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The fine print
I have a deposit on Treasures of Spain in October 2024. I wanted to change it to April 2025. Asked my TA to apply the 1200.00 deposit I paid 2 months ago to the later cruise. NOPE. Tauck says non refundable. Not looking for a refund just want to transfer the $$$ to a different date for a trip that is more than a year from now and is sold out so I am sure there is a waiting list!! I am scheduled to leave for my Scotland small ship with them next week and I am seething at their pettiness.. It doesn't say you can't transfer it to a later date. Jerks.
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Does not sound like Tauck. Hope you get it resolved.
This is one issue with using a TA. For any questions related to off-nominal situations you have to go through a middle man. If you had booked directly then you could call Tauck directly and have a discussion in real time, changing the discussion path based on the answers you receive. That is very had to do through a middle man, your TA.
Perhaps your TA would allow you to sit with them, in a speakerphone situation, when they called Tauck. Then, in essence you could have a direct discussion with Tauck and get the reasons for everything in more detail beyond the short response provided by the TA that says it is non-refundable.
Is the April 2025 tour that you are trying to switch to bookable yet? If it isn't, then Tauck couldn't simply do the switch, they would have to give you a refund (which isn't allowed). Again, if you could speak with Tauck directly you could get answers to these types of questions.
When I looked at the website it looks like the 2025 tours for Treasures of Spain and Portugal aren't completely bookable yet. It says Call for Details. It doesn't say that for the 2024 tours. This is likely why Tauck can't do (at this time) what you are requesting. Again, if you could speak with Tauck directly it would be easy to find all of this out.
About 9 months ago, I cancelled one trip I had a deposit on and had it applied to a different trip/different date. I used a TA. I was still eligible for GoT, as well. No problems.
I don't think the TA is the issue in this case. My understanding is that this is their standing policy for all cruises. You have a relatively narrow window of time (10 days, maybe) to modify a reservation and after that it is locked in. I had a similar situation in which I inquired about transferring a deposit from a river cruise to a small ship cruise and was also denied. This may not be the case for land tours. The "Call for Details" message simply means that they do not have pricing finalized yet, but can put people on a "waiting list" for the tour (they call it a waiting list, but it is essentially a booking and they do take a deposit). Once prices are finalized and published, you have 2 weeks to cancel and have your deposit refunded if you wish to do so.
Also, just because you use a TA does not mean that you can't call Tauck directly with any questions you may have. I go through a TA as well and do that all the time.
I do have a wonderful TA and he has been told "no" but has told me he will continue to advocate for me and for that I am grateful. Hoping for the best, it would behoove the company to work with the agents, it's their lifeline.
Ah, if it is a small ship cruise, then they have to adhere to Ponant's rules.
Update : They agreed to my move to me to 2025. British, it's Windsurf in this case.