So today was our PIF day for our July 17th trip to Germany, 90 days out from the tour. Had been holding out hoping AbD would cancel, though I knew that was unlikely. Called today to discuss options. As I expected, they were not willing to delay PIF any further and they were not willing to refund the deposit. Those would have been my preferred options.
Initially, we transferred the deposit to holding status. That gave me until 7/1/21 (I guess that was 2 years out from my initial reservation) to transfer my deposit to a new tour. That would have given us the ability to book tours in the summer of 2021 or 2022. With school schedules, we can only take bigger trips in the summer. I figured I could live with that. Unfortunately, we would not get the discount for booking immediately after our last AbD trip which was $500 per person. We are DVC, so we always have access to day 1 pricing. I did ask if they refund the deposit if they ultimately cancel the tour. The answer was no - once in holding status, the deposit could not be refunded. If I completed full payment and they cancelled, I would get everything back. I just wasn't comfortable playing chicken with an extra $13000, even though I know this trip is going to be cancelled.
Interestingly, the guide I spoke with called me back about 5 minutes later and offered to switch our deposit to "Displacement status". With this status, I am now required to book a tour by 12/31/20. This essentially locks us in to a 2021 tour. The difference is, they will give us credit for the early/post tour booking discount ($1500 for my family of 3). I asked if this is a standard policy and she said it was on a case by case basis. I guess between calls, she asked and got approval from a manager. I was impressed she went the extra mile. She was very pleasant and helpful. I think in general I was nice to her on the phone, but I did let her know AbD is being destroyed on the message boards about their policies. Not sure if any of that made a difference.
So we did take the "Displacement Status". Figured by the end of the year I'll know if I'm comfortable traveling overseas or if we will take a US tour.
I did ask how many people were still signed up for the tour. She said 20 (I don't know if they all PIF'd or if more will cancel later today). So I'm guessing about 1/2 full.
Afterwards, I called Delta and cancelled my flights. No problem. Took about 5 minutes after 2 whole minutes on hold. Full refund. One of the connecting flights had changed and I would miss my connection so qualified for a refund. They have been so easy to work with. I will be flying with Delta for all of my future trips.
Good luck to everyone else as your payments come due!
