Cancelling Holiday?

[WDWMAD]

There is a huge possibility that we may need to cancel our holiday in October due to my mother-in-law being seriously ill and having to stay to look after her. She won't be able to cope without us being here for 10 days as we care for her most of the time.

I was just wondering if anyone has been in this situation and could help us with how we stand regards cancelling flights and getting money back for tickets etc.

If I cancelled the flights with Virgin would I get a refund or would I need to go through my travel insurance. Also, we have Disney World tickets and MNSSHP tickets and was wondering if we could get a refund on those through the travel insurance, as I know Disney's policy is non refundable?

Thanks for any help!

[taylaboo]

When hubby had a stroke in 2017 TUI gave us a postponement for12 months. We claimed the rest back on the insurance. Thankfully he made a good recovery.

[Beana10]

Sorry I don’t have the answer to your questions but didn’t want to read and run.
can you not maybe postpone the holiday- might be better to reschedule for a future date.
Hope your mother in law gets better real soon x

[thatdavieguy]

At this stage you're better speaking to your travel insurance provider to see if they would cover your losses, if they say they would then you can speak to your travel agent about options to avoid losing money and if they say you can't avoid it then you know that you have the insurance there as a safety net.

Moving it may be the better option, unless you've bought specific dated tickets then you may be able to use them on the rearranged dates

[WDWMAD]

I think the next step is to speak with the Travel Insurance company, just wondered whether it was possible to cancel the flight and get a refund to avoid all the hassle of going through the insurance company. We have until September 22nd to decide if we are going to cancel as we have booked using our DVC points and that is the deadline to bank our points without them going into an holding account which would mean we have to use the points before February 1st which there is definitely no chance of doing.

[Lisa29]

Unless you have paid for a flexible fare ticket (usually very expensive) or paid with miles, I don't believe you can cancel flights and get a full refund. You can normally cancel and get a refund of the taxes but not the actual fare cost.

Hope you manage to sort something.

[sprocket]

You can claim back very little if you chose to cancel with the airline.

With regards to travel insurance, it depends on several factors (im assuming she wasnt going with you). Most travel insurance policies ask you to confirm that you are not aware of any reasons you may need to cancel your trip in regards to non travellers health. For example if she was severally ill when you took the policy out, then they may argue that they wont cover cancellation for that reason as you were aware of that risk.
They will also not pay out if they determine that her health isnt severe enough for you to cancel your trip or that other arrangements could be made while you are away.

As you havent booked a package holiday, you may find that the airline is less likely to be helpful and delay your flights.

Travel insurance companies dont like paying out at the best of times and may deny a claim if the reason isnt critical.

Two key words you may need to change while speaking to the insurance. Avoid 'most of the time' and 'wont be able to cope'.
They will jump on 'most of the time' and say how does she cope when your not around. Also, saying she wont be able to cope, are they your feelings or medical. You have to think from an insurance medical 'decline until proven' mentality.
Basically you need to say you look after her for all her needs, all the time due to a recent change in her health. Which is after taking out the policy.

Originally Posted by WDWMAD

I think the next step is to speak with the Travel Insurance company, just wondered whether it was possible to cancel the flight and get a refund to avoid all the hassle of going through the insurance company. We have until September 22nd to decide if we are going to cancel as we have booked using our DVC points and that is the deadline to bank our points without them going into an holding account which would mean we have to use the points before February 1st which there is definitely no chance of doing.

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[WDWMAD]

OK, update on this. We have changed the holiday to Easter next year and have asked Virgin Atlantic if they could change our flights to those dates, they said they could for an extra £1200, nice.

If we were to book the flight through the VA website as a new booking today it would cost £600 less than what we paid, nice to see they are taking advantage of our situation.

Next step is Travel Insurance.

[sprocket]

Airlines for you. Kick you when your down, kick you when your loyal.

What about your Disney park tickets?

How about an email to the VA complaints team. They have more power. You could word it politely but with a little force. Like start off pulling the sympathy strings about your mother in law, but then mention about the price you have been quoted to change dates and that you are thinking about going to the Daily Mail.

What have you got to loose?

[vampiress88]

Originally Posted by WDWMAD

OK, update on this. We have changed the holiday to Easter next year and have asked Virgin Atlantic if they could change our flights to those dates, they said they could for an extra £1200, nice.

If we were to book the flight through the VA website as a new booking today it would cost £600 less than what we paid, nice to see they are taking advantage of our situation.

Next step is Travel Insurance.

See more...

Dunno if it’s different for me but I have been told that I can cancel my holiday with virgin holidays and then transfer the original money, just deposit so far, to my new booking.

Dunno if it’s different cos it’s virgin Atlantic