Travel Changes?

[Donalyn]

I think that we all need to realize that this is an unprecedented world wide situation. Even though a true pandemic had been predicted for years, our systems are not built for this - not our medical system, not our financial systems, etc. And this is very country across the world. (I mean, come on, it took the US disaster response organization (FEMA) 3 days to get water to the SuperDome in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina hit. And we knew that was coming too.)

And no company wanted to take the financial hits if they didn't have to, because there is a lot of money on the line up and down. And businesses like Disney will be particularly hard hit by all of this. Think of the impacts of this virus on some main Disney business lines - cruise ships, the parks, movies, etc. There isn't an unlimited supply of cash out there to cover the losses.

Now, do I think that some of the calls made are dumb. Yes. But everyone is just struggling through all of this uncharted territory. Mistakes will be made. Hopefully corrected.

 

[JackieT1182]

As I've mentioned, I have two deposits with ABD currently with PIFs coming up in late March and late April. At this point, I am inclined to park these deposits. Given how they handled the March 13 UK/France ABD, I have zero faith they are prioritizing guest safety and well-being. I really wish I had never booked with them in the first place. After I figure out what to do with these deposits, unless they come out, very soon, with some grand gesture toward guests who are booked within the next 60 days or so, I will never book with them again.

I'm in a similar situation. I have no idea what to do! My PIF date is April 1 for our England/France trip. If I have to make a decision NOW what to do with our $30k+ trip, I'm leaning towards canceling it. However, if Disney delays our PIF date, I won't cancel (at least for now).

I sent them an email asking them to please consider delaying the PIF date. I don't understand how Disney doesn't realize that this could benefit both them and their customers in the long run.

 

[2Gma]

I think that we all need to realize that this is an unprecedented world wide situation. E
And no company wanted to take the financial hits if they didn't have to, because there is a lot of money on the line up and down. And businesses like Disney will be particularly hard hit by all of this. Think of the impacts of this virus on some main Disney business lines - cruise ships, the parks, movies, etc. There isn't an unlimited supply of cash out there to cover the losses.

Agree with the overall statement being unprecedented territory but alot of major companies will probably receive government bailouts or tax incentives while the average consumer will see nothing but their empty pocketbooks!

ETA: Moderator if/where appropriate can you tell me where to start a thread for "company reactions (good/bad) to Coronavirus". A place where people can share their experiences, I'm sure alot of people are looking for answers as well. Not sure what board is most appropriate. Thanks.

 

[JandT'smom]

I am upset that ABD has not at least canceled through April they are just doing bare minimum ,basically what they are forced to do in allowing cancellations and rebooking Soooo sorry I booked with them never again Is there an official channel to voice our dissatisfaction besides calling? It was beyond comprehension that they were going ahead with the England/France trip this week and people were already on there way before canceling.

 

[lovetotravel]

I am upset that ABD has not at least canceled through April they are just doing bare minimum ,basically what they are forced to do in allowing cancellations and rebooking Soooo sorry I booked with them never again Is there an official channel to voice our dissatisfaction besides calling? It was beyond comprehension that they were going ahead with the England/France trip this week and people were already on there way before canceling.

Besides leaving a review on Google and TripAdvisor, maybe starting a list of good/bad company policies would be helpful.

I'm happy to try out Tauck at this point for my new bookings.

 

[Candycane83]

Besides leaving a review on Google and TripAdvisor, maybe starting a list of good/bad company policies would be helpful.

I'm happy to try out Tauck at this point for my new bookings.

It took me 15mins to change my booking to Costa Rica to next year. It was extremely easy. I kind of regret booking my Danube with ABD and not Tauck for next Christmas. I will definitely choose Tauck in the future.

 

[lovetotravel]

I'm in a similar situation. I have no idea what to do! My PIF date is April 1 for our England/France trip. If I have to make a decision NOW what to do with our $30k+ trip, I'm leaning towards canceling it. However, if Disney delays our PIF date, I won't cancel (at least for now).

I sent them an email asking them to please consider delaying the PIF date. I don't understand how Disney doesn't realize that this could benefit both them and their customers in the long run.

Don't pay the PIF in April until there are huge signs of improvement. I regret having 2 PIF ABDs upcoming in a few months.

 

[lovetotravel]

As I've mentioned, I have two deposits with ABD currently with PIFs coming up in late March and late April. At this point, I am inclined to park these deposits. Given how they handled the March 13 UK/France ABD, I have zero faith they are prioritizing guest safety and well-being. I really wish I had never booked with them in the first place. After I figure out what to do with these deposits, unless they come out, very soon, with some grand gesture toward guests who are booked within the next 60 days or so, I will never book with them again.

As I mentioned in another post, don't be like me with 2 PIF ABDs this summer. It's not worth the stress and anxiety.

 

[BrerNashville]

It took me 15mins to change my booking to Costa Rica to next year. It was extremely easy. I kind of regret booking my Danube with ABD and not Tauck for next Christmas. I will definitely choose Tauck in the future.

I assume the PIF date had not passed?

 

[neurosx1983]

Well, with everything going on, I feel too uncomfortable getting on a 15 hr flight to Hawaii so we are cancelling that too...going to just road trip it somewhere...maybe WDW.

 

[Rapunzellover]

I assume the PIF date had not passed?

PIF date passing means little with Tauck. In 2018, I canceled a Portugal trip 26 hrs before leaving because my back went out. I had to pay change fee for air and they put $1500 in an account for future use (which I used for 2019). But I got the rest back. The change fee was the price of travel insurance so I didn't buy travel insurance, just medical travel ins. elsewhere (which I actually never bought because my back was so bad i thought I was gonna cancel- did buy it the next year.)

The best part? I got the air special they had for 2019 so even with the change fee from 2018, I spent less money on the trip when I rebooked in 2019.

Tauck has really impressed me. I got no hassle canceling Scotland in August (I'm waiting to plan anything now).

 

[Rapunzellover]

Well, with everything going on, I feel too uncomfortable getting on a 15 hr flight to Hawaii so we are cancelling that too...going to just road trip it somewhere...maybe WDW.

I would avoid theme parks.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

I wanted to share with everyone the e-mail that I just received from Quark. I am very impressed. I am thinking of moving our trip to August and seeing where things stand at that point.

On the travel front, I am debating on whether or not we should go home to Toronto for Easter / Passover. It's a 3 hour flight, but being in an airport, on a plane, etc. just doesn't feel like the right thing for us to do. I hate to miss the holiday with mine (Toronto) and dh's (Montreal) family, but I have to think about our health. I can wait until 2 hours before boarding to cancel our flights with Air Canada, so I have time to decide.

I understand you are looking for more information on our Coronavirus policies. I am currently away from my desk as I am working with my executive team to develop this information.

We will be updating our position on the Coronavirus shortly, but to give you an idea of what is being proposed, we understand that our travellers still want to travel to the Arctic, but are concerned about their ability to travel safely. As we do not know what the global travel situation will be in June 2020 we are offering travellers the ability to rebook onto a future voyage up to 30 days prior to your scheduled departure date. This means you could wait until May 5, 2020 to see how the situation changes and if you do not feel comfortable to travel in June you can transfer the value of your booking to any voyage departing before December 31, 2021.

Currently we are expecting to be able to operate our Arctic 2020 season. In the event this situation changes and Quark Expeditions cancels your voyage we would offer you a refund of your expedition cost.

I checked Quark's schedule and our cruise isn't available in August, which is the only other time we could actually travel. Oy. They have another one that sounds interesting, but it's 15 days and is $10,000.00 more. I don't really want to spend 15 days on a ship this summer, so we might still be stuck. I guess we will wait them out for a while longer. Not sure what we will do about Scott Dunn -- I e-mailed them asking if I could push my PIF to 30 days before departure because I really want to go on the trip, but don't want to pay the full amount at this time. We shall see what they come back with.

I learned a lesson with this virus. That is, never to pay a $5,000.00 deposit on a land trip. If I were to do this again I would be willing to make a $1,500.00 or $2,500.00 deposit, but $5,000.00 is excessive. The only reason my PIF is 60 days before departure (their usual is 90 days) is that I asked that it be moved to a date where I would have my Russian visa in hand (it arrived yesterday).

 

[lovetotravel]

Well, with everything going on, I feel too uncomfortable getting on a 15 hr flight to Hawaii so we are cancelling that too...going to just road trip it somewhere...maybe WDW.

Many small area beaches around FL and near WDW, although cases are increasing daily. Have not heard much about Orlando cases and they are cancelling a lot of conferences. I heard hand washing/sanitation stations are everywhere at WDW.

Driving and camping seems like the safest bet!

 

[Calfan]

So so much craziness in the last 24 hours! My DD and I are scheduled to leave for Scotland on March 29, arriving March 30 (we fly from Maui to the Bay Area on March 28 and are leaving for Scotland out of SFO). For the time being, I am leaving everything in place. Our outbound flights are exclusively U.S. and U.K. on BA. Our return flights on April 2 were on Lufthansa through Frankfurt, so that of course no longer seems like a good option/high chance that one could be cancelled. So this morning I booked alternative return flights on BA from Glasgow through Heathrow back to the U.S. Our original return flights were in Business, but I was able to get Premium Economy on BA using 50k Avios each. I can cancel within 24 hours if the situation worsens or if the universities cancel their Offer Holder days. (So far both university websites indicate the days are still on.) Worst case is a $55 redeposit fee per ticket, which I'm hopeful BA would waive if the travel restrictions are extended to the U.K. or the universities close and/or cancel their events. I'm going to wait on cancelling our original return flights to see if Lufthansa cancels first so I don't have to call and try to get my United miles redeposited without a fee. It seems like the possibility of our going is growing slimmer and slimmer, but I want to maintain optionality for as long as possible for DD's sake.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

So so much craziness in the last 24 hours! My DD and I are scheduled to leave for Scotland on March 29, arriving March 30 (we fly from Maui to the Bay Area on March 28 and are leaving for Scotland out of SFO). For the time being, I am leaving everything in place. Our outbound flights are exclusively U.S. and U.K. on BA. Our return flights on April 2 were on Lufthansa through Frankfurt, so that of course no longer seems like a good option/high chance that one could be cancelled. So this morning I booked alternative return flights on BA from Glasgow through Heathrow back to the U.S. Our original return flights were in Business, but I was able to get Premium Economy on BA using 50k Avios each. I can cancel within 24 hours if the situation worsens or if the universities cancel their Offer Holder days. (So far both university websites indicate the days are still on.) Worst case is a $55 redeposit fee per ticket, which I'm hopeful BA would waive if the travel restrictions are extended to the U.K. or the universities close and/or cancel their events. I'm going to wait on cancelling our original return flights to see if Lufthansa cancels first so I don't have to call and try to get my United miles redeposited without a fee. It seems like the possibility of our going is growing slimmer and slimmer, but I want to maintain optionality for as long as possible for DD's sake.

Dd's school e-mailed this morning with a list of the colleges in the US that have cancelled tours and days planned for confirmed freshman over spring break and it's extensive. I hope your trip continues as scheduled -- so much is changing daily it's impossible to know where things will stand on the 29th.

 

[SteveW8002]

I'm really in a quandary on what to do about our trip this July to Italy and Switzerland. The PIF date is 3/24, so I need to decide soon. Losing the deposit is not fun, however, from what I've seen on this thread, ABD can't seem to be trusted to make the right decisions on canceling trips. Things could improve dramatically by July, but they may not. I feel bad complaining about not being able to go on an expensive vacation while this crisis is unfolding. But this is a safe place to vent to people who are in the same predicament.

 

[sayhello]

I'm really in a quandary on what to do about our trip this July to Italy and Switzerland. The PIF date is 3/24, so I need to decide soon. Losing the deposit is not fun, however, from what I've seen on this thread, ABD can't seem to be trusted to make the right decisions on canceling trips. Things could improve dramatically by July, but they may not. I feel bad complaining about not being able to go on an expensive vacation while this crisis is unfolding. But this is a safe place to vent to people who are in the same predicament.

I'd call ABD and ask them about pushing the PIF date. Tell them if you have to decide by 3/24, you're going to have to decide to cancel. Maybe if enough people tell them that, they'll at the least push the PIF dates.

Sayhello

 

[LuvOrlando]

My husband is still flying into Milan tomorrow. He contacted the people running next week's wine certification course in Florence and they have no intention of cancelling. I think cancelling everything is a big risk too - the world economy cannot just come to a grinding halt. Especially when almost half the cases in Italy are quarantined at home with no symptoms or minor symptoms. I would like to think I will still be leaving for Italy on March 12th as well - however, I think we may have to rethink our plans.

I think this is already way more widespread than we are acknowledging. There is just not widespread testing unless people are in a specifically identified group.

Please don't misunderstand me, I do not want people to get sick and die. But it seems this only severely impacts high risk populations and the cat is already out of the bag.... Not sure how you are supposed to track cold/flu like symptoms around the work and assume it is Coronavirus.

How is your husband now? Safe I hope

 

[SteveW8002]

I'd call ABD and ask them about pushing the PIF date. Tell them if you have to decide by 3/24, you're going to have to decide to cancel. Maybe if enough people tell them that, they'll at the least push the PIF dates.

Sayhello

Just sent an email to my dreams agent.