Flightseeing--if bad weather, which is better for canceling

[FinallyAlaska]

If the weather for flightseeing is bad, are we better off booked with our ship or with a private tour operator? (Better off meaning that the tour will be canceled, rather than us being charged to go up and not see much.)

 

We are on Disney, which has been pretty good about refunding $ for slip-ups with excursions.

[chipmaster]

I think you have to seperate "slip-ups" and weather that is less than ideal.

 

If a tour is canceled for weather safety than you get your money back.

 

If you get less than perfect visability but you still go i think to expect a refund is expecting too much. Some excursions like whale watching gurantee something or a reduction, but refund is a stetch.

 

Do you expect Disney to refund money if every port day is raining or storm.

 

I expect tours thru Disney will be a healthy premium over what you could get private / independet if offered.

 

Good luck

 

If the weather for flightseeing is bad, are we better off booked with our ship or with a private tour operator? (Better off meaning that the tour will be canceled, rather than us being charged to go up and not see much.)

 

We are on Disney, which has been pretty good about refunding $ for slip-ups with excursions.

[ccpa]

We are also going to be on the Disney Wonder and I just booked the flightseeing Glacier Discovery directly with TEMSCO, because the Disney offered time slot with TEMSCO didn't work with our schedule, but the cost for the excursion was the same whether we booked independently or through Disney.

[chipmaster]

Check with Temsco, from what I remembered they may not provide transportation "from" ship, but on return they provide, that was our experience, YMMV.

 

We are also going to be on the Disney Wonder and I just booked the flightseeing Glacier Discovery directly with TEMSCO, because the Disney offered time slot with TEMSCO didn't work with our schedule, but the cost for the excursion was the same whether we booked independently or through Disney.

[Budget Queen]

Sorry, but your thinking is not going to work no matter how you book. Cancelations are done at the last minute, and IF they are canceled by the Vendor, you are going to get your money back, no matter how you book.

 

YOU are NOT going to be able to cancel with either booking option, If you think that once arriving in port, you "don't" want to go, and get any sort of a refund.

 

You have to be accepting of all kinds of flightseeing conditions- that are going to up to the pilot ONLY.

 

You can always, take your "chances" and try to get a late booking. I would be well prepared with phone numbers and have an early start of a search for available space, and be ok with not finding any.

[FinallyAlaska]

I don't expect a cancelation for less than perfect visibility. But if a tour is listed as "flightseeing" and there is nothing to see, then I would hope that the tour would be canceled.

 

This is our first time to Alaska so perhaps I don't have a good grasp of the weather possibilities. Certainly, the pilots don't want to fly in unsafe weather. But would pouring down rain be unsafe? How likely is it that weather would be safe to fly in, but would be so bad that we couldn't see anything from our safe flight?

[Budget Queen]

I don't expect a cancelation for less than perfect visibility. But if a tour is listed as "flightseeing" and there is nothing to see, then I would hope that the tour would be canceled.

 

This is our first time to Alaska so perhaps I don't have a good grasp of the weather possibilities. Certainly, the pilots don't want to fly in unsafe weather. But would pouring down rain be unsafe? How likely is it that weather would be safe to fly in, but would be so bad that we couldn't see anything from our safe flight?

 

There is never going to be a case, where you "couldn't see anything". I can recall only one post about a shortened flight due to weather and they did not recommend flying the area. So, one "bad" flight out of thousands of rave reviews?????? If you want more guarantee, then prebooking this tour isn't for you. You are going to be better off, waiting and booking on the spot.

[LindaKE]

We're booked with Island Wings out of Ketchikan. They make a point of saying that, just becase the weather in Ketchikan isn't clear, it doesn't mean that the weather in Misty Fjord won't be. We have about a 70 mile(?) flight before we reach our destination, so the weather could very well be entirely different there. Of course they won't fly in unsafe conditions.

[rditton]

As LindaKE stated, the weather can be significantly different when you're flying from what you see in town. When we did our tour, it was overcast when we left, rained on us when we were up in the air, but was gorgeous when we landed in the Misty Fjords & got out to walk around. And when you look at our photos, I don't think you can tell at all! We were definitely worried that morning but were assured that it would be gorgeous once we were up. It was incredible!