This post really highlighted how difficult travel has become. Travel used to be fun, something eagerly anticipated. Now, it feels like a hard slog with nonrefundable tickets and hotel rooms; photos of everything; rising prices for lower value; trip rage; and so much more. It feels like travel companies are constantly finding new ways to make more to deliver less. I still love to travel but there is always something new with which to deal.
Sam, fortunately you can avoid a lot of these unpleasant rules by staying in the right places or booking the right kind of tickets -- which I know you are.
Booking travel for work and family trips is practically a part-time job for me. I do everything possible to avoid non-refundable bookings for anything I’m not willing to lose the cost of entirely. I have premium travel credit cards that offer interruption and cancellation insurance but live in a state that doesn’t allow cancel for any reason policies.
I’m usually able to find other ways to keep our trips in budget - using elite status offers, searching for refundable discounts, etc. Mostly, though, we try to travel in the off or shoulder seasons. When we can do so it solves so many problems - lower prices, more availability, no crowds, etc.
Somehow, I got an amazing rate on a rental car in LAX for five days by prepaying with a 2-day cancel window before the reservation. I was expecting upwards of $400 and got a midsized sedan from a big well known company for $112. Without prepaying it was only $230 anyway, but I’m astonished.
I booked several hotels for a trip and was mindful of checking that all were refundable. Even with paying attention, one reservation slipped through that was non-refundable. Check, check, and check again because booking sites are putting those non-refundable rates first. Even with paying attention and actively seeking refundable reservations, I still got tripped up. It was a rude shock when I had to cancel for a family emergency.
I’m heading to London for 10 days in October. The Brits have always been friendly on past trips. I recently purchased a button I plan to wear, but only if needed. Its message is: YES, I’m from the US. NO, I did NOT vote for Trump.
On my last trip to London in September 2023, many Brits I interacted with only wanted to discuss Trump - why did Americans like him, could he get reelected, etc.
Chris, do sites like Roomer or TransferTravel work for resales? My understanding is that many hotels with non-refundable policies make things worse by not allowing name changes on reservations that were charged to a credit card.
Generally, travel companies are trying to close these loopholes because they affect their revenue. Simply put, airlines and hotels earn more by keeping your money when you have to cancel.
When you write about a situation where you lost part or all of your payment, especially unexpectedly, make sure to post your story on TripAdvisor and other travel sites where potential future guests are likely to check. If you have a dispute with a supplier, let them know that you will write about your experience on travel sites so that others will know about it.
I agree with many of the comments that travel used to be fun, but lately, it has had its share of gotcha moments with the fine print on the carriage contracts. Reykjavik, Iceland, has got to be one of the most challenging locations, weather-wise, to fly into. I have sat on the runway at DFW waiting for the weather to clear in Iceland for a landing in 6-7 hours, and at times the flight is canceled for one day. That is one place that I never pay in full ahead of time.
I had a reservation for a hotel in Boston which was past the cancellation date. Unfortunately my husband ended up in the ER the night before and we had to cancel our trip. I called the hotel and after I explained the situation, they were able to change the reservation to a different date rather than charge me for a room I couldn’t use. It doesn’t hurt to ask. I also booked directly through the hotel which probably made it easier for them to make the change.
I had the same experience when my trip was cut short because my 92 year old mother fell and broke her hip. The hotel reservation was already past the cancellation date, but I called and they let me re-schedule for later in the month without penalty.
I've been vacationing annually at the same beach hotel since 2009. I go for a week Monday to Monday; the standard cancellation policy is 7 days and no refund for early departure between May and September. One year I had to change the reservation inside that window because it became clear our union contract negotiations were not going to be done in time (I was on the bargaining committee and negotiations were really contentious, stretching well beyond what had been expected) and the hotel people worked with me to find another week. Then in 2017 while I was there my dad died that Friday (I knew it was a possibility when I took the trip) and when I went down to the front desk to give them a heads-up that I would have to leave on Saturday they gave me their condolences and said they would not charge me for the final two nights. I was not expecting that at all. I wouldn't even have thought to ask.
I'd like to think the latter is what they'd do for anyone in the same situation. But I firmly believe that accommodating my need to change that other week on short notice was at least partly because they knew me. I've always booked directly.
I'm somewhat confused by the lede story. Why did Anderson have to forfeit the whole trip? How many days was she supposed to be in Reykjavik and were there no other possible flights that would have given her at least a partial trip?
I don’t travel nearly as much as I used to, but I have two good experiences about the way travel used to be pre-Pandemic.
Back in 2015, my husband and I had booked a river cruise that we were unable to take due to a family illness. We had purchased “cancel for any reason” travel insurance. When I called to cancel, the agent noted that I had travel insurance and asked if we wanted to rebook for a different time. I said yes; we still wanted to take the trip, but we just couldn’t take it then. I rebooked the same trip for a year later, without any additional cost that might have been applied due to price changes. It was a win-win. I still got to go at the original cost, and the company got to keep the money I had already paid.
A few years later, we took a trip to Santa Fe, NM. My husband and I decided to rent a car for the last full day of the trip to see a few sights outside Santa Fe and then drive the car back to the airport in Albuquerque. I booked with Enterprise because they would pick us up at the hotel. They did, but when we got to their office, they had run out of cars. We grabbed a late breakfast while we waited, but we had lost part of a day we had expected to spend sightseeing. I was going to argue that they should cancel the drop off fee. Imagine my surprise when the agent said “We have not lived up to our usual standards of service. There will be no charge for the rental.”
Granted, I began travelling back in the 1950’s when Pan Am still made the going great. However, I think it is still worthwhile to provide excellent customer service even when it might increase revenue a bit by sticking it to your customers. Particularly when a refund is requested when the problem is not the customer’s fault, the good will a business gets by being decent to people is much more valuable than the few dollars you get by being mean.
Your article summarizes it perfectly. The small potential savings of a nonrefundable travel product is not worth the additional risk. Anything from health, to weather, to life’s many twist, and all of a sudden make your travel worthless.
As in most things, consumers vote with their wallet. If they stop buying nonrefundable, travel companies will stop offering them.
Last week my wife and I bought a round trip ticket from Baltimore to Shreveport. The Expedia website indicated the price quoted included choosing my own seats on the 4 different flights (2 each way). I was able to pick my seats on 3 of the flights, but on the 4th flight I was told I would only be able to select my seats after I paid for them and then went to the Delta web site. When I did that the only seats available were upgrades that would cost me more money. Delta said my seats would be assigned at the gate. Basically, after initially being told I could choose my seats for the price listed up front, I was not allowed to do so. My seats for the fourth flt were assigned at the gate. I believe that is a deceptive practice.
During Covid I had trip insurance that covered trip interruption as well as a trip delay. Neither was clearly defined in the policy. A trip delay capped reimbursement at $750. Although my trip was interrupted on day 15 of 21 days, they capped my reimbursement at the delay level. Despite request to clarify never came, my total reimbursement was realized with additional coverage about 12 months later. Currently I am fighting a fully refundable flight with Qatar, booked through Alaska Air. For the seats each airline tells me to get reimbursement through the other. Clearly, I am once again in a never-ending loop since the seat upgrades included seats originating in the United States, with a transfer (and additional upgrade) in Qatar. The entire service industry seems to have pivoted to heavily favor the seller.
Yes, I didnt appreciate the difference between "refundable" and "free cancellation". During the pandemic a company I paid in adance for a hotel room that was "refundable" was going out of business and they tried to keep my money but I fought it through AMEX and they came through with the refund. Now I never pay for anything in advance and only deal with hotels that offer "Free Cancellation" up to 24 hrs before I am scheduled to be there and car rentals that allow free cancellation but don't need to leave my credit card information in advance. I also buy train and plane reservations with quality brand companies that are refundable. I might pay a little more but I don't need travel insurance for the majority of my trips (though I always get medical insurance). Fool me once blah blah blah...
On my annual trip to Europe, I like to visit several cities, and I always book refundable hotel rooms and skip trip insurance. I am taking a chance on eating the air fare but I haven't got burned as of yet
This post really highlighted how difficult travel has become. Travel used to be fun, something eagerly anticipated. Now, it feels like a hard slog with nonrefundable tickets and hotel rooms; photos of everything; rising prices for lower value; trip rage; and so much more. It feels like travel companies are constantly finding new ways to make more to deliver less. I still love to travel but there is always something new with which to deal.
Sam, fortunately you can avoid a lot of these unpleasant rules by staying in the right places or booking the right kind of tickets -- which I know you are.
Booking travel for work and family trips is practically a part-time job for me. I do everything possible to avoid non-refundable bookings for anything I’m not willing to lose the cost of entirely. I have premium travel credit cards that offer interruption and cancellation insurance but live in a state that doesn’t allow cancel for any reason policies.
I’m usually able to find other ways to keep our trips in budget - using elite status offers, searching for refundable discounts, etc. Mostly, though, we try to travel in the off or shoulder seasons. When we can do so it solves so many problems - lower prices, more availability, no crowds, etc.
Somehow, I got an amazing rate on a rental car in LAX for five days by prepaying with a 2-day cancel window before the reservation. I was expecting upwards of $400 and got a midsized sedan from a big well known company for $112. Without prepaying it was only $230 anyway, but I’m astonished.
I booked several hotels for a trip and was mindful of checking that all were refundable. Even with paying attention, one reservation slipped through that was non-refundable. Check, check, and check again because booking sites are putting those non-refundable rates first. Even with paying attention and actively seeking refundable reservations, I still got tripped up. It was a rude shock when I had to cancel for a family emergency.
It's OK, I get tripped up too occasionally. (Then I write about it.)
Our relatives in UK told us that this may not be the best time to visit them due a bit of hostility toward US tourists.
Unrelated: It's a terrible time to be a U.S. tourist. I'm currently in Paris and the downtown area is flooded with Americans.
I’m heading to London for 10 days in October. The Brits have always been friendly on past trips. I recently purchased a button I plan to wear, but only if needed. Its message is: YES, I’m from the US. NO, I did NOT vote for Trump.
On my last trip to London in September 2023, many Brits I interacted with only wanted to discuss Trump - why did Americans like him, could he get reelected, etc.
Chris, do sites like Roomer or TransferTravel work for resales? My understanding is that many hotels with non-refundable policies make things worse by not allowing name changes on reservations that were charged to a credit card.
Generally, travel companies are trying to close these loopholes because they affect their revenue. Simply put, airlines and hotels earn more by keeping your money when you have to cancel.
When you write about a situation where you lost part or all of your payment, especially unexpectedly, make sure to post your story on TripAdvisor and other travel sites where potential future guests are likely to check. If you have a dispute with a supplier, let them know that you will write about your experience on travel sites so that others will know about it.
I agree with many of the comments that travel used to be fun, but lately, it has had its share of gotcha moments with the fine print on the carriage contracts. Reykjavik, Iceland, has got to be one of the most challenging locations, weather-wise, to fly into. I have sat on the runway at DFW waiting for the weather to clear in Iceland for a landing in 6-7 hours, and at times the flight is canceled for one day. That is one place that I never pay in full ahead of time.
I had a reservation for a hotel in Boston which was past the cancellation date. Unfortunately my husband ended up in the ER the night before and we had to cancel our trip. I called the hotel and after I explained the situation, they were able to change the reservation to a different date rather than charge me for a room I couldn’t use. It doesn’t hurt to ask. I also booked directly through the hotel which probably made it easier for them to make the change.
I had the same experience when my trip was cut short because my 92 year old mother fell and broke her hip. The hotel reservation was already past the cancellation date, but I called and they let me re-schedule for later in the month without penalty.
I've been vacationing annually at the same beach hotel since 2009. I go for a week Monday to Monday; the standard cancellation policy is 7 days and no refund for early departure between May and September. One year I had to change the reservation inside that window because it became clear our union contract negotiations were not going to be done in time (I was on the bargaining committee and negotiations were really contentious, stretching well beyond what had been expected) and the hotel people worked with me to find another week. Then in 2017 while I was there my dad died that Friday (I knew it was a possibility when I took the trip) and when I went down to the front desk to give them a heads-up that I would have to leave on Saturday they gave me their condolences and said they would not charge me for the final two nights. I was not expecting that at all. I wouldn't even have thought to ask.
I'd like to think the latter is what they'd do for anyone in the same situation. But I firmly believe that accommodating my need to change that other week on short notice was at least partly because they knew me. I've always booked directly.
I'm somewhat confused by the lede story. Why did Anderson have to forfeit the whole trip? How many days was she supposed to be in Reykjavik and were there no other possible flights that would have given her at least a partial trip?
I don’t travel nearly as much as I used to, but I have two good experiences about the way travel used to be pre-Pandemic.
Back in 2015, my husband and I had booked a river cruise that we were unable to take due to a family illness. We had purchased “cancel for any reason” travel insurance. When I called to cancel, the agent noted that I had travel insurance and asked if we wanted to rebook for a different time. I said yes; we still wanted to take the trip, but we just couldn’t take it then. I rebooked the same trip for a year later, without any additional cost that might have been applied due to price changes. It was a win-win. I still got to go at the original cost, and the company got to keep the money I had already paid.
A few years later, we took a trip to Santa Fe, NM. My husband and I decided to rent a car for the last full day of the trip to see a few sights outside Santa Fe and then drive the car back to the airport in Albuquerque. I booked with Enterprise because they would pick us up at the hotel. They did, but when we got to their office, they had run out of cars. We grabbed a late breakfast while we waited, but we had lost part of a day we had expected to spend sightseeing. I was going to argue that they should cancel the drop off fee. Imagine my surprise when the agent said “We have not lived up to our usual standards of service. There will be no charge for the rental.”
Granted, I began travelling back in the 1950’s when Pan Am still made the going great. However, I think it is still worthwhile to provide excellent customer service even when it might increase revenue a bit by sticking it to your customers. Particularly when a refund is requested when the problem is not the customer’s fault, the good will a business gets by being decent to people is much more valuable than the few dollars you get by being mean.
Your article summarizes it perfectly. The small potential savings of a nonrefundable travel product is not worth the additional risk. Anything from health, to weather, to life’s many twist, and all of a sudden make your travel worthless.
As in most things, consumers vote with their wallet. If they stop buying nonrefundable, travel companies will stop offering them.
Last week my wife and I bought a round trip ticket from Baltimore to Shreveport. The Expedia website indicated the price quoted included choosing my own seats on the 4 different flights (2 each way). I was able to pick my seats on 3 of the flights, but on the 4th flight I was told I would only be able to select my seats after I paid for them and then went to the Delta web site. When I did that the only seats available were upgrades that would cost me more money. Delta said my seats would be assigned at the gate. Basically, after initially being told I could choose my seats for the price listed up front, I was not allowed to do so. My seats for the fourth flt were assigned at the gate. I believe that is a deceptive practice.
During Covid I had trip insurance that covered trip interruption as well as a trip delay. Neither was clearly defined in the policy. A trip delay capped reimbursement at $750. Although my trip was interrupted on day 15 of 21 days, they capped my reimbursement at the delay level. Despite request to clarify never came, my total reimbursement was realized with additional coverage about 12 months later. Currently I am fighting a fully refundable flight with Qatar, booked through Alaska Air. For the seats each airline tells me to get reimbursement through the other. Clearly, I am once again in a never-ending loop since the seat upgrades included seats originating in the United States, with a transfer (and additional upgrade) in Qatar. The entire service industry seems to have pivoted to heavily favor the seller.
Yes, I didnt appreciate the difference between "refundable" and "free cancellation". During the pandemic a company I paid in adance for a hotel room that was "refundable" was going out of business and they tried to keep my money but I fought it through AMEX and they came through with the refund. Now I never pay for anything in advance and only deal with hotels that offer "Free Cancellation" up to 24 hrs before I am scheduled to be there and car rentals that allow free cancellation but don't need to leave my credit card information in advance. I also buy train and plane reservations with quality brand companies that are refundable. I might pay a little more but I don't need travel insurance for the majority of my trips (though I always get medical insurance). Fool me once blah blah blah...
On my annual trip to Europe, I like to visit several cities, and I always book refundable hotel rooms and skip trip insurance. I am taking a chance on eating the air fare but I haven't got burned as of yet