Quick word of warning

[tetleytea]

Quick update here:

 

I made a complaint to the Federal Department of Transportation about United.  That was successful:  I got a partial refund.  However, United did not want to refund it all--they only refunded one connection, so that they could.go back and tell the DOT they refunded it.   So I disputed the remainder of the transaction.  That, too, was successful.  

 

The travel insurance claim is still ongoing, and is a paperwork nightmare.  

 

All our excursions (refundable and non-refundable) refunded, and so did our hotels and Airbnb; and the Airbnb was normally nonrefundable.. The hosts decided to refund it.  

 

The problem lies 90% squarely on flying the airlines to your cruise.  Booking air through the cruise line might partially help with that.    Apparently, the airlines not treating customers fairly is a known Federal-level problem, with Biden, Pete Buttigieg involved and Congress recently passing a bill about air travel.  I recently flew Southwest and had no problems, but don't expect me to fly United anytime soon.  And definitely not to/from/through Newark.

 

I have no reason to believe the cruise line or travel insurance are not good for it at this time, but it is slow and painful to process.   The big thing is, just hope your airline does not undergo a meltdown at the time or your cruise.  Or just drive to the port.  This was (and still is) definitely a "vacation" that caused far, far more stress than if I had never booked anything at all. 

 

[Coral]

2 hours ago, tetleytea said:

Quick update here:

 

I made a complaint to the Federal Department of Transportation about United.  That was successful:  I got a partial refund.  However, United did not want to refund it all--they only refunded one connection, so that they could.go back and tell the DOT they refunded it.   So I disputed the remainder of the transaction.  That, too, was successful.  

 

The travel insurance claim is still ongoing, and is a paperwork nightmare.  

 

All our excursions (refundable and non-refundable) refunded, and so did our hotels and Airbnb; and the Airbnb was normally nonrefundable.. The hosts decided to refund it.  

 

The problem lies 90% squarely on flying the airlines to your cruise.  Booking air through the cruise line might partially help with that.    Apparently, the airlines not treating customers fairly is a known Federal-level problem, with Biden, Pete Buttigieg involved and Congress recently passing a bill about air travel.  I recently flew Southwest and had no problems, but don't expect me to fly United anytime soon.  And definitely not to/from/through Newark.

 

I have no reason to believe the cruise line or travel insurance are not good for it at this time, but it is slow and painful to process.   The big thing is, just hope your airline does not undergo a meltdown at the time or your cruise.  Or just drive to the port.  This was (and still is) definitely a "vacation" that caused far, far more stress than if I had never booked anything at all. 

 

My friend got a denial through AON. So they got FCC.

[tetleytea]

2 hours ago, Coral said:

My friend got a denial through AON. So they got FCC.

 

For a flight cancellation?

[tetleytea]

For everyone else's benefit, I should also add:

 

My excursions and lodging were booked independently.   One of the supposed selling points of booking excursions (and to a lesser extent, land tours) through the ship is that they are (supposedly) more secure in the event anything goes wrong.  But for me, nothing could have been more the exact opposite.   I had something go majorly wrong, and I had no problem immediately getting my money back from all the excursion operators and hotels--because I *DIDN'T* book through the ship.  I booked independently.  Didn't even need travel insurance.  Didn't need paperwork.  I simply told them the circumstances beyond my control, and I got even the nonrefundable expenses refunded.  I doubt I would be as fortunate had I gone through the ship.

[Coral]

21 minutes ago, tetleytea said:

 

For a flight cancellation?

Yes. Theirs was a tad more complicated. They had booked economy plus and United tried to put them on economy and their new flight would put them on planes for 30 plus hours going West (back tracking) and the earliest they could get them to London was at noon the day of the cruise. There was a lot going on in Southampton that day and traffic was going to be miserable between London and Southampton - I doubt they could have made the ship before it left. They declined that route (and they really wanted economy plus) at the airport and went home and tried calling United and Princess with the hope of a better route, a different airline, same class of service. By then, no flights could get them there and they (Princess or EZ Air) were not trying to get them to the next destination either unless they flew to London first with no guarantee of anything after. And the London flights were after the cruise took off. My friends were flying Wednesday night for a Saturday cruise (so in advance). This was the first week of United's meltdown (June 14th) on the East Coast/Newark.

 

 

Edited July 27, 2023 by Coral

[tetleytea]

Not good.   Newark was famous for the United meltdown.   They still are.  Aon knows full and well the cancellations are legit.  If my cancelled flight was a good 72 hours before, that tells me they're going to try and say I could have booked another flight (even though it's not true).

 

In the future, maybe it's possible to get better travel insurance independently, too?   It's not sounding like Aon insurance (offered through some cruise lines) is very good.   Do you know what Aon's reason...pretext...was?

 

 

edit:  I checked BBB for Aon.  They are not BBB accredited and have a D- grade.  BBB's reason:  62 consumer complaints against them and they haven't responded to any of them.    Looks like, any time a cruise line or travel agent asks if you want to buy insurance, you need to ask who is underwriting it.  People assume the cruise line does (and it's all reputable and such), but clearly not always.  Rarely?    I didn't know any of this when I booked the cruise and was offered the insurance.  I certainly never would have done business with a D- rating.

Edited July 27, 2023 by tetleytea