an update? Would it be that hard to relax PIF dates until things are clearer? I'm not impressed.

I posted a couple of pages back that I haven't heard anything from Nat Geo. They don't have anything on their website, either.

As far as I'm concerned, the emails from the airlines and hotels do me no good because none of their policies have been extended to my travel dates.

It is stressful, but these companies have thousands of customers to take care of between now and June. If you're really concerned, just do like I did and call.

At this point for us, if we can at all still keep our trip, we will. I am not ready to voluntarily cancel at this point (in part because of the $ I have tied up in airline reservations that don't yet fall within the dates that qualify for cancellations and credits). Rescheduling for a later date this year isn't an option, either.

The only other alternative is that we are still in this situation 2+ months from now, and if that's the case, Nat Geo will cancel.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Tauck is amazing. I knew about their nice cancellation policies from our trip with them in September as one of the parties had a family member fall gravely ill so 3 of their party cancelled about a week before the trip. Tauck was more than happy to move that money to another trip in the future for them.

 

[BluesTraveler]

I posted a couple of pages back that I haven't heard anything from Nat Geo. They don't have anything on their website, either.

As far as I'm concerned, the emails from the airlines and hotels do me no good because none of their policies have been extended to my travel dates.

It is stressful, but these companies have thousands of customers to take care of between now and June. If you're really concerned, just do like I did and call.

At this point for us, if we can at all still keep our trip, we will. I am not ready to voluntarily cancel at this point (in part because of the $ I have tied up in airline reservations that don't yet fall within the dates that qualify for cancellations and credits). Rescheduling for a later date this year isn't an option, either.

The only other alternative is that we are still in this situation 2+ months from now, and if that's the case, Nat Geo will cancel.

Am sure you're aware Nat Geo is owned by Disney now...

 

[disneyholic family]

Related to travel, but certainly not ABD sort of travel.
Israeli kids have a tradition of backpacking after they finish compulsory military service.
They backpack for months to a year, trekking through 3 preferred locations: Southeast Asia, Nepal, and all around South America.

The border in Peru was closed yesterday, so hundreds of israeli backpackers are now stranded in Peru, unable to get out (there were no flights available to anywhere).
So Israel is sending planes to Peru to bring them all back home.

A lot of families are breathing easier today, knowing their kids will be coming home soon.
If you do end up needing medical care, you'd much rather be at home.
Even if the medical system crashes, you'd rather be in the crashing system you know with your family nearby.
.

 

[TXTransplant]

Am sure you're aware Nat Geo is owned by Disney now...

I am aware. But, as best I can tell, things are still being handled per Nat Geo. I have no reason to believe ABD has any influence over how they are operating (their model is distinctly different from ABD, even not factoring in the current issues with travel). Obviously, who knows what's going on behind the scenes, but there has been no obvious change to customers.

 

[Woodview]

The E.U. Leaders will announce this afternoon That

There will be NO TRAVEL INTO EUROPE ( Including U.K ) for 30 days ( April 17 th )

 

[Cliffside]

It seems that ABD has cancelled some May and the China June adventure.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Seems doubtful... with the way ABD is handling this I also regret putting money down for a river cruise next year. I wonder if DCL would have been just as slow to react - and they were also pretty slow mind you - if not for all the bans and such that hit them externally first.

I feel like the cruise lines had to cave given the situation with the Grand and Diamond Princess and all of the ships that were subsequently denied docking in ports. It would have been a HUGE PR nightmare if a DCL ship had been caught up in this (there are reports floating around that someone who was on the Wonder a few weeks ago has now tested positive). I happen to follow Celebrity cruises on a different board because we sail with them occasionally and they have one ship floating around right now with absolutely nowhere to dock.

I agree with PPs who are disappointed that ABD has done nothing to communicate with their guests. WDW, DL and DCL all dramatically changed their policies to accommodate people. It feels like ABD is not operating like any of their other travel divisions. Very disappointing.

 

[E-Ticket]

I've followed DisBoards for years, this is my first post. Our family of 3 has been to WDW 9 times (including just 3 weeks ago before the world came to a halt), DL many times, 3 DCL cruises (Alaska, Caribbean, Mediterranean), and 2 ABD trips (shout out to Dusty and James). Yes, we are THAT family among all our friends and family, as I am sure most of you are as well!

Right now we're in a conundrum regarding our back-to-back ABD trips in June/July - Italy/Switzerland and then Scotland. With flights from Seattle, the whole kit-and-caboodle cost about $40,000. Of course, as of now Disney has not cancelled our trips, BUT we did get CFAR insurance. Yay! So, right now we are at the point where we could use our insurance and get about $32,000 back - based on the 50% back from Disney and the 75% back of the remainder from our insurance. We have until March 27 to make a decision, after that we will drop to the 25% back from Disney.

Our guess is that ABD will eventually cancel the trips and we will get all our money back. (I, too, am disappointed with ABD's lack of transparency). But right now we are inclined to use our insurance just to be sure. One concern is going through the ever fun process of dealing with an insurance company! Has anyone here ever used their travel insurance? CFAR insurance? Any thoughts on our situation? I am calling upon the expert Disney Jedi's for guidance (I am a mere padawan compared to you folks)! Thank you in advance!

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

I've followed DisBoards for years, this is my first post. Our family of 3 has been to WDW 9 times (including just 3 weeks ago before the world came to a halt), DL many times, 3 DCL cruises (Alaska, Caribbean, Mediterranean), and 2 ABD trips (shout out to Dusty and James). Yes, we are THAT family among all our friends and family, as I am sure most of you are as well!

Right now we're in a conundrum regarding our back-to-back ABD trips in June/July - Italy/Switzerland and then Scotland. With flights from Seattle, the whole kit-and-caboodle cost about $40,000. Of course, as of now Disney has not cancelled our trips, BUT we did get CFAR insurance. Yay! So, right now we are at the point where we could use our insurance and get about $32,000 back - based on the 50% back from Disney and the 75% back of the remainder from our insurance. We have until March 27 to make a decision, after that we will drop to the 25% back from Disney.

Our guess is that ABD will eventually cancel the trips and we will get all our money back. (I, too, am disappointed with ABD's lack of transparency). But right now we are inclined to use our insurance just to be sure. One concern is going through the ever fun process of dealing with an insurance company! Has anyone here ever used their travel insurance? CFAR insurance? Any thoughts on our situation? I am calling upon the expert Disney Jedi's for guidance (I am a mere padawan compared to you folks)! Thank you in advance!

I have filed a claim with travel insurance (bought through insure my trip dot com) when my mom suddenly passed away and were were just about to start the London / France ABD. The process was very smooth and I had my money shortly after I submitted the paperwork.

I do not now how CFAR insurance works, but I hope others can help you.

Have you tried calling ABD and asking to speak to a supervisor? I'd maybe try to push your PIF to 30 or 60 days before departure. I know they are swamped right now, but it's certainly worth a try!

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

I am still upset the way this whole thing was handled. They tried to explain since folks were in route they weren’t going to cancel the trip. But they failed to acknowledge that their ridiculous inflexibility made it so much worse given the uncertainifty of what unfolded.

This! They should have cancelled trips well before anyone actually stepped on an airplane. I'm so glad to hear that your travel plans have been sorted and you have a flight home. Safe travels and happy 20th--it will indeed be a story!

 

[E-Ticket]

Sorry about your mom.
We haven't called yet. Figure we'll be on hold for hours, but we might try that today, just to see how they handle it and go from there. Mickey already has our money - we PIF at the end of Feb.
Thank you!

 

[sayhello]

So I just got notification that my hotel for my pre-days in Paris will be closed through May 17. I'm supposed to be there May 11 - 13. (ABD is May 14 - 21). Wondering what else would be closed...

All - wanted to provide an update. First appreciate everyone’s well wishes and thoughts.
We finally got things sorted out with Disney. It’s been a stressful few days but ABD finally got clarity but only afternoon they cancelled the trip. To clarify, Disney didn’t abandon us. We were in process real time and there weren’t commitments defined on to get us home. We booked air travel on our own - not through Disney. They did say to call our CC travel company - we tried but were up all on night on hold for over 3 hours (twice) before getting disconnected. We ended up just buying one way tickets to get home. We requested ABD to reimburse for the one Way flights since they put us in the position and they did take up the flag pole and agreed. Moreover, They did get one day scheduled of the trip in - as expected the guides on the ground were great, even thought their livelihoods had been turned upside down. So ABD did refund the trip and agreed to pay for our flights. We are still eating the original flight costs and the costs of the trip that we have booked outside of the trip and expenses. They did not send the guides out until we leave tomorrow so we didn’t feel stranded when they finally decided to cancel.

I am still upset the way this whole thing was handled. They tried to explain since folks were in route they weren’t going to cancel the trip. But they failed to acknowledge that their ridiculous inflexibility made it so much worse given the uncertainifty of what unfolded.

We leave tomorrow. Sydney is a ghost town. We tried to make the best of it. I wouldn’t say we would not go on another ABD trip but I think ABD could Have handled this better. We decided if they cover our flight home, we will deal with the other stuff. Maybe they should do more for putting us in this position, I don’t know. The guides locally were great. In the end, we have to keep in mind that our impact has been one of inconvenience while there are really good people that are losing their jobs, losing their health and face much more difficult things than this. After tomorrow, it will be an interesting way to remember how we “celebrated“ our 20 year anniversary!

Thanks so much for the update! Glad it's all working out, but the way things were handled for you still leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

It certainly will make for a good story going forward!

I've followed DisBoards for years, this is my first post. Our family of 3 has been to WDW 9 times (including just 3 weeks ago before the world came to a halt), DL many times, 3 DCL cruises (Alaska, Caribbean, Mediterranean), and 2 ABD trips (shout out to Dusty and James). Yes, we are THAT family among all our friends and family, as I am sure most of you are as well!

Right now we're in a conundrum regarding our back-to-back ABD trips in June/July - Italy/Switzerland and then Scotland. With flights from Seattle, the whole kit-and-caboodle cost about $40,000. Of course, as of now Disney has not cancelled our trips, BUT we did get CFAR insurance. Yay! So, right now we are at the point where we could use our insurance and get about $32,000 back - based on the 50% back from Disney and the 75% back of the remainder from our insurance. We have until March 27 to make a decision, after that we will drop to the 25% back from Disney.

Our guess is that ABD will eventually cancel the trips and we will get all our money back. (I, too, am disappointed with ABD's lack of transparency). But right now we are inclined to use our insurance just to be sure. One concern is going through the ever fun process of dealing with an insurance company! Has anyone here ever used their travel insurance? CFAR insurance? Any thoughts on our situation? I am calling upon the expert Disney Jedi's for guidance (I am a mere padawan compared to you folks)! Thank you in advance!

Just want to make sure you understand (since your post is a little ambiguous) that if you cancel your trip and get reimbursed by your insurance, you will not be eligible for any sort of additional refund if ABD ends up cancelling the trip. Once you cancel, that's the end of it.

I have found trip insurance companies very easy to work with if you have all of the needed paperwork. So I would encourage you to call the insurance company now, before you do anything. Tell them you're *considering* cancelling under their Cancel for Any Reason policy, and ask what kind of documentation/procedures they want you to follow in order to get your reimbursement from them. It will make things so much easier than trying to deal with it all after the fact.

Sayhello

 

[Grifdog22]

So I just got notification that my hotel for my pre-days in Paris will be closed through May 17. I'm supposed to be there May 11 - 13. (ABD is May 14 - 21). Wondering what else would be closed...

Thanks so much for the update! Glad it's all working out, but the way things were handled for you still leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

It certainly will make for a good story going forward!
Just want to make sure you understand (since your post is a little ambiguous) that if you cancel your trip and get reimbursed by your insurance, you will not be eligible for any sort of additional refund if ABD ends up cancelling the trip. Once you cancel, that's the end of it.

I have found trip insurance companies very easy to work with if you have all of the needed paperwork. So I would encourage you to call the insurance company now, before you do anything. Tell them you're *considering* cancelling under their Cancel for Any Reason policy, and ask what kind of documentation/procedures they want you to follow in order to get your reimbursement from them. It will make things so much easier than trying to deal with it all after the fact.

Sayhello

So if your private hotel rooms are cancelled...that probably also means the ABD pre-day hotel is closed....and in the wonderful world of Disney miscommunications, lets look at their current posting. Your/our trip begins on May 14. All ABD trips are cancelled through the end of April. Their guidance states,


"ADDITIONAL SCREENING MEASURES
Currently, we plan to move forward with any trip not listed above.

However, we will continue to make adjustments as necessary and will notify Guests immediately should there be changes to their itinerary. At this time, the following guidelines are in effect for all trips and will continue to evolve as more information becomes available:
Any Guest or guide who has traveled from, to or through the following countries within 14 days of their trip’s departure will not be able to travel with Adventures by Disney: Austria, Belgium, China, including Hong Kong and Macau, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Iran, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City.
Any Guest who has been in contact with someone from these areas, including Guests with connecting flights in these locations, also will not be able to travel, nor will anyone who has helped care for someone suspected of having or has been diagnosed with coronavirus (COVID-19), or who is currently subject to health monitoring for possible exposure." (Emphasis added).

So if you arrive early or have a pre-day with this France trip, you will not be able to travel with ABD through France. Lovely, just lovely.

 

[E-Ticket]

Oh yeah, we're aware that if we use the insurance we are done! That's the calculation we're trying to make: If Disney (and British Airlines) cancels, it's easy-peasy full refund. If we use insurance, it's paperwork and less money. BUT, if we wait and they DON'T cancel we get even less money through insurance. I should add that given the pandemic we don't really want to go anywhere far from home this summer.

Your experience with travel insurance is helpful, thank you.

Just want to make sure you understand (since your post is a little ambiguous) that if you cancel your trip and get reimbursed by your insurance, you will not be eligible for any sort of additional refund if ABD ends up cancelling the trip. Once you cancel, that's the end of it.

I have found trip insurance companies very easy to work with if you have all of the needed paperwork. So I would encourage you to call the insurance company now, before you do anything. Tell them you're *considering* cancelling under their Cancel for Any Reason policy, and ask what kind of documentation/procedures they want you to follow in order to get your reimbursement from them. It will make things so much easier than trying to deal with it all after the fact.