Coronavirus Related Travel News

These articles tell the tales of the consumers who have contacted us after the coronavirus disrupted their travel plans.

Can Rocky Mountaineer cancel this trip through Canada and refuse a refund request?

Rocky Mountaineer canceled our tour of Canada and refused to refund our $6,339. Help!

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Rocky Mountaineer canceled Kay Nelson’s rail tour through Canada last year. Then the tour operator gave itself permission to refuse her refund request and give her an expiring voucher instead. What’s happening here?

Question

I need your help getting a refund of $6,339 for a Canadian rail tour from Rocky Mountaineer. Our package included airport, train, and hotel transfers, with nights in Calgary, Banff, and Vancouver.

Rocky Mountaineer canceled the trip, scheduled for May 2020, which we booked in February 2020. The company offered a 110 percent nonrefundable credit to use against a new booking that can be applied to the 2021 season and would have had to have been used by the end of November.

I would prefer Rocky Mountaineer give me a full refund rather than credit for a trip we may not ever take.

Rocky Mountaineer has refused our direct request for a refund. I filed a chargeback through my credit card, but Visa sided with the tour operator. Is there anything you can do? — Kay Nelson, Chapel Hill, N.C.

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The Destination wedding was canceled so where is the refund?

All the reasons why you can’t get a refund for your destination wedding

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All Melanie Brown wanted was a refund for a destination wedding in Belize last summer. All she got was excuse after excuse after excuse.

It’s something else to keep in mind one year after the COVID-19 pandemic sank large segments of the travel industry. Salvaging your refund may mean navigating an excuse factory that hotels and other companies have hastily built to keep your money.

Brown’s experience is also instructive because it’s a map that shows you how to bypass these bogus reasons for pocketing your deposits — whether it’s a refund for a destination wedding or just a hard-earned vacation.

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Pandemic travel requirements: Christopher Elliott gives expert guidance.

The uncomfortable truth about travel, vaccines, tests and mask requirements

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If you’re going to travel during the pandemic, you need to make certain you know the latest vaccine, test and mask requirements. It’s a confusing time. 70,000 new cases a day is nothing to sneeze at — but even so, planes are full, vacation rentals are overbooked, and spring break is in full swing.

And you have questions — lots of questions.

You want to know if it’s safe out there, if you have to wear a mask if you need to get vaccinated. Here are the answers.

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