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Refund or credit

shotokanrabbit

Is Tauck offering refunds of money paid or just credits for future trips. Thinking of rebooking my cancelled Israel / Jordan trip for fall. I know that they reserve the right to just issue a credit during pandemic and not sure what they are currently doing. Any recent experience would be greatly appreciated.

Comments

AlanS

It depends on your situation and whether you cancelled or Tauck cancelled. I assume you've read the announcements at the banners at the top of the first page of the main Tauck website. If they don't answer your question, give them a call. It is not hard to get through. I had no problem getting through yesterday.

JohnS

Our Italy Small Groups tour was cancelled by Tauck and we received a full refund. Since Tauck cancelled the tour the money we paid for the travel protection plan is in a credit account to be used for a future tour.

BKMD

My fully paid Japan trip (which I would have been on now) was cancelled by tauck. They offered either a refund or if I kept the funds on file with them, they'd add an additional $500 credit per person if I rebooked either later this year or in 2021.

AlanS

BKMD
1:44PM

My fully paid Japan trip (which I would have been on now) was cancelled by tauck. They offered either a refund or if I kept the funds on file with them, they'd add an additional $500 credit per person if I rebooked either later this year or in 2021.

Same here. I rebooked. The $500 p/p credit helped reduced the nearly $1000 p/p price increase for 2021 tour.

David Carter

We canceled our London/Paris Seine River Cruise scheduled for this July, although the trip protection plan fees are in a DreamAccount, we will not be traveling unless a verified vaccine is available, wish Tauck would extend the DreamAccount until 2022, when travel should safer.

S35flyer

Tauck cancelled our italy trip, we fully intend to take the same trip in 2021, never heard about a 500 credit. We did get a full refund. I guess since we did it through TA doesn’t apply to us. We also lost 2000 and change on the insurance the TA sold us, as it didn’t apply during pandemic. I’m ok with the trip part as we received refund thanks delta and Tauck, but insurance is gone. Lesson learned, no more Travel Agents. I’ll deal direct with Tauck from now on.

BKMD

I was booked thru a travel agent and got the $500 credit. You only get the credit if you leave the funds on file with Tauck. If it's refunded to you, it doesn't apply.

S35flyer

Sort of make my point about my TA, nobody told me that

taxare

S35flyer, you should also call the insurance company to see if they will transfer the policy to the new trip since you did not use the policy at all.

travel maven

S35 Flyer:
I agree with taxare about calling the Travel Insurance Company. I purchased a travel insurance policy thru Allianz and it was a great policy except for the fact that it didn't cover pandemics. I don't think any travel plans cover that unless you are able to get one that covers for any reason at all, but those are usually very expensive. Anyhow, Allianz did offer, because of the circumstances involved with the Corona Virus, to fully refund the costs of my Travel Insurance Policy as long as I didn't put forth a claim. In addition, I was able to transfer the policy to a new trip without further costs. I received the refund two weeks after initiating my request. I was very impressed with their Customer Service.

S35flyer

Wow I’m getting better info here than from the TA. It was with Allianz through the do nothing TA. I’ll call them today, can’t hurt an I might owe some drinks if we ever end up on the same tour, thanks taxare and travel madin.

travel maven

Yes, definitely worth a call. When I called their number , I was told by the customer service rep that I would need to send an e-mail to salessupport@allianzassistance.com and I referenced my policy number and some details such as when I purchased the policy and some details about when Tauck canceled the trip. I also attached a copy of the Tauck cancellation letter as a reference. They didn't tell me to do this but I wanted to give them as much info as possible up front. Also, I meant to say in my earlier post that you had a choice of a refund or to switch your policy to a new trip, not both. I took the refund option. I don't know if anything has changed since then, but it is worth a try. Good luck.

This is the statement on Allianz's website:
COVID-19 Plan Refund Information (dated March 16, 2020)
Customers may change their plan’s effective dates to cover a new or rescheduled trip. Alternatively, for a temporary period, we are offering refunds for the cost of your travel protection plan to customers who wish to cancel their travel protection plan if the customer’s travel supplier canceled the customer’s trip due to COVID-19, so long as no payable claim has been filed under the plan. Please call us at the number listed on your plan and we will be happy to assist you.

British

We always take the Tauck insurance but I did not realize it was Allianz, I think it is something else as the amount you quote for your insurance is way more than the Tauck insurance. We have an additional evacuation insurance that we pay yearly.

AlanS

I think Tauck policies may be underwritten by more than one provider. A few years ago I dealt with Aon. In the "Protection Product" section of the website for our next three tours, it says the insurance is "Underwritten by United States Fire Insurance Company (C&F and Crum & Forster are registered trademarks of United States Fire Insurance Company)."

According to Wikipedia, "Crum & Forster Holdings Corp. (C&F) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fairfax. Based in Morristown, New Jersey, C&F, through its insurance companies, writes commercial property and casualty insurance in the United States, offering a broad range of coverages, including admitted property and casualty, accident & health, specialty and excess and surplus lines. Products and services are offered through the Crum & Forster" various brands including United States Fire Insurance Company.

However, elsewhere in that section it also says: Note: All Guests, regardless of residency, who book a Tauck journey have the option of purchasing the Cancellation Waiver provided by Tauck in the event they need to cancel their trip after making their reservations. Tauck’s Guest Protection, which includes both the Cancellation Fee Waiver and the Travel Insurance Benefits and Assistance Services described above, is not available to residents of Puerto Rico.

To obtain your state-specific Certificate of Insurance that contains the complete terms, conditions, limitations and exclusions of the certificate, visit http://www.affinitytravelcert.com/docs/TACGPPINTL

So, Aon/Affinity has a roll in all this, too. According to Wikipedia, "Aon plc is a large global professional services firm that sells a range of financial risk-mitigation products, including insurance, pension administration, and health-insurance plans.

I'm confused.

Kathy0529

I believe Tauck goes thru AON. That is who I had to deal with when I had to cancel my trip last year to get the airfare refunded. I think Allianz is who S35flyer got thru their travel agent. I just had to cancel a trip for early May, non Tauck travel, and the insurance I purchased for my American Airlines flight is thru Allianz. When I called Allianz about the possibility of cancelling, I was told that they have a 770 policy where I can put the insurance towards a future, re-booked flight w/in 770 days. I was able to cancel my airfare due to them changing the schedule and knowing that where I was going would still be closed so I'm getting a cash refund for the air, but will hold the insurance to apply to a future flight, if/when I hopefully rebook this trip.

Allianz might have a different policy for S35flyer since they were booked on a tour that was cancelled.

Buck Brougham

I have found Tauck's response to the coronavirus highly disappointing. It seems to me that they are now risking serious damage to a reputation for customer orientation that was hard earned over many years. I was surprised at how long they took to even acknowledge the coronavirus dilemma on their site. Then, to my understanding behind the likes of Viking, they eventually adopted a policy that strikes me as designed more for minimum damage to their income than for genuine concern for the plight of their customers. Even as destinations such as Italy were clearly in terrible shape, they provided a window of relief for only those with surprisingly near-term departures. At this moment, I see that they are asking full payment for non-cancelled trips with departures as early as 32 days from now - in my mind clearly too soon for most to make a good decision. Then, once they've collected more of our money, the only relief they appear to offer is to credit our cancellation fees toward another Tauck trip later this year or in 2021. I'm beginning to wonder.

AlanS

I, and I would guess quite a few forum participants would strongly disagree with you and have experienced first hand just the opposite. Though you have been a forum member since 2018, your almost non-existent post count and only three visits it says you are barely a lurker who doesn't participate or don't even read the forums. In fact, Tauck has gone above and beyond what the majority of companies in the travel industry have done for their clients and their investment.

Claudia Sails

Well Buck, that's your opinion but not shared by the majority here. Yes at first they were a bit slow since as many of us they were operating in the dark. We've all learned a whole lot more about this virus and how it was going to affect our world. Once it was apparent that this was going to be longer termed and with wider impact they have adjusted -- canceling trips a month at a time in part to give their staff time to deal with all the cancellations, refunds and rebooking that needed to take place. Don't know where you're getting the 32 days from now since all ALL tours and cruises have been canceled through the end of Aug and have been since 26 Jun. Sep tours are being cancelled and they have already called me about ours. The did move the final payment dates to closer to the tour dates than normally - 60 for land tours, 90 for cruises - now its 45 days for both. They also give a $250 pp credit for canceled tours if you keep your money with them (rebooking or in a travel wallet for future use) and $500 pp credit if you've made your final payment.

As for Viking, I'll take Tauck's customer service over theirs any day of the week. A friend who had a Sep cruise scheduled with them was only told about a week ago that it had been canceled. Viking is why weeks of river cruise traffic was impacted last summer when one of their ships damaged a lock on the Main canal bringing traffic to a halt for weeks. We were on a cruise then which had to make changes to our itinerary (and more bus time) and a ship swap in the middle of the cruise. Tauck responded awesomely. We managed to see everything and more on our original itinerary, the made the ship swap are easy as possible and gave us $500 pp credit which I've already used. Another cruise ship parked next to us sent all their customers home early. Viking? They weren't even telling their own customers what had happened. And this a week after another of their ships struck a tourist boat in Budapest killing over 20 people.

Does Tauck want to stay in business? Yes, of course they do, but I think they're doing a pretty good job of balancing what they need to do to stay in business and what I need as a customer.

Calaf

When Tauck canceled my upcoming trip I opted to have my deposit refunded (the final balance hadn't yet become due) and pass on their offered $250 incentive to leave the funds on account. My travel insurance premium remains available against a future trip, but must occur during 2021. It was a judgment call, but I'm not convinced that international travel will be possible in 2021, and even if it is, I know that I will be unwilling to travel until masks, temperature checks, social distancing, etc, go away. If that means no travel, so be it.
Travel under those conditions would be miserable and unacceptable.

I have a great deal of empathy for Tauck and the disastrous situation they are navigating through. Having said that, I find that some of their responses appearing on these forums do seem unfair to travelers holding reservations, while other policies and actions they've taken seem very reasonable considering the challenges they face.

There are no good answers to this continuing nightmare.

travel maven

" I was surprised at how long they took to even acknowledge the coronavirus dilemma on their site"

Buck, I beg to differ. Tauck addressed the Covid-19 issue very early on. There wasn't alot known about this disease in January and February. I received an e-mail from them on March 5 addressing my upcoming River Cruise that was leaving in April. Here is an excerpt from the very first paragraph of their email.

"As you know, there is tremendous attention on the Coronavirus at present, creating questions and raising legitimate concerns. I would like to offer some perspective (while recognizing that the situation is changing almost daily), and share some important policy adjustments that will allow us to serve you more effectively at this time."

Tauck was very much on top of things from the beginning. I received my refund from them within 2 weeks. I can't say the same about other companies that I had to deal with at the time. They continue to do an outstanding job especially with keeping their customers up to date on what is happening for current bookings. They are the best in their field.

JohnS

We were scheduled on the Classic Italy Small Groups for April of this year so we were in the first wave of Tauck cancellations. The tour and flights were all booked through Tauck. There were no problems we encountered getting refunds from Tauck. The hardest part of everything was getting the sizable credit on our Chase credit card back into the bank.

British

Unfortunately, many people don’t understand that Tauck wanted to call each individual person and it is a big company and it has taken a huge amount of time. But it has been very worrying waiting to hear about the cancellations. We were particularly concerned about our second tour that was eventually cancelled because our flight for that tour was cancelled weeks before Tauck cancelled and I was concerned there was a chance that the tour Would still go ahead and we could not get a flight. Having said that, it was for a tour at the beginning of October and Tauck cancelled several weeks ago now. So all in all, under the changing circumstances, Tauck is approaching it well with generous choices for people, like they have always done.
BUCK, you don’t state whether you actually had an upcoming tour booked with Tauck? I am sure they have not been calling people that near the tour start date for some time. Their other fault is not updating the information enough on their website. Even the new website is not too good, they seem to be slow at doing anything to change things on it. Other than this, Tauck has been probably the best out there at responding and giving people their money back.
I hear that although Viking cancelled all tours quickly, they have not given money back and are just booking people on future tours. The very worst is horrible OAT. They took thousands of dollars from people, full payments, sometimes more than a year in advance of the tour for so called discounts. At first, they said they would give money back, then changed their minds and booked people on the same tour of sometimes only similar tour, for the following year, without telling the customer.
Customers waited hours to call and got nowhere or promises of return calls that did not come. Their forum got so full of these stories that they took down their Forum. I correspond with a regular customer of theirs and she has other friends who travel with them, she keeps me up to speed. The BBB is also full of complaints about them. I felt most sorry for the guy who had paid $85,000 up front last year for a group of his friends and they can’t get the money back. One of the company owners posts airy fairy blogs about her life and how she is dealing with Covid with no acknowledging about how she is fleecing her loyal customers. Me, I’ll stick with Tauck. Waiting to hear about your actual Tauck experience Buck.

Claudia Sails

What name calling or retaliation???? He got responses that disagreed with his opinion. Nobody called him a name other than his name . So far nobody has even flagged his post. Guess our phantom flagger missed this one.

Bob Burch

Claudia- I must disagree with you. I think someone challenging that traveler's use of the forum is not appropriate. We are hoping to get others involved in the forum, so to have everyone challenge him is not the way to get more involved. Isn't that what the "disagree" button is for? I am glad that 6 people chose to use that form to let him know that he is not in the majority with the comments. I have done 8 river cruises with Tauck since 2014, and like many of us, I would not consider anyone else for those except Tauck.

Claudia Sails

Well Bob, I gotta disagree with you. Because it's his first post he gets to freely express his negative opinion and everyone else is limited to tapping a reaction button? Not to mention his last few sentences are factually wrong. Yes we should all be supportive of those new to the forum who may ask an ignorant question or make a naive comment. He launched a broadside and got return fire.

Claudia Sails

Cathyandsteve, hadn't noticed. Checked my count today and the same ones flagged are still in my count. Did notice that Derek's post about his non Tauck tour is back.

British

I hope Buck, that you will respond. I noticed you had been a member since 2018 but not that you had never posted before. I truly am interested to understand if you have had a tour cancelled with Tauck and how you were treated. Most of us here have had good experiences when Tauck called, although I admit, the waiting for me was stressful as I stated above.
I wonder if those people who chose to call Tauck and wanted to cancel, before Tauck cancelled the tour, if they were treated differently. I waited it out, I never called Tauck but carried on being stressed waiting for a final answer.
Tauck reached out with a message a good while ago, acknowledging that many people had called Tauck and still wanted to travel, certainly before things began to deteriorate further. Tauck had to consider those people too and not assume everyone wanted cancellations, especially as future bookings for that destination might already be sold out.
I sent a personal message to Tauck months ago wishing them all well and acknowledging how stressful it must be for all of them. I got a personal reply thanking me and saying I had cheered them up. When my husband got the call about our latest cancellation, he got the feeling that the Tauck agent was expecting him to be angry with her, so I guess some people did still want to travel and they were not happy about their tour being cancelled.
We all have different feelings about future travel and about many subjects on this forum. We can take it or leave it. I have picked up many tips here, I’ve annoyed some people and been praised by others. How dull if we were all the same. I can tell you one thing though, when I’m on tour, I’m very well behaved , so I guess that’s the important thing.
Oh to travel somewhere exotic soon!

Claudia Sails

I think British confused Buck with Bob. Buck is unhappy with Tauck. Bob is unhappy with the rest of us.

FYI, I'm getting beat up over at Rick Steves forum because someone asked about "tourist traps" or sites that everyone goes to but turn out to be not worth the time/money. I listed Tower of London and Westminster Abbey and clarified (twice) that while they were great sites, the crowds could make them not a great experience. Sure glad I didn't list Anne Franks house even though I've never been nor intend to. I read the diary.

Think I'll start a new thread - experiences that were meh, and those that were unexpected delights.

BSP51

Claudia - Went to Anne Frank house ly during our Rhine Enchantment tour. We found it worth the time. Just wanted to add this as to not discourage others who might want to go sometime in the future. 🙂

Claudia Sails

The other book I read wrt Anne Frank was "Amsterdam: A History of the World's Most Liberal City" by Russell Shorto which includes a discussion of Amsterdam during that period and an interview(s) he had with a Jewish woman who actually knew the Frank family and had a similar experience. If you're going to Amsterdam, I highly recommend this book. Don't think I could do Auschwitz either. Just too much for me. So sad.