Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Thank you. But the normal pre-covid freedom looks almost unreal now - I don't know how the world will go back, and if the damage can be undone.
I do think it is starting to get a little less crazy. This has been extremely disappointing timing for the people who have worked hard, put off traveling until they had more time to do so only to have all of the restrictions fall like a hammer from nowhere. It certainly is nothing that we could have seen coming.
I am hopeful that the worst is over. On the bright side, there are some beautiful places in the United States to explore.
What about if you book something and pay for it in advance, and then the business bankrupts? It's also easy-peasy for you to lose a thousand bucks, and find yourself without a place to stay in a foreign country on a short notice just prior to departure, while everything else is booked and ready to go?
What about if the easy extra step of testing, that took only10 min at Walgreens just before the Alaska cruise, also showed an asymptomatic positive Covid infection, ie, if the test was positive although you did not have any symptoms? Would that have been easy-peasy for you?
Well, if the first thing happened, I'd find another place to stay. I have a computer, and it really isn't that hard to find another hotel. I book everything on a credit card, and that sort of thing I can protest with the CC company, and they will refund my charges. It's called a charge back. The CC company refunds your money, and goes after the person who defrauded you for it, or just absorbs the loss. A friend did that recently when her VRBO lodgings owner failed to tell her that recent issues in the area made her waterfront lodgings virtually toxic (red tide lasting months). She got all her money back from the credit card company, and they (CC company) deal with the lying owners.
As for finding myself or DH covid positive at the last minute, answer is the same as if we suddenly came down with appendicitis, buy travel insurance. Don't leave home without it. It adds 10% to the cost of our trip, but with the possibility of asymptomatic covid, you can bet your azz we bought travel insurance, but we've always gotten it for any big expensive trip. It would refund everything. We get the premium "cancel for any reason" kind, because "stuff happens", and usually at the worst possible moment. We would've been crushed emotionally at having to cancel the trip for a 2nd time (it was originally scheduled for May 2020), but we would just re-schedule again, and get our refunds/credits.
Last edited by TheShadow; 07-01-2022 at 07:01 AM..
Well, if the first thing happened, I'd find another place to stay. I have a computer, and it really isn't that hard to find another hotel. I book everything on a credit card, and that sort of thing I can protest with the CC company, and they will refund my charges. It's called a charge back. The CC company refunds your money, and goes after the person who defrauded you for it, or just absorbs the loss. A friend did that recently when her VRBO lodgings owner failed to tell her that recent issues in the area made her waterfront lodgings virtually toxic (red tide lasting months). She got all her money back from the credit card company, and they (CC company) deal with the lying owners.
As for finding myself or DH covid positive at the last minute, answer is the same as if we suddenly came down with appendicitis, buy travel insurance. Don't leave home without it. It adds 10% to the cost of our trip, but with the possibility of asymptomatic covid, you can bet your azz we bought travel insurance, but we've always gotten it for any big expensive trip. It would refund everything. We get the premium "cancel for any reason" kind, because "stuff happens", and usually at the worst possible moment.
If you made a reservation more than a certain number of days before the fraud occurred (ie, before you notified the credit card company of the fraud), the credit card company will not cover the refund.
It goes without saying that a person must have travel insurance, but have you ever actually tried to get anything paid from your policy? Except for clear medical emergencies (like appendicitis), it is really difficult to get a payment for anything. There is so much small print and exclusions in those travel insurance policies. I used to have a whole-year travel insurance from a very reputable company (because I traveled constantly in the US. and a couple of months abroad), and it was really difficult to even cancel it when the covid shutdown started - I made probably 30 phone calls over three months, and finally they reimbursed the cost of the policy for last 5 months of 2020 (but not for those 3 months during which I kept asking for cancellation of the policy). It was an unbelievable runaround. I also know of someone else who got stuck with enormous private bills because the travel insurer claimed they were not properly notified about hospitalization so were not liable for the cost of it.
So. are you sure that your travel insurance would cover trip cancellation due to asymptomatic positive covid test? Travel insurance policies have been particularly excluding things like that (since you are aware of the risk of a positive test upfront, and have nevertheless decided to travel during an epidemic - they could argue that an asymptomatic positive covid test is not an unexpected emergency).
So. are you sure that your travel insurance would cover trip cancellation due to asymptomatic positive covid test? Travel insurance policies have been particularly excluding things like that (since you are aware of the risk of a positive test upfront, and have nevertheless decided to travel during an epidemic - they could argue that an asymptomatic positive covid test is not an unexpected emergency).
I pay extra for the "cancel for any reason" kind of travel insurance. With some of the basic insurance plans you would need to practically be dying or have your home wiped out in a hurricane to get them to cover. I've had enough weird problems in my day to know that emergencies come in all sizes and shapes, and one person's emergency is another person's bump in the road. So I'm not going to go for a plan full of exclusions. There are websites that compare all the policies and will tell you which ones have the best coverage and reviews by actual policy buyers. Here's one: https://www.squaremouth.com/travel-insurance-reviews
I've also taken a more laissez-faire attitude as to what I will pursue, and what I will write off to the "live and learn" category, and just eat the cost. Of course large amounts like a cruise fare, or airline ticket, I will fight over, but I've found that some amounts aren't worth the rise in my blood pressure to fight for. I used to get all wound up over a small overcharge or refund, now I weigh the cost to my attitude, and decide whether it's worth it to fight before I make the first call, and if it starts to get ugly, some fights I'm willing to walk away and let it drop. I used to be like a dog with a bone if I felt I didn't get what I paid for, and sometimes, even when I won, the fight took so much out of me emotionally that, even if I got righteous vindication, I felt drained and negative. I really don't like that side of myself, so I'm more philosophical now about the little losses here and there.
Ask me in 6 years when I retire and I'll give my honest opinion then. But from what I see and hear, it will also be a resounding "Yes, me too!!!"
I swore I would, too. You don't know what you don't know!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
