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[Cousin Orville]

A few weeks ago I mentioned how our Travel agent arranging our Morocco trip went insolvent. While we carry an annual global medical policy and a seperate global evacuation policy, we don’t buy individual travel insurance policies which would cover trip interruptions, baggage loss, other issues and sometimes insolvency. Basically, I purchase due to the amount of travel we do, I purchase policies to insure against issues that could get extremely expensive and self-insure against issues that are not financially catastrophic for us especially as we are in good health as are our parents.

Ok, so we didn’t take out a seperate travel insurance policy on the Morocco trip. The trip was booked with a Conde Naste recommended travel specialist and was ranked as one of the best in Nat Geo Traveler, T&L, Virtuoso. Needless to say, none of these groups had a clue of Heritage’s mismanagement.

So, when we figured out what was going on, as I wrote about a few wks ago, we called out CC’s. We happened to book with 2 Chase cards. We put $10k on one as a deposit and $10k on another as a partial payment. I wish I could say this was by design, but it was just because we were changing what cards we paid with travel for points. They both covered up to $10k due to insolvency. The both reimbursed us the full amount. Obviously we lucked out the cards we used had large coverage amounts. And we lucked out we discovered their insolvency before we paid any more which we not have recovered.

Certainly, there’s lessons to be learned here. Thankfully it’s pretty rare, and it could have been a lot worse. I can’t imagine landing in Morocco with kids and no place to go. Anyway. We’ll still go to Morocco, but it will be a couple of years as our Winter Trips are pretty much planned out. Not sure what we’re doing this Christmas. Possibly Croatia on our own. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask!

 

[Calfan]

A few weeks ago I mentioned how our Travel agent arranging our Morocco trip went insolvent. While we carry an annual global medical policy and a seperate global evacuation policy, we don’t buy individual travel insurance policies which would cover trip interruptions, baggage loss, other issues and sometimes insolvency. Basically, I purchase due to the amount of travel we do, I purchase policies to insure against issues that could get extremely expensive and self-insure against issues that are not financially catastrophic for us especially as we are in good health as are our parents.

Ok, so we didn’t take out a seperate travel insurance policy on the Morocco trip. The trip was booked with a Conde Naste recommended travel specialist and was ranked as one of the best in Nat Geo Traveler, T&L, Virtuoso. Needless to say, none of these groups had a clue of Heritage’s mismanagement.

So, when we figured out what was going on, as I wrote about a few wks ago, we called out CC’s. We happened to book with 2 Chase cards. We put $10k on one as a deposit and $10k on another as a partial payment. I wish I could say this was by design, but it was just because we were changing what cards we paid with travel for points. They both covered up to $10k due to insolvency. The both reimbursed us the full amount. Obviously we lucked out the cards we used had large coverage amounts. And we lucked out we discovered their insolvency before we paid any more which we not have recovered.

Certainly, there’s lessons to be learned here. Thankfully it’s pretty rare, and it could have been a lot worse. I can’t imagine landing in Morocco with kids and no place to go. Anyway. We’ll still go to Morocco, but it will be a couple of years as our Winter Trips are pretty much planned out. Not sure what we’re doing this Christmas. Possibly Croatia on our own. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask!

So glad you were able to recover what you had paid!

 

[sayhello]

A few weeks ago I mentioned how our Travel agent arranging our Morocco trip went insolvent. While we carry an annual global medical policy and a seperate global evacuation policy, we don’t buy individual travel insurance policies which would cover trip interruptions, baggage loss, other issues and sometimes insolvency. Basically, I purchase due to the amount of travel we do, I purchase policies to insure against issues that could get extremely expensive and self-insure against issues that are not financially catastrophic for us especially as we are in good health as are our parents.

Ok, so we didn’t take out a seperate travel insurance policy on the Morocco trip. The trip was booked with a Conde Naste recommended travel specialist and was ranked as one of the best in Nat Geo Traveler, T&L, Virtuoso. Needless to say, none of these groups had a clue of Heritage’s mismanagement.

So, when we figured out what was going on, as I wrote about a few wks ago, we called out CC’s. We happened to book with 2 Chase cards. We put $10k on one as a deposit and $10k on another as a partial payment. I wish I could say this was by design, but it was just because we were changing what cards we paid with travel for points. They both covered up to $10k due to insolvency. The both reimbursed us the full amount. Obviously we lucked out the cards we used had large coverage amounts. And we lucked out we discovered their insolvency before we paid any more which we not have recovered.

Certainly, there’s lessons to be learned here. Thankfully it’s pretty rare, and it could have been a lot worse. I can’t imagine landing in Morocco with kids and no place to go. Anyway. We’ll still go to Morocco, but it will be a couple of years as our Winter Trips are pretty much planned out. Not sure what we’re doing this Christmas. Possibly Croatia on our own. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask!

Wow! That was really lucky that you had split up the payments that way. When folks tell me they don't get insurance because their cc covers them, I always warn them to check on the limits. SO glad you were able to recoup your losses! I wonder how many people out there are not yet aware that Heritage has gone under? That is so scary. Seems like this is pretty much the best outcome to expect from such a bad situation.

Sayhello

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

A few weeks ago I mentioned how our Travel agent arranging our Morocco trip went insolvent. While we carry an annual global medical policy and a seperate global evacuation policy, we don’t buy individual travel insurance policies which would cover trip interruptions, baggage loss, other issues and sometimes insolvency. Basically, I purchase due to the amount of travel we do, I purchase policies to insure against issues that could get extremely expensive and self-insure against issues that are not financially catastrophic for us especially as we are in good health as are our parents.

Ok, so we didn’t take out a seperate travel insurance policy on the Morocco trip. The trip was booked with a Conde Naste recommended travel specialist and was ranked as one of the best in Nat Geo Traveler, T&L, Virtuoso. Needless to say, none of these groups had a clue of Heritage’s mismanagement.

So, when we figured out what was going on, as I wrote about a few wks ago, we called out CC’s. We happened to book with 2 Chase cards. We put $10k on one as a deposit and $10k on another as a partial payment. I wish I could say this was by design, but it was just because we were changing what cards we paid with travel for points. They both covered up to $10k due to insolvency. The both reimbursed us the full amount. Obviously we lucked out the cards we used had large coverage amounts. And we lucked out we discovered their insolvency before we paid any more which we not have recovered.

Certainly, there’s lessons to be learned here. Thankfully it’s pretty rare, and it could have been a lot worse. I can’t imagine landing in Morocco with kids and no place to go. Anyway. We’ll still go to Morocco, but it will be a couple of years as our Winter Trips are pretty much planned out. Not sure what we’re doing this Christmas. Possibly Croatia on our own. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask!

I wish there was room for you to join us on the December Peru ABD.

I am so glad everything worked out for your family getting the deposit back. I can't believe such a highly regarded company went bankrupt -- very sad.

 

[Rapunzellover]

Cousin O-- given the company went bankrupt, I'd still try and look into becoming part of whatever class action suit is likely going on. You might get some extra dollars in compensation. You deserve it for this headache.

Thank heavens that ABD, no matter its issues, isn't going to ever go bankrupt. Even if it is one day shuttered, nothing Disney related is filing bankruptcy.

 

[Cousin Orville]

Cousin O-- given the company went bankrupt, I'd still try and look into becoming part of whatever class action suit is likely going on. You might get some extra dollars in compensation. You deserve it for this headache.

Thank heavens that ABD, no matter its issues, isn't going to ever go bankrupt. Even if it is one day shuttered, nothing Disney related is filing bankruptcy.

I wouldn’t blame anyone for trying, but honestly not worth my time. Onward to more positive experiences!

 

[Cousin Orville]

I wish there was room for you to join us on the December Peru ABD.

I am so glad everything worked out for your family getting the deposit back. I can't believe such a highly regarded company went bankrupt -- very sad.

Thanks for thinking of us, but we’re doing Peru and Bolivia next spring. But let me know if you have any Peru tips! I look forward to hearing how goes.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

A few weeks ago I mentioned how our Travel agent arranging our Morocco trip went insolvent. While we carry an annual global medical policy and a seperate global evacuation policy, we don’t buy individual travel insurance policies which would cover trip interruptions, baggage loss, other issues and sometimes insolvency. Basically, I purchase due to the amount of travel we do, I purchase policies to insure against issues that could get extremely expensive and self-insure against issues that are not financially catastrophic for us especially as we are in good health as are our parents.

Ok, so we didn’t take out a seperate travel insurance policy on the Morocco trip. The trip was booked with a Conde Naste recommended travel specialist and was ranked as one of the best in Nat Geo Traveler, T&L, Virtuoso. Needless to say, none of these groups had a clue of Heritage’s mismanagement.

So, when we figured out what was going on, as I wrote about a few wks ago, we called out CC’s. We happened to book with 2 Chase cards. We put $10k on one as a deposit and $10k on another as a partial payment. I wish I could say this was by design, but it was just because we were changing what cards we paid with travel for points. They both covered up to $10k due to insolvency. The both reimbursed us the full amount. Obviously we lucked out the cards we used had large coverage amounts. And we lucked out we discovered their insolvency before we paid any more which we not have recovered.

Certainly, there’s lessons to be learned here. Thankfully it’s pretty rare, and it could have been a lot worse. I can’t imagine landing in Morocco with kids and no place to go. Anyway. We’ll still go to Morocco, but it will be a couple of years as our Winter Trips are pretty much planned out. Not sure what we’re doing this Christmas. Possibly Croatia on our own. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask!

Thank you so much for posting about your experience, and I ditto @sayhello--so fortunate that you split the transaction. Your experience has already paid it forward for us--I've turned a much more skeptical eye on "awards" and the like, and I will be keeping your experience in mind going forward to makes sure we are always protected in cases like this (either with insurance or credit cards). So sorry you have to miss your trip, but as you said, it could have been much worse.

 

[KEK1]

A few weeks ago I mentioned how our Travel agent arranging our Morocco trip went insolvent. While we carry an annual global medical policy and a seperate global evacuation policy, we don’t buy individual travel insurance policies which would cover trip interruptions, baggage loss, other issues and sometimes insolvency. Basically, I purchase due to the amount of travel we do, I purchase policies to insure against issues that could get extremely expensive and self-insure against issues that are not financially catastrophic for us especially as we are in good health as are our parents.

Ok, so we didn’t take out a seperate travel insurance policy on the Morocco trip. The trip was booked with a Conde Naste recommended travel specialist and was ranked as one of the best in Nat Geo Traveler, T&L, Virtuoso. Needless to say, none of these groups had a clue of Heritage’s mismanagement.

So, when we figured out what was going on, as I wrote about a few wks ago, we called out CC’s. We happened to book with 2 Chase cards. We put $10k on one as a deposit and $10k on another as a partial payment. I wish I could say this was by design, but it was just because we were changing what cards we paid with travel for points. They both covered up to $10k due to insolvency. The both reimbursed us the full amount. Obviously we lucked out the cards we used had large coverage amounts. And we lucked out we discovered their insolvency before we paid any more which we not have recovered.

Certainly, there’s lessons to be learned here. Thankfully it’s pretty rare, and it could have been a lot worse. I can’t imagine landing in Morocco with kids and no place to go. Anyway. We’ll still go to Morocco, but it will be a couple of years as our Winter Trips are pretty much planned out. Not sure what we’re doing this Christmas. Possibly Croatia on our own. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask!

Glad to hear you got it back!
Your experience is something I now wondering what to do for our own trip. We are going to China on a private tour , with China Discovery (in China). I just got a new ANZ Black CC to try and start this points business, and even though they have extensive really good insurance for pretty much everything you can think of, unlimited medical etc, they do NOT cover insolvency. Trying to decide if I should try and find another (paid) policy just for that...

 

[TXTransplant]

I'm looking out to future trips (only 4 more summers left before my son goes off to college!) trying to decide what we want to do next. We've got Alaska booked with Nat Geo for 2020, and Japan is on the list for 2022 or 2023. That leaves two open years, and for 2021 I am leaning strongly towards a trip to France that includes Normandy and the D-Day beaches. This is an area that I have not been able to visit, and I think it's something my son definitely should see (and he is really interested in history, so it's not a hard sell).

We typically travel for 10-14 days, so a trip of that length should leave us enough time to also visit Provence and the South of France (I've wanted to go to Eze for years) and maybe even sneak in a day at Disneyland Paris (I'm not too keen on spending additional time beyond that in Paris, since been-there-done-that).

I would like the time we spend in Normandy to be with a guided tour, only because we get so much more out of visits to historical sites when we have guides. I've looked at some of the D-Day specific trips (Nat Geo has an awesome one), but I think that is just too much time focused on history when there are other things I also want to do while we are there. I want something in between a day-trip from Paris and a 7-10 day war-intensive history course.

The option I'm leaning toward the most is the Backroads Travel Brittany and Normandy bike tour (preferably with the premier hotels). That's a 6 day tour with two days focused heavily on D-Day history. That would leave us another 4-6 days to see other parts of France on our own.

However, I am most definitely open to suggestions and would love to hear from anyone here who has done something similar, especially in the Normandy area. I'm open to private/custom tours, too (at least for the Normandy area - I think I can piecemeal the rest of it together myself).

I'm also looking for suggestions for pre-trip add-ons for Alaska next summer that we can do on our own. We will be flying to/from Anchorage.

 

[RSM]

However, I am most definitely open to suggestions and would love to hear from anyone here who has done something similar, especially in the Normandy area. I'm open to private/custom tours, too (at least for the Normandy area - I think I can piecemeal the rest of it together myself).

We used a guide named Ed Robinson for 2 days of private tours. He is the owner of Battle of Normandy Tours. One of the best private guides we have ever had. A wealth of information and storytelling. He tends to be booked pretty far out though, which is a good sign. Just another option if you wanted to do 1 or 2 days of tours associated with WWII in the Normandy area. Search Battle of Normandy Tours and you can look at his offerings. Good Luck.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

I'm looking out to future trips (only 4 more summers left before my son goes off to college!) trying to decide what we want to do next. We've got Alaska booked with Nat Geo for 2020, and Japan is on the list for 2022 or 2023. That leaves two open years, and for 2021 I am leaning strongly towards a trip to France that includes Normandy and the D-Day beaches. This is an area that I have not been able to visit, and I think it's something my son definitely should see (and he is really interested in history, so it's not a hard sell).

We typically travel for 10-14 days, so a trip of that length should leave us enough time to also visit Provence and the South of France (I've wanted to go to Eze for years) and maybe even sneak in a day at Disneyland Paris (I'm not too keen on spending additional time beyond that in Paris, since been-there-done-that).

I would like the time we spend in Normandy to be with a guided tour, only because we get so much more out of visits to historical sites when we have guides. I've looked at some of the D-Day specific trips (Nat Geo has an awesome one), but I think that is just too much time focused on history when there are other things I also want to do while we are there. I want something in between a day-trip from Paris and a 7-10 day war-intensive history course.

The option I'm leaning toward the most is the Backroads Travel Brittany and Normandy bike tour (preferably with the premier hotels). That's a 6 day tour with two days focused heavily on D-Day history. That would leave us another 4-6 days to see other parts of France on our own.

However, I am most definitely open to suggestions and would love to hear from anyone here who has done something similar, especially in the Normandy area. I'm open to private/custom tours, too (at least for the Normandy area - I think I can piecemeal the rest of it together myself).

I'm also looking for suggestions for pre-trip add-ons for Alaska next summer that we can do on our own. We will be flying to/from Anchorage.

I’m going on a Tauck trip in a few days that includes those sites - I’ll try to get the name of the operators/guides we use while there.

 

[tgeorge]

Like RSM, we took the train from Paris up to Normandy for the day, and did a private tour with a guide. Hands down, the absolute most amazing part of our trip. We also had a private guide for a few days in Paris, but Normandy was absolutely spectacular. As service members, it was very humbling to see and hear about the generations that came before us. Whatever you choose, you can’t go wrong. It will be spectacular

 

[Dis_Yoda]

I'm currently on the Tauck 2019's version of Normandy, Brittany, Paris & the Loire Valley which is a 13 Day/12 Night Trip. I am posting a trip report on it here since its in combination with my Disneyland Paris RunDisney trip. "I Know What You're Going To Say".

I should be posting more tomorrow as the late afternoon/evening is pretty light but it will take me a while since the trip is 19 days long in total.

 

[sayhello]

Like RSM, we took the train from Paris up to Normandy for the day, and did a private tour with a guide. Hands down, the absolute most amazing part of our trip. We also had a private guide for a few days in Paris, but Normandy was absolutely spectacular. As service members, it was very humbling to see and hear about the generations that came before us. Whatever you choose, you can’t go wrong. It will be spectacular

So it's doable as a day trip from Paris? I'm trying to figure out pre-day stuff for my Rhone river cruise, and I was thinking of flying into Paris, spending some time there and at DLP, taking the train to Normandy, then taking the train all the way down to Lyon (although maybe not in that order). Do you think that sounds doable?

Sayhello

 

[tgeorge]

So it's doable as a day trip from Paris? I'm trying to figure out pre-day stuff for my Rhone river cruise, and I was thinking of flying into Paris, spending some time there and at DLP, taking the train to Normandy, then taking the train all the way down to Lyon (although maybe not in that order). Do you think that sounds doable?

Sayhello

It’s definitely doable to do Normandy for the day. Our guide, Mathias, was great and told me which train tickets to book and was there wait to pick us up at the train station. We left Paris at 0706 and got into Caen train station in Normandy around 0930. We drove up to St Mare Englise and saw the first village liberated by the Americans. Then we went to get the most amazing chocolate croissant I had the entire trip (yes, I still think about that croissant) Ore guide even made a detour to take us to the city hall where they had the original American flag that flew over the village when my husband stated he was interested in seeing it. Then we went over to Utah beach and saw a lot of really interesting things in that area. He had books of information and we were able to stand in the same spots of areas where he had pictures taken in 1945. We then went to a lovely small restaurant for lunch where we discussed even more things. We went to the white cliffs after that and then we made our way to Omaha Beach, which was unbelievable. After that, our day ended at the American cemetery and we got there in time for the flag retreat, which was truly an unforgettable experience. Our guide had us back to the train station in time to catch our 650pm train back to Paris. We got back around 915pm. It was a long day, but we had time in the train to relax, but it was absolutely amazing. We had a private guide for me, my husband, and our friend Steve. His wife Kim and their two kids stayed in Paris since they weren’t interested in Normandy.

If you get the chance, I would highly recommend going. You will definitely enjoy it

 

[Cousin Orville]

Another update from us. Since our Morocco trip crashed and burned, we decided to go to Croatia and Slovenia. Zagreb, Croatia has won the top Christmas market in Europe recently. So we’re starting there. Then heading down to Dubrovnik and Split. And we’ll finish up in Ljubljana, Slovenia. While they're traditionally summer destinations, we hear they’re gorgeous Christmas destinations. Basically Dubrovnik is King’s Landing (for GoT fans) dressed in garland and wreaths. We’ll probably day trip into Montenegro and Bosnia - 2 pretty common day trips from Dubrovnik. My dw found a local company, Secret Dalmatia, that is organizing some transfers and tours for us. Should be a great trip!

 

[tgeorge]

Another update from us. Since our Morocco trip crashed and burned, we decided to go to Croatia and Slovenia. Zagreb, Croatia has won the top Christmas market in Europe recently. So we’re starting there. Then heading down to Dubrovnik and Split. And we’ll finish up in Ljubljana, Slovenia. While they're traditionally summer destinations, we hear they’re gorgeous Christmas destinations. Basically Dubrovnik is King’s Landing (for GoT fans) dressed in garland and wreaths. We’ll probably day trip into Montenegro and Bosnia - 2 pretty common day trips from Dubrovnik. My dw found a local company, Secret Dalmatia, that is organizing some transfers and tours for us. Should be a great trip!

So happy to hear that you’re going to get to do a trip. It sounds like it will be fabulous.

 

[tink1970]

Another update from us. Since our Morocco trip crashed and burned, we decided to go to Croatia and Slovenia. Zagreb, Croatia has won the top Christmas market in Europe recently. So we’re starting there. Then heading down to Dubrovnik and Split. And we’ll finish up in Ljubljana, Slovenia. While they're traditionally summer destinations, we hear they’re gorgeous Christmas destinations. Basically Dubrovnik is King’s Landing (for GoT fans) dressed in garland and wreaths. We’ll probably day trip into Montenegro and Bosnia - 2 pretty common day trips from Dubrovnik. My dw found a local company, Secret Dalmatia, that is organizing some transfers and tours for us. Should be a great trip!

That sounds great-we're doing Slovenia and Croatia next July for my big birthday. I'll be interested to hear what y'all will be doing/did I'm afraid I'm going to love the region as I do Budapest/Prague and will be annoying my DH for a trip in the winter, too.

 

[carpenta]

If you go to Montenegro check with your credit card company for some cards don't work in that country. Just got back a couple months ago from Croatia and Montenegro and had a wonderful time. Both countries get their incomes mostly from tourism so they both seem to LOVE tourists.