I have been planning a family reunion to Aruba for over a year with eight family members. We're supposed to go next Sunday, but my FIL, who was the reason for the trip, is suddenly critically ill.

We paid for all the rooms through a known Aruba packager. I put travel insurance on the rooms that my husband and I were paying for, but my FIL, despite my dire warnings, decided not to put insurance on the other two.

The packager is telling us that he may be able to work with us a little bit on the rooms that don't have travel insurance, but that there will be steep cancellation penalties, etc.

Maybe I'm mistaken, but I thought that if we got a letter from the attending physician at my FIL's hospital, we'd all get a complete refund whether or not we had bought travel insurance. Am I totally wrong??

Thanks for your help!

Have you read the fine print regarding cancelations in your paperwork and see what it states?

Your situation is what travel insurance is for. My TA has always warned me if we didn't buy the travel insurance we would lose everything, but what is stated by that particular hotel or airline, if we didn't go. She had always suggested to buy travel insurance to cancel for any reason, which costs a little more. I'm afraid you're at the mercy of the packager.

I'm very sorry for your situation and hope everythings works out.

KVR,

Yes, I've read the fine print and it does support what the packager is telling us. I just wish that my FIL had read it, too, before deciding not to go with travel insurance. Anyway, thank you for your help and good wishes.

This might not help you out in the short run, but if you cannot get a refund, they might let you put the money already paid against the rooms towards future travel. Perhaps if your FIL makes a full recovery (and I hope that he does!) you could reschedule your reunion without losing much money.

this may be worth a try. call the credit card company that was used to pay for this trip. some companies provide free trip cancellation insurance when you use their card. it's worth a shot, you may get lucky and you'll find out with just a phone call. good luck.

Thanks to everyone for their good wishes and advice! I really appreciate it.

pwj155, Thanks for the great idea. I didn't think about having my MIL call my FIL's credit card company. Hopefully, you're right!