COVID refunds
In June we had to leave a Tauck tour due to testing positive for COVID. Today, a little over ten weeks later, we got our refund checks from Tauck for the unused portion of our tour. Please don't take this post as criticism of Tauck. I just posting to let people in similar situation know how long it takes. Tauck's accounting department is apparently swamped with these refunds, so I understand the delay. We left our tour in the early part of the summer travel boom, so the backlog may be even longer for people later in the travel season.
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Ken, good to know. Got back this week from Best of Ireland Small Groups after me testing positive on day one. The insurance forms have all been submitted. I guess we can expect the Tauck refund around the beginning of November. The insurance forms have all been submitted. Did you submit a claim to AON and if so how was the timing on that?
Didn't have the insurance, so I can't help there.
JohnS,
FYI, we submitted a claim through AON for some expenses due to a 5 day delay in my wife's luggage arriving on an earlier Best of Ireland Small Groups on 7/8. Claim is in process and they've sent a follow up apologizing for the delay but still haven't gotten payment. Status shows claim has been assigned to an examiner.
We got a check each today for the scenic rail tour that our entire tour missed because of a broken down ferry on our Alaska cruise. I wasn’t sure we would get anything as Tauck had rented an entire carriage for us all and it wasn’t the railway”s fault we missed the train. When I wrote our hope and trust form, I just put something like, so disappointed to miss the train ride, any hope of a refund? Well we got one!
We got a check from Tauck from our Portugal trip interruption due to Covid. We got it about 2 months later. We're still waiting on AON. Their website says they are waiting for documents from me, but I uploaded twice the requested records. I called in and they said they received everything, and that they are just taking a long time.
I contacted Tauck on 7/5 for unused portion of Alaska trip which was the cruise portion due to covid. This past week they said it is in the system but not processed yet. Also Submitted tour interruption to AON for plane tickets on 7/12, they said 21 business days but do not show my submission being assigned to anyone to review until 7/22 so I will see. Both indicated they are overwhelmed with refund paperwork.
MalloryG and TEF: I wasn't aware that Tauck reimburses for unused portions of a trip. Thank you both.
I'm especially happy to hear that considering AON didn't provide any benefit for the days we missed on the Romantic Rhine tour in May due to COVID. I received the proposed benefits today after filing the claim in August. And, for some reason, they didn't include the full amount of additional hotel and meal expenses. I'll be calling Tauck and AON tomorrow.
It might depend on when you took out the insurance. If it was before July 2021, the coverage was less generous. After that date, it was more in line with Covid times. We knew this, and for our most recent trip were able to purchase additional insurance to bring it up to the current standard for $49 each. It is simple to do online. Fortunately, we haven’t had Covid yet.
Traci 0 from Tauck I received the days we missed which was 8 days of a cruise prorated from the original amount of total trip. . From AON we received unused nonrefundable flight and cost of new flight from another airport. We had no hotel or meals since Princess hotel did not charge anything for the time we stayed prior to flying home. I was pleased with the outcome even though it took a while to get it all.
TraciO. I think the Princess and Tauck partnership is run differently from all other tours, so their reimbursements may be different.
TEF, on our Alaska cruise, one of the Wives who’s husband was on the quarantine deck for Covid was being charged for an extra ship room as they were in effect taking up two rooms. In fact, it didn’t take long before she had to join him, both non compliant with masks as most who got Covid on our tour were, even though at that time Princess had a mask mandate.
Good to know. And unfortunately, we did purchase the insurance prior to July 2021, so I won't get my hopes up.
My wife and I wore our masks everywhere, except when eating, which was often indoors and in tight quarters. I suspect that's how we got it.
The wearing of masks, and having the vaccines will not necessarily ‘prevent’ getting covid. There were six in our group, and two of the six (one couple) wore masks all the time except when eating, and we all dined together most of the time. On the ship we had the same table for six reserved for us every day. During the last couple days of the trip, our mask wearers had symptoms, and they tested positive after they returned home. The rest of us were fine in spite of the fact that we had been dining with the couple with covid. I’m fairly certain we will all get it eventually. I thought I had it after getting the fifth vaccination, so I tested and came up negative twice on consecutive days. We have a family of five who are friends down the street, none are vaccinated and they have not had covid. Our ‘children’ a family of four are all vaccinated, were pretty dedicated mask wearers, and they all got covid a couple weeks ago. I know one medical professional who thinks it is possible that certain blood types are immune to covid. Who knows?
All masks are not the same.
Unless you have severe health issues it is very irresponsible for a family if five not to be vaccinated. This is my opinion.
Even if there's some magic blood factor that would prevent you from getting Covid, no one knows if they have that. It's a form of Russian roulette.
Did the family of 5 get vaccinated for measles, chicken pox, mumps, etc? I would be curious to inquire. I lump the Covid vaccines in that category of necessary vaccines. That’s just plain crazy if they had those vaccines snd not the Covid vaccines. In fact, I know people that had childhood inoculations but, heaven forbid, not the Covid vaccines. It’s hard to wrap my head around that.
People have all kinds of personal reasons for not getting vaccinated. I’m not in that camp, but I respect their right to make that decision. This guy just retired from the Air Force, and now is a pilot with a major airline … that requires new hire pilots to be vaccinated, but they made an exception. I am sure that he had more than a couple vaccinations in the military. Our childhood vaccinations had an advantage … they worked. I have friends in the medical profession who have hit the wall with this. Four vaccinations in less than two years, and they refuse to get a fifth. I had what I think was a reaction to the fifth vaccination, and it was rather severe for about seven hours. I almost went to the emergency room. All Tauck travelers are vaccinated. How many covid stories are published here right now?
When I was in the military, they didn't ask you. They marched us to the dispensary, and we went through a line. You stopped, they stuck you in both arms, and you moved one step forward and repeat. I don't even remember what inoculations I received. I don't remember anyone having any reaction to the shots.
The worst reaction I ever had was from the early flu shots. I spent the night with shaking with fever chills and hugging a trash can.
I had a reaction from the bi-valent Pfizer booster- felt miserable for most of the following day.
I’m not about to comment on anything Covid this time.
On our recent return from our fantastic Tauck tour, we were pretty jet lagged. After the fourth night of me waking around 2am and finding it difficult to go back to sleep, we were due to look after our grandchildren for four days while their parents swanned off to celebrate their 40th birthdays. Our grandson arrived coughing, Covid said I? Oh no allergies and we tested him, he’s negative. He coughed away, the next day, we got cough syrup, tested him, negative. It poured with rain all weekend, no outdoor activities as planned. Without the meds, he coughed. Still negative. A couple of days after they go home, and of course a word from me to get back to the Dr and get him checked out again, I start to feel off. Start coughing, a bit of mucus, yes, I’ve got it, tested twice, not Covid. I’ve diagnosed myself as having RSV according to the Internet 🤪 anyway, without meds, especially at night, I cough away. My daughter who works at a school says it’s going around the school. I had a routine Dr appointment yesterday’ and she said, oh yes, her son has just had that. I feel yucky, but never one to slow down, I’m continuing to do all my household chores and be outside to my happy place preparing my garden for winter. It’s years since I’ve had a cold or anything like this. Such a bummer. Hopefully this is number three this week that might count as number three of things breaking. Number one, I dropped my iron, yep, caput, number two, my wonderful 17 year old Bosch washing machine broke, number three I’m feeling a bit broke 😂😂😂😂
British, hope you feel better soon. I had RSV in January 2020 (just before COVID)—the cough was awful. It took nearly 2 months for the cough to resolve. Hope yours is less severe.
British, I love the Bosch dishwashers. I also replaced mine recently and the newer ones are so complicated.
I’m a Bosch girl! Dishwasher, Microwave. And only recently gave up my Bosch stove. Hanging on to my dryer, it dries so fast.
Yikes Jan! My grandson certainly has not been right for a few weeks. A month to go before our Spain trip.
Get well soon British. Spain is waiting for you.