lovetotravel
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2005
I've been in your situation 3 times this year. I've had 3 cancelled ABD trips this summer. One I canceled myself and took a placeholder. Two were cancelled by ABD. It was stressful waiting if ABD would cancel but they did, and it was a relief. But I was also willing to go if ABD went and took a big chance hoping for a cancel, but worked in my favor.This is a great thread - very therapeutic, if nothing else
We live in Canada and have been on a number of great ABD trip over the years. But I have never really known much about 'placeholder status'. Can someone explain this for my situation? Here's the deal:
We booked ABD Greece for end of May 2020 that was PIF for 3 adults. When that trip was cancelled back in March, we immediately re-booked the same trip for the end of Aug 2020. In hindsight, that was supremely dumb and we should have just taken the credit or refund and then cooled our heels until at least 2021. Anyways, what's done is done.
We have decided that we are not comfortable taking this trip in August. I know Greece is planning to open tourism starting in July, but it will not be business-as-usual and there will be a safety factor. If I'm going to pay thousands on a vacation, I'd rather it feel like vacation. So I believe I have a few options:
1. Cancel the trip right away and the PIF amount goes into placeholder status. As I understand things, I would need to book a trip by May 2021 and this would be a one-time thing. I would not receive any discounts for that trip and I could not cancel that trip without the 75%-100% penalty I would face if I outright cancelled my current trip. So I could use this and book the Greece trip for maybe Sept 2021 and hope/expect things would be closer to normal by then.
2. Cancel the trip right away and get a minimal-to-no refund, and then use my OYO trip insurance to cover my costs. My policy was purchased before the Canadian government issue a non-essential travel advisory, so that is how would justify a claim (and then cross my fingers).
3. Simply wait it out and see if ABD cancels the Aug Greece trip and then take the refund (or maybe credit) for future travel. I'm guessing any cancellations for August (if they happen) would not be announced until maybe mid-June. And there's also the risk that Greece will not allow US and/or Canadians into the country this Summer as part of the re-opening plans, so that might decide things for ABD anyways.
Sorry for the long-winded preamble, but here's my question: How does the deadline work to move PIF cost into placeholder? Can I wait until literally the last minute to do this, or is there a drop-dead timeline before the trip date? My inclination is to wait it out (option #3) with a backup plan to use placeholder (option #1) if ABD does not cancel. Like others on this thread, I'm trying to balance the fact that we are not taking this trip in August with the financial hit we may take for canceling.
Any advice on this?
And if you made it this far through my post, I thank you! lol
As postscript: The reason we chose Greece was really my son. He graduated college last year and, as a celebration of that milestone, our gift to him was the choice of a vacation. He chose Greece, and ABD checked the most boxes for what he wanted to see in the time he has available to travel. No matter what, we will take him to Greece - just a question of 'when'!
If you are not willing to go at any cost, I would take the placeholder. I know at the time that I was waiting for ABD to cancel, I was confident that things will not get better. Right now, things are different in that places are opening up, even though things are not significantly better than when it first closed down. Of course no one can predict what will happen in August, and I would bet that ABD would not risk bringing guests internationally again (due to Australia and London fiasco) with all the travel bans still in place. So you still have a cancellation in your favor since this is an international trip.
So if a placeholder will not have a penalty and ABD will permit it, and you won't have to travel and don't want to, why not take it? Especially since you are willing to take a credit if ABD cancels anyway? I know you won't receive a discount which will amount to about $250-$750 per person, but that might be less loss than cancelling later and getting only 75% back.
Waiting is also a good option as others have mentioned, but if that trip goes, you'll cancel anyway.