22 replies to this topic

[WreckWench]

VERY SAD NEWS:

 

The boat just notified me that the dry dock period for Aggressor 4 has slipped and now instead of being ready the week before our trip...it has slipped to the week after our trip or May 4. So we have officially been rescheduled.  

 

More info in the trip PM on reschedule possibilities but use this topic to provide input OR EMAIL TRIPS@SINGLEDIVERS.COM with your feedback.

 

 

OK WITH 2025 RESCHEDULE APRIL 19-26, 2025 ...will check some other dates as well but for sure at least the same week next year...

1. Zil
2. Ed
3. Sally
4. Jaque
5. Kamala
6. Lori
7. Butch
8. Brad
9. Max
10. Michelle R
11. Dave
12. Joel
13. Kevin
14. Paula
15. Shelly

 

 

 

 

1. Meg - Booked May 25 Aggressor to Roatan
2. Michelle - Booked Belize Sept Aggressor

 

OK WITH HAVING ANOTHER LIVEABOARD TRIP SUCH AS PALAU OR ROATAN ETC IN 2026 FOR USING THE $500 VOUCHER ON SINCE BELIZE IS PAID FOR:

1.  Ed ... Palau sounds good
2. Sally... Palau is good or Belize
3. Lori...Palau is great and Socorro
4.   Jaque in no particular order... Roatan, Caymans, BVI, Bahamas
5. Max ...keep me posted
6. Zil ...keep me posted..maybe Caribbean
7. Michelle B
8. Dave - good with ideas so far and want to participate for 2026 to use the money
9. Joel -good with ideas so far and want to participate for 2026 to use the money

 

PREFER TO USE MY $500 ON THE NEW BELIZE 2025 DATE:

1.   Brad
2.  Sally ??? maybe if I don't use on another trip
3.  Butch

WANT TO BOOK SOMETHING FOR APRIL OF THIS YEAR AS A MAKE UP...LANGBASED...Kamala has booked COZUMEL April 20-27:

 

1. Kamala
2. Dave
3. Lori
4. Ed
5. Ted
6. Christine
7. Brad
8. Max
9. Paula

 

SADLY I CAN'T COMMIT TO A LIVEABOARD IN 2025 OR 2026 at this time so please work to resell my spot:

 

1. Tom
2. Christine
3. Ted

 

NEED HELP WITH THE AIR AND INSURANCE:

 

PROTIP 1:  If you have DiveAssure and you change your old policy over to a new trip they will give you a full credit for what you paid towards the new policy. If you leave the money on the books until you DO have a new trip they will let you do that as well. If you ask for a refund they will have to charge a fee to facilitate.

 

This will be the most creative as all the airlines are different. As members figure out the minefield we will share their experiences. REMEMBER YOU DO NOT HAVE TO CANCEL UNTIL THE DAY OF THE FLIGHT... (at least covid was good for something right??? Otherwise we'd never have any refunds at all.)

 

1. Ed - credit issued. Will find throw away ticket to buy for travel before his 1 year anniversary of purchase date and will will a claim with trip ins or Aggressor for the cost of the throw away ticket. The balance can be used as a travel credit for up to a year.
2. Kamala - got 100% travel/flight credit on AA good for one year from yesterday so will not need to file on insurance nor with Aggressor.
3.  Butch - I was able to simply change my UNITED ticket  online to another United destination and they credited me back the difference as a travel credit.
4. Jaque:  I followed Kamala's advice and canelled online and got 100% credit good for 1 year from TODAY!!  I am gold with AA so not sure if they are still in the beta stages of this new program but it worked for me. Kamala said her agent said they hoped to be rolled to everyone by April.
5. Meg - I used miles and got them all back.
6. Tom - I used miles and got them all back.
7.  Zil - I was on West Jet and have a $200 cancellation fee so when I get the receipt I will work with Kamala on how to file for the refund.

 

Example 1 Ed: Ed was on a biz class rate due to his back so was over $1200 into his ticket. He called the airlines and they said he could cancel and get a full credit BUT had to at least spend part of the money on another ticket that would TRAVEL before the one year anniversary of the purchase date of the ticket. He got his ticket in Nov so he has until that date in Nov to FLY SOMEWHERE. If the ticket is less than what his total credit is for the rest will be banked as a travel credit that NOW has a full year expiry on to use up the balance.

 

The issue:  All his travel that he could do on AA has been booked for the rest of this year so he has nothing to spend the money on.

 

Options:

1. If he can find a trip to take he can buy another ticket good for travel before the expiration and use some or all of the money. Anything left over will be given to him as a travel credit good for one year form issuance.
2. He can submit all on his trip insurance but then he has to replace some coverage on his annual policy later costing him more money but this will avoid a 100% loss.
3. I called Aggressor and got special permission for him to book a 'throwaway' ticket for travel before his one year anniversary of his ticket purchase date for up to $400 and they will re-imburse him for that ticket. He must buy the ticket and the rest of his money will then be credited to him via a travel credit from the airlines good for 1 year from the issue date.  So he will buy the ticket for $400 or less and Aggressor will pay him for it if fully documented and then he gets a credit for the rest and he just 'no shows' for the flight. This combination retains 100% of his money.

Take Aways:  Wait as long as you can and consider a 'throw away ticket for $400 or less if no other options.

 

Example 2 Kamala: Kamala spoke to AA and they said to cancel ONLINE because any day now they would be changing over the system to give you 'travel credit' that can be used to book any air for you or others vs flight credit which only gives you credit for tickets for the named passenger. So I needed to buy a ticket for the NJ show this month and was going to wait until April to cancel as they said the program was delayed in being rolled out. Since the ticket was for me anyway I went ahead and cancelled and discovered that it gave me a full travel credit vs a flight credit and the best part... is that I had a year from yesterday vs a year from my purchase date.  

 

The issue:   I am status with AA so maybe they have rolled this new change out to their status members but not to everyone just yet.

 

Options:

1. If you can get a full travel voucher or even a flight voucher but from the date of cancellation vs your purchase date then you are pretty solid and will not need to file on trip insurance or with Aggressor.
2. If you can not get 100% of your money then we document it and file or trip insurance or with Aggressor if no trip insurance.

Take Aways:  Wait as long as you can and CANCEL ONLINE to try and get a full travel credit good for a year from your cancel date vs purchase date; at least on AA.com that is.

 

 

LET US KNOW WHAT YOUR EXPERIENCE IS AND LET US KNOW HOW WE CAN HELP WITH THE BEST WAYS TO CANCEL. You need to try and file on trip insurance if you can but that is not always practical or possible especially if the carriers are giving a full credit.

Edited by WreckWench, 06 April 2024 - 02:34 PM.

[Zil]

Bitch, bitch, bitch… whine….

 

Ok, that is out. 
 

I will wait to hear more from you on options. I know you will get us whatever we need to get insurance working for us on the flights.

[Diver Ed]

As Zil said, bitch, bitch, wine...  I was really looking forward to this trip for a number of reasons.  I am good with waiting for the rescheduled trip.  Belize on a liveaboard is a fabulous trip, so sign me up for the April 2025 dates.  Of course Palau is also an amazing option, so I might just have to do both.

[dive_sail_etc]

I prefer to wait for and join the rescheduled April 2025 trip.

[SalTea]

Either Belize or Palau, I'm flexible.

[Jaque]

Just spoke to American Airlines. They said that when I cancel, I will have one year from my ticket purchase date to fly on the travel credit. So I have to fly by Dec 9, 2024 to use the credit. I am hoping to use it for SingleDivers Little Cayman that is conveniently on the schedule for Dec 7, 2024.

I cancelled my hotels without penalty. My only other potential loss is my Dive Assure travel policy that was $538. I have emailed members@diveassure.com to see if I can just change the dates on that policy to our new dates next April when we get that confirmed. I have managed to change the dates on travel insurance policies before. I bought an expensive policy for Tubbataha for the wrong year. When I realized my mistake, I called them and they changed the dates for free, no problem. So if you have trip/dive insurance and plan to take the trip in 2025, try changing the dates on your policy. Probably cannot change the destination but you could ask.

[WreckWench]

Just spoke to American Airlines. They said that when I cancel, I will have one year from my ticket purchase date to fly on the travel credit. So I have to fly by Dec 9, 2024 to use the credit. I am hoping to use it for SingleDivers Little Cayman that is conveniently on the schedule for Dec 7, 2024.

I cancelled my hotels without penalty. My only other potential loss is my Dive Assure travel policy that was $538. I have emailed members@diveassure.com to see if I can just change the dates on that policy to our new dates next April when we get that confirmed. I have managed to change the dates on travel insurance policies before. I bought an expensive policy for Tubbataha for the wrong year. When I realized my mistake, I called them and they changed the dates for free, no problem. So if you have trip/dive insurance and plan to take the trip in 2025, try changing the dates on your policy. Probably cannot change the destination but you could ask.

Thank you Jaque...

 

II called and they said the same to me BUT BUT BUT... the agent told me to wait til April because they are rolling out a new program to get people to do cancellations online. So if you cancel ONLINE you will get a travel credit good for 1 year from cancellation... NOT purchase. If you call them it will be from purchase. The only rub may be if you are not status with AA.  Ed called and had the same experience as you. I cancelled online and got 100% as travel credit good for a year from yesterday. I am low level status so that *may* have something to do with it... I'm waiting for someone else to try and see what they find.

 

YES DiveAssure will apply insurance from a cancelled trip to a new one. There will be no add'l fee unless the new policy is more expensive than what you had. I  am not sure what they will do about a cheaper policy???  If anyone hears... let me know

[Lets.Go.Diving]

Definitely a bummer but planning on next year’s dates already. Palau is absolutely amazing. One of my favorite dive trips ever. I would love to go back. Another one I would do again in the heartbeat is Socorro. As long as the trip doesn’t fall during either of my busy seasons, due to my tax deadlines, I’m in.

[WreckWench]

Definitely a bummer but planning on next year’s dates already. Palau is absolutely amazing. One of my favorite dive trips ever. I would love to go back. Another one I would do again in the heartbeat is Socorro. As long as the trip doesn’t fall during either of my busy seasons, due to my tax deadlines, I’m in.

Let us know your busy seasons... and I'll add socorro to the list. (I am however biased to the original company that created that destination ... ie. Nautilus Explorer)

[Jaque]

I can confirm what Kamala said. I just cancelled online (versus on the phone) and got a travel credit good for a year from today, not Dec 9 like they told me on the phone. According to the website, this deal is only on or after March 11 (tomorrow). I got deal today but it might be worth waiting a day or two to be sure you get the new deal. I am Gold with AA so that may have helped.

[WreckWench]

I can confirm what Kamala said. I just cancelled online (versus on the phone) and got a travel credit good for a year from today, not Dec 9 like they told me on the phone. According to the website, this deal is only on or after March 11 (tomorrow). I got deal today but it might be worth waiting a day or two to be sure you get the new deal. I am Gold with AA so that may have helped.

The platinum agent to me the program will be for EVERYONE but they may have used status flyers as the beta. He said it was going to roll out anytime now BUT they heard it was delayed until April.  I hope someone who is NOT status cancels ONLINE and let's us know.

 

Tom tried to use the app and it would not work... so USE A COMPUTER and log into your account and let us know.

[WreckWench]

MORE AIR UPDATES:

 

TOM:  I tried the app and it would not work but online via the computer worked perfectly. I was on a miles ticket and got all my miles back and bag fees I had prepaid etc.  So NO issues for me.

 

And check the summary of the first post...we are capturing all the info there to help you.

[Scuba Dave]

At this time I'm good for the Belize rebooking in 2025.

 

I'm also interested in a 2024 replacement (boat or land tour) if the dates don't change to much.

 

2026 - I loved my Palau trip so I'm interested if SD goes.

            Also, Dominica, BVI's,  Roatan, Great Barrier Reef, Caymans would be nice choices 

 

I have no status on AA so when I go Online to cancel It get a message that I would get Travel Credit - so I'm assuming that means use the $$$ with in a year of purchase.

                                     So I'll wait till late April to cancel my flights, Maybe something will come up and I can use my Credit.

 

          "After you cancel, you’ll receive travel credit for the value of your trip to use for future travel on American."

[WreckWench]

At this time I'm good for the Belize rebooking in 2025.

 

I'm also interested in a 2024 replacement (boat or land tour) if the dates don't change to much.

 

2026 - I loved my Palau trip so I'm interested if SD goes.

            Also, Dominica, BVI's,  Roatan, Great Barrier Reef, Caymans would be nice choices 

 

I have no status on AA so when I go Online to cancel It get a message that I would get Travel Credit - so I'm assuming that means use the $$$ with in a year of purchase.

                                     So I'll wait till late April to cancel my flights, Maybe something will come up and I can use my Credit.

 

          "After you cancel, you’ll receive travel credit for the value of your trip to use for future travel on American."

 

 

Dave great to hear from you...

 

 

AIRLINE CREDITS:

 

TRAVEL CREDIT should be the GOOD ONE.... = good for 1 year after cancelling. But hey wait til April unless you plan to book something now.   FLIGHT CREDIT = only good for you and based upon purchase.  I think they have made the full change over but no need to rush...

 

If someone else does not care if its a year from purchase OR cancel...then pls try it and let us know.

 

SOMEPLACE FOR THIS APRIL:

 

I have requested availability at several places and hope to know by Tuesday if we can put a small group together to just go play...

 

FUTURE TRIPS FOR THE AGGRESSOR $500 VOUCHER:

 

Palau = yes possible

Dominica = not serviced by Aggressor

BVI's, = yes possible 

Roatan, = yes possible

Great Barrier Reef,= not serviced by Aggressor 

Caymans = yes possible.

 

BELIZE REBOOKING 2025:

 

Yay... so glad you are onboard! 

[WreckWench]

VIA EMAIL:

 

Max is in for April 2025

Interested in a trip for April 2024 if we can find something

Probably interested in a trip to use our $500 aggressor voucher in 2026