Worried - What if we have to cancel last minute?!?

[jewelsb]

Our first Disney trip is coming up in 27 short days and my father in law who has Leukemia has begun to take a steady decline over the last few weeks. As hard as it is, my husband and I have started the "what-if" talks just in case we have to call off the trip last minute if he passes away. I'm so unsure of what to do. I just bought travel insurance through Allianz - hopefully I don't need to use it - but if we do have to cancel, how do we even begin to reschedule? We've been planning this trip for over a year and I don't even know where to begin to re-do everything or if it would even be possible to do on short notice so that we could still go this summer. I'm also worried about the travel insurance coverage. Has anyone had to deal with this at all? I'm really struggling to even get excited and trying to figure out how to break it to our kids that there is a possibility that things may not work out to go.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Pakey]

Did you just buy trip insurance right now? Usually, trip insurance will only cover costs that have been incurred within a few days of insurance purchase. So if you paid for things months ago they might not be covered if you just now purchased the insurance.

I'm sorry you are dealing with this. My parents are elderly and it crosses my mind every time I book anything.

I plan all of my WDW trips last minute; last year I went 4th of July week with about 3 days' notice. So it can be done.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

Our first Disney trip is coming up in 27 short days and my father in law who has Leukemia has begun to take a steady decline over the last few weeks. As hard as it is, my husband and I have started the "what-if" talks just in case we have to call off the trip last minute if he passes away. I'm so unsure of what to do. I just bought travel insurance through Allianz - hopefully I don't need to use it - but if we do have to cancel, how do we even begin to reschedule? We've been planning this trip for over a year and I don't even know where to begin to re-do everything or if it would even be possible to do on short notice so that we could still go this summer. I'm also worried about the travel insurance coverage. Has anyone had to deal with this at all? I'm really struggling to even get excited and trying to figure out how to break it to our kids that there is a possibility that things may not work out to go.

Thanks for any advice.

Don't worry about your trip. If you have to reschedule, it might be that you don't get everything back just as it was originally planned, but you can still have a great trip on short notice. Maybe you stay at a different resort or maybe you don't worry about ADRs for table service. It only takes a short time to plan out which park you want to go to each day; then you just go and have fun!

Prayers to you family.

 

[jewelsb]

Did you just buy trip insurance right now? Usually, trip insurance will only cover costs that have been incurred within a few days of insurance purchase. So if you paid for things months ago they might not be covered if you just now purchased the insurance.

I'm sorry you are dealing with this. My parents are elderly and it crosses my mind every time I book anything.

I plan all of my WDW trips last minute; last year I went 4th of July week with about 3 days' notice. So it can be done.

Yes, we just purchased it yesterday after I confirmed with the agent that the death of an immediate family member would be a covered loss. It's so hard to see him going through this and I hope I don't sound callous to be worried about a vacation at a time like this, but it's something we've been dealing with for a year and a half and we knew the time would be coming sooner rather than later. We just never would have booked at this time had we known he would be going through this now. Unfortunately we had no way to know 9 months ago when we booked.

It's also taken us so long to be able to save enough money to go, I'm worried about losing that and not being able to rebook or having to pay a lot more for the trip if we do rebook.

 

[jewelsb]

Don't worry about your trip. If you have to reschedule, it might be that you don't get everything back just as it was originally planned, but you can still have a great trip on short notice. Maybe you stay at a different resort or maybe you don't worry about ADRs for table service. It only takes a short time to plan out which park you want to go to each day; then you just go and have fun!

Prayers to you family.

Thank you!! I think I just need reassurance that it will all work out. My kids have been looking forward to this for so long and to have to see them lose their Grandpa and then to have this taken away on top of it would be so hard.

 

[Jestocost]

Yes, we just purchased it yesterday after I confirmed with the agent that the death of an immediate family member would be a covered loss. It's so hard to see him going through this and I hope I don't sound callous to be worried about a vacation at a time like this, but it's something we've been dealing with for a year and a half and we knew the time would be coming sooner rather than later. We just never would have booked at this time had we known he would be going through this now. Unfortunately we had no way to know 9 months ago when we booked.

It's also taken us so long to be able to save enough money to go, I'm worried about losing that and not being able to rebook or having to pay a lot more for the trip if we do rebook.

Was the agent aware that the immediate family member in question already was ill when they gave that advice? With most policies purchased more than 14 days from the original booking deposit, pre-existing conditions generally preclude coverage unless specific coverage for pre-existing conditions is purchased. If you aren't sure, please check your policy or call Allianz back immediately to make certain that pre-existing conditions are covered.

 

[Gina]

I am so sorry your family is dealing with this. I have to second what the pp said, though. I've bought a bunch of travel insurance policies, and even my own pre-existing conditions wouldn't be covered if I didn't buy the policy within 14 days of trip deposit -- much less a family member's pre-existing condition. If an immediate family member passed away in an accident or something, that would be covered -- but the first thing any insurance company is going to do is determine if there was any pre-existing illness.

I would call Allianz back and clarify, for your own peace of mind.

 

[jewelsb]

Thank you. I really appreciate the condolences. I did specifically ask the Allianz agent about pre-existing conditions. I even explained to her exactly our whole situation and why I needed it and if that would be covered. She told me that the pre-existing only applied to the people traveling. I was not expecting her to say that it was covered, so I was surprised myself. Maybe I'd better call back and ask someone else to see if I get the same answer.

 

[jewelsb]

I just called back and got another agent who confirmed that the first agent was in fact wrong. So now we are NOT covered. Does anyone know off hand what the cancellation deadline is for a package to lose only the deposit? Maybe now my best bet is to be proactive?

 

[Handbag Lady]

I don't know what the policy is for your current trip.

Before you give up call the Insure My Trip people at 800-487-4722. They've been incredibly helpful with me in the past. They might have an option for you for insurance that covers this scenario. It doesn't hurt to ask, anyway and the call is free.

Basically, they offer multiple policies and they know the ins and outs of each company, and then help you pick out your policy to fit your needs.

 

[mamamary]

I just called back and got another agent who confirmed that the first agent was in fact wrong. So now we are NOT covered. Does anyone know off hand what the cancellation deadline is for a package to lose only the deposit? Maybe now my best bet is to be proactive?

I can't help you but I just wanted to say that I hope everything works out for you

 

[jewelsb]

I don't know what the policy is for your current trip.

Before you give up call the Insure My Trip people at 800-487-4722. They've been incredibly helpful with me in the past. They might have an option for you for insurance that covers this scenario. It doesn't hurt to ask, anyway and the call is free.

Basically, they offer multiple policies and they know the ins and outs of each company, and then help you pick out your policy to fit your needs.

Thank you! I'll call them. I just feel sick about this. I just looked online and it looks like if I were to cancel or change my reservation with Disney at this point, I will lose my $200 deposit, which is fine with me if that's all I lose. But I'm not sure about the cost to change my airline tickets with AirTran? We've never had to do that before?

 

[jewelsb]

I can't help you but I just wanted to say that I hope everything works out for you

Thank you so much. I'm just sick about everything right now.

 

[Handbag Lady]

Thank you! I'll call them. I just feel sick about this. I just looked online and it looks like if I were to cancel or change my reservation with Disney at this point, I will lose my $200 deposit, which is fine with me if that's all I lose. But I'm not sure about the cost to change my airline tickets with AirTran? We've never had to do that before?

I found this for you:

Cancellation Policy

To cancel a reservation, please call AirTran Airways Reservations at 800-AIR-TRAN or 678-254-7999 in Atlanta. Reservations must be cancelled at least one hour prior to departure, and there is a $75 fee per passenger to cancel a reservation. The remaining balance will be placed in a credit file, which may be used for future bookings for up to one year from the date of the original booking. Failure to cancel reservations one hour prior to departure will result in the forfeiture of airfare.

 

[jewelsb]

I found this for you:

Cancellation Policy

To cancel a reservation, please call AirTran Airways Reservations at 800-AIR-TRAN or 678-254-7999 in Atlanta. Reservations must be cancelled at least one hour prior to departure, and there is a $75 fee per passenger to cancel a reservation. The remaining balance will be placed in a credit file, which may be used for future bookings for up to one year from the date of the original booking. Failure to cancel reservations one hour prior to departure will result in the forfeiture of airfare.

Thank you!! So really, if I end up having to change our dates we will be out about $500 with fees between the air and package, plus however much the airfare has gone up in the mean time. It could be worse. We may just have to scale back our trip a little to recoup that. I'll have to make some calls in the next day or two to verify what I'll have to do if the situation arises. Although I'm praying hard that it won't.

 

[MarieFan]

You can actually call Disney and bump the vacation package forward, and not lose the $200 deposit. The price for the package may vary due to season and promotion, but you won't lose any money that you paid.

 

[jewelsb]

You can actually call Disney and bump the vacation package forward, and not lose the $200 deposit. The price for the package may vary due to season and promotion, but you won't lose any money that you paid.

Thank you for the suggestion. My husband is a teacher and high school baseball coach, so we can't actually go any sooner, as it's baseball season for him. If we reschedule and move it back, we do lose the deposit, correct? I haven't been able to reach my travel agent yet to ask anything. Since this thread has begun, they have actually decided to discontinue treatment and begin hospice. So now I wouldn't even be so sure about moving the dates forward either.

 

[MarieFan]

I would bump it to some random date far in the future, and when things settle down, you can move it again. Same thing about the season and promotion difference, but you won't lose the deposit.

 

[MarieFan]

I know that DOESN'T help with the flights, but it saves your Disney deposit. I am sorry you're going through this.

 

[Handbag Lady]

Thank you!! So really, if I end up having to change our dates we will be out about $500 with fees between the air and package, plus however much the airfare has gone up in the mean time. It could be worse. We may just have to scale back our trip a little to recoup that. I'll have to make some calls in the next day or two to verify what I'll have to do if the situation arises. Although I'm praying hard that it won't.

Or gone down! Airfare changes so much, don't assume it will ONLY go up if and when you need to re-book. You might get lucky.