A White House spokesman said Thursday the U.S. death toll from the Hamas attacks rose to 27, a day after the State Department raised its alert level for American travelers to Israel and the West Bank, urging them to reconsider their plans. Travel advisories already are in place urging increased caution for U.S. citizens traveling to Jordan and Turkey and advising them to reconsider travel to Egypt and Lebanon because of terrorism. "Terrorists may attack with little or no warning," the agency warns.
Does anyone know….. if you buy the travel insurance with Tauck, and Tauck cancels the tour, will the Aon insurance reimburse airfare too? I seem to recall that with the Aon policy airfare is only reimbursed for illness, etc. This happened to us during Covid, but the flights were cancelled by the airlines , so reimbursement was not an issue. This current situation is different, particularly if flights are in and out of Jordan and Egypt…. Thanks for any insight. MOP
MotherOfPoodles - I think the method of refund on the airfare would be a function of if you booked the airfare yourself or Tauck booked it for you.
If you booked the airfare yourself then it is subject to normal airline rules for cancellation. If the airline cancels the flight you will get a full refund (when this happened to me on an American flight, it took 2-3 weeks after the flight was cancelled to get the refund). If you initiate the cancellation before the airline cancels the flight then you are subject to their normal rules based on the type of ticket you purchased - refundable or non-refundable. The refund activity would go through the airline.
If Tauck booked your airfare and they cancel the tour, you should get a complete refund that includes the tour price and the airfare. The refund activity would go through Tauck.
If you cancel the tour and the airline hasn't cancelled the flight and Tauck hasn't cancelled the tour, then getting any refund would be subject to the rules of the Aon insurance. The refund activity would go through Aon.
Just two days ago, a Tauck agent told me that if you book the flight or of Tauck does it, if you have Tauck insurance then flights are under Tauck insurance. She specifically mentioned this when she advised we book flights ourselves because she couldn’t find flights for us at a good price or connection
British
2:59PM
Just two days ago, a Tauck agent told me that if you book the flight or if Tauck does it, if you have Tauck insurance then flights are under Tauck insurance. She specifically mentioned this when she advised we book flights ourselves because she couldn’t find flights for us at a good price or connection
Correctamundo Have had to do it twice- once due to qualifying family emergency and once for some other non-COVID reason.
I didn't know that the Tauck trip insurance covered flights that you booked yourself (I think that's what you (British,Alan) are saying). That's an added benefit.
The para on trip cancellation says this (no distinction is made for Tauck and non-Tauck booked air.
"Trip Cancellation – if you need to cancel your trip for any covered reason, prior to the scheduled departure date, these plans provide reimbursement for reasons that include sickness or injury to yourself, an immediate family member, or your traveling companion. The Tauck Guest Protection plan reimburses unused, prepaid, non-refundable airfare up to your total air ticket cost.The Tauck Cruise/Event/Train Protection plans reimburse unused, prepaid, non-refundable payments or deposits for your trip up to your total trip cost."
Further down it says, "Airfare costs may be covered under the Trip Cancellation benefits provided by our insurance partner and noted above."
Thank you all for your insights and comments. Just received an email from Tauck: Get Ready For Your Upcoming Trip- Jordan and Egypt. My husband and I agreed, this was pretty lousy timing and had a good laugh. February departure. We shall see……
Wondering if departures since the Gaza conflict are still on after the outpouring of anti- American sentiment in Jordan and Egypt ( etc). Is anyone currently on this trip and what is the current level of security provided?
Thx.
Egypt has always been a security risk, Doesn’t Tauck already supply security guards everywhere, that’s what is always mentioned on the forum.
On one of our Africa trips to Tanzania, there had been a terrorist attack in Arusha, so our TD asked us all to carry our passports with us on the safari vehicles incase something happened and we could leave straight away without going back to the lodge. Maybe you might be asked to do that
Also. Be sure to register in STEP for your trip.
To be honest, there is a lot of anti American sentiment in many countries. As an American with a British accent, it’s surprising what people will say to me not realizing that.
I was on different Tauck trips in both Jordan and Egypt. There is an armed tourist policeman that travels with the group everywhere. In addition, you will be metal detected, bags xrayed, vehicles checked underneath with mirrors at just about every public place you visit/enter.
I was on different Tauck trips in both Jordan and Egypt. There is an armed tourist policeman that travels with the group everywhere. In addition, you will be metal detected, bags xrayed, vehicles checked underneath with mirrors at just about every public place you visit/enter.
On my trips to those areas, there was always an armed policeman in civilian clothes with the group. That's mainly to protect you from criminals, not terrorists. So be aware of the situation before you go. British's suggestion to register with STEP is important.
Commenting on the insurance aspect, especially with regard to AlanS (hopefully you are well on the mend by now), I have understood that if YOU cancel your trip in advance then your Tauck air fare is covered for ANY reason, but the air you purchase on your own is only covered for a COVERED reason such as illness. What is still not clear is what happens if TAUCK cancels your trip. Do you get everything back, including your own airfare, AND the amount of money you paid for your insurance, or at least the opportunity to transfer everything to another trip? I guess we all need to be clarifying this before we book ANY trip nowadays.
Wan
12:04PM
Commenting on the insurance aspect, especially with regard to AlanS (hopefully you are well on the mend by now), I have understood that if YOU cancel your trip in advance then your Tauck air fare is covered for ANY reason, but the air you purchase on your own is only covered for a COVERED reason such as illness.
Doing well, thanks. Still some soreness in places.
I believe you are correct for self cancellation.
What is still not clear is what happens if TAUCK cancels your trip. Do you get everything back, including your own airfare, AND the amount of money you paid for your insurance, or at least the opportunity to transfer everything to another trip? I guess we all need to be clarifying this before we book ANY trip nowadays.
If Tauck cancels- you get it "all back"- cost of trip and paid excursions refunded by Tauck, Tauck Air by Tauck/own air by AON, but I believe the insurance premium still goes into a "dream saver" which can be applied to the cost of any "Tauck product"- tour deposit, insurance, balance, for any tour booked or in the future, even merchandise, etc. You can ask for the refund (via method of original payment) or leave it in your "wallet" if you will be booking a tour soon. (During COVID Tauck offered a nice bonus if you did so!). Dream saver money is not technically refunded but is usable by you. At one time there was no expiration date, but that may have changed. Two things to remember, policies can change and phone agents may not have the correct details.
In addition to a private (paid by Tauck or Ministry of Tourism??), armed security guard on the bus/ship and following us when we visited most sites, we had a police/military vehicle escorting the bus to one or more areas (of Jordan?).
Remember, with so much of their economy dependent on tourism and the forthcoming opening of the GEM and other sites, Egypt does not want any incidents like the bus incident at Giza some years ago to affect the numbers. That is one reason they were not opening the Gaza border to refugees. I believe President Biden may have talked them into opening that border for relief supplies.
During our J&E we took private tours to the Meidum pyramid (down near Faiyum Oasis) and Saqqara (for a more in-depth look). Our guide had to file official travel plans and get permits ahead of time with local officials. No approval document- no visit! We were stopped and challenged several times enroute and at the site entrances. I believe the checks served several purposes- prevent smuggling (were crossed Governorates), protect tourists from unlicensed guides, and so they knew where foreigners were if there was a terrorist incident.
Choc
4:21PM
I don’t believe the dream saver still exists
Quite possibly. Anyone have recent experience?
When you think about it, no insurance company refunds premiums. Some give savings for safe driving, etc. but none refund the premium, so the Dream Saver was a welcome surprise that Tauck had no reason other than good will, to give. All tour companies took an incredible hit during COVID, Tauck included. According to public records, they qualified and accepted the Gov't stimulus, but I'm sure, even that didn't cover all losses or payroll.
In 2022, a regular Taucktourian was about to take a non-Tauck cruise (Crystal Cruises?), but before departure learned the company went under. The last I heard no refund was ever received. I don't know if the new owners, Abercrobie & Kent, which bought two large ships now operating under the "Crystal" name and Riverside which bought 5 river cruisers, offered partial refunds to former Crystal Cruises customers.
We were supposed to sail on a Crystal river cruise in March 2020. It was a duplicate bridge cruise and we had the entire ship. It was a Danube trip. Covid appeared. Crystal wouldn’t refund monies but offered credits . However, the travel agency which had made all the arrangements finally got a deal of sorts. We got our full air refunded from Lufthansa. We took the option of a cash payout from Crystal and the tour company of about 75% of total. We waited several weeks a this was negotiated with much effort. Some took the credits. I don’t believe they were ever able to use the credits because ,as you mentioned, they went bottom up
In 2022, a regular Taucktourian was about to take a non-Tauck cruise (Crystal Cruises?), but before departure learned the company went under. The last I heard no refund was ever received. I don't know if the new owners, Abercrobie & Kent, which bought two large ships now operating under the "Crystal" name and Riverside which bought 5 river cruisers, offered partial refunds to former Crystal Cruises customers.
I highly doubt if the new owners of the Crystal name, or the ships, offered anything to the unsecured creditors (which the people who paid for a cruise are). The only chance the creditors had was in the bankruptcy proceedings.
Alan glad to hear you are continuing to improve. About the insurance - Tauck will move the insurance to another tour or save it for you except when it is a river cruise, those are lost.
Comments
Unless things change, should be 100%. Neither Jordan nor Egypt are involved in the conflict.
A White House spokesman said Thursday the U.S. death toll from the Hamas attacks rose to 27, a day after the State Department raised its alert level for American travelers to Israel and the West Bank, urging them to reconsider their plans. Travel advisories already are in place urging increased caution for U.S. citizens traveling to Jordan and Turkey and advising them to reconsider travel to Egypt and Lebanon because of terrorism. "Terrorists may attack with little or no warning," the agency warns.
Our Egypt trip begins on 29 October. I hope we can still go!
Does anyone know….. if you buy the travel insurance with Tauck, and Tauck cancels the tour, will the Aon insurance reimburse airfare too? I seem to recall that with the Aon policy airfare is only reimbursed for illness, etc. This happened to us during Covid, but the flights were cancelled by the airlines , so reimbursement was not an issue. This current situation is different, particularly if flights are in and out of Jordan and Egypt…. Thanks for any insight. MOP
Yes. Aon will reimburse your airfare. You'll need to file a claim and it won't be nearly as fast (being kind here) as the Tauck refund.
If your trip is cancelled due to the current situation, it's likely the airline will cancel your flight, which makes it easier to get reimbursed.
Whatever you do, try not to accept a voucher, because that is considered a refund.
MotherOfPoodles - I think the method of refund on the airfare would be a function of if you booked the airfare yourself or Tauck booked it for you.
If you booked the airfare yourself then it is subject to normal airline rules for cancellation. If the airline cancels the flight you will get a full refund (when this happened to me on an American flight, it took 2-3 weeks after the flight was cancelled to get the refund). If you initiate the cancellation before the airline cancels the flight then you are subject to their normal rules based on the type of ticket you purchased - refundable or non-refundable. The refund activity would go through the airline.
If Tauck booked your airfare and they cancel the tour, you should get a complete refund that includes the tour price and the airfare. The refund activity would go through Tauck.
If you cancel the tour and the airline hasn't cancelled the flight and Tauck hasn't cancelled the tour, then getting any refund would be subject to the rules of the Aon insurance. The refund activity would go through Aon.
Just two days ago, a Tauck agent told me that if you book the flight or of Tauck does it, if you have Tauck insurance then flights are under Tauck insurance. She specifically mentioned this when she advised we book flights ourselves because she couldn’t find flights for us at a good price or connection
Correctamundo
Have had to do it twice- once due to qualifying family emergency and once for some other non-COVID reason.
I didn't know that the Tauck trip insurance covered flights that you booked yourself (I think that's what you (British,Alan) are saying). That's an added benefit.
That is what I'm saying.
Just did some Googling and found this: https://www.tauck.com/guest-travel/travel-protection
The para on trip cancellation says this (no distinction is made for Tauck and non-Tauck booked air.
"Trip Cancellation – if you need to cancel your trip for any covered reason, prior to the scheduled departure date, these plans provide reimbursement for reasons that include sickness or injury to yourself, an immediate family member, or your traveling companion. The Tauck Guest Protection plan reimburses unused, prepaid, non-refundable airfare up to your total air ticket cost.The Tauck Cruise/Event/Train Protection plans reimburse unused, prepaid, non-refundable payments or deposits for your trip up to your total trip cost."
Further down it says, "Airfare costs may be covered under the Trip Cancellation benefits provided by our insurance partner and noted above."
Thank you all for your insights and comments. Just received an email from Tauck: Get Ready For Your Upcoming Trip- Jordan and Egypt. My husband and I agreed, this was pretty lousy timing and had a good laugh. February departure. We shall see……
Eduardo - You leave next Friday. I was just wondering if you heard anything from Tauck. I assume you are still going.
Wondering if departures since the Gaza conflict are still on after the outpouring of anti- American sentiment in Jordan and Egypt ( etc). Is anyone currently on this trip and what is the current level of security provided?
Thx.
Egypt has always been a security risk, Doesn’t Tauck already supply security guards everywhere, that’s what is always mentioned on the forum.
On one of our Africa trips to Tanzania, there had been a terrorist attack in Arusha, so our TD asked us all to carry our passports with us on the safari vehicles incase something happened and we could leave straight away without going back to the lodge. Maybe you might be asked to do that
Also. Be sure to register in STEP for your trip.
To be honest, there is a lot of anti American sentiment in many countries. As an American with a British accent, it’s surprising what people will say to me not realizing that.
I was on different Tauck trips in both Jordan and Egypt. There is an armed tourist policeman that travels with the group everywhere. In addition, you will be metal detected, bags xrayed, vehicles checked underneath with mirrors at just about every public place you visit/enter.
On my trips to those areas, there was always an armed policeman in civilian clothes with the group. That's mainly to protect you from criminals, not terrorists. So be aware of the situation before you go. British's suggestion to register with STEP is important.
Commenting on the insurance aspect, especially with regard to AlanS (hopefully you are well on the mend by now), I have understood that if YOU cancel your trip in advance then your Tauck air fare is covered for ANY reason, but the air you purchase on your own is only covered for a COVERED reason such as illness. What is still not clear is what happens if TAUCK cancels your trip. Do you get everything back, including your own airfare, AND the amount of money you paid for your insurance, or at least the opportunity to transfer everything to another trip? I guess we all need to be clarifying this before we book ANY trip nowadays.
Doing well, thanks. Still some soreness in places.
I believe you are correct for self cancellation.
If Tauck cancels- you get it "all back"- cost of trip and paid excursions refunded by Tauck, Tauck Air by Tauck/own air by AON, but I believe the insurance premium still goes into a "dream saver" which can be applied to the cost of any "Tauck product"- tour deposit, insurance, balance, for any tour booked or in the future, even merchandise, etc. You can ask for the refund (via method of original payment) or leave it in your "wallet" if you will be booking a tour soon. (During COVID Tauck offered a nice bonus if you did so!). Dream saver money is not technically refunded but is usable by you. At one time there was no expiration date, but that may have changed. Two things to remember, policies can change and phone agents may not have the correct details.
In addition to a private (paid by Tauck or Ministry of Tourism??), armed security guard on the bus/ship and following us when we visited most sites, we had a police/military vehicle escorting the bus to one or more areas (of Jordan?).
Remember, with so much of their economy dependent on tourism and the forthcoming opening of the GEM and other sites, Egypt does not want any incidents like the bus incident at Giza some years ago to affect the numbers. That is one reason they were not opening the Gaza border to refugees. I believe President Biden may have talked them into opening that border for relief supplies.
During our J&E we took private tours to the Meidum pyramid (down near Faiyum Oasis) and Saqqara (for a more in-depth look). Our guide had to file official travel plans and get permits ahead of time with local officials. No approval document- no visit! We were stopped and challenged several times enroute and at the site entrances. I believe the checks served several purposes- prevent smuggling (were crossed Governorates), protect tourists from unlicensed guides, and so they knew where foreigners were if there was a terrorist incident.
I don’t believe the dream saver still exists
Quite possibly. Anyone have recent experience?
When you think about it, no insurance company refunds premiums. Some give savings for safe driving, etc. but none refund the premium, so the Dream Saver was a welcome surprise that Tauck had no reason other than good will, to give. All tour companies took an incredible hit during COVID, Tauck included. According to public records, they qualified and accepted the Gov't stimulus, but I'm sure, even that didn't cover all losses or payroll.
In 2022, a regular Taucktourian was about to take a non-Tauck cruise (Crystal Cruises?), but before departure learned the company went under. The last I heard no refund was ever received. I don't know if the new owners, Abercrobie & Kent, which bought two large ships now operating under the "Crystal" name and Riverside which bought 5 river cruisers, offered partial refunds to former Crystal Cruises customers.
We were supposed to sail on a Crystal river cruise in March 2020. It was a duplicate bridge cruise and we had the entire ship. It was a Danube trip. Covid appeared. Crystal wouldn’t refund monies but offered credits . However, the travel agency which had made all the arrangements finally got a deal of sorts. We got our full air refunded from Lufthansa. We took the option of a cash payout from Crystal and the tour company of about 75% of total. We waited several weeks a this was negotiated with much effort. Some took the credits. I don’t believe they were ever able to use the credits because ,as you mentioned, they went bottom up
I highly doubt if the new owners of the Crystal name, or the ships, offered anything to the unsecured creditors (which the people who paid for a cruise are). The only chance the creditors had was in the bankruptcy proceedings.
Alan glad to hear you are continuing to improve. About the insurance - Tauck will move the insurance to another tour or save it for you except when it is a river cruise, those are lost.