Wpgjetse

So she is not pregnant. Life does not guarantees this. I think AC should allow cancellations, but only with DR note confirming pregnancy. If not, I can only see problems for airlines or hotels. Bad weather, cancel, last min sell off, cancel res and re-book. etc, etc.

Admiral Ackbar

My goodness you are a piece of work, almost like you do it on purpose /s.

Which part of

was not clear to you?

Wpgjetse

?????

My quote was based on op quote " Wife will be pregnant in three weeks" Didn't I say AC should allow cancellation if person is pregnant? Which parts didn't you understand? Or do you just get off taking on personal shots?

CloudsBelow

It's common courtesy to fellow Forum members to read posts before posting. Perhaps mods should add RTFT to our glossary for the posters far more interested in writing than reading.

Back to topic, I'm basically shut out everywhere for now. Delighted to learn even the most expensive Resorts and Credit Cards can leave you holding the bag like a Motel6 and a new student credit card would.

Guess I will be a last-minute shopper for future Family trips.

SparseFlyer

I always last minute shop. It's the best kind of shopping.

Especially if you are flexible with destination, you can find really good deals (especially to the Caribbeans).

That's one of the things I don't like about booking too early. You never know what can happen.



But to answer your original question, unless you're now a woman (and pregnant) I don't think AC will refund you.



Edit: Oh, also, the most expensive resorts are the one that have the most to lose from having empty rooms, so I doubt this would be a criteria. Unless you booked directly with the hotel at a fully refundable rate, I doubt many would help you out.

I think that companies are just preventing the absolute mess that can be created by panic selling (lol stock market). Once it's absolutely confirmed, I am sure most companies will come around.


When exactly are you travelling? You said few weeks, but not sure if its three weeks or 8 weeks or more. If more than a month, I would wait at least 2 weeks. The extent of the "danger" is still unclear.

winnipegrev

Unfortunate situation, though I'm not sure airlines should be essentially providing free insurance against diseases/viruses especially to locations where many sales are package deals. On top of AC being out the $$ flying empty seats to the Caribbean last minute, I'd imagine it would be impossible to get the resorts to comply with refunds agreed to by AC and there is no way the airline would absorb those costs themselves.

Hopefully something reasonable like name change can be worked out with AC and at least someone can go on the trip.

Northern Canuck

Glad that AC has joined United, AA, JetBlue etc. now if only Sunwing and American Express would you'd be ok. You have to be a very evil corporation to put profits before a deformed baby! Remember that at re-newal time and the next time you book a vacation.
Public shaming can do wonders.
Sparse his wife is pregnant and AC is refunding according the the link YVR posted.

flyquiet

I did too, and I have absolutely no reason to be even reading this thread.

mikeymikd

On a serious note, I really can't fathom how AC wouldn't refund pregnant and their party.

Kendryk

[email protected]

If I were in your situation, I'd help the public be informed of AC's policies (or lack thereof in this case). I'd also give AC the heads up that you are doing it, just to give them a fair chance to respond. Not advocating this as an intimidation tactic, but I'm sure more people than just your family is affected by this situation.

They might also reach out to gov officials which may prompt the gov to issue a travel advisory and trigger the trip cancellation coverage, allowing you to claim through Amex Plat if AC doesn't budge.

This is now a public health issue and not just about the dollars. I'm also quite certain that there is insurance to cover AC's costs in cases just like this.

J. Leslie

Not much to add except:

1) congrats CB on the impending new arrival!
2) I hope both Sunwing and AC step up and do the right thing.

Endangering a newborn for the sake of corporate profit is unspeakable - as is putting the OP through the stress of having to fight for this.

RCyyz

Respectfully, it's not unreal. I acknowledge that Zika has the potential to be nasty particularly to pregnant women and specifically to the unborn child. But per the Pan American Health Organization (basically a part of WHO):

So there's a (very new-found) relationship between Zika and microcephaly. Furthermore, it seems that roughly 1 in 4 people display symptoms (headache, joint pain, fever etc) once bitten but only a small number of symptomatic people develop more serious complications.

Zika is not new. It was first identified in humans in the 1950s. It's only very recently (2015) that Brazil identified 29 (tragic!!!) infant deaths from Zika virus. But by comparison, Yellow Fever (another mosquito-borne illness) is responsible for about 30,000 deaths each year. It's estimated that there are 390 million Dengue infections each year of which 500,000 require hospitalization and about 12,000 die each year. The list of nasty viruses goes on and on - Chikungunya, Japanese encephalitis, Malaria ... all carried by mosquito bites.

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs100/en/
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs117/en/
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/wr/mm6503e2er.htm

So really, there's little scientific reason to support a no-travel policy for Zika. What would be prudent is to avoid mosquito bites which is something that's applicable to all other mosquito-borne diseases. Wear long sleeves, long pants, shoes (not sandals), use DEET and should be OK.

After Burner

I have mixed feelings about this but I'm having a hard time finding a reason to disagree with your point. In effect airlines do provide insurance against such circumstances because tickets are refundable. Except, of course, if a customer agrees to assume that risk himself, he can do so by buying a deeply discounted ticket. It doesn't seem right to agree to those terms and then expect a refund in a "special" situation.

RCyyz

P.S. I should add - I'm not insensitive to the inherent desire to protect your pregnant wife / unborn child. But based on available research, I personally don't believe this is a cancel situation. Use DEET, pray for nice sunny warm weather with a gentle breeze and enjoy your trip!

Finkface

And not that it's an issue for the OP or even that much danger now (in the winter), but we now have 2 confirmed cases of Zika here in BC. So Zika is pretty much everywhere now. And while AFAIK we don't have Aedes Aegypti mosquitos here, we now have confirmed carriers of Zika. My guess is that any place with Aedes Aegypti has the potential for Zika as carriers are often ignorant of the fact that they are infected so if you want to take it to the extreme, then any place with Aedes Aegypti and that includes Hawaii, should be avoided by pregnant women. That, or take the usual precautions, such as Deet and proper clothing since Zika isn't the only thing these buggers carry and we've all survived thus far. If airlines refunded for every potential health risk, even if it really only affects a small, select group, then all tickets would be refundable. Insurance is still the best insurance.