Comments on: No refund for canceled Vegas vacation

By: DN

DN — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:56:02 +0000

For those who posted about the need for travel insurance in this case, hasn’t there been a rash of posts from Chris about how he has to intercede with people who bought travel insurance policies and then the insurance companies proceeded to screw them?

My question is, how did Travelocity get to keep $737? My initial thought was that the value was from the hotel reservations, but Chris mentioned US Airways so it had to be the non-refundable airfare. Even with $150 change fees, shouldn’t they have only kept $300 in the first place?

By: barbie45

barbie45 — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:57:22 +0000

so you lived roughly on 30 dollars a day; i too love the pennies and nickles; hmm what about transportation to and from the hotel did you factor that in; also i have heard if you break even or come out a little you have won; still for elderly people on a so calledfixed income Also you probably know the strees are alot longerthan they look,and you must walk pretty briskly to safely get from one side to another. The point that Iam assuming is that the husband was not initially in the best of health, it could be a not so cheap vacation., especially if they gamble.

By: Lianne

Lianne — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:56:59 +0000

To clarify…$300 was my spending money AFTER I got there, I paid an additional $250 for plane tix, but my room only cost 60 for the week because I was splitting a timeshare week at the Sahara with some friends and they just asked for a portion of the maintainence fees.

And other than one day where I was up $50, no incredible streak of luck, I’m just an unabashed penny ante gambler :-)

By: barbie45

barbie45 — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:29:17 +0000

i have heard that vegas is in trouble and I feel very badly; Lianne i find it amazing you spent only 300.00 for a week with gambling; and you came back with one hundred pretty lucky; as I stated we were there for precession; still those deals were around ; hot dogs etc. we did the same things you did plus the antique car collection ; cococola factory; however without accommodations THAT IS UNBELIEVABLE ; YOU MUST HAVE HAD A LUCKY STREAK . ALSO the forum at CAESARS.

By: Lianne

Lianne — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:52:49 +0000

Elliott hits the nail on the head when he points out that there are times when the airline will scream “It was out of our control” in order to avoid compensating passengers, but when a passenger has a situtation that’s out their control the airline says “too bad” or “You should have bought insurance.”

@ Justin – I don’t know how elderly these seniors are, but the “need” for travel insurance is a fairly new phenomena tied into the airline’s increasingly draconian refund policies. My parents who are in their 60s still don’t see the “need” for insurance no matter how much I tell them it’s prudent. They’re leasuire travelers from a different era of customer service and they believe that companies will “do the right thing” if disaster strikes.
Additionally, its pretty clear that whole situation was not fully explained to the Schweitzers. They thought they were being charged a cancelation penalty, when really they should have charged a change fee and given a credit for the additional amount of the ticket. If that was not communicated then US Air & Travelocity seriously dropped the ball.

@ Barbie::
You don’t need to be dropping a ton of cash.The first time I went to Vegas I was there for a week and budgeted $300 for gambling & a show. I went home with about $100 left. Here’s what I did:

Free – Fremont Street Experiance, Bellagio Fountains, Circus Circus Clown Acts, Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens
Cheap Show Tickets- Half price tix booth has fantastic deals on shows that don’t sell out, got a $30 front row mezzanine seat for Avenue Q when it was at the Wynn.
Cheap Food- Any number of buy one get one free buffets, 99 cent stands for hot dogs & fries, also got freebies/discounts for signing up for player’s clubs.
Cheap gambling- I played Pai Gow Poker on the same $40 for 6 hours, $3 Blackjack, also did the occasional round of penny slots.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:46:37 +0000

I’m, too, likely to get flamed for this. Non-refundable means non-refundable. When someone purchases a vacation, he either purchases trip cancellation insurance or he gambles and doesn’t. A senior citizen couple, especially, should purchase trip cancellation insurance.

While certainly I’m sorry that the gentleman was diagnosed with cancer after he bought his vacation, all of these refunds on non-refundable tickets must be made up somewhere. It will be made up by increasing fares for those of us who abide by the rules. It’s nice that Chris tries to get money back for these folks but when are we going to hear about the rest of us who have to make up the difference?

By the way, Barbie, I live in Vegas and we are hurting. There are very inexpensive vacation packages now. Hotels have cut room rates by more than 50% There are places like the MGM where you can eat all day for something like $25. Vegas is not just for gaming and there is plenty to do that is relatively inexpensive. Shows have also come way down. I don’t know when you came here but things are very different now.

By: Kathyj

Kathyj — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:21:50 +0000

Without going into the details, I have some personal experience with the cost of living adjustments for those on disability. They were reliable and consistent. I’d take that any day over fickle raises from an employer (not promotion-related) that can be skipped or even rolled back when it suits them.

By: Joe Farrell

Joe Farrell — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:10:57 +0000

Carver – et. al., if you don’t have enough money on your ‘fixed income’ there is this thing called a ‘job’ that has the miraculous effect of generating more income. Its what the rest of us do when we need more money. We find more work. If you did not save enough money to prove for a comfortable retirement – then you can’t be retired.

Want good ez jobs for the elderly? Driving senior vans. Driving delivery and pick up vans for medical labs. Driving school buses and similar low stress part time jobs. Supermarkets. Greeter at Walmart. TSA agent [yep = good job at good pay and they hire the elderly because people respect and are less rude to them overall] and similar jobs. They pay enough to help out with expenses but not enough so that you lose SSI benefits.

By: barbie45

barbie45 — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 08:39:05 +0000

carver; what can you do in Vegas that is cheap;

By: Justin

Justin — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 04:40:48 +0000

Carver,

I am quite aware of what a “Fix Income” signifies. Yes, when you are younger, you CAN try to remedy your situation by finding another source. You are more capable. Yet, what one MAY BE able to do and NOT do are two different things. Many people just can’t go out and get another job to fix their income issues. This being true right now in the economy we’re in. Still, even in the best of times, most people are on a budget. Fixed income is NOT an excuse for ignorance. Elderly people DO GET RAISES from social security in the form of cost of living. While it might not be much, they do get increases. Also, one would hope they have invested well, too. While 700 is a lot to MOST PEOPLE, it is NOT an excuse for failing to take due diligence. If this couple wanted to be protected, they SHOULD have taken out travel insurance. Small investments can protect large ones. They chose not to, and were very lucky Mr. Elliott was able to help them. While compassion on this case was nice, a business would be under no obligation legally to give them anything. They failed on their part as a consumer to protect themselves. Plain and simple.