I didn't realize that not everyone could purchase trip cancellation insurance, so we are fortunate even if the price is high. In the Canadian province of Ontario, there is even a Travel Industry Act to provide protection if a tour operator goes bankrupt after deposits have been made or (heaven forbid) if you are stranded out of country/province and when an insolvency situation occurs. There are qualifiers, one is that you must have booked through a TA registered with the province of Ontario.

We used to have that type of protection, but when Ansett (airline) and Traveland (its affiliated travel company) collapsed in 2001, all changed, and insurance companies who were stung then changed their policies. We were affected then and managed to get all our money back eventually for a trip to Bali. When my husband had a heart attack 10 days before a trip to Thailand, we got our airfares back from the airline and accommodation costs from Qantas Holidays, because we had a doctor's certificate. We didn't even need to use our travel insurance and that was refunded to us. You can see why we're very conscious of the need to protect our money!

Absolutely! Travel is very expensive, and the dollars are hard worked for.

Here is what Trafalgar has said about the situation

Posted 08 April 2008 12:30 Hide Post
There have been a number of postings to the Bulletin Board in the last week on the subject of cancelled guaranteed departures.

Trafalgar sincerely regrets any inconvenience or concern caused should your original tour departure have been cancelled. Our decision to cancel any departure is taken after very careful consideration and is a direct result of a combination of factors all affecting peoples' plans to travel in 2008; the continuing economic slowdown in the USA and elsewhere, continuing rising oil prices and the further weakening of the US$ to the Euro (comparison to September 2007).

Trafalgar has taken the decision to contact a very small number of our clients booked on guaranteed departures where client numbers are at levels that would not have generated the group travel experience and camaraderie that our clients expect when travelling with us. Other companies chose to surcharge their prices in the USA up to 10% for the issues mentioned above but we decided not to increase costs to our clients travelling from the USA, opting rather to encourage travel in 2008 at our published prices.

The cancellation of a very small number of our guaranteed departures (less than 1/2 % of our total departures in Europe), is nonetheless upsetting when travel plans have been made. Trafalgar will work with each and every one of our clients affected to find a suitable alternative.

Trafalgar has the widest range of departures and styles of touring of any operator and this strength will help us to find suitable alternatives, more often than not, without the need to change any flight plans previously made. However, should flights need to be changed, we will work together with your travel agent to find alternatives at no extra cost to you.

Should you have any concerns, please contact Trafalgar via your travel agent so that we can discuss these with you.

Your sincerely,
Trafalgar Tours

I just thought I would add one of the good news stories. Insight cancelled one of our tours less than 24 hours ago, (Read Panic!!!!) and what had made it worse was that it was a part of our honeymoon with lots of connections etc and left the possibility of it all going pear shaped. To the credit of our travel agent and the staff at Insight in Sydney, they worked out a way of flipping us across to other tours that fit in with our airline schedules and kept it all together (yep the airfares were non-refundable). Anyone who has had a bad experience in this area has my deepest sympathies as I did not like the idea of explaining to my wife to be (She might have said NO!!) that the trip of a lifetime had taken a nose dive. In this one case, I have to thank Insight for being able to think sideways and also successfully rearrange things so we are stil able to do 98% of our original plan. If I sound relieved, it is because I am, but luckily some things work out, so thanks where thanks is due.

Sorry to hear about your cancelation Martin but that is really good news that Insight were so helpful in sorting things out for you.

Have a great tour and congratulations in advance.

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For those of you considering booking a tour with this company, understand it is hit and miss and really consider if it is not TG - this is very similar to gambling at a casino. You win some you lose some, but personally I prefer better odds!
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To nvanvalleygirl's comment above: As a very satisfied veteran of six Insight tours, I feel I should defend Insight. We've been lucky in that our tours have never been canceled, and we usually booked about 11 months in advance. I trust Insight. And no, I'm not on their payroll. But I predict that with the economic slowdown in the US and other countries, all of the tour operators, not just Insight and Trafalgar, will probably have more cancellations in the coming months and fewer guaranteed tours next year.

The news in the US has been about foreclosures and vanishing pension plans, although oil prices did go down a bit today. I'm worried about my 401k. Overseas travel is out of the question for me for a while. I wish I could end on a more positive note. How about: This too shall pass.

Hi

Well I am laverne and after reading how many times trips have been cancelled wow I am scared to book on one now

I want to go to Finland, but have not seen any pictures on here from anyone that has gone there, Norway yes,but I do not want my trip to be cancelled as I could not take another time to do it holy cow what to do!

We are doing the Grand Tour of Scandinavia, which includes Finland. Our tour leaves Canada on June 13, 2009, and is now TG. Even so, we have taken travel insurance out, in case Insight cancels. Why not join us, since the tour is guaranteed already?

quote:

Originally posted by Laverne:

I want to go to Finland, but have not seen any pictures on here from anyone that has gone there, Norway yes,but I do not want my trip to be cancelled as I could not take another time to do it holy cow what to do!

Laverne, If you look in the Gallery, several people have posted photos from the "Grand Tour of Scandinavia". My own Tour Tale http://forums.insightvacations.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/64110241/m/537104952 has links to some albums. Days 5 through 9 of the tour were in Finland.

Jeanie