Canceled trip
I recently had my first trip fail. my long-awaited cruise with my best friends. I did not make it because of weather delays. I had booked the flights on points and the cruise with my Chase Sapphire Reserve. My friend and cruise travel agent - Mary Kennedy (marymkennedy@att.net) got us an amazing deal on our 3-day cruise.
I had never missed a trip before. I had read about others missing trips so I knew what to expect. I knew for my travel insurance on my credit card to kick in I needed to wait for Southwest to cancel this ticket. It took them 9 hours to cancel the flight. I sat in the airport with no update. This was a weather-related cancellation so I knew they owed me nothing other than returning my points and the small amount I paid in taxes. It was pretty evident our flight was not going earlier in the day. All the other flights to everywhere in Florida from Nashville were canceled earlier in the day. I knew this was my only chance to get there so I sat and waited as others gave up and went home. We sat there so long people were hugging each other as they left knowing we weren’t going on any of the fun adventures we had planned. When my flight was canceled I could not get to Ft Lauderdale until the night after my cruise set sail.
I was pretty irritated we were left there that long with no information. Once I got home I contacted Southwest nicely and said the situation could have been handled better. I love Southwest and didn’t want to be mad at them but I thought I could get over it if I just let them know. This helped me tremendously so I moved on and didn’t think about it again. A few days later they emailed me a $100 Luv voucher toward a new flight for the inconvenience of sitting in the airport that long with no updates etc. They also said I could reach out to see if I was eligible to get compensation for the canceled flight. I almost didn’t take the time then I thought why not. I did not expect anything they could blame the delay on the weather which is not their fault. Since they said I could reach out I thought why not. After I submitted everything they requested they sent me a $200 Luv voucher.
As for the cruise, I knew it was non-refundable when I booked it. I thought there was no way I was going to miss it. I was wrong. I contacted Celebrity Cruises and had them send me a statement for what I would get back. I was told I would be refunded my taxes and fees. I needed the statement to file a claim with the travel insurance provided with my Chase Sapphire card. This was $137.50. This is where having an amazing cruise agent like my friend Mary (marymkennedyatt.net) helped. Mary contacted Celebrity on my behalf. She spoke to an awesome agent who agreed I should have gotten my pre-paid gratuities, prepaid internet, and the shore excursion returned. She worked hard with multiple phone calls to ensure I got back everything I could.
I have filed a claim for the cruise fare with my Chase Sapphire card. I heard back they have everything they need to look at the claim. It was a lot of paperwork but relatively easy. I am currently waiting for the claim to be processed.
