International Jaunts 2020

It took a while — from 14 March when our 2020 overseas travel plans fell through until 19 June when the last of the refunds for our canceled plans posted to the credit card — but I'm now able to put a checkmark next to the to-do list for this most unpleasant tasker.

Our 2020 plans included:

* two cruises — one of which took us from the US to Spain; the other one was eventually canceled by Oceania Cruises.

* seven flights — two of which took us from Barcelona to İzmir; and three of which took us from İzmir back to Denver; the remaining two flights were eventually canceled by the carriers ... SunExpress and Norwegian Air.

* one bus ride — which was eventually canceled by the operator .... National Express.

* sightseeing passes in England and Spain — both of which we canceled once the cruise was no longer possible.

All of our unused tickets/fares were refunded back to the original form of payment ... in most cases with no hassles. Even the miles for the flights we had to rebook at the airport in Istanbul (because IAH in Houston doesn't have COVID-19 testing facilities) were redeposited and fees refunded ... no questions asked.

Oceania gave us the option of a full refund for our canceled cruise, or a 125% future cruise credit on the base fare and a refund to the CC for the taxes and fees. We opted for the latter and plan to apply the FCC to a 2022 cruise that's been on the books for a while now.

SunExpress was the only company that insisted they would only give us a voucher or rebook us for a different flight. So, we initiated a dispute with Chase, which in turn prompted the carrier to refund the full amount back to our credit card.

They say patience is a virtue. Practicing that virtue paid off for us. By waiting for carriers/operators to cancel sailings and flights, we reduced the hit to our wallet. Our $ loss for all of our canceled plans — $82.66 — was due entirely to exchange rate differences from the time when those plans were made (over a year in some cases) and when the refunds were issued. Unavoidable ... and an amount that we can live with under the circumstances.

We're itching to travel overseas again, but I don't think it's going to happen any time soon. At least not until fall or winter. In the meantime, we'll continue to make use of our RV to explore our home state.Les mer