We had to cancel our trip to Japan and Thailand because of Covid-19. Last week we would have been in Japan and this week we would be in Thailand. Most of the trip was booked on points, taxes and fees. Canceling award nights at hotels is easy and you always get them back. I am not going to rate all hotels on how canceling went, because canceling reward nights is pretty simple. You always get your free night award certificates and points back, as long as it isn’t 48 hours before check in.
The companies That I Give An A
- Coming in at #1 is Idyllic Concept Resort in Koh Lipe Thailand. This was the only part of my trip that I really had to pay for. I don’t usually book an advanced booking rate for a hotel room because they are non-refundable. I booked it this time because I felt I was paying a lot for their best room. Five nights for around $1,500 US dollars is not that expensive to most people, but that is very expensive for Thailand (other than the Koh Samui part of Thailand). I thought it wouldn’t hurt to ask them if there was anything they could do, even though they are not obligated to. They first responded that I could reschedule up until October 30th. That would not work because that was the rainy season and I knew Covid was going to be here for a long time. They emailed me a few weeks later, when Thailand was shutting down, and gave me a voucher that can be used until May 2021. I thought that was very nice of them. There is a good chance I still will not be able to use it. I think we will be lucky to have a vaccine by then.
- Hilton. I am unsure if it was them or American Express made Hilton do it. They extended my free night award certificates that I get from the American Express Hilton Aspire Card. I had two that were expiring in June, but are now extended until August 30, 2021 because of Covid-19. I was really looking forward to staying at the new Conrad Osaka for free.
- American Airlines. They are one of the best airlines when it comes to changed award flights that you booked with points. The reason I say that, is because it is free to change your flight, as long as you don’t change the itinerary. I believe all airlines would waive their cancelation fees at some point, so I waited to change the date of my flight. They ended up being the first airline on my trip that waived this fee. The points and taxes were credited to me very quickly, which was great! We missed out flying in first class on Japan Airlines for this part of the trip
Passing Grade
- Cathay Pacific Airlines. After they canceled my flights, it took a long time for my miles to come back to my Asia Miles account and the fees/taxes back to my credit card. I believe they said it could take up to 8 weeks but, came in at around 4-6 weeks. This was our first class trip home from Bangkok to Boston through Hong Kong.
- Singapore Airlines. I had been checking in on them for awhile now. At one point they canceled one leg of my trip and still wouldn’t let me cancel the other part for free. They then changed it to being able to cancel it for free, but I had a hard time getting through online. If your flight wasn’t within 7 days, they wanted you to fill out a form to cancel or change flights. They finally ended up canceling the second leg of my trip a couple weeks ago. They told me it will take up to 8 weeks before I get my miles and taxes back. This would have been in business class from Tokyo to Bangkok through Singapore.
- IHG. We were suppose to stay at the Intercontinental Tokyo Ana with these points and free night certificates. We obviously received the points back with no problem, but our free night award certificates expired at the end of April. IHG has now extended them through December 2020. That was nice of them, but I don’t see us using them by then because of the virus. Hopefully they extend them longer when December comes. Then they would get an A.
Failing Grade
- JetBlue Airways. We received our points back, but they did not give our taxes back. They put the money in our JetBlue account. I know this was illegal by the laws in the United States, but I didn’t really care to fight them on it. It was only $12 because the flight was just to JFK to catch our Japan Airlines flight. The reason it was illegal, was because they changed the time of our flight. When an airline does this, you may cancel for free and get all your money back.
This is first world problems, but I just wanted you to see how I did on canceling this trip. Please stay healthy and safe! Hopefully we have a cure and a vaccine soon.