Should I cancel?

[slg]

I don't want to, my kids don't want to, but I'm so worried about money and the devalued Canadian dollar and that ABD may cancel my trip anyway, that its causing my serious anxiety.

When I booked my ABD the dollar was par, and while I didn't think it would last I budgeted for the dollar being at $1.15 where now its at $1.32(and continuing to rise) That is a total cost of 17% more on a trip I could barely afford to begin with! Plus, with the threat of ABD canceling up the last minute, I'm worried that I'll pay my entire cost, and they'll cancel the trip as others drop out and when I'm refunded, I will lose out on the exchange fees the credit card charges to a very large tune, never mind my non-refundable airfare. Also, the insurance I'll have to pay for a trip of $20,000 is another $2000 which I will lose if ABD cancels.

Some of my friends said I should cut my losses now and just forego the $1500 deposit, and start sleeping again and planning my own Irish adventure. It certainly would save me so much money, and I wouldn't have to worry about losing thousands of dollars if ABD cancels, plus the fact that the trip is too costly for us Canadians.

But, my kids will be heartbroken and I really want to go on this trip. I'm so conflicted, stressed, sad and angry too, that I don't know what to do. My dh will go either way so its up to me.

Any wonderful words of wisdom?

 

[sayhello]

I don't want to, my kids don't want to, but I'm so worried about money and the devalued Canadian dollar and that ABD may cancel my trip anyway, that its causing my serious anxiety.

When I booked my ABD the dollar was par, and while I didn't think it would last I budgeted for the dollar being at $1.15 where now its at $1.32(and continuing to rise) That is a total cost of 17% more on a trip I could barely afford to begin with! Plus, with the threat of ABD canceling up the last minute, I'm worried that I'll pay my entire cost, and they'll cancel the trip as others drop out and when I'm refunded, I will lose out on the exchange fees the credit card charges to a very large tune, never mind my non-refundable airfare. Also, the insurance I'll have to pay for a trip of $20,000 is another $2000 which I will lose if ABD cancels.

Some of my friends said I should cut my losses now and just forego the $1500 deposit, and start sleeping again and planning my own Irish adventure. It certainly would save me so much money, and I wouldn't have to worry about losing thousands of dollars if ABD cancels, plus the fact that the trip is too costly for us Canadians.

But, my kids will be heartbroken and I really want to go on this trip. I'm so conflicted, stressed, sad and angry too, that I don't know what to do. My dh will go either way so its up to me.

Any wonderful words of wisdom?

I can't really address the devaluation of the Canadian dollar vs affordability issue. But I *can* address a few of your concerns.

If ABD cancels your tour, THEY will reimburse you for your non-refundable airline tickets if you cannot re-schedule to a different tour or tour date. If you reschedule to a different tour date, they will absorb the cost of changing your airline tickets, and any other non-refundable fees. If you change to another tour, they will also absorb the cost of any change fees, within reason (ie, mine got paid for a change between Canada & Alaska, but someone who was going local & switched to Italy did not get the full cost covered). You should talk to them & see how they handle refunds for the tour cost if you paid in Canadian dollars that got converted to US dollars. I'd keep a record of the statement that shows the conversion and what you actually paid. Based on my experience, I would not be surprised if they covered the difference.

If you bought the trip insurance through ABD, they will refund that cost, also, if you haven't made any claims (a good argument for buying it through ABD). If you bought it through a 3rd party, you can re-do the policy to cover a new vacation (I did that when ABD switched me to a new tour with different dates). Mine was a simple change, so they didn't charge me for it; I imagine it would really depend on the extent of the change.

But I have to say, if it is really killing you this much, you are losing the enjoyment of a vacation, and maybe you should cut your losses, and cancel. You'd lose your deposit & airfare if you've already bought that. You'd have to check with the insurer whether you could re-use the trip insurance policy if *you* cancel the trip.

You've got to do what's going to work for you. Making yourself ill is not going to serve anyone.

I'm going to suggest calling ABD, talking to a travel advisor, and seeing what your options are. They really were eager to work with me and make things right.

Sayhello

 

[slg]

Thank you for your feedback. I will go to Ireland one way or another, so I won't lose out on my airfare.

I didn't consider that ABD would cover the difference between the US and the CAD exchange. I assumed that I pay in US dollars and they refund me in US dollars and if I lose money in the exchange that will be my problem. Hmmm.

As for insurance, I'm buying it from someone other than ABD as it seemed easier to deal with any claims that might arise from my own country, and it was much cheaper!

I know that I'm a mess about the trip, but the rest of the family isn't. My 3 children really want to go, and I do to. I suppose right now, the Canadian dollar, the world economy, and the many trips being canceled just makes an anxious person like me even more anxious.

Thank you so much for your advice. I appreciate these boards so much because I don't have anyone in my social circle who loves Disney the way we do.

Its great to talk to someone who had a positive experience with their cancellation. I guess its not the end of the world!

 

[mwebsite]

slg,
I totally understand your concerns. I don't even look at our stock and retirement accounts anymore, it certainly is depressing! But we moved the money late last year to pay for the trip, and the final payment is due in two days. We've waited two years to travel to Italy! If we don't go this summer, when do we go? What could happen next year, or the year after that? I also know I could travel to Italy for less, but not travel the country and see so many sights without an incredible amount of aggravation. I would guess the Ireland tour is the same way. I've never traveled with ABD (or any tour company), but the concensus of ABD travellers on this board say it IS worth it.
Only you can determine if it is the right time for you, but I think you and your husband's view is probably the most important factor in the decision.
I wouldn't let the worry of cancellation affect you, it does seem as though ABD has been fair with the cancelled trips.
On a side note, I only paid a little over $500 for trip insurance through ABD for my trip for 3 on Viva Italia. It may not be as comprehensive as yours though.
Good Luck on your decision!

 

[sayhello]

Thank you for your feedback. I will go to Ireland one way or another, so I won't lose out on my airfare.

I didn't consider that ABD would cover the difference between the US and the CAD exchange. I assumed that I pay in US dollars and they refund me in US dollars and if I lose money in the exchange that will be my problem. Hmmm.

I'm not positive they would, but based on how accommodating they were for me, I would definitely see it as a possibility, if you asked them.

As for insurance, I'm buying it from someone other than ABD as it seemed easier to deal with any claims that might arise from my own country, and it was much cheaper!

I also bought my insurance from someone other than ABD, but that was because ABD's insurance doesn't offer pre-existing condition coverage. But that only counts if you buy it within a couple of weeks of the initial deposit anyways. I can imagine that international type claims would be harder than others.

I know that I'm a mess about the trip, but the rest of the family isn't. My 3 children really want to go, and I do to. I suppose right now, the Canadian dollar, the world economy, and the many trips being canceled just makes an anxious person like me even more anxious.

I can understand this. I used to stress a LOT, but I'm trying to stress out less...

Thank you so much for your advice. I appreciate these boards so much because I don't have anyone in my social circle who loves Disney the way we do.

Its great to talk to someone who had a positive experience with their cancellation. I guess its not the end of the world!

I did have a very positive experience, and so have many others I've talked to. Really, the people who had the biggest issues were folks who had made other trip arrangements around the ABD trip, and could not change those, so they were in a position of being "stuck". Or folks who *HAD* to take their vacations the exact dates of the tour they'd signed up for, and weren't interested in another location. They couldn't shift the vacation dates or the location, so they had to go the cancellation/refund route.

But lots of people have managed to slide the dates 2 or 3 days earlier or later, or switch to a totally different time, or switch to another tour in the same time frame. I know that last doesn't fit you because you *really* want to go specifically to Ireland. If they do call you to cancel, know in advance what options you have & are willing to accept (is there another departure of the Ireland tour that is on an acceptable date?), and present them to ABD. They listened to me, and agreed with pretty much everything I suggested, and I am very satisfied with how things worked out.

I hope this all works out for you. It can be nerve-wracking, I am sure. But definitely not the end of the world or the end of your vacation!

Sayhello

 

[Ivory]

I am Canadian, and face all the same situations you do, but I am still going.

I did have my trip cancelled on Friday, and ABD is doing everything (along with my travel agent) to accomodate us.

Even though I booked my own airfare, ABD, is picking up all the costs for the change in flight. Because we are a little flexible we where able to change the date to one that worked, and it seems now it is even working out better than I orignally planned, as now we'll have time for DLP.

Sometimes things happen and we have no control over it, but if you keep thinking, what if this happens, what it that happens, you will be totally stressed and not even enjoy things.

What if IT doesn't happen, or it does and its even better than you could have planned.

I hope everything works out, and you get to go and have a really great time, because what happens if you cancel and don't go, you may regret that also, and say what if we would have went, we could have had the trip of a lifetime.

Wishing you all the best

 

[slg]

Ivory:

Thanks for the feedback. What trip were you on that was cancelled?

I am flexible a little in my dates, providing that flights will be available. I am even willing to go on a different itinerary, however, the problem is that I will be in Faro, Portugal and there are very limited places that Ryanair flies, so if I have to change my flights, I may not be able to get any new flights to a new location with ryanair and would have to start all over. There actually aren't too many direct flights in Europe from Faro, so that is why we picked Ireland. We are willing to look at other locations if possible.

You see, my family is going to Portugal for family business for 6 weeks this summer and the ABD is the "vacation portion" of our trip. My mother had breast cancer last year and my parents have property in Portugal that they want me to become co-owner of so that later, when I inherit it, it will be easier. Anyway, that portion of the trip isn't going to be much fun, which is why I booked this vacation for us to get away from my parents and have fun during a stressful six weeks. Hopefully, my mom will be well enough to travel and my granny too(my granny is 91 and still planning on going this summer). Its quite complicated actually, but its something I feel I must do, and I'm dragging my 3 kids and dh along with me.

Thank you for all your feedback. I am watching the dollar closely and unless it completely gets out of control, I think we'll stick with ABD and hope it will all work out. I know I will regret it if we don't go as this is the perfect age for my kids to enjoy it...my youngest will turn 8 during the trip and my oldest is 13 (middle is 10).

I wish I knew ABD was certain, and how many folks were on my trip, but I suppose I'll just have to wait. I only hope they don't cancel after I leave for Portugal which June 26, (my tour is July 22). And I hope I get my pretour package!

Good luck with everyone's tour. Thanks for the support. I'll try to stay positive.

 

[Ivory]

Sorry to hear about your mom SLG, I hope that she is making a great recovery and able to enjoy your trip to Portugal with your grandmother, it sounds like she has great genes with your grandmother being 91.

As far as our trip it was stressful also, we have 2 abd trips planned back to back, the London Paris (knights and lights) and Viva Italia.

Our knights and lights got cancelled and instead of going Italy and then London Paris we had to change to London Paris then Italy.

Luckily we were flexible enough to do that, although I already booked the airfare myself they paid for it to be switched to the flight I picked to get us switched to where we needed to be.

If I understand your prediciment it sounds like there is only one airline out of your town. Maybe if worst case senerio happened they would fly you (their expense) out of your town to the nearest hub and then you would change planes to Ireland.

In our case I had direct flights both ways but had to change to a flight where I have to change planes coming back as there is not direct flight from Venice, we have to go Venice, Frankfurt and then Toronto.

They will do all this for you, or you can look for available flights and tell them which one you want. Although I really think that they are done with the cancellations. Our London paris was an July 31 to Aug 6, and I really don't believe they would cancel at the last minute. I believe that is more about, weather or wars that they would actually do something like that.

This is just my opinion on everything, but I am happy with the help ABD has given and they are really accomodating. And picking up all the expenses it is costing me to change everything, and I do not have insurance with them.

Good Luck, I hope you have a great vacation and are able to go to Ireland!!!

 

[Skylarr29]

Even if you decide not to go, I wouldn't actually call and cancel with ABD as there is a chance your trip may be cancelled by them. If you cancel, you lose your deposit, if they cancel, you get it back. This happened with our Costa Rica trip, I knew that I was pregnant and couldn't do the trip 5/6 months pregnant but I waited (because the first weeks of pregnancy are very unsure and because I have heard of all the cancellations) and sure enough, our trip was cancelled and we received a refund.

 

[slg]

My dh and I looked at our finances and have made the decision just to go for it and deal with whatever happens. If its canceled we'll deal with it,and if the Canadian dollar drops even more, we'll dip into our savings. As someone said in a previous post, who knows what will happen in the future? And next year we are booked on a baltic cruise!

So, here's hoping that the Canadian dollar doesn't go any lower, and that ABD doesn't cancel and that everyone has the trip of a lifetime.

Thanks for all your support. It really helped. Just be writing it down and looking at our bank accounts and talking to my dh seriously about it just made me stop thinking about things so much and going for it.

 

[sayhello]

Thanks for all your support. It really helped. Just be writing it down and looking at our bank accounts and talking to my dh seriously about it just made me stop thinking about things so much and going for it.

YAY!!! I hope it all works out perfectly!

Sayhello