A lost vacation day and nothing to show for it

Question: I need your help with an Apple Vacation trip from Philadelphia to Cancun, Mexico. We were recently notified that our direct flight would have a stopover in Pittsburgh, which added two hours to our travel time.

Each person was offered a $50 voucher for the inconvenience, but it could not be used during our vacation. It had to be used within one year for future Apple vacation travel.

A few days later, we were notified that one entire day was being removed from our schedule. Our 6:30 p.m. flight was rescheduled for 10 a.m. the next day. So we no longer have the 8-day, 7-night vacation I paid for. Apple offered us $50 again.

When I made my annoyance known, they told me I should have taken the insurance for another $650 — then we could have canceled our vacation.

How dare they just remove an entire day from our plans? We had arrangements to meet with another group of friends. This will now have to be canceled. Apple vacation has been very callous in their behavior. Our family was looking forward to a delightful travel time and they have made this very distasteful. — Sandra Sitarski, Ambler, Pa.

Answer: When an airline changes its schedule, you’re entitled to either a refund or a flight of its choosing, under its contract. But when you’ve bought a package vacation, it’s not that simple. There are hotel rooms and activities to take into consideration. Apple’s $50 offer was reasonable but too restrictive, because it required you to buy another trip.

Deleting a day from your vacation was more problematic. I agree with you that a $50 voucher doesn’t cut it. Nor does Apple’s “told-you-so” attitude about travel insurance. Its contract (http://www.applevacations.com/ftc) is mum on this issue, making it difficult to figure out exactly what your rights are. It’s possible that you have no rights at all.

I noticed that some of your contact with the company was by phone. A brief, polite email or even a letter might have yielded better results. (Here’s a tip: Apple’s employee emails use the domain (at)applevac.com, not Applevacations.com. Email addresses are first initial, followed by last name, all written together.)

I think Apple owed you something for the loss of a vacation day. I contacted the company on your behalf and asked it to have another look at your case. A representative acknowledged the frustration of having to reschedule twice and agreed to refund you $100 per person for the trouble.

(Photo: jeff 91764/Flickr Creative Commons)

  • Raven

    I don’t know why anyone would use Apple Vacations or any of these other “package” sellers that are legit travel agents.

  • Brooklyn

    I think it would have been useful for the OP to say what s/he wanted Apple to do: cancel the trip with a full refund, refund one-eighth of the cost of the trip in proportion to the time lost, or do whatever is necessary to extend the trip by one additional day at the end, including, if necessary, by paying for the plane tickets to be re-issued. Under the circumstances, Apple should do one of these three things. Without knowing the total cost of the package, it’s difficult to say whether $100 per person is enough compensation.

  • Thomas

    $100 per person sounds right to me. I mean, how much per night could an Apple package in Cancun be worth anyway? Good job Chris !!

  • Teresa

    Here’s another example of a company compensating a customer only in the form of credit for a future purchase. As Chris says, this is “too restrictive.” Credit should almost always be in cash. It sounds like that’s what happened once Chris intervened.

  • SirWired

    I looked at Apple’s contract, and they WERE on the hook to provide a full refund option here, no insurance required: (under Amendments and Cancellation) “In the unlikely event that a major change involving a pre-departure change of hotel, departure or return date, departure city or destination becomes necessary, we will notify you as soon as possible. If you find the revised arrangements we offer unacceptable, you will have the option of cancellation without charge provided that you notify us within seven days of your receipt of notice of the change (or prior to departure date if notified less than seven days prior).” However, further wording implies they won’t be the ones issuing the airfare refund; it seems to imply you are probably going to be getting that one from the airline. (Airlines do issue a full refund on request for schedule changes.)

    A day’s-worth refund for lodging was the correct compensation here. Apple can’t control the schedule of the airline. But Apple should have offered up the full-refund option specified in the contract.

  • John

    Chris,
    I couldn’t tell from the write-up. Was this an Apple Charter flight or space on a commercial carrier? I’d be more tolerant (and therefore expect less) of changes force upon Apple by an airline than I would be of them changing a charter flight. Either way, they are owed one “days” worth of refund.

  • BucksterSF

    Plans change, sometimes you gotta roll with the punches. Shame on them for being so slimy, offering $50 that you can’t use on the trip.

    If SirWired found the contract details, why didn’t the OP read it?

  • Lisa S

    As with the people above, if $100 equaled 1/8th the cost of the vacation, then that was a reasonable refund. If $100 is less than 1/8th of the vacation cost, Apple should step up to the plate and “do the right thing” by offering a bigger refund. However, as SirWired noted, if a full refund were and option that should have been offered as well. Don’t know if that is what the OP wanted as it was Apple who flippantly brought up the full refund issue, but it should have been on the table.

  • Mary Graham

    Well, here’s another company to avoid. Thanks for the heads up Chris!

  • noah

    Not 1/8th of the vacation cost, one 1/8th of the hotel/amenities cost. Why would you get 1/8th of your airfare back?

  • Geoff

    Insurance is 70 per person on the apple charters from Phl for any reason cancellation with a full credit if used and 30 more for a cash refund. I use apple 100 times a year and never heard of a flight through PIT, but it might happen. I would want a lot more info before I commented more on this one…Really beyond my understanding as apple is really easy to work with.

  • Bill

    The compensation should be in cash, and it should be at least double what the day cost including proportional airfare, because it is annoying to lose a day off your vacation.

  • PauletteB

    I know a few people who have had problems with Apple Vacations, including their customer “service” people . . . more worm than apple.