Lessons Learned, or "I Told You So"

Well, I didn't actually tell you so, but I'm just about to.

 

It's finally happened. After travelling in so many countries for half a century, I've chosen to pull the plug and cancel an entire trip. 

In case you're wondering if I've turned chicken (like Colonel Sandurz) I have -- but not about the chances of getting sick with the pandemic virus. What did it was the Canadian government speculating about the possibility of again requiring 14-day quarantine for everyone entering the country. Who needs that?

The point of this post is that, thanks to foresight and planning, I'm able to get back over 95% of all the money and loyalty points I expended up front, one way or another. I'm out of pocket for less than $150 and I didn't actually need to lose even that much.

The big # 1 is the cost of the Princess cruise, which was paid up in full since the sail date is only 2 weeks away. Thanks to the premium version of the Princess insurance plan, I got 100% of the cost in future travel credits. If my cancellation had been due to one of the permitted reasons (which it wasn't), I would have gotten a 100% cash refund. Without this, I would have been at the mercy of the fine print in whichever third-party insurance plan I had bought.

Lesson Number One:  Especially in times like these, you need to know exactly what protections and coverages your insurance offers. Don't just buy an insurance plan because the summary says that "Covid coverage is included."

 

The credit is good for a year, but might be rolled over for another year if the travel issues continue to be a complete mess for that long.

 

My air ticket was bought with loyalty points. I cheaped out and bought the refundable-with-a-penalty ticket. For 10% more points, I could have had a fully refundable ticket. I got all my points back, but had to pay a cash cancellation fee to get them. This is where the cash loss took place. Again, these are not normal times we're living in -- hence:

 

Lesson Number Two:  If you can get a fully refundable fare, hotel room, tour cost, etc., DO IT! Pay the extra so you don't lose far more.

 

 By the way, if you carry credit card "insurance," be aware that some card insurers will move heaven and earth to try to wish the bill onto someone else rather than paying it themselves. Don't just assume that the card will cover you. Do some research to find out what others have to say about their experience with the card's insurers.

Hotels: same basic rule. The price may be higher but, the times being what they are, you're far better to get a fully refundable rate. I did -- and that included the hotel where I paid out 140,000 points for a five-night stay. 

Lesson Number Three:  For airlines, hotels, etc., make note of the cancellation deadlines and follow them carefully. They vary, even between hotels in the same chain. I always mark them in my calendar when I add a reservation.

 

Finally: many people choose to use third-party websites to book hotels, flights, etc. Year after year, I see frequent news reports and online stories about people who've gotten into battles with their third-party suppliers over how much they should get back, how long it should take, and (horror of horrors) why the airline or hotel had no record of their reservation and sent them back to the third party supplier to sort it out.

 

I've always dealt direct with the operators for all air, hotel, rail, car rental, and cruise bookings. It took me just one bad experience in my thirties to convince me to do this. I use no third parties at all. I completed all the cancellations except the cruise in about 20 minutes online last night. The two items that included cash refunds are already back in my card account, and the points are back in my air and hotel loyalty accounts.

 

Cancelling the cruise this morning took longer only because I had to wait on the phone for nearly an hour to get through to an agent. Once I got through, it took less than two minutes before I got the verifying email. The only items that will take a bit longer are the prepayments for premium restaurant reservations and shore excursions on the cruise. Those will likely hit my credit card account in less than a week.

 

There's a reason why all the cancellations moved so easily, and here it is.

Lesson Number Four:  When you deal directly with the travel supplier, you come much higher on their list of priorities than when you reserve through a third party. They value you because they know that you value them. Despite what some people think, virtually all major airlines, hotels, car rentals, etc., will match any third party's price for comparable services or facilities so there's no cost advantage in using third party sites. But there is a HUGE advantage in dealing directly with the supplier any time your plans go off the rails.

 

Well, that's about it for now. Sorry to be missing my long-planned trip, but not sorry to miss out on the possibility of a two-week quarantine afterwards. California and Mexico will still be there another day.