06 Jan 09 Cancelling Your Holiday

No one wants to do it, but sometimes life simply interferes with your plans and you have to cancel your holiday.  It can be more than disappointing, though - cancelling your plans can actually be very frustrating, and not just because you won’t get to travel.  You may, in fact, actually lose money! One of the most important things to know when booking transportation, lodging, and event tickets is the cancellation policy.  Many places do allow you to cancel up to 24 or 48 hours in advance, but some, especially events, may not allow refunds at all.  If that’s the case or if you’re cancelling at the last minute, there are a few things you can do.  First, of course, is that you can just take the loss.  However, if you were planning to travel with friends or relatives, you can ask if you can transfer the reservation or ticket to them.  This way, at least someone gets to make use of it.  You can also ask if you can have credit instead of your money back.  Some businesses are willing to give credit for a later stay or ticket but are not willing to refund money. Because of these policies, it’s very important that if you are going to have to cancel your holiday that you cancel it as early as you can to avoid penalties.  If you’re cancelling a trip, it probably means you’re already caught up in anxiety over something.  There’s no need to be even more anxious about losing money.  If, however, the reason you’re cancelling is because of something that does not actually conflict with the dates of your trip (such as losing your job or an unforeseen expense), you may still want to take the holiday.  If you can’t get all of your money back, why lose it?  Take a break, get out of town, and worry about other situations once you get back.

Tags: holiday, lodging, reservation, transportation, travel