Trips that get cancelled / when to buy airfare

[Raya]

My Danube river cruise went on sale this morning, which makes me worry that the trip might not make. Is that a thing for the River Cruises? If it is, what would happen? IIRC, we'd be given the option to switch to another trip, but when would we find out?

My concern is airfare. I'd like to buy our plane tickets 6 months out. (Unless there's a better time to buy?) Will we know by then if the trip is going to go?

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Get travel insurance which will cover you if the tour is cancelled. insuremytripdotcom is a good place to get a lot of information.

 

[Raya]

Get travel insurance which will cover you if the tour is cancelled. insuremytripdotcom is a good place to get a lot of information.

Thanks, we have travel insurance.

 

[sayhello]

My Danube river cruise went on sale this morning, which makes me worry that the trip might not make. Is that a thing for the River Cruises? If it is, what would happen? IIRC, we'd be given the option to switch to another trip, but when would we find out?

My concern is airfare. I'd like to buy our plane tickets 6 months out. (Unless there's a better time to buy?) Will we know by then if the trip is going to go?

If ABD cancels your cruise due to lack of people and you have to switch to another date, ABD will cover the difference in price and any penalties to rebook the flight.

Most trip insurance will NOT reimburse you for cancellation by a tour operator. They expect the tour operator to make good on it if they cancel.

Make sure you check your travel insurance policy before you count on that.

Sayhello

 

[carpenta]

If ABD cancels your cruise and you have to switch to another date, ABD will cover the difference in price and any penalties to rebook the flight.

Most trip insurance will NOT reimburse you for cancellation by a tour operator. They expect the tour operator to make good on it if they cancel.

Sayhello

ABD will ONLY pay airfare IF you rebook with ABD on another trip. If you are unable to work any other dates of trips into your schedule than ABD will not give you any money towards your airfare. It happened to me and my family when ABD cancelled on us. We must schedule our vacations more than a year and a half in advance and we are "stuck" with those dates. We are unable to travel with ABD at our week so we lost over $600.00 when we had to switch to another provider. You may want to look at booking airfare through ABD and let them "take the hit" if something happens.

 

[sayhello]

ABD will ONLY pay airfare IF you rebook with ABD on another trip. If you are unable to work any other dates of trips into your schedule than ABD will not give you any money towards your airfare. It happened to me and my family when ABD cancelled on us. We must schedule our vacations more than a year and a half in advance and we are "stuck" with those dates. We are unable to travel with ABD at our week so we lost over $600.00 when we had to switch to another provider. You may want to look at booking airfare through ABD and let them "take the hit" if something happens.

Yes, this is true. I still cannot understand why they didn't refund your airfare, but there it is.

Sayhello

 

[Cinderella's Slipper 2015]

My Danube river cruise went on sale this morning, which makes me worry that the trip might not make. Is that a thing for the River Cruises? If it is, what would happen? IIRC, we'd be given the option to switch to another trip, but when would we find out?

My concern is airfare. I'd like to buy our plane tickets 6 months out. (Unless there's a better time to buy?) Will we know by then if the trip is going to go?

There is no hard and fast rule as to when Disney will decide when a trip is guaranteed to go. I had 22 people booked on my trip 8 months before my trip. Disney didn't guarantee my trip to go until 6 weeks prior.

 

[carpenta]

I had 34 people booked (according to ABD rep.) and they cancelled.

 

[sayhello]

I had 34 people booked (according to ABD rep.) and they cancelled.

I'm trying to remember if they ever told you *why* they canceled your trip, since it obviously wasn't due to lack of people. The ABD reimbursement policy is for if they cancel due to lack of people. Not that I think they're right in treating it differently, but perhaps that explains why their policy in your situation was different. It might at least be an explanation.

"We reserve the right to cancel a trip at any time prior to its commencement for any reason, such as if there are too few Guests, or if the quality of the trip or the safety of the Guests would, in our opinion, be compromised, such as may result from unforeseen circumstances (acts of God) or other circumstances beyond our reasonable control. If we cancel your trip prior to its commencement because there are too few Guests: (i) we will attempt to re-book you on another departure of the same itinerary, subject to availability, and we will bear any reasonable airline re-booking charges; however, if we are unable to rebook you, we will issue a full refund of your land package price and Plan (unless you have filed a claim); and (ii) if you booked airfare through us, we will issue a full refund of your airfare; and (iii) if you did not book airfare through us, we will reimburse you for your reasonable out-of-pocket (subject to proof) airline cancellation charges or, in the case of bookings using frequent flier miles, a reasonable cancellation service fee, provided you have exercised best efforts to mitigate such charges/fees; and (iv) the aforesaid payments and/or rebooking by us shall constitute a full settlement."

This is from the ABD FAQ. They really don't state what the policy is if they cancel for one of the other reasons, such as "if the quality of the trip or the safety of the Guests would, in our opinion, be compromised, such as may result from unforeseen circumstances (acts of God) or other circumstances beyond our reasonable control". I do think that's a bad omission.

I really think at the *least* they owe you a complete explanation of why they canceled your trip.

Sayhello

 

[Cinderella's Slipper 2015]

I had 34 people booked (according to ABD rep.) and they cancelled.

Wow. Definitely time for us to look elsewhere then. We were confirmed to go with 10 and it will go with 8 minimum.

 

[sayhello]

Wow. Definitely time for us to look elsewhere then. We were confirmed to go with 10 and it will go with 8 minimum.

From NatGeo's FAQ:

"National Geographic and the tour operator reserve the right, without penalty, to make changes in the published itinerary whenever, in their judgment, conditions warrant or if they deem it necessary for the comfort, convenience, or safety of participants.

Neither National Geographic, nor its designated tour operator, shall be liable for any air carrier's cancellation penalty incurred by the purchase of a nonrefundable ticket to or from the participant's Expedition departure city. Baggage and personal effects are at all times the sole responsibility of the participant.

National Geographic reserves the right to cancel any Expedition because of inadequate enrollment that makes the Expedition economically infeasible to operate or because of good-faith concerns with respect to the safety, health, or welfare of the participants. If an Expedition is canceled prior to departure, the tour operator will provide participants with a full refund of monies paid to the tour operator; except in the event that the cancellation is due to a significant event that makes it infeasible to operate the Expedition as planned, in which case the tour operator will provide participants with a refund and/or credit toward a future Expedition equivalent to monies paid to the tour operator. If National Geographic cancels the Expedition in progress, participants will receive a prorated refund based on the number of days not completed on the Expedition. Except as outlined above when National Geographic cancels an Expedition, National Geographic and its designated tour operator has no responsibility for any expenses, including any non-refundable expenses, incurred by participants in preparing for a cancelled Expedition or for any additional arrangements should participants embark prior to the scheduled group departure date."

Sounds like NatGeo's cancellation policy is pretty similar to ABD's. Except NatGeo doesn't cover your airfare at all if you didn't book it through them.

ABD obviously didn't cancel carpenta's ABD due to lack of people. Not sure *why* they canceled it, but it wasn't lack of people.

Sayhello

 

[Cinderella's Slipper 2015]

From NatGeo's FAQ:

"National Geographic and the tour operator reserve the right, without penalty, to make changes in the published itinerary whenever, in their judgment, conditions warrant or if they deem it necessary for the comfort, convenience, or safety of participants.

Neither National Geographic, nor its designated tour operator, shall be liable for any air carrier's cancellation penalty incurred by the purchase of a nonrefundable ticket to or from the participant's Expedition departure city. Baggage and personal effects are at all times the sole responsibility of the participant.

National Geographic reserves the right to cancel any Expedition because of inadequate enrollment that makes the Expedition economically infeasible to operate or because of good-faith concerns with respect to the safety, health, or welfare of the participants. If an Expedition is canceled prior to departure, the tour operator will provide participants with a full refund of monies paid to the tour operator; except in the event that the cancellation is due to a significant event that makes it infeasible to operate the Expedition as planned, in which case the tour operator will provide participants with a refund and/or credit toward a future Expedition equivalent to monies paid to the tour operator. If National Geographic cancels the Expedition in progress, participants will receive a prorated refund based on the number of days not completed on the Expedition. Except as outlined above when National Geographic cancels an Expedition, National Geographic and its designated tour operator has no responsibility for any expenses, including any non-refundable expenses, incurred by participants in preparing for a cancelled Expedition or for any additional arrangements should participants embark prior to the scheduled group departure date."

Sounds like NatGeo's cancellation policy is pretty similar to ABD's. Except NatGeo doesn't cover your airfare at all if you didn't book it through them.

ABD obviously didn't cancel carpenta's ABD due to lack of people. Not sure *why* they canceled it, but it wasn't lack of people.

Sayhello

Make sure you're quoting the correct National Geographic information. I never stated I was doing an expedition with National Geographic. They have different branches within their trips and therefore different terms and conditions, expeditions is just one branch and not the one we are doing. They don't have a general Expedition to South East Asia. And in regards to airfare. Of course Nat Geo is not going to cover your airfare because they tell you NOT to book your airfare until THEY TELL you to book it. We were told when we booked our trip NOT to book airfare until we confirm with them that the trip is going to go. We were notified by our dedicated trip coordinator when our trip hit the minimum number of people required for the trip to go (8) but we were still told to wait until we got 2 more people booked on the trip. Once we hit 10 people booked on our trip we got the go ahead to book our airfare because our trip was then confirmed to go. I got the go ahead to book airfares June 1 for a trip that is taking place at the start of Feb 2017, 8 months in advance. The only way that trip will be cancelled now is through war or some sort of natural disaster.

 

[sayhello]

Make sure you're quoting the correct National Geographic information. I never stated I was doing an expedition with National Geographic. They have different branches within their trips and therefore different terms and conditions, expeditions is just one branch and not the one we are doing. They don't have a general Expedition to South East Asia. And in regards to airfare. Of course Nat Geo is not going to cover your airfare because they tell you NOT to book your airfare until THEY TELL you to book it. We were told when we booked our trip NOT to book airfare until we confirm with them that the trip is going to go. We were notified by our dedicated trip coordinator when our trip hit the minimum number of people required for the trip to go (8) but we were still told to wait until we got 2 more people booked on the trip. Once we hit 10 people booked on our trip we got the go ahead to book our airfare because our trip was then confirmed to go. I got the go ahead to book airfares June 1 for a trip that is taking place at the start of Feb 2017, 8 months in advance. The only way that trip will be cancelled now is through war or some sort of natural disaster.

Interesting. What happens if you have 10 people and a party of 6 cancels?

Sayhello

 

[Cinderella's Slipper 2015]

Interesting. What happens if you have 10 people and a party of 6 cancels?

Sayhello

As far as I'm aware, the trip is guaranteed to go at this point in time so it will go regardless. People have until October 30 to make up their minds as that's when final payments are due.

 

[sayhello]

Make sure you're quoting the correct National Geographic information. I never stated I was doing an expedition with National Geographic. They have different branches within their trips and therefore different terms and conditions, expeditions is just one branch and not the one we are doing. They don't have a general Expedition to South East Asia. And in regards to airfare. Of course Nat Geo is not going to cover your airfare because they tell you NOT to book your airfare until THEY TELL you to book it. We were told when we booked our trip NOT to book airfare until we confirm with them that the trip is going to go. We were notified by our dedicated trip coordinator when our trip hit the minimum number of people required for the trip to go (8) but we were still told to wait until we got 2 more people booked on the trip. Once we hit 10 people booked on our trip we got the go ahead to book our airfare because our trip was then confirmed to go. I got the go ahead to book airfares June 1 for a trip that is taking place at the start of Feb 2017, 8 months in advance. The only way that trip will be cancelled now is through war or some sort of natural disaster.

"
Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia Adventure

• Trip Type: Adventures
• Activity Rating: Easy/Moderate
• 13 Days | Ho Chi Minh City to Siem Reap
• Group Size: Max 16

See special terms and conditions for this adventure.:

"We reserve the right to cancel any Trip because of inadequate enrollment or because of our concerns with respect to the safety, health, or welfare of the participants. If a Trip is canceled by us prior to departure, MT will provide the participant with a full refund of monies paid to them; except in the event cancellation is due to a significant event that makes it infeasible to operate the Trip as planned, in which case MT will provide the participant with a refund or credit toward a future Trip equivalent to monies paid to them. If we cancel the Trip in progress, the participant will receive a prorated refund and/or a credit based on the number of days not completed on the Trip. If we cancel a Trip, we will not be responsible for any additional expenses incurred by the participant in his/her preparation for the Trip (e.g. nonrefundable airline tickets, visa fees, if applicable, clothing, equipment and medical expenses, etc.)."

Sounds pretty much the same.

Sayhello

 

[carpenta]

ABD NEVER gave me a reason for the cancellation. Nothing. Nat. Geo really sub contracts out the actual running of the trip(s). On our Yellowstone trip Back Roads, which did a fabulous job, ran the trip and Nat. Geo. supplied a local nature expert. We are doing Iceland next year with Nat. Geo. and the group max. is 24 and I was told the trip is a definite "go". Makes airfare easier (and cheaper)to research if you have a belief that you are going.

 

[sayhello]

ABD NEVER gave me a reason for the cancellation. Nothing. Nat. Geo really sub contracts out the actual running of the trip(s). On our Yellowstone trip Back Roads, which did a fabulous job, ran the trip and Nat. Geo. supplied a local nature expert. We are doing Iceland next year with Nat. Geo. and the group max. is 24 and I was told the trip is a definite "go". Makes airfare easier (and cheaper)to research if you have a belief that you are going.

THAT to me is the biggest problem. They really, really should have told you why. I just can't understand why they wouldn't tell you.

I took my first group vacation with Backroads, back in 1996! They are an excellent company. Of course, that was a long time ago, and I was much younger then. But their trips are pretty short (most are 6 days, 5 nights, some are 5 days, 4 nights). I may string together 2 of them some day. Most of them tend to be a bit more athletic than what I'm looking for, however, although they have branched out into family & cultural trips. I was actually looking through one of their catalogs a couple of nights ago, thinking about 2018...

Sayhello

 

[RebelHawk]

I'm bringing up an older thread here but it just became relevant for us. My wife and I booked our NYC ABD trip back in September and are about to hit our final payment date. Currently ABD has 15 people booked on the trip and they haven't marked it as guaranteed yet. We're going to hold off on buying our airfare until we get closer. I was planning on booking my flights and paying with our air miles but at this point i'm tempted to include the flight with our DU TA. We have the optional insurance and that would make things easy for us if there were a cancelation.

Now for my question. We are currently booked on an Adult Exclusive trip. Anyone have any insight if ABD would try to force us to book just any trip that is open and confirmed or can we "hold out" for a specific trip? We wanted this early trip to escape some of the summer heat in NYC. The next Adult trips are Aug - Sept with one in October. We can't really do the October trip as that would be just one week away from our already booked DVC F&W WDW trip. Will ABD allow rolling a trip into a future unannounced travel season or into another non NYC trip to somewhere else?

 

[sayhello]

I'm bringing up an older thread here but it just became relevant for us. My wife and I booked our NYC ABD trip back in September and are about to hit our final payment date. Currently ABD has 15 people booked on the trip and they haven't marked it as guaranteed yet. We're going to hold off on buying our airfare until we get closer. I was planning on booking my flights and paying with our air miles but at this point i'm tempted to include the flight with our DU TA. We have the optional insurance and that would make things easy for us if there were a cancelation.

Now for my question. We are currently booked on an Adult Exclusive trip. Anyone have any insight if ABD would try to force us to book just any trip that is open and confirmed or can we "hold out" for a specific trip? We wanted this early trip to escape some of the summer heat in NYC. The next Adult trips are Aug - Sept with one in October. We can't really do the October trip as that would be just one week away from our already booked DVC F&W WDW trip. Will ABD allow rolling a trip into a future unannounced travel season or into another non NYC trip to somewhere else?

ABD will allow you to move a deposit if for some reason you can't take a trip this season and need to postpone it to next year. But I believe you need to actually move it to another trip; you can't just have it hanging there as a credit. I could be wrong about that, but that was my understanding. I did it once, and moved my 2015 deposit to a trip in 2016.

I don't think you can do that after you have Paid in Full.

However, if *they* cancel your trip, and you cannot re-schedule for what ever reason, they'll give you a full refund. The airfare part of it can become a bit tricky unless you book it through ABD. You would most likely get a full refund of your airfare if you flat out can't rebook and get a full refund of your ABD. It can get a bit tricky based on circumstances, but in general, that's what would happen.

I don't know that they'd hold onto your full payment for a trip until next year. They'd probably rather refund it and have you re-book.

I hope that makes sense.

ABD may never mark your trip as Guaranteed. I've had that happen. But I've also had a couple of Adult Only trips go with less than 15 people. I know other people have, too.

Also, look *CAREFULLY* at your optional insurance. Most policies do *not* cover cancellation by the tour operator. They expect the tour operator to make good on it if they cancel. Financial default they will sometimes cover, but almost never cancellation.

Sayhello