“Guaranteed departure” — worthwhile vacation protection
We in the travel industry are often guilty of using jargon. Even the best travel brochures can be full of terms that may not make sense to the average consumer. A good travel agent or tour operator can and should explain them to you. Here’s a look at “guaranteed departure.”
“Guaranteed departure” is a term that consumers may need to pay extra close attention to these days. And given a choice, travelers should ask for one.
What it means, simply, is that the tour operator guarantees the trip will go, even if only a few people sign up. A non-guaranteed departure will only go if enough people sign up. Tour companies usually have up until 30 days before departure to advise booked travelers of whether the tour is a “go” or “no go.” Quite simply, few if any companies can risk making all their departures guaranteed, particularly in the slower fall and winter months.
If a tour doesn’t go, customers will get their money back. But what if they’ve already planned vacation time for that period and there is no good alternative. Or, what if airline tickets have already been purchased or clients have used frequent flier miles to get to the tour starting point.
If the air portion was booked through the tour operator, everything will be refunded. But many travelers have reasons for booking their own air. (Price, frequent flier miles, being able to upgrade, for example.) And those who have booked their own flights are generally on their own. Many companies will give customers a credit towards their change fees if they rebook their vacation with the same tour operator. Insight Tours, for example, will give customers $150 towards any change fees. Nothing if they don’t rebook.
Here’s a case in point: I had a traveler booked on an Insight European Christmas Market tour to Germany and Alsace, traditionally a very popular tour for Americans. Not only did Insight cancel the tour on December 14, but they also advised that two other tours in December were canceled and only one tour was departing — a week earlier, when my client couldn’t travel. Trafalgar Tours offered a similar tour, but they also had canceled all but one of six December trips they had scheduled. I had no alternatives for any tour on acceptable dates. In this case, the client had to cancel completely and pay a $250 airline fee for plane tickets that had been booked independently.
There are worse things than having a vacation trip canceled, but why chance it. While I don’t have a crystal ball to know how many more “non-guaranteed” departures will be canceled in future with various companies, it seems like a safe bet that there will be a number of them, especially in the off-season.
What about travel insurance? If travelers book air or other parts of their vacation separately, and have to cancel because of a canceled tour, don’t count on getting money back. If the tour company itself is solvent, that’s not a covered reason.
When making plans, try to find a tour with a “guaranteed departure.” Of course, there are never any real guarantees in travel. But in these uncertain times, when planning a vacation, “guaranteed departure” is a new and useful term to add to your travel vocabulary.
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6 Responses to ““Guaranteed departure” — worthwhile vacation protection”
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When making plans, try to find a tour with a “guaranteed departure.” Of course, there are never any real guarantees in travel. But in these uncertain times, when planning a vacation, “guaranteed departure” is a new and useful term to add to your travel vocabulary.
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You’d be surprised how many people still dont get the difference between DIRECT AND NON-STOP flights.
Frank—every time I get on a plane I am so thankful that ALL flights are non stop.
“Those who book on their own are on the own.”
What do you mean by “on the own”???
Typo, will get it fixed. Those who book on their own are ON their own. (ie book flights separately and the penalties for cancellation are on you not the tour operator. But there are plenty of good reasons to book your own air… often especially price.
On September 26th, 2008 at 10:14 am John F said Frank—every time I get on a plane I am so thankful that ALL flights are non stop.
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They could become a FLAG STOP.
Know the term?
Our tour was pulled for lack of warm bodies. We were on a RTW so we could change flights etc but at no time did the agent say this was NOT a guaranteed
departure. The problem was we were in rural Viet Nam with no access to a computer. We did manage to change things but it made us miss 2 weeks in Thailand. The agent was of no help.(he has since been replaced). Lesson learned,
ALWAYS ASK!!