Thanks to all of you who have written me with your travel questions and problems. I will continue answering them in rounds.
EMAIL: Jenny Trip
Mr. Greenberg,
Sorry to bother you my name is Jenny and a friend in the news correspondence business gave me your name and email address for some suggesitons/guidance. I am sure you are swamped with coronavirus questions and issues and unfortunately this is one as well. Let me give you a little background.
In December of 2019, Tanya and I purchased a 10 day London to Rome trip via AAA (Costsaver/Trafalgar) $3K. The Delta flights were added on to the package an additional $3K. I even pushed us up in class with points etc, heck what the hell we were so excited to head to Italy. Yes this was a $10K trip for both of us. We were beyond thrilled to be in Italy this spring however who knew we would be in the middle of the coronavirus; as our scheduled departure from New Orleans was on April 16, 2020 returning on the 26th.
We were told by AAA the land trip was “suspended” by Costsavers and we were not entitled to a refund because it was not cancelled. In all honesty the trip is cancelled however they get to use the word “suspended”. That way I guess they can keep our funds. Delta on the other hand cancelled the flight and we are in the process of getting our funds refunded. (We are waiting to see if the funds are credited back to our credit card.)
Costsavers is holding the land portion of our trip nearly $3K with some verbal mumbo jumbo. We can’t seem to get heads or tails and although they say our trip is credited indefinitely I can’t find that anywhere in writing.
My main question: With everyone going bankrupt as a result of the world shutting down it seems as though we may possibly loose our $3K. The ideal situation would be for them to refund us and when we are ready to go and life settles down we rebook, we cannot think of Italy resurfacing any time soon. It is heart breaking for us; we longed to go there this spring.
Another question: we purchased the insurance which we figured out really quick was a waste of money it specifically disallows epidemics? What good is it? I mean the last epidemic was in 1918 or something. Who would have thought? I am debating if I should ever purchase insurance again, as it seems worthless.
Any suggestions/advice/guidance? Anything will be appreciated.
Jenny Trip
Peter Says: Jenny, please send me the exact details of your reservation (confirmation numbers, dates, and first and last names/titles of the people with whom you have spoken), and I will get into it.
EMAIL: Joyce Kanta
I purchased a ticket Oct. 4th of last year. Since all flights are cancelled American Airlines advised me I had to use it by Oct. of this year.
My ticket was for Miami First Class.
Is that true or can I get my money back.
Thanks,
Joyce Kanta
Peter Says: Joyce, when was your initial flight scheduled for? And did American Airlines cancel. the flight or did you cancel the flight? that’s the key information I need to be able to give you an informed response. please let me know.
EMAIL: Janie Bullard
Hi Peter,
I hope you are staying well.
I would like to ask for your help with Viking Cruises. Unlike all the other major cruise lines, Viking is NOT protecting the commission of travel advisors. They want up front in full payment a yearin advance, and then they keep all the money when they cancel a cruise. There are many numerous examples of this. We are a very small company (Boutique with Virtuoso for 20 years) 5 cruises were cancelled this week, for May-)
Our commission for these 5 bookings is over 11K . We , as well as others have asked them to reserve this policy in appreciation for our loyalty.
Janie Bullard
Peter Says: You present a very interesting — and challenging — problem. Travel agents/advisors represent the bulk of all cruise bookings, and if there ever was a time to respect and protect them, this should be that time. it is my belief that — one by one — the cruise lines will either volunteer, or will be forced to do the right thing (just as the airlines have done). I’ll stay on top of thjs developing issue/story.. stay tuned..
EMAIL: Marlene Finkel
Hi Peter,
Hope you are well. I am a travel consultant (going on 17 years). I have always enjoyed watching you and especially now on facebook – you have always answered my travel questions before I can even ask them! Always very relevant! You certainly get what it is like to be a Travel Consultant in these unprecedented times!
Question – I have clients on JetBlue flights. JetBlue initiated the cancellation but when I went online, they only offered a Travel Bank Credit. I called JetBlue and waited over one hour for someone to answer. I told the representative that since JetBlue initiated the cancellation of the flight, it was my understanding that my clients should be entitled to a full refund (according to the contract between the airline and passenger). After getting no where, I asked to speak with a Supervisor but she did not budge and said that they were only entitled to a Travel Bank Credit and that I need to take it up with my help desk?????
Do you have any suggestions for how I can my clients a refund instead of a credit for future travel?
Thanks for your advice,
Marlene
Peter Says: The U.S. Department of Transportation has already put all airlines on notice that they are in violation of existing rules by not offering a full refund if the airline canceled the flights. And, one by one, the airlines have started to issue full refunds. Let me know if jet blue is still refusing to issue those refunds.
EMAIL: Elizabeth Scott
Hi Peter Greenberg,
Listen to your show on WGN and value your opinions. You mentioned to write to you if questions couldn’t be answered on air, so here you go:
- My Holland of American (repositioning) cruise due to depart from Ft. Lauderdale on Apr. 19 officially was cancelled just 2 days ago. They gave us 2 options of 1) defer a refund and instead receive a future cruise credit for 125% of the base cruise fare paid plus an onboard credit of $250 (we originally had a $300 credit), which can be applied toward any future cruise(s) booked through Dec. 31, 2021 or 2) ….a 100% refund of all monies paid to HAL. Noted: one may cancel the future cruise at any time should you change your mine of option 1.
We really want to choose option 1 (we still want to go on a future trip) but wonder what would happed should they go bankrupt before the time? You mentioned that you can’t foresee Carnival Cruise Line to ever go bankrupt and I believe HAL is owned by the same company.
Carnival has enough liquidity (and a recent cash infusion as well) to continue to operate. So if you want option one, I believe at this time that it’s a good calculated risk.
- The first part of our trip was to fly (from Chicago) on April 16 to Orlando, rent a car to travel to resort on Vero Beach through Disney Vacation Club, then drive to Ft. Lauderdale where our ship would depart on April 19. In the meantime our resort stay has been cancelled – no problem with Disney giving back our points with no penalties. I will also cancel my Enterprise car rental hopefully with no problem.
Just yesterday I received an email from United Airlines with the following message:
“We look forward to welcoming you on board for your flight to Orlando on April 16, 2020. However, we also understand that your plans may have changed, and we want to remind you that you have flexibility. You can change your flight to a date up to 12 months from your original ticket issue date or cancel your ticket and retain the credit for future use, both without a change fee. If you aren’t planning to fly, please change or cancel your flight now to avoid losing the value of your ticket.”
Maybe because I booked my flight with my United Visa preferred card I was given this message (because my other travelling party who booked through United didn’t get this email). I’m not sure if United is planning on cancelling the flight anyway and I should wait until just before my flight date to make a decision whether to have them refund me the entire fare or just take the credit for future use option.
Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Elizabeth Scott
Peter Says: My advice — take the full refund now.
EMAIL: James Ferguson
Peter,
Thank you for your insightful Industry Updates.
Suggestion for DOT –
What about the 3 major US airlines integrating with each other via the three major Airline Alliances: One World, Sky Team, and Star Alliance, whereby, each major route would be served by the one dominant airline of that route, with seat inventory being divided into three CODE SHARE allotments…i.e.,
DFW-JFK operated by AA with equal inventory code share seats UA/DL.
LAX -JFK operated by UA and code shared with AA/DL
SEA-JFK operated by DL and code shared with AA/UA
Resulting in less empty seats and more shared RPM* (or shared losses), AND could even provide some financial relief for international carriers, who already provide code share inventory in alignment with their Alliance partner.
As a former airline executive (Korean Air 1983-90/China Southern (1997-2000) and now continuing (45 year tenure) in this resilient TRAVEL industry – a staple of LIFE – as a Virtuoso (affiliated with Travel Edge, La Jolla) Independent Contractor (IC)Travel Advisor.
Remain safe, be well, stay strong.
p.s. We’ll always have the shared memory of my bringing you welcome coffee following your early a.m. arrival to the 2004 PATA Annual Conference/Hong Kong , Opening Ceremonies, in combating your jet-lag…
(I was Director Americas, PATA, at the time)
-James
Peter Says: James I like your idea. the only issue might be integrating the airlines different computer systems, but it does provide a good short term solution. And thanks for the Hong Kong memories!
EMAIL: Laurie Hart
This isn’t a complaint but a thank you. I had cancelled a trip from ORD to PHX leaving on March 23rd and returning on April 10th. I used 48,000 United miles to pay for the ticket. When I cancelled it, I was told that I would need to pay $125.00 to have the miles redeposit into my account or use the miles by January, 2021 (a year from the purchase of the ticket).
I listened to your YouTube today. You said that, after many complaints, United was now waiving the $125 redeposit fee. I quickly called United and, without any hassle and a short wait, they put my miles back into my account AND gave me a $11.20 credit on my Mileage Explorer Card for the taxes paid.
Thank you for the information . You are the best!
Laurie Hart
Peter Says: Laurie, so glad it worked out. And keep the emails coming!
EMAIL: Janet Jordan
Hello Peter or Peter’s reader:
If it is Peter – Hello old friend! Hope you are faring well. If not Peter, here is my question and thank you in advance:
We were scheduled on a Seabourn cruise leaving Singapore mid April. We received notice in February that due to the virus, Sri Lanka was replacing the Singapore port. At this point, I saw the writing on the wall and wrote to Seabourn saying, “You’re swapping ports? This cruise will obviously be canceled, right?” They waffled and said they hadn’t made a decision yet and included a paragraph about canceling 30 days before sailing if you’re going to cancel. Knowing the 30 day deadline was imminent, I impulsively wrote back and said Yes! Of course I want to cancel. A week later the world closed and it was a moot point.
My situation now is that they will refund me $6500 but they are holding $15,500 for future cruise credit because that was the “Cancel in Good Faith” arrangement that I apparently took advantage of. I did not sign anything, I just emailed and said Cancel. We also had Trip Insurance, if that means anything.
I’m sure Seabourn needs the money but I don’t think $15,500 is as much to them as it is to me. Lord knows when future cruises will be happening! Do I have any recourse here?
Again, hope you are well and hibernating on Fire Island far from NY or LA.
Love, Janet
Janet Jordan
Peter Says: Janet, I reached out to Seabourn, and pleased to tell you that the cruise line is issuing a full refund.
EMAIL: Lori Weisberg
Hi there, we’ve talked before for previous stories, and I’m certainly writing many now given the upending of the tourism industry.
So I’ve been following all the bloggers’ advice as well as yours on your coronavirus postings re: consumers’ rights for refunds when an airline cancels a flight.
I’m wondering what you make of this. I made sure I waited until Air France canceled my flight to Paris and then argued mightily with Air France to give me a refund instead of a voucher good for one year. I cited the DOT rules, the European Union rules and try as I might, the agent would not give me a refund. I’ve since filed an online request for a refund.
But this is my question. Does Air France technically comply with the rule by saying they’ll give you a voucher and if, by the end of the year, you don’t use the voucher, they’ll refund you your money? In other words, they’re holding it hostage. Given that, I wonder if it’s still worth it to formally complain to the DOT. Have they found a loophole?
Thanks, just curious what you make of that.
Regards, Lori
Peter Says: Lori, Air France is still subject to the U.S. Department of Transportation rules and must issue you a full, and timely refund.
