<p>The insurance situation was just ironic. My husband has been buying trip insurance recently for trips that he and I have taken. He is 70 and has a few chronic health problems that could suddenly cause problems. We just didn’t think of it for our usually healthy teen, especially since we had not paid for the trip directly. </p>
<p>I have told my son that we will pay for a second trip even without any credit for this one. I didn’t want money to enter into the decision process when his health was at stake. We have saved considerable money on his tuition due to his merit award that he will have for graduate school or for travel. So, all around he is extremely fortunate: he will likely fully recover from this illness and we can afford to try again. Things could be so much worse.</p>
<p>OOPs! The first part of my post (#21) disappeared. I will try to remember what I had written. First of all, CC is really therapeutic. Although I had thought of many of the points being made here, it is helpful to have those points reinforced by neutral parties. The potential serious nature of the abscess was kind of pushed out of my mind in all of the focus of trying to get him ready for the trip. I had looked up peritonsilar abscess online and discovered that it is what probably killed George Washington. We are extremely grateful for modern science and antibiotics. </p>
<p>S’s 4-year merit scholarship included one $4000 interim travel class which was used to pay for this trip. The director of the program said that he will be credited with any money that was not used to prepay expenses for the trip. Definitely the cost of the 3-day hiking/white water rafting adventure is not recoverable; they are in the middle of that experience right now. I think that was one of the factors in withdrawing; S knew that it came up during the first week and he just has no stamina. The cost of the motels and travel between national parks was also prepaid. If there was any tuition costs, I would think that we would have that credited. He will get a credit from the airline for a flight to be used sometime before next March. I can’t blame the college for the money loss but it just added insult to injury when I heard that he would not likely get any credited back. And since we can’t predict the future, maybe he will not be able to take any trips in the next two years because he has a fabulous internship in his field! </p>
<p>Thanks everyone for helping me work through this.</p>
<p>D1 injured her foot 3 days prior to her ballet summer intensive. The program was nice enough to refund the tuition, but not the room and board. We didn’t expect it and we didn’t ask for it. It’s not the school’s fault that OP’s son got sick and it is a spot someone else could have taken. I don’t think there is any ground to claim against the credit card company or the travel company. </p>
<p>Glad your son is feeling better. d1 had it a year ago, luckily the anti-biotic kicked in before they had to drain her, but she was quite I’ll.</p>
<p>Lotsofquests, another thing to be grateful for is that your son has the good sense to know his limits. If he’d tried to deny his condition and gone ahead with the trip, he may have had a relapse that could have been even more serious. To have a son with good sense is just priceless.</p>
<p>Yes but… it’s unethical and stealing from the company you paid to dispute a valid charge. My H’s company accepts CCs as well and we do get ripped off from time to time like that, but it’s certainly not something I would encourage, or that the OP sounds like they would want to pursue. </p>
<p>As others have said, it’s not the travel company’s fault that they saved a spot for OP’s son which they could not fill with another student at the last minute, and in fact incurred direct expenses to do so. It’s not up to them to take the loss for this, though it sounds like they are being helpful and crediting whatever they can recover.</p>
<p>There is so much to be gained by being SURE your S gets FULLY recovered so he can go on & have the wonderful life that is unfolding for him. It does sound like he and the family are taking this philosophically, in spite of the loss of money. He has so many years ahead of him to do this trip or one like it in the future, but his health and full recovery are INVALUABLE and will be the basis of what he is able to do in the future. Full R&R is really so important as part of that.</p>
<p>Agree that taking the high road is best. See if they will apply some of the funds they might be able to recover towards a possible future trip. IE- keep it as a credit in your account.</p>
<p>As an aside, I called the AAA in my late dad’s home state to see if they want his card, since he was a member since 1949!! I figured there weren’t many of those. They said that I should keep it , but they are sending me a small credit on the balance on his account from the date of his death til the end of his membership before the renewal date. That was very nice of them.</p>
<p>re: disputing valid charge – I agree completely that it’s totally unethical, and the people who do it are merely using the credit card companies to get out of a deal they made. But I was just posing it as an option for OP, because it sounds like they did not fully disclose to her the option to get insurance for a cancelled course, and it sounds like she has some grounds to dispute her charge purely on the misrepresentation. Just trying to help someone who sounds like they’ve been wronged.</p>
<p>I’m so sorry your son missed this great experience. Maybe he can do the trip next year. </p>
<p>I do want people to know and consider always buying trip insurance and some companies offer cancel for any reason if you buy it within the first 15 days of your first deposit. </p>
<p>There is also insurance for when you fly on mileage tickets and the fee to put them back if you have to cancel is high. I just bought this for my trip on Jet blue where I used miles but it would be $200 RT if I need to put them back. I bought the insurance for $15.</p>
<p>Life has bumps and unexpected occurances so buy insurance when you can so the money part doesn’t add to the disappointment</p>
<p>OP has already explained that there does not appear to be any charge card involved. That being the case, it would be moot to try to involve a charge card company. Even if not, it is up to the purchaser of services to see if there is any option for insurance if that is something the purchaser is interested in and to FIND the insurance that provides the terms and cost acceptable to purchaser NOT the seller.</p>
<p>Some of us prefer to self-insure and figure that all the many trips that we do NOT cancel more than make up the costs of the premiums we never had to pay. That said, some credit cards DO provide trip insurance, so if trips are paid for by credit card, it is good to check BEFORE you make your purchase, just to be sure you know what you are eligible for & perhaps choose the card you charge with accordingly. Rates and terms of cancellation insurance differ greatly. Many of the policies I have seen do NOT allow any cancellations due to “pre-existing” conditions, which can be VERY broadly defined, to insured’s detriment. Be sure to know what you are purchasing for those who chose to insure.</p>