..........and it is now those vendors who don't cancel that I mostly seek out today. It is too difficult to schedule vacations in the family and too costly to throw money away on air fare charges cause by their decision to cancel A FULLY BOOKED TRIP!
It says very clearly? Nope. It says nothing of the sort. It says it will cover "reasonable" cancelation fees. Not the same as a complete refund, and reasonable is quite up to debate. It also says that they will attempt to rebook and that the reimbursement is if they cannot rebook you. It says nothing about if they can rebook but you choose not to be rebooked.
Example. ABD cancels. Air isn't through them. I say, "screw it. No trip." What can ABD do to get me my air fare back? Nothing. They are not attached to the reservation.
Another example: ABD cancels. Air isn't through them. You say, "Screw it, I'll use Tauck." ABD says, "okay, you are choosing to keep your air, as far as we know, so we don't have to cover your change fees when you rebook with Tauck." And of course that's the only thing they can do because until you book with Tauck you aren't changing your air. And naturally, since you moved on to another vendor when ABD could have rebooked or reserved (for next year) your trip, ABD isn't to blame for you incurring those change fees. You could have avoided them by rebooking with ABD or reserving for next year.
Look, this sucks, but I have yet to see that any other vendor would handle a cancelation differently. Sure, some have better insurance policies, and a lot of other vendors simply don't cancel, but still....
And which vendor is getting a class action suit? And what did they do wrong with cancelations? Cause I'm sure it wasn't this.
We almost never pay for our air. We use airline miles to help make an already expensive trip more affordable, so we would never book our air through ABD. With miles, there is a fee that airlines charge to get the miles redeposited into your account, so all of the miles used aren't at risk, but it would still leave a really bad taste in my mouth to have to pay even $150 or $200 a person to get my miles back.
Did they have any explanation for why they accepted your final payment for a trip that had been cancelled? I'd really love to hear their explanation for *that*!
Sayhello
The "Vacationistas" want to do right by us, and they will refund our money as soon as we decide. I booked Air myself, so they will probably pay for the change fees, nothing else.If they cancelled your trip and you are out monies, I feel they should cover and make you whole. Including covering costs on airfare for your ABD that you booked.
Did you have trip insurance?
If I were you, I would go to Washington DC on my own, and book a good local guide. It sounds like there should be some really good ones who should be free.
We had trip insurance and they will refund the premium because it won't cover this scenario.Most trip insurance will not cover cancellation of your trip by the provider, because they *do* expect the provider to make you whole.
It would be different for *default* of the provider, ie, if they went out of business. But ABD obviously doesn't fall into that category.
Sayhello
About all I can expect if I don't rebook ABD is the $200 per person change fee...It would cover the airfare. Just the same as if you were to cancel the trip. Yet turn the page and the operator cancel it. Depends on the insurance.
Yet. It does not sound as if they are working with the airfare as Disney should.
We wanted a turnkey trip, if we decided to do it ourselves, we would adjust the Itinerary; maybe a night in NYC and a show... I've always wanted to see Wicked on Broadway...Get your refund and, following the ABD itinerary, plan your own trip to DC for the same dates. Stay in a great hotel. Use public transportation and taxis, sign up for tours, see the sights, and most likely you’ll save half the cost.
Um, no, I'm not a travel agent. I just do a LOT of research on travel and trip insurance and that sort of thing...Evidently, they need 12 to make the trip, and we were the only ones on this trip... BTW, are you a travel agent| you seem well versed in Travel Legalese...
That makes sense to me. At least they're refunding the premium!We had trip insurance and they will refund the premium because it won't cover this scenario.
I have been firmly in the ABD camp for years but after a more challenging group experience this past trip, we have been rethinking group travel a bit.
I think we have had the wonderful luck to be in perfect groups on our other ABD tours. This last one had more people who were 'unhappy' and it did influence the experience. Since our son is now 10, we can plan more things on our own and that we are ready to do that. It was nothing horrible with the last trip. We just kind of took it as a sign that it is maybe time to try something new.Can I ask what made it a more challenging experience? What happened to make you rethink group travel?
I think we have had the wonderful luck to be in perfect groups on our other ABD tours. This last one had more people who were 'unhappy' and it did influence the experience. Since our son is now 10, we can plan more things on our own and that we are ready to do that. It was nothing horrible with the last trip. We just kind of took it as a sign that it is maybe time to try something new.
Things like that are my nightmares!I completely understand.
We had a family on one of our trips where the mother constantly complained about everything to everyone. For example, she tried to hire a private coach on one of the days to go to a site that ABD didn't cover (on a day with a full ABD itinerary) and get everyone in the group to share the cost, because SHE thought it was a better option (no one agreed).
She also complained incessantly that the tour should have started in another city (where the airport was located) because there were "so many historic sites / important things to see there".
The rooms were never good enough / big enough for her family. The food was "mediocre". It was incessant and annoying.
Funny enough (or not) her husband was nice and very quiet.
The guides knew how unhappy she was (as did everyone on the trip), so they spent a lot of time with her family placating her (which took away from the rest of the group). This was also the trip where we had a very ill gentleman (it may have been his last vacation with his wife) on the tour, so the guides really had their hands full.
This was definitely one of the experiences with ABD that made me start to think more and more about private travel. It is hard to enjoy a vacation when someone is always complaining IMHO.
I've done 9 ABD's, and the scammer was the only person out of all those trips I actually disliked. There have been a couple here & there who thought they were the most special, and deserved more attention from the Guides than everyone else, but the Guides are great at spreading the attention around. I've found *most* people that take ABDs seem to be a really great caliber of traveler.OP, I'm glad that you are getting your refund of out of pocket costs. As they say, all's well that ends almost sort of okay.
I think I need to stay out of this thread from now until after our first ABD in June. We've never done group travel before, and the main reason was fear of being stuck with unpleasant people. Now that worry is front and center in my mind. (The lawsuit scammer would be okay to travel with though. I think DH and I would find that funny).
I think I need to stay out of this thread from now until after our first ABD in June. We've never done group travel before, and the main reason was fear of being stuck with unpleasant people. Now that worry is front and center in my mind. (The lawsuit scammer would be okay to travel with though. I think DH and I would find that funny).
I've done 9 ABD's, and the scammer was the only person out of all those trips I actually disliked. There have been a couple here & there who thought they were the most special, and deserved more attention from the Guides than everyone else, but the Guides are great at spreading the attention around. I've found *most* people that take ABDs seem to be a really great caliber of traveler.
Sayhello
Rude and entitled people are everywhere; you have to let their nonsense roll off your back.
Whenever I make a statement like I did, about "some people" a little voice inside me says "OMG, I hope *I'M* not that person!! "Were it not for these boards, I would never have considered booking a group tour. I assumed that if the folks who post here are representative of who travels with ABD, then we would probably get a good group.
Hopefully we won't be the "special" guests in our group. I told my 5 year old that the Adventure Guides were there to make sure the kids had a good time, and I think he now expects constant entertainment.