Friday, June 25, 2021

Using up all of those coronavirus credits- good and bad experiences

 I am now using all of the credits I can for travel late in 2021.  Heres the good/so so, or bad experiences I have had with 

Travel agencies 

Expedia.com   GOOD

While I had to wait about 45 minutes each time I called to re-book, they were effecient, and re-booked me on the phone and I got the confirmations on my rebooking while on the phone

Crucon.com   GOOD

Mark at crucon helped me  rebook my RCCL cruise 3x  with a cruise credit due to the cruiseline cancelling the Oasis of the Seas (April 2019), Brilliance of the Seas (June 2020) and Jewel of the Seas (June 2021).. While RCCL was a pain to deal with - long delays for my credits for shore excursions, issues with re-issuing the cruise credits.  Mark finally got me my credits and rebooked me on the Allure of the Seas for end of Nov. 2021.  He even gave me a $100 US on board credit.  Note this is a US travel agency, but even with the exchange rate they are often cheaper for cruises.

Cruise Lines:  

RoyalCaribbean.com

Royal Caribbean finally came thru with my cruise credit to be used for Allure of the Seas, but it was time consuming with so many delays in getting my money or FCC (future cruise credit).  Note I had to use it by end of 2021

MSC   SO SO

They offered a 25% extra on the base price of cruise (minus taxes) but no wiggle room in that it has to be used by December 2021 sailing which is really limiting. So I  will have had to wait a year and half til the end of this year for the auto refund.  I got the taxes back at end of December 2020.

Hotels:

Manor Amsterdam hotel  GOOD

They have been great with the re-booking, letting me use my credit for a trip in October 2021.

Hope this helps

Marcia

A site for solo travellers

 I found a new site for solo travellers that has a newsletter you can sign up for.  Its

solotravelerblog.com

I also found a few new solocruise videos that you can get on 

cruisecriitc.com

I recommend the one with 8 tips for solo cruisers as I pretty much do everything he has recommended

Hope this helps

Marcia


Friday, October 23, 2020

its been a long time without travel and annoying too

 Like most people I haven't travelled during the pandemic.  I have basically been dealing with airlines, travel agents, hotels, hotel booking sites and cruise lines trying to get credits and or refunds.  With the airlines Air Canada and KLM I got credits for a re-book at a future date. The process took a long time for both airlines but they did issue the credits and I have rebooked KLM for next June. 

The travel agent Crucon.com was good about getting me a re-booking - lift and shift with RCCL but then RCCL cancelled again and left me in the lurch one more time.  I am waiting for the FCC.  I won't book another cruise with them with the credit until I am sure they are back sailing.

The booking sites - Booking.com was a disappointment, not helping at all with the cancellations of hotels. I lost about $300 on a hotel in Amsterdam and one in New York.  Yes I had booked a non-cancellable but way before the pandemic and I think given the closures they should have offered a refund. 

Expedia.ca on the other hand was great - I got a credit for a non-refundable hotel (The Manor Amsterdam) and am using it in June.  I have booked all my hotels with them for June (all refundable just a few days before I leave).

MSC was quick to give a 25% more credit on the FCC and I will use it for a future cruise once they are saling again.

Hotels ... The Manor Amsterdam gave me a credit to use for up to a year, and so did the Leo Hotel in NYC, but Hotel Fine Seasons in Amsterdam didn't even give me a credit for the taxes that they promised to do .. so I will not use Booking.com or Hotel Fine Seasons again.

I hope you all have had good experiences with getting credits and refunds... 

Stay Safe

Marcia

Saturday, February 15, 2020

Globus tour uk feb 2020

I am on a Globus tour to Ireland, Scotland and England. It was on sale for 1899 can with no single supplement.  I did direct air Canada flight to Dublin that was included in the price with an upgrade fee as normally the flights are Icelandic air.
When I got here I bought a 3 day leap card ...19.5o euro.  A deal as it includes the air link airport bus.

I am staying at the Hilton kilmainham. It’s a bit far from city centre. It takes 20 minutes with bus 13 or 40 to get to Nassau street.
 The hotel is good
The reception let me check in early at 11 am but my first room had a faulty tv and no hot water.  However the man at reception changed my room on day 2 and the new room is excellent.

So far I have seen...
National art gallery. ...very good and free.
Natural history museum...small but free

Tip 1
  Stay in city Center so you can walk everywhere.
Tip 2.  Get a leap card if your not downtown

Hope this helps
Marcia

Sunday, February 2, 2020

sites for booking last minute travel

Again I found a good article on smartertravel.com. This time its about sites they think are good for last minute travel.  The link to the article is

https://www.smartertravel.com/find-last-minute-travel-deals/?source=91&u=DED129A403&nltv=1089_b&nl_cs=51886455%3A%3A%3A%3A%3A%3A1089_b&mi_u=DED129A403

I have used Travelzoo and the major sites but there are some new ones that I will try out
Hope this helps
Marcia

Monday, January 13, 2020

Sites for booking airfare

Smarter travel again has a good article … this time on the 12 best sites for booking airfare - I have used some of these sites but often find going direct works better on WestJet and Airtransat.  Its not always the cheapest on Air Canada directly.
the link is
https://www.smartertravel.com/the-best-flight-booking-sites/?source=91&u=DED129A403&nltv=&nl_cs=51828259%3A%3A%3A%3A%3A%3A&mi_u=DED129A403
copy it into your browser.
Hope this helps
Marcia

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Article link on travel sites with Senior discounts

As I mentioned before I really like the articles on smartertravel.com.  This article is about the best travel brands/companies to go to for senior discounts
https://www.smartertravel.com/top-websites-for-senior-travelers/?source=91&u=DED129A403&nltv=&nl_cs=51828256%3A%3A%3A%3A%3A%3A&mi_u=DED129A403

I personally have signed up for Road Scholar, but as a Canadian this article makes a lot of reco's where you need to be a member of ARRP... which in Canada is CARP,  Canadian association of retired persons.  Not sure if the deals are the same in Canada.
I find Holland America is the best cruise line for senior discounts, but it doesn't have a lot of activities like Royal Caribbean which has all ages and lots to do.
Hope this helps
Marcia

Beware - RCL USD to CDN$ exchange is bad and you can not book flights in USD on a CDN$ booking

 I just booked my flights for an upcoming cruise on Harmony of the Seas transatlantic.  After checking several websites (airlines, Expedia, ...