Rebook or cancel your trip?
Would-be travelers spend hours dealing with refunds; others simply move dates
A50th birthday, 50new places: Thatwas Allison Andrews’ plan for the year.
Her roster included a dog-sledding adventure in JacksonHole, Wyoming, inMarch, a trip to Spain in April andMay, and aBahamas cruise with a former college roommate in June.
She got as far as Switzerland, in mid-March, before boomeranging home to Mooresville, North Carolina.
“I couldn’t ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ this— I have a kid, I have a job and I had already planned out a lot in order to get good deals,” said Andrews. “I just spent weeks just canceling stuff.”
With the pandemic foiling her yearlong bonanza, Andrews has ostensibly spent more time this year disentangling herself from her trips than actually taking them. In doing so, she has earned a rightful place in a club of “cancelers”— thosewould-be travelerswhohave spent hours on hold, learning the ins and outs of refund policies.
This is a large cohort, according to multiple data sources. In aNovember survey of 1,000U.S. consumers by Suzy, a market research platform, 60% of respondents said they have canceled at least one trip because of COVID-19. AtHosteeva, a vacation-rental company, around 22% of bookings were canceled fromFebruary through mid-November (up from5% during the same period last year).
To be sure, these would-be travelers realize they are lucky to be dealingwith refunds while so many Americans face job losses or grieve for family members.
Majoradjustmentsbythe operators
Travel companies have traditionally been able to predict busy and quiet periods. Not so in this year. SinceMarch, waves of cancellations have reverberated— sometimes with little notice— because of rising infection rates, travel restrictions, and state and local rules.
“Therewere cancellations in the beginning — March andAprilwere huge,” saidHana Pevny, whoowns theWaldo Emerson Inn, a boutique inn inKennebunkport, Maine. “Then inMay and June, peoplewho had already made summer plans realized they couldn’t execute on them. And now, withCOVID cases rising again, it’s like Iwas fully booked for Christmas one day and had to process $3,000 in cancellations the next.”
FromMarch to June, Dave Karraker had 26 cancellations between his two Airbnb properties: a country house in Sonoma, California, and an efficiency apartment at his home in San Francisco.
“First itwas because Sonoma County prohibited vacation rentals,” said Karraker. “As that eased up, the cancellations continued fromfolks notwanting to risk traveling across the country or around the world.”
Whenstate restrictions were lifted in June, the Sonoma house got a rush ofnewbookings, all from people within a 60-mile radius. Itwas rented solidly throughNewYear’s until recently, when California announced sweeping new travel restrictions. Karraker said he expects another wave of cancellations.
The experience has given him a broader perspective on howto handle cancellations.
“No one doesn’twant to go on a vacation to wine country, so if they need to adjust their reservation because of the pandemic, we completely understand,” he said.“We are all in this together, so you should demonstrate compassion and caring every chance you get.”
Thevalueof rebooking
FromJanuary to October, the 11 largestU.S. airlines issued $11.75 billion in cash refunds, according to Airlines for America, a trade group. That’s an 86% year-over-year increase fromthe $6.3 billion issued in 2019.
But plenty of travelers got vouchers and chose to rebook instead.
InMarch, Megan Stribling, 37, received a voucher — which shewas toldwas a “one-time change”— fromAmerican Airlines whenshe canceled her May anniversary trip to St. John. Acouple ofmonths later, with numbers looking marginally better, she used the voucher to rebook the trip forNovember: another “one-time change,” shewas again told. With infection rates iffy again inOctober, she called back a third time and held her breath, hoping for another “one-time change” thatwould push the trip toMay 2021.
“Thenew‘No Change Fees’ policy had been announced, but Iwasn’t sure if our flightwould count,” said Stribling. “But itwas super easy and they were very accommodating.”
Wendy Patrick, 52, also had a relatively easy time bowing out of the year’s planned three cruises: The cruise lines did the canceling. Most ships have been docked sinceMarch, a no-sail order by the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention. Although that orderwas lifted inOctober, most cruise companies are stillworking through their health and safety protocols andwon’t sail again until well into next year.
Yet for Patrick, who lives in SanDiego, those canceled sailings presented not a loss, but an opportunity.
Whena Princess Cruises voyage in Octoberwas canceled, Patrick rebooked using a special offer. Among its perks: Princess matched her deposit in the form of a future cruise credit, industry “currency” that can be applied toward the balance of the fare, onboard items or future sailings.
Because cruise cancellation policies are more flexible than ever, thanks to the pandemic, Patrick sees little downside in having several sailings on the horizon for next year.
“If you don’t grab cabins while they are hot, you will be left out on the dock— as the shipswill be full in no time,” she said. “Wewant to go anchors-aweigh the secondwe can get that vaccine.”
‘Just pickadatesometime inthefuture’
Andrews, of the 50-for50 plan, originally canceled inMarch through July, holding out hope that a fall trip toGreecewould be doable. (Itwasn’t.) She canceled a large family Thanksgiving gathering in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, in May. In September, shewas hit with a short-lived burst of optimism.
“As the pandemic dragged onwe thought, well, maybewe should look to see what’s available nowbecause everyonewas getting stir-crazy,” she recalled. “Thenwe decided: Nope, not safe.”
That folder system gained a newpurpose: tracking Andrews’ domestic and closer-to-home travels, which she has been chronicling on Milemarker 50, her aptly named blog.
Stribling, whomoved her St. John trip twice (so far), also has a goodnatured outlook: “I told our Airbnb host thatwe didn’twant a refund,” she said. “We just said, ‘Can wemove our dates again?’ And shewas like, ‘Yep, just pick a date sometime in the future. And let’s cross our fingers.’”