Egypt cancelled.....

[lizabu]

If it was me and they wouldn't refund my ticket I would just go then. I just wouldn't go with Disney. Luxor for example is a good 8 hours away from Cairo and it's practically a ghost town. Sharm is pretty far from the "action" too. Heck even if you decided to go to Cairo Giza where the pyramids actually are is far from where any of the protests and things were going on (like a 45 minute drive). I know people were trying to get out in Feb during the major uprising but just as many people continued on with their holiday and just stayed out of Tahir Square. Egypt is a super cheap place to go (once you get past the airfare) and you could still have a great time. I regularly read the Trip Advisor forums to see how things are going over there and there are still plenty of people going ahead with their holiday plans http://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowForum-g294201-i9404-Cairo.html. When I was in Egypt in July I never felt unsafe. I had people tell me "welcome to Egypt" and other tell me that they value tourists and if anyone ever dared to touch a tourist they would kill him. The problem is when you go somewhere you shouldn't like the Canadian teacher who died. He was travelling by car through tribe lands and thats really unsafe and he probably knew that.

 

[jennilouwho]

My brother in law and sis in law and their 3 young girls live in Cairo right now and they actually feel pretty safe. They said they aren't anywhere near the protesting or anything and that everyone treats them like royalty because they are blond and from America. She accidentally hit some guy's parked car the other day and he was bending over backwards trying to make her feel better about it. They love it there. I think if you really researched things and where it is and isn't safe to be you could still go....

 

[disneyholic family]

i completely understand that.....i book the egypt adventure in the about 18 months ago.....before unrest.....i waited til july to buy airfare....and prior to purchasing it i was reassured by disney adventures that the plan was to go ahead....i purchased travel guard insurance....but unfortunately i will be out about $2000. and no travel plans for the holidays....and looks like even if we decide to go to disney world airfare alone will be 700-1000 per person because it's so late and a holiday....i wish disney had cancelled all trip for the year in january...i wont have my kids with me for the holiday again til 2013....i just feel like if disney had cancelled sooner maybe we would have a decent plan for the holidays....very unfortunate.....

They should have cancelled all of the tours to Egypt for 2011 (and for the forseeable future).
We're not talking 20-20 hindsight here. It was highly probable that this would happen.
I assume they didn't cancel everything before because they didn't want to take the financial hit for something that only 'might' happen.
So instead they've left their customers to take the financial hit. Outrageous.

Do you have a friend who's a lawyer who'll do you a favor and write a lawyer's letter for you? That might be sufficient to get them to cough up your loss.

otherwise, i'd look into the cost of taking them to court. The cost might not be worth the effort. But they definitely did their customers no favors.
And based on this, i would be much less likely to trust them in the future.

 

[WeLoveABD]

They should have cancelled all of the tours to Egypt for 2011 (and for the forseeable future).
We're not talking 20-20 hindsight here. It was highly probable that this would happen.
I assume they didn't cancel everything before because they didn't want to take the financial hit for something that only 'might' happen.
So instead they've left their customers to take the financial hit. Outrageous.

Do you have a friend who's a lawyer who'll do you a favor and write a lawyer's letter for you? That might be sufficient to get them to cough up your loss.

otherwise, i'd look into the cost of taking them to court. The cost might not be worth the effort. But they definitely did their customers no favors.
And based on this, i would be much less likely to trust them in the future.

Seriously??

Travelers generally understand the risks--I don't see anything outrageous here, and certainly disagree about calling in a lawyer! From all that I have heard--and through our own experiences with a passport theft on a trip--it pays to have good travel insurance; and it helps that Disney is willing to do what it can to smooth over problems that arise.

There are problems brewing in Italy, in Ireland, in South Africa, in Greece...should ABD shut down its tours to those countries because of the possibilities of trip disruption or possible cancellation should things become unsafe?

 

[carpenta]

Seriously??

Travelers generally understand the risks--I don't see anything outrageous here, and certainly disagree about calling in a lawyer! From all that I have heard--and through our own experiences with a passport theft on a trip--it pays to have good travel insurance; and it helps that Disney is willing to do what it can to smooth over problems that arise.

There are problems brewing in Italy, in Ireland, in South Africa, in Greece...should ABD shut down its tours to those countries because of the possibilities of trip disruption or possible cancellation should things become unsafe?

In my opinion there is a difference between a 1st world diplomacy hitting a rough patch and a dictatorship falling and the caotic beginning of a new form of government in a 2nd world country.

 

[Bobo912]

by the way.....insurance for airfare was useless

smores, what kind of travel insurance did you purchase? Why doesn't it help recover your losses on airfare? I always purchase insurance and fortunately have never had to use it. I'd like to think I have the right coverage and it would help with most expenses if I needed to use it. But maybe I have a false sense of security.

 

[LSmith]

In my opinion there is a difference between a 1st world diplomacy hitting a rough patch and a dictatorship falling and the caotic beginning of a new form of government in a 2nd world country.

I agree - except describing Egypt as a 2nd world country is generous, in my opinion.

 

[sayhello]

smores, what kind of travel insurance did you purchase? Why doesn't it help recover your losses on airfare? I always purchase insurance and fortunately have never had to use it. I'd like to think I have the right coverage and it would help with most expenses if I needed to use it. But maybe I have a false sense of security.

I've looked at a few policies on insuremytrip.com, and a lot of them do not cover the tour operator canceling the trip, unless it's because of things like weather, labor strikes, the ship breaking down (for a cruise) or natural disaster. In fact, CSA *specifically* does not cover "failure of any tour operator, Common Carrier, or other travel supplier, person or agency to provide the bargained-for travel arrangements"

And Access America states that you are specifically not covered if the tour operator offers you an alternate itinerary.

I guess you need to read the specific policy to see what it covers if you can't move your vacation to an alternate date... Always something new to learn.

Yuck!
Sayhello

 

[crashbb]

They should have cancelled all of the tours to Egypt for 2011 (and for the forseeable future).
We're not talking 20-20 hindsight here. It was highly probable that this would happen.
I assume they didn't cancel everything before because they didn't want to take the financial hit for something that only 'might' happen.
So instead they've left their customers to take the financial hit. Outrageous.

Do you have a friend who's a lawyer who'll do you a favor and write a lawyer's letter for you? That might be sufficient to get them to cough up your loss.

otherwise, i'd look into the cost of taking them to court. The cost might not be worth the effort. But they definitely did their customers no favors.
And based on this, i would be much less likely to trust them in the future.

On what basis would they sue?

The OP knew as much about the situation in Egypt as ABD did, yet choose to book the trip. ABD did not force them to book nor did they hide information about the situation in Egypt (it has been in the news for quite a while).

OP - I am very sorry for your situation. I would contact ABD again and see if they can help you with the airlines (it sounds like they were helpful in previous cancelation cases, even when airfare wasn't booked through ABD). Egypt Air is part of Star Alliance, so you may be able use the credit for flights on United, US Air or Continental (which are also Star Alliance airlines).

 

[lizabu]

I agree - except describing Egypt as a 2nd world country is generous, in my opinion.

Have you even been to Egypt? Sure it's not the USA and they do have poverty but they also have great wealth. There are some parts of Egypt you will swear you are in N. America.

Here's a picture I took at a mall in Heliopolis (a suburb of Cairo). They had every designer brand you could think of. Probably one of the biggest malls I've ever been in

a giant Mickey I saw in the toy store there

 

[Tozzie]

On what basis would they sue?

The OP knew as much about the situation in Egypt as ABD did, yet choose to book the trip. ABD did not force them to book nor did they hide information about the situation in Egypt (it has been in the news for quite a while).

OP - I am very sorry for your situation. I would contact ABD again and see if they can help you with the airlines (it sounds like they were helpful in previous cancelation cases, even when airfare wasn't booked through ABD). Egypt Air is part of Star Alliance, so you may be able use the credit for flights on United, US Air or Continental (which are also Star Alliance airlines).

I think the difference with the airfare situation is that the cancellations in 2009 were due to low bookings not political unrest.

 

[Bobo912]

I've looked at a few policies on insuremytrip.com, and a lot of them do not cover the tour operator canceling the trip, unless it's because of things like weather, labor strikes, the ship breaking down (for a cruise) or natural disaster. In fact, CSA *specifically* does not cover "failure of any tour operator, Common Carrier, or other travel supplier, person or agency to provide the bargained-for travel arrangements"

And Access America states that you are specifically not covered if the tour operator offers you an alternate itinerary.

I guess you need to read the specific policy to see what it covers if you can't move your vacation to an alternate date... Always something new to learn.

Yuck!
Sayhello

Ah, I get it now. Thanks! Not too much for us to worry about. I'm pretty flexible on schedule and with all the great places I haven't been yet, alternate itineraries work for me too.

 

[LSmith]

Have you even been to Egypt? Sure it's not the USA and they do have poverty but they also have great wealth. There are some parts of Egypt you will swear you are in N. America.

Here's a picture I took at a mall in Heliopolis (a suburb of Cairo). They had every designer brand you could think of. Probably one of the biggest malls I've ever been in


Of course I have been to Egypt. Yes, they have a big mall and five star hotels for the tourists but millions and millions of people are living in extreme poverty in third world conditions on the way to these five star places.

Hence, the revolution. If I was able to post pictures of the streets of Alexandria and Cairo that I took I would.

 

[WeLoveABD]

I looked at the upcoming dates still posted on ABD for Eygpt--and saw October 2011 still there. Hello IT department....

 

[sayhello]

I looked at the upcoming dates still posted on ABD for Eygpt--and saw October 2011 still there. Hello IT department....

IT has never exactly been one of Disney's strong suits.

Sayhello