Did you see if SW would extend your credit? I’d play the ‘my husband had surgery’ card and see what they can do for you. Fares might not be better in the fall, but they probably won’t be worse (they are very high right now, unless you can get one of their specials, and that’s usually 'book now and fly within the next 6 weeks).
5 Likes
When I go to any of the islands, I always stay in condos/apts/houses and cook & clean for myself - the prices are kind of out of sight right now as everyone is trying to make up for lost revenue of the last couple of years. If you went to O’ahu, you could do without a car and instead rely on the bus system (quite good) or even Lyft. I’m asking my D for the link to the place she stayed as a solo traveler, without a car. I’ve stayed here and loved everything about it, from the location, parking included and the property amenities. You could possibly rent a car for a few days vs the entire trip - Magnificent Ocean View Penthouse, free parking @ Waikiki Banyan - Waikiki
1 Like
Yes, likely wishful thinking. That VRBO is totally booked within until fall.
I agree with the above poster and ask SW to extend the credit.
It’s certainly worth a try; I searched online and it seems highly unlikely but who knows. Since husband’s surgery was February 1, I doubt that would be a consideration for them.
I did see that pre-COVID if your travel funds expired, you could transfer them onto a LUV voucher for $100. But I’ll bet that would be for each mine and my husband’s - the funds are banked for each person. So we would end up with $228 in travel funds. But better than nothing if we still want to make the trip!
…OK, just messaged Southwest via Twitter instead of emailing so they’d think I was cool and techie LOL.
3 Likes
Hawaii hotel prices are crazy! If you want to go to Maui instead of Oahu, PM me. We have a timeshare there that is on Kaanapali beach.
I didn’t look at the dates - so sorry
1 Like
Auto response from SW. “In the event we’re able to respond” LOL.
Thanks for reaching out to us! We currently are managing a high volume of conversations and are doing our best to get back with everyone. In the event we’re able to respond, please provide your Rapid Rewards number and/or your flight confirmation number.
Here’s a question for you – we’ve booked a (very expensive!) AirBNB for June.
I read in the description that they expect you to strip the beds and wash the sheets and towels.
Do you oblige these requests or leave the linens to them – after all, it’s your vacation!
If you haven’t done their laundry, have you ever been penalized financially?
I believe one Airbnb we stayed in (nice but not overly fancy) during the height of Covid asked us to strip the beds and leave all sheets and towels in a spot right by the washer -but did not ask us to actually wash them. We were fine with doing that as a Covid restriction - there often isn’t time to actually wash,dry and fold laundry by the typical 10 or 11an check out!
4 Likes
Many Airbnb’s seem to charge an exorbitant “cleaning” fee. If yours does, I’d let them do the laundry. If they don’t even do the laundry, would you trust they actually do much “cleaning” to justify the fee?
1 Like
Just checked - the cleaning fee is $200.
It is a four bedroom house, but only the two of us are going (very hard to find property right on a bay).
If you rent something knowing what they require then you should follow through with their instructions. If you have a flight and timing won’t permit completing the task then I would contact the owner, explain your situation and ask if it would be ok if you strip the beds and start the washer for them.
6 Likes
So only one bed? I’d throw the sheets and towels in the washer and put in the dryer if you have time. If not, strip the beds and put all your dirty linens next to the washer.
My sil’s cottage, there wasn’t enough time to do all the laundry before the next guests came. The cleaning crew would have to drop off the laundry at a laundry service. But they will have time with only one bed to do.
Cleaning all four bedrooms if full will take all the time between guests. One couple not so much.
$200 is probably the cost of the crew.
My opinion, when you rent a house it’s a different set of rules than a hotel. I’d throw the linens in the washer.
2 Likes
I’d follow their request, they can rate you negatively. This is one reason I don’t do Airbnb anymore. One apartment I rent in Florence I would like to give negative rating but didn’t.
1 Like
We do ask people to strip beds and start laundry if it’s not inconvenient, we also explain that laundry is slow and many guests (so many guests!) want early check in, so if they are able to start a load that’s ever so helpful.
Everyone and his brother wants early check in, 2-3-4 hours early and some want to stay late. I figure if they got early check in, they understand they are just paying it forward. We phrase it being if it’s convenient for them and we never rate someone down on not doing it, but there are some hosts, whew, they are tough. More helpful to me would be knowing which guests need to leave at 5-6-7AM so we could schedule cleaners to come in early, if the guest tells me when they check out, some cleaners can adapt their schedule, but often not, meaning that early departure doesn’t actually provide more laundry time as no one can go there to do it early.
I recently got rated down as an ABB guest for leaving coffee spilled on the (busy brown tile) counter. Um, wow, if that host could see some of the messes we clean up, spilled coffee is nothing, though normally I would still wipe it up. In general, I am amazed how clean most ABB/VRBO guests leave things.
Cleaner costs have gone up dramatically the past few years and whether it is just a couple or a full house, our cleaners still touch every surface, even if it does not look dirty, it gets recleaned, sanitary that way.
4 Likes
OK, I am in shock, Southwest answered me on Twitter and offered a refund!!! Woo hoo!!
Thank you EVERYONE who encouraged me to reach out! 
Good morning and sorry we missed you last night, Marilyn. We hope your husband has a speedy recovery! That said, we recognize that many of our Customers plan travel surrounding a specific event or occasion and I can only imagine your disappointment that you had to cancel plans altogether. While I’m not able to manipulate the expiration date, we can actually refund these travel funds due to the schedule changes this reservation was impacted by. Would that be okay with you? It would be two refunds in the amount of $223.87 back to the original form of payment. -Jeni
Both of our original flights did have schedule changes of a few hours before we cancelled - in the end, they both flew on time on the revised times (I had checked out of curiosity).
23 Likes
Great outcome
1 Like
Yeah!
And also boooo, that you had to cancel altogether.
1 Like
What I don’t understand about rentals like Airbnb and VRBO, is why there are not multiple sets of sheets and towels for each unit. Why can the cleaners not bring new linens to the home, and take the used to a laundromat? I don’t love the idea of the previous renter washing the towels and sheets with laundry detergent and on a load setting that will actually get them clean enough. Of course, that is also a concern with the cleaning people, but assume they will do the job they are paid for.
The beach companies I use to rent from required us to empty the fridge and trash can and dispose of the trash to the outside cans. Some asked for the beds to be striped, with towels and sheets left by the washer; dishwasher was to be run, I assume so the cleaner could put the dishes back in the cabinet. I have seen them arrive with clean linens, but again, this is from a rental company, so I believe they supple the linens for the owners.
Fortunately, or actually unfortunately, the house was cleaner when I left than when I arrived.
4 Likes