Tales From the Travel Desk: September 2022
It was a busy summer for travelers, and the number of folks who managed to make it through an entire vacation without some sort of incident is low. The travel industry as a whole simply did not have the capacity to handle the volume of people headed out for adventure once more. There are varying reasons for why travelers encountered mishaps on their journeys, but most of these issues are directly tied to the impact of the pandemic on the travel industry.
For many people, Covid has become a nuisance that affects their daily lives very little (although, as I type this my son is relegated to his room because he caught the bug at school). The same cannot be said, however, of the travel experience. Covid continues to wreak havoc on the travel industry and travelers alike.
My most recent example comes from some clients of mine who took a French river cruise this month. Everything started off fairly smoothly—their bags were delayed by a day, but they spent a few beautiful days in Avignon before boarding their small cruise ship that would take them up the Rhone River to Lyon. They enjoyed delicious food & wine, and fun excursions along the way. And then the day before they were to disembark, one of them started feeling ill. He went to the ship’s infirmary, where they administered a Covid test and—surprise, surprise—it was positive.
This threw a wrench into their post-cruise plans, of course—their post-cruise itinerary included a 3-day extension in Paris with tours scheduled each day, as well as a 3-day stay in Normandy (with tours). Not only would they not be able to enjoy the trip as planned, but because the Covid test was administered by the cruise line—and the cruise line is required to report positive Covid tests to the French authorities—they were confined to their cabin until the end of the cruise (24 hours later) and were told that they would need to quarantine in Paris for 7 days before being allowed to board a flight home. And as is the case in most of these situations, the hotel room where these clients were required to spend the next 7 days was NOT the hotel’s best.
Despite this incredibly disappointing disruption to their trip, this client was lucky in a number of ways:
They weren’t seriously ill, and didn’t require further medical attention.
They called me as soon as they could, and I sprang into action to cancel the hotels, tours, and reservations that we’d booked for the remainder of their trip. The cancellation period had passed on a number of these things, but I was able to leverage my relationships with these suppliers and my clients received full refunds. And of course, there was the added bonus of me making these cancellations for them instead of having to worry about that AND transferring to their hotel AND being sick.
I was also able to help them locate some nearby restaurants that would deliver to their hotel—as it turned out, the room service was not the supremely delicious French food they had been planning to eat in Paris.
They booked their cruise on one of our preferred partner cruise lines, so it was no surprise that they were well taken care of as they transitioned into quarantine. The cruise line took care of arranging a hotel that would host them for 7 days, rebooked their flights for them, and arranged a private transfer from the dock to their hotel in Paris.
The clients also purchased travel insurance when they booked their cruise, so the cost of their quarantine hotel stay was reimbursed.
They were allowed to re-test on Day 5 of their quarantine and, testing negative, they were allowed to venture out and enjoy a couple of days in Paris before flying home.
Travel plans can get derailed by any number of things, and this is especially true now. Luckily, there are things you can do to prepare for the worst (while still expecting the best) and having trusted travel professionals on your side is an important step to take. Click here to start planning with me on your travel preparedness team!
