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Weekend survey: When should a travel company bend its rules because of bad weather?

September 3, 2010

Should a travel company waive its change fees or offer refunds when bad weather strikes? Should it ever bend its rules to accommodate passengers who are delayed because of a storm?

With a dangerous hurricane approaching the mainland this Labor Day weekend, it’s a question worth asking.

Here are the results.

Meantime, if you’re in the United States, have a great Labor Day weekend. If not, then consider yourself lucky — the storm probably aren’t heading your way.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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5 comments

  • Sarah Di

    As long as the trip is safe, I don’t think any refund needs to be offered. In the event of large numbers of passengers being able to make it due to a significant storm, I can also see offering future credits. However, I have no sympathy for the traveler who flys to a port the same day of a cruise and ends up not making it due to a storm. If you’re choosing to fly the same day, you’re accepting the risks and the cruiseline owes you nothing.

  • John Baker

    Sarah … I agree with you witht he one notable exception of when the cruiseline made the air arrangements and didn’t offer an early arrival option.

  • Joe Farrell

    Rules should be ‘bent’ when government officials discourage travel to a particular location unless the chance of the bad weather was known at the time the reservation was made.

    Make a hotel reservation in July – a hurricane appears in August – the governor urges tourists to not come to the affected area until the storm has left – your hotel reservation is during the period of time the governor has issued a state of emergency for the area – you should get a refund. Actually happened to me – hotel refused to credit me. I just posted truthful reviews of this every consumer site I could find – I’m sure it cost them more than my $120 booking in future bookings and bad press.

  • Meredith Putvin

    Have to Agree with Joe there.

    Some chains will look at the storm and make exceptions on a case by case basis. Katrina and 9/11 had Starwood Corporate issuing a company wide order to waive fees.

  • Sarah Di

    John, I would agree with that. If you book airfare through the cruiseline and the airline causes you to miss your ship, the cruiseline (or airline on behalf of cruiseline) should pay for you to get to the next port or the cruiseline should give you a future credit. Given that I always fly one or two days ahead and have never booked through the cruiseline for airfare, I don’t know if this is currently the case or not.

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