That’s such a bummer, on both fronts. While it’s nice ABD is being proactive, it sucks that you really can’t count on a booked ABD going being a sure thing now. When I called ABD a couple months ago to see if my December NZ ABD was going, the vacationista said all the 2022 trips (with a couple of exceptions) were going regardless of size. I wonder how much this decision is impacting the 2023 itineraries and how many people who may have booked a 2023 ABD have rethought that decision given that Covid is still alive and kicking.
Unfortunately, for those of us who always buy travel insurance you find out that it really doesn’t cover much when a trip is cancelled. I cancelled a cruise I planned to take this year because I wasn’t comfortable cruising with the Covid numbers at the time. Fortunately, I had only put down a small deposit and had not paid in full. However, when I called the travel insurance to see what they would cover if I paid in full, they said nothing would be covered as long as the cruise line gave me a credit. If I had purchased CFAR, it would only cover 75% of the cost as long as the cruise line didn’t give me a credit. If they did, insurance wouldn’t cover anything. Same thing with airline tickets—credit from company, no insurance, no option for a refund.
For those of us who are used to planning way ahead, it looks like we’re going to have to start booking only fully refundable options or waiting until the last minute to book—which would throw my OCD and Type A personality in a tizzy. I have three ABDs (NZ, Danube River Cruise, Egypt) booked currently between 2022 and 2023. Whether or not they go as planned will determine how long I’ll wait until I try to book another ABD.
Yep. This is all so true. While it kills me to pay the extra for fully refundable, it certainly is less stressful. But it really sucks that that should be necessary. But it's pretty much always been true that "I don't feel safe going on this trip so I want to cancel" or "The provider just cancelled the trip because it wasn't in their best financial interest to run the trip" are not covered by travel insurance. If you look at the list of covered reasons on most policies, they are mostly acts of god, and 99.9% of them are things that happen to you or to the place you're going. The only one covering the provider is financial default. And I don't see that happening with Disney...
This is so true. It is my new approach for the most part. I’m booking much closer to departure dates than I would have before, and always refundable when possible. I feel more comfortable and am willing to forgo bit cheaper pricing for a bit more reassurance the trip might actually happen. It has taken some adjustment for sure, to change from starting so far in advance. And there can be some scrambling at times, too, or at least it feels like i!
I still haven't gotten to this 'booking much closer to departure' zen yet. I'm traveling to Hawaii in October, and am really bummed because flights aren't even out for October yet. And I just found out that the daughter of a dear friend of mine is getting married in Cancun in August, but they haven't set any details except for the actual date of the wedding, so I can't purchase airfare for that yet, either. I bought flights for my nephew's wedding in April as soon as they went on sale, but that's Southwest, so I don't feel bad booking with them with their great policies. It's really going to take a lot for me to break this habit (although you'd think what just happened to me with Portugal would have been enough!!!
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This is beyond disappointing to read! I have not been on these boards in a while because I am so frustrated with ABD and their policies. Then, I come back on see this. I encourage your TA to work with ABD management for some resolution, especially considering you booked the river cruise right after Portugal.
We unfortunately had to cancel what was to be our final trip with ABD to SE Asia in 2023. We have a $1200 deposit that we can move to another trip once. Now, I am wondering if we should just walk away from our money and call it a loss. Why should I move my deposit to a trip that could be cancelled on me for any reason at any time??
Let's face it those of us that book ABDs love all aspects of travel. However, travel requires planning, booking flights, taking valuable vacation days off from work, etc. When we plan trips, it involves a lot of moving parts and logistics that are hard or impossible to change. One of the best parts of travel is the anticipation and excitement leading up to the trip. It is hard to get excited for a trip when there is a nagging feeling it could be cancelled on you at any time.
So, we are safer booking our flights through ABD in case it is cancelled (which is sometimes more costly). But who wants to book a trip that is not guaranteed? The thought that it may be cancelled remains with me until we receive the ABD box in the mail.
We have switched over to Tauck and I encourage you to give them a try. Their policies are more than fair and they have run international trips with as little as 5 people.
Their guides are not the same (although our last two Tauck guides have been fabulous), but their trips run smoothly, safely and effortlessly. We have met the nicest people on these trips whom we plan to travel with again. Plus, we can plan our trip and know that it is guaranteed to go barring some unforeseen act of God.
So sorry this has happened to you. I thank you for posting this as a reminder that these trips are not guaranteed and that should be a warning to us all.
Thanks. And I totally understand where you are coming from. The whole concept of re-booking Portugal to another date with ABD after they just cancelled this one was pretty ludicrous. There wasn't really a date that worked, but I just can't see me doing it even if there was. I'm not booking anything with ABD for 2003 (I decided to plus up my trip to Hawaii - maybe Aulani and a couple of way more expensive excursions?) and now that Cancun is in the mix, I'll probably plus that one up, too -- and hopefully use the credit with United for that.
I will definitely be looking at Tauck. Several people here and on fb have suggested it to me, and said how much they enjoyed traveling with them. They may not have Adventure Guides, but there's a lot to be said for the enhanced customer service everyone says Tauck has.
@sayhello I know that you said you prefer group travel, but if you want to use up your airfare credit, Italy is SO easy to do on your own and most people in the main cities speak English. I'm going solo to Milan, Florence and Rome in March and will take the HS TranItalia between cities. Just a thought. Or Scandinavia -- also super easy to do solo and English shouldn't be a problem in the large cities (though I will either hike a guide or join a group for some of my hikes in Norway).
Thanks. I'm really not up for all the planning necessary for a solo trip for next year. It was all settled, and now it's not, so I'm just going to go in a different direction. As I commented above, I'm staying at a friend's timeshare in Hawaii in October, so I may just add some days at Aulani to that, and maybe do a really expensive excursion or two or three. Plus, I'm now going to Cancun for a Destination Wedding, so I'll probably use the United credit for that. But thanks for the suggestions!
I'll still be traveling, just not where or how I thought I would be...
Sayhello