A no-show for my European tour? That’s no good

Shelia Oxsher was a no-show for her Trafalgar tour to Europe — at least according to her tour operator.

She sees it differently. She’d paid in full for the trip more than a year ago, showed up to the airport on time, but then had her flight to London canceled.

Trafalgar is making us forfeit 100 percent the cost of the trip. They expect my husband and I to walk off the price we paid of $7,697.

I recently retired and this was a planned dream vacation. I was assured I had all the coverage by the AAA rep. My husband and I were emphatic: We wanted all the coverage in case something would happen.


Interesting scenario. Trafalgar’s terms are pretty clear. Don’t show up on the day of your tour, and you lose everything.

Technically, the Oxsher were no-shows. But if they were, they should have been covered by the travel insurance their AAA agent assured them they had. It didn’t happen that way.

AAA sent me the papers to fill out the insurance form for only what they want reimburse us — around $500. I placed the full amount of the insurance papers. We came to the office insisting we have full coverage.

The real question is: Where does a traveler’s responsibility end an agent’s begin? If I buy a two-week European tour through an agency and ask for “full coverage” then whose responsibility is it to make sure the coverage is “full”? Mine — or my agent’s?

While it’s true that Oxsher should have read their policy carefully before buying, it is also true that she turned to a professional for advice. And that advice ended up being not-so-sound, according to her.

I contacted AAA on her behalf. Yesterday, I heard back from her.

AAA/TRAFALGAR reps are going to reschedule my trip in August. I cannot thank you enough for the calls you made. I thought I was out totally with no hopes of making this trip.

I’m happy to help. And I’m glad AAA and Trafalgar came through in the end.

(Photo: Ugg Boy/Flickr Creative Commons)

  • http://www.adventureking.net Adventure King

    Wow, good work getting the trip re-scheduled. Cancelled flights are always a nightmare, with such a big investment it pays to read the insurance small print. From what i’ve heard insurers will always try and weasle out of paying insurance, looking for the smallest of loopholes or discrepancies…

  • Joe Farrell

    Guess using a real live travel agent did not work out so well . . . this is another situation where people rely on others to ‘protect’ them – the only sure fire protection is to read the policy or waiver that they buy you – and make sure you understand it – what it covers and does not cover – and when.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ Adventure King – “From what i’ve heard insurers will always try and weasle out of paying insurance, looking for the smallest of loopholes or discrepancies…”
    - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – -
    It wasn’t disclosed in the article but it is my guess that the Oxshers purchased the travel insurance that came with the tour. In other words, this travel insurance was written for the benefit of the tour operator not the passenger. The first rule of purchasing travel insurance is to never buy it from the tour operator, cruise line, airline, etc.

    We purchased two Trafalgar tours from AAA. The first tour (2003), the travel insurance from the tour operator was ‘free’ because we were AAA members (all AAA members received free coverage). The second tour (2005), the travel insurance from the tour operator was $ 79. I read the coverage and it had no value. We purchased travel insurance policies for both tours on our own.

    Both times I mentioned to the AAA travel agent that the travel insurance policy from the tour operator had no value, the terms were written to benefit the tour operator, etc. I asked if they could sell me a policy from Global Alert, MH Ross, Seven Corners, Travel Guard, Travel Insurance Services, Travel Insured, Travelex, Travel Safe, etc. They said this is the only coverage that they could sell us.

    It is my understanding that a travel agent must be licensed to sell travel insurance policies such as policies from Global Alert, MH Ross, Seven Corners, Travel Guard, Travel Insurance Services, Travel Insured, Travelex, Travel Safe, etc. However, it is my understanding that they do not have to be licensed to sell ‘travel protection plan’, ‘trip protection plan’, etc. that comes with tours because these plans are not from an insurance company but from the tour operator. The second rule of purchasing travel insurance is to ask the Travel Agent if they are licensed to sell travel insurance policies.

  • Joe Farrell

    Another point here -= there was NO OTHER WAY to get to London that day? An airline cancels their flight, and makes no accomodation for them on any other airline? C’mon – unless you are coming from Goodland KS or Minot ND there is ALWAYS another way. Even assuming they were on a RJ to a hub city – and it was the last flight to make the connection, seriously, there are always alternatives – fly to the east coast and connection to a morning flight to London and pick up the tour 12 hours late, drive to the hub to catch the international flight – these people were just stuck by ONE cancelled flight and there were no other options? And they were using a brick and mortar AAA treavel agent? Reroute from a different city, through a different city, on a different airline, there were lots of alternatives here that NO one pursued.

    The problem with most AAA agents is that they are very good at making online reservations- which is about all they do – they mostly have ZERO clue as to what to do and who to call when something goes wrong. And in this case – assuming the agent ‘recalls’ the conversation where the Oxshers asked for FULL coverage, them the losses are borne by AAA – sure – they have a cancellation penalty, but the rebooking cost is borne by AAA.

    And where was AAA when the flight was canceled? Why didn’t contact Trafalgar, and deal with getting these people to London? Its not that hard. There are morning departures on all sorts of airlines from JFK to LGW and LHR – even a 2am flight in the event they get them into JFK at midnight – there ARE ALWAYS options.

  • barbie45

    Leave it to AAA to goof again. I am curious as to how many complaints have been lodged with BBB or State Attorney. I have never seen a rebuttal on this blog from AAA.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ Joe Farrell – “Another point here -= there was NO OTHER WAY to get to London that day?”
    - – - – - – - – - –
    I agree; however, maybe their flight to London was cancelled due to the volcano. The article didn’t state when they were scheduled to fly to Europe.

  • Jeanne in TX

    @ Arizona Road Warrior / @ Joe Farrell

    I think we can probably assume that this occurred during the recent flight cancellations due to the volcano. That scenario would have meant that, even if they had been caution and had booked the flight a day or two before the tour to allow for normal delays, there wouldn’t have been any flights going into London for several days.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ barbie45 – “Leave it to AAA to goof again.”
    - – - – - – - – - – - – -
    At http://www.consumertraveler.com (a sister site of Elliott.org), it has been discussed if the travel agents at AAA are really travel agents, etc. I am sure that there are some very good travel agents at AAA but I have not encountered one in my experiences.

    In 2003, the best travel agent that I ever used switched from being a travel agent to putting together small tours and being a tour guide. We didn’t have time to research and look for a new travel agent so we went to AAA to book our 21-day tour to Europe. The agent that we worked with was okay…I will give her a grade of C…she did some stuff very well and some stuff she didn’t. Also, she left several thousands of dollars on the table since she didn’t want to book anything (shows, hotels, day tours, etc.) for us for the 8 days that we were on our own.

    In 2005, we book another tour. The AAA travel agent that we dealt with retired. The agent that we dealt with was terrible…I will give her a grade of F and that is being nice. After our 2005 experience, we have not book a tour, cruise or etc. with AAA and it is very unlikely that we will ever book any travel product with AAA.

    It seems to me if someone wants to have a Disney package to Disney World or Disneyland then AAA is the agency to do that. Our local AAA travel agency seems to be a ‘shrine’ to Disney when you walk into the agency. If you want something more, it probably makes sense to look for an independent brick & mortar travel agent.

    Again, I am sure that there are some very good travel agents at AAA but I have not encountered one in my experiences.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ Jeanne in TX – “That scenario would have meant that, even if they had been caution and had booked the flight a day or two before the tour to allow for normal delays, there wouldn’t have been any flights going into London for several days.”
    - – - – - – - – - – - – - -
    I agree but why wasn’t AAA proactive instead of reactive? Why did AAA waited to do the right thing until hearing from Chris Elliott, the super travel journalist, consumer advocate and National Geographic Traveler’s ombudsman and a nationally syndicated columnist?

  • Don

    I used to work for a mid-sized independent tour operator and I can tell you that we NEVER tried to shaft a client like this. If a flight has been canceled, especially due to a force majeure event like a volcanic eruption, you work with the client to allow them to join the tour late, rebook them on another departure, or whatever. A reasonable amount of flexibility is expected from both sides. If it absolutely nothing works, then we might well have issued a refund, perhaps minus a relatively small deposit.

    I’d just also like to mention that the mass-market tour operators who sell group trips to Europe on commission through travel agents or AAA are perhaps not the best deal to begin with. There are exceptions, but typically these operators will pack a lot of people on a big bus and then herd them through days of tiring, touristy sightseeing where there are lots of opportunities for the guide to profit through commissions, kickbacks, and “optional” add-ons.

    I met one of our former guides who went to work for one of these outfits and asked her how well they pay. “Actually,” she said, “I pay them for the privilege of taking the group around.” If her sales tactics are good enough, she can then milk the group for commissions and mark-ups that add up to quite a nice wage. That’s why the upfront price on these trips is sometimes quite low.

  • Nunya

    @ Arizona
    Good informationr regarding insurance! My hubby and I are planning our “dream vacation” and the idea of something going wrong and us being stuck has been giving me hives! It’s hard to know who to trust when I read the horror stories here, so I appreciate some good solid advice!

  • Joel Wechsler

    I’m not sure the assumption about the volcano is valid. It it were true then there would have been other people who also were no-shows, to the point where Trafalgar might have had to cancel the tour. This apparently was not the case or the Oxsher’s case would have been handled differently.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ Joel Wechsler – “I’m not sure the assumption about the volcano is valid.”
    - – - – - – - – - – - – - -
    You could be right but if the flight to London was cancelled which means that they were flying out of a major airport like JFK, Newark, PHL, CLT, LAX, etc. where there are several direct flights to LHR or LGW on several carriers. They could have been put on another flight. They could have contacted Trafalgar to inform them that they will be arriving late into London. It is my guess that they purchase the air option from Trafalgar which are consolidators tickets. It is my guess that Trafalgar didn’t want to pay the difference to put them another flight.

    @ Joel Wechsler – “It it were true then there would have been other people who also were no-shows, to the point where Trafalgar might have had to cancel the tour.”
    - – - – - – - – - – - – - -
    When we purchased our 21-day tour of Europe from Trafalgar, my wife and I were the only Americans in the tour. The rest of the passengers were from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. I don’t know if flights from the east (Australia, New Zealand, etc.) and south (South Africa) were cancelled into LHR during the recent volcano eruptions on Iceland.

    @ Joel Wechsler – “This apparently was not the case or the Oxsher’s case would have been handled differently.”
    - – - – - – - – - – - – - -
    Who knows if Trafalgar told the other passengers to pound sand as well? We had a problem with our second tour (and last tour) with Trafalgar and they didn’t care and they told us to pound sand.

    One of my favorite sayings is “the devil is in the details” and we need more details for this situation.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ Nunya – “It’s hard to know who to trust when I read the horror stories here, so I appreciate some good solid advice!”
    - – - – - – - — — – - -
    My first recommendation is to do research on your own before you sit down with a travel agent. My second recommendation is to do research before you make a down payment, a deposit or purchase. There are so many websites that you can get reviews, opinions, etc.

    My next recommendation is to deal with a brick & mortar travel agent in your community so if you have a problem, you can go into their office to deal with it. When selecting a travel agent, it make sense to deal with a travel agent that has personally been on the tour or has taken a tour from the company or talks with individuals (other travel agents or travelers…please remember that it is impossible for a travel agent to have traveled everywhere, taken every tour and cruise, etc. due to financial and time constraints.) that has taken tours from that company.

    When talking with a travel agent or an individual about their experiences, quiz them about their standards and etc. What is acceptable to one person may not be acceptable to another person. You can find some good travel agents at the forumns at http://www.consumertraveler.com (a sister site of Elliott.org).

    In regards to travel insurance, there are some good websites out there that can educate you on the various benefits, etc. as well as to compare policies. Your insurance agent that handles your auto insurance and/or homeowner might sell travel insurance (our insurance agent does).

  • Bill

    Good job fixing that, Chris. I’m sure she and her husband were really stressed about it and it is really great that you got it all straightened around.

  • Jeanne in TX

    @Arizona Road Warrior
    “I agree but why wasn’t AAA proactive instead of reactive?”
    ———
    I’m with you – I’m wondering that, too! Guess AAA thought that they’d just roll over and not publically complain about it. Certainly it leaves a bad taste in the mouth every time it takes bad publicity or direct intevention from a travel columnist to achieve a positive resolution. I would be greatly hesitant to use AAA as a standard TA, based on some of the articles I’ve read on this website.

  • barbie45

    Arizona, A very good article on travel insurance can be found on Travel Rants. It is primarily a UK site but quite good. I have used both Tralfalgar and Globus. Both are relatively middle of the road vacations on the tour travel chain. Your enjoyment of the trip is usually based to a large extent on the competency and personality of the tour guide. You get exacly what you have paid for more or less.Compared to trips such as OAT you do not have to shell out tips like an ATM machine.You are not dragged of by a guide to shops . In fact little time is given to shopping. Guides wanting you to use your money for optionals overpriced for the most part. There is no reason for any travel agent especially AAA to screw one up. Failure to sell proper insurance is totally negligent and unaccetable period. Perhaps no commission at the end.

  • PauletteB

    Back in the day, my local AAA office used to have some pretty good TAs. The woman I worked with on my first trip to Australia readily accepted that I wanted a particular Qantas package and helped me work out all the details. Unfortunately, she left AAA shortly thereafter to work for another agency. When I was ready to book my second Australia trip, I again walked into AAA with my Qantas brochure, but the TA wanted none of that. He kept trying to steer me to the packages AAA was offering, which were more expensive than Qantas for similar packages — and DIDN’T include airfare, which Qantas did. He told me that they couldn’t work directly with Qantas (which I knew was BS) and that he’d have to get some information and get back to me. When I didn’t hear from him in two days, I booked $10,000 worth of travel with another agency. I’m sure he would have received a higher commission had I gone with the AAA package, but whatever he would have received from Qantas would have been better than what he got from me: $0.

    AAA is still great for TripTiks and U.S. travel info, and the non-TA folk in my local branch are excellent for driving trips.

  • http://globenomads.blogspot.com Leng | Globe Nomads

    Great work!

    Always read the fine print for insurance policies. There is usually a cap on claims and it will also apply to your expensive cameras and laptops. Don’t expect to claim back fully if you lose 1.