Comments on: An Australia tour that wasn’t meant to be

By: A sincere apology to the sadomasochistic sharks who practice bondage

A sincere apology to the sadomasochistic sharks who practice bondage — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:15:33 +0000

[...] of the S&M community paled in comparison to the wrath of the Australians after I wrote about one woman’s ill-fated trip Down Under. The highlight of her tour was to have been swimming on the Great Barrier Reef. But the trip was [...]

By: Kevin M

Kevin M — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:50:17 +0000

Linda: it may not be that the airline only has connections that infrequently; some smaller carriers, however, may only run one or two flights a day on that route, and it could be they were all booked solid or overbooked by that point (especially if their entire planeload of passengers had been dumped onto the next several flights leaving Boston). The OP was traveling with a friend, so they’d have needed at least two seats.

Of course, they *might* have been able to fly standby in case there was a no-show on a flight, but then they run the risk that they won’t be able to get a connection out from Los Angeles on the trans-Pacific part of the flight.

The only thing I’d have done differently, originally, in their case? I’d have taken the train from Boston to Washington, as it’s faster than any bus, and less prone to breakdown. From Union Station in Washington, they could have gotten a shuttle to the Dulles airport (I assume Dulles as it’s a transcon flight) or taken the metro and airport shuttle bus. But that’s water under the bridge now.

By: Linda Snow

Linda Snow — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:12:26 +0000

I’m interested in this part of her story: “The soonest our airline could get to Los Angeles was five days later.” I’d be really interested to know what airline it is that only has connection from Boston to LA once every 5 days!

By: Elisa

Elisa — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 17:47:09 +0000

@Monica I knew he was making a joke too (hence throwaway comment) but it doesn’t mean everyone does. Ignorance breeds fear. Watch your head for those drop bears ;)

By: SirWired

SirWired — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 15:02:02 +0000

Jill,

FYI, TravelGuard covers Common Carrier mechanical problems if the problem results in the loss of at least half your trip length. So, if you can catch up, you’ll need to use your coverage (Trip Interruption for transport expenses, Travel Delay for hotel, meals, etc.) to do so.

And yes, with just about any trip, adding at least one (or more) days to the beginning is a great idea. After all, it isn’t just the money you lose if you can’t make the trip. Even if insurance covers every dime you still lose out on your vacation experience if you miss departure.

By: Justin

Justin — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 00:30:43 +0000

….. Math Lesson

750 + 3400= 4150

5400
- 4150
________
$1250 <—– Thats ONE HELL of a "generosity fee"…..

Must be nice to screw people out of their money these days. Guess always read the fine print.

By: Monica

Monica — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 23:28:10 +0000

@Elisa… He’s responding to their luck, not Australia. I doubt anyone reading this would take it as a knock to Australia proper. I knew immediately he was making a joke.

By: Ted - Phoenix Justice

Ted - Phoenix Justice — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 23:02:07 +0000

We need to have clear national standards for travel insurance. Currently each state has its own regulations and it allows the travel insurance industry to game the system. Yes, as consumers we should always read the fine print, but it might also be nice to have that fine print standardized.

By: David Z

David Z — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 22:23:16 +0000

To put it into perspective, we should tell all tourists to avoid visiting LA or New York, because you know, America has bears that attack you & deadly black widow spiders.

Or crocodiles in Florida. Crikey!

By: Elisa

Elisa — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 21:32:58 +0000

Your comments on the sharks and jellyfish really weren’t fair, Christopher. Be reasonable here, do you realise that when someone in your position of exposure makes a throwaway comment like this, you cost Australia many thousands of dollars in tourism (not to mention perpetuating the stupid stereotypes that naïve people take as gospel)? Remember that MANY Americans still think that kangaroos jump down the main streets of every major city and that Drop Bears are a real menace to the unsuspecting traveller. To put it into perspective, we should tell all tourists to avoid visiting LA or New York, because you know, America has bears that attack you & deadly black widow spiders.

I would have thought a seasoned traveller who seems to love travel in general would be more interested in encouraging people to see new places.

By: Don

Don — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 19:41:25 +0000

Would like to learn where we can find reputable travel insurance info, not mumbo jumbo legalese.

By: Jill R.

Jill R. — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 19:32:01 +0000

As always, it’s buyer beware with trip insurance. Even the “good” policies have loopholes that wouldn’t occur to you to think of while purchasing. My experience is similar to Rebecca’s: About 1.5 years ago I was headed for an organized trek in Nepal and my initial (15 hour) flight turned around 2.5 hours into the flight because they had forgotten to refill the water reservoir on the plane. By the time the flight returned, the crew timed out, the flight was canceled until the next day, and I missed my subsequent connection to Nepal. No other flights into Nepal were available until 3 days later, and by then my trek would have left. It was headed to a remote area, and I despaired of being able to catch up with it. So I canceled the trip (more went wrong, but this is the abbreviated version). I was counting on my trip insurance, which I had bought separately from a reputable company (TravelEx), covering the missed trip. However, I also only got $750 which is their “trip delay” payment. I didn’t qualify for the trip cancellation payment because the flight cancellation was due to a mechanical difficulty or mistake of the common carrier. They only cover flight cancellations (and trip cancellations caused by them) due to inclement weather. Research into other policies at the time indicated to me that this little coverage loophole was pretty common. The travel company refused to refund anything as per their terms and conditions even though it would have been my 7th trip with them. I eventually got most of my airline ticket reimbursed, but lost the $3500 trip cost. Now for a trip with a fixed departure I buy the “cancel for any reason” upgrade for the insurance and tack on extra days at the beginning of my trip to make sure I arrive in time. I hate paying for more insurance to cover what it should arguably be covering anyway, but there it is.

By: Simon

Simon — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 18:43:38 +0000

You should have called out the “insrance company” – it CLEARLY was a scam and the fact that Great Circle recommeneded it and/or acted as an agent for the bogus insurance company, they shouldn’t have been let off the hook – Tell us the name of the crooked insurance company that sold you a worthless policy

By: EricR

EricR — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 17:47:31 +0000

Whenever I book through a travel agency, I always read their contract before signing, specifically the liability and indemnity sections. If there’s language in it like Grand Circle Travel’s, I require the agency to amend by either (i) giving me a written, signed letter stating that I will receive a full reimbursement for any expenses not refunded by their travel insurance in the case my vacation gets canceled due to no fault of my own, or (ii) crossing out that provision in their contract and initialing the changes.

You’d be amazed at how many agencies will suddenly “discover” a more comprehensive travel insurance to sell you (usually at almost the same price) when a customer has the $6,000 contract in front of him and has just told the agent that the contract won’t be signed without a guarantee of full protection.

I know it’s arduous to read these things, but if you don’t and you get screwed, it’s your own fault. (If you truly can’t handle reading fine print, then just ask for the signed letter. Even if it turns out there’s no detrimental language in the contract, it sure couldn’t hurt to have that letter anyway! If nothing else, such a request will usually cause your agent to at least offer you better travel insurance – and then you get to read the fine print for THAT too!)

By: BG

BG — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 17:31:29 +0000

If you actually DO eventually manage to catch a plane to Australia, please remember that Australia welcomes you: but, as the old song goes – “never smile at a crocodile.”