Interval international won’t give me a future credit for a Getaway purchase.

[Mrs. Duckworth]

I booked a Getaway to Palm Desert Westin Desert Willow Villas, for Sept 11-18-2020 through Interval International last December 2019. I bought the additional Allianz Travel Insurance to cancel if necessary; this was well before COVID 19. Now I’m supposed to travel this Friday to Palm Desert but I’d prefer to cancel because of COVID. I read through the insurance policy and even though this was well before COVID, the policy states that epidemics aren’t a valid reason to cancel. I called Interval and they won’t give me any options like, credit for future travel. I paid $501 for the one week getaway and an additional $30+ for the insurance. While this is not a lot of money, I hate to just walk away from $500. Is this just the downside of purchasing a getaway from Interval? Does anyone have any suggestions how I can get some sort of credit? Or any suggestions how I might do this differently next time?
Thanks so much, for any advice you might have.

 

[Shankilicious]

Basically if the resort is open and travel is open they're not gonna refund or credit you anything. Kind of just the way it goes.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

 

[PamMo]

Sorry, but that's the way Getaways work. I was out FOUR Getaways this summer, so I know how you feel, Mrs. Duckworth.

 

[mjm1]

I booked a Getaway to Palm Desert Westin Desert Willow Villas, for Sept 11-18-2020 through Interval International last December 2019. I bought the additional Allianz Travel Insurance to cancel if necessary; this was well before COVID 19. Now I’m supposed to travel this Friday to Palm Desert but I’d prefer to cancel because of COVID. I read through the insurance policy and even though this was well before COVID, the policy states that epidemics aren’t a valid reason to cancel. I called Interval and they won’t give me any options like, credit for future travel. I paid $501 for the one week getaway and an additional $30+ for the insurance. While this is not a lot of money, I hate to just walk away from $500. Is this just the downside of purchasing a getaway from Interval? Does anyone have any suggestions how I can get some sort of credit? Or any suggestions how I might do this differently next time?
Thanks so much, for any advice you might have.

I wouldn’t be overly concerned about Covid in Palm Desert. We are headed there in October, so I have been tracking the cases and deaths in three of the local cities we frequent while in the area. The cumulative numbers to date are as follows:

Palm Desert: cases= 973; deaths= 51
Rancho Mirage: cases= 229; deaths= 23
La Quinta: cases= 752; deaths= 18

Cities of Palm Springs and Indio are higher, but we will stay away from those.

Granted the population size of these cities is smaller, so the numbers are partially due to that. So, consider pretending you are home and practice social distancing, wash your hands, etc. and enjoy your time there. That’s what we are going to do.

Best regards.

Mike

 

[klpca]

I wouldn’t be overly concerned about Covid in Palm Desert. We are headed there in October, so I have been tracking the cases and deaths in three of the local cities we frequent while in the area. The cumulative numbers to date are as follows:

Palm Desert: cases= 973; deaths= 51
Rancho Mirage: cases= 229; deaths= 23
La Quinta: cases= 752; deaths= 18

Cities of Palm Springs and Indio are higher, but we will stay away from those.

Granted the population size of these cities is smaller, so the numbers are partially due to that. So, consider pretending you are home and practice social distancing, wash your hands, etc. and enjoy your time there. That’s what we are going to do.

Best regards.

Mike

Agree with this. We just got back from Tahoe and for the most part I felt very safe. We drove ourselves, brought our food for the week in a cooler, did activities that limited our contact with others (hiking, biking, kayaking) and stayed in our unit instead of eating out. It was different, but fine. I would have done the exact same thing at home. Of course nothing is 100% safe and everyone has a different tolerance level. But as for Interval, I wouldn't expect them to offer anything as the resort is open and is taking covid precautions.

 

[tschwa2]

I think they are a little more lenient if you are coming across international borders or to/from states with long quarantine periods but in the OP's case it is within the same state, resort is open and no essential travel only orders within the state so Interval isn't go to offer anything.

 

[davidvel]

I booked a Getaway to Palm Desert Westin Desert Willow Villas, for Sept 11-18-2020 through Interval International last December 2019. I bought the additional Allianz Travel Insurance to cancel if necessary; this was well before COVID 19. Now I’m supposed to travel this Friday to Palm Desert but I’d prefer to cancel because of COVID. I read through the insurance policy and even though this was well before COVID, the policy states that epidemics aren’t a valid reason to cancel. I called Interval and they won’t give me any options like, credit for future travel. I paid $501 for the one week getaway and an additional $30+ for the insurance. While this is not a lot of money, I hate to just walk away from $500. Is this just the downside of purchasing a getaway from Interval? Does anyone have any suggestions how I can get some sort of credit? Or any suggestions how I might do this differently next time?
Thanks so much, for any advice you might have.

How could a travel insurance policy cover someone not wanting to travel? They would go bankrupt overnight.

 

[Mrs. Duckworth]

Thank you everyone for you thoughtful replies.

 

[hurnik]

How could a travel insurance policy someone not wanting to travel? They would go bankrupt overnight.

They do, it's called CFAR = Cancel for Any Reason, and typically only covers 75% of non-refundable costs. The cost of the policy (vs. a comprehensive policy) is typically 2-3x the price (ie: a Comprehensive policy costs $100, the CFAR would cost $200-300).

And also you typically have to cancel 24-48 hours BEFORE the trip is scheduled to take place (to invoke the CFAR portion).

 

[pedro47]

They do, it's called CFAR = Cancel for Any Reason, and typically only covers 75% of non-refundable costs. The cost of the policy (vs. a comprehensive policy) is typically 2-3x the price (ie: a Comprehensive policy costs $100, the CFAR would cost $200-300).

And also you typically have to cancel 24-48 hours BEFORE the trip is scheduled to take place (to invoke the CFAR portion).

Can you purchase this policy thru II ?

 

[davidvel]

They do, it's called CFAR = Cancel for Any Reason, and typically only covers 75% of non-refundable costs. The cost of the policy (vs. a comprehensive policy) is typically 2-3x the price (ie: a Comprehensive policy costs $100, the CFAR would cost $200-300).

And also you typically have to cancel 24-48 hours BEFORE the trip is scheduled to take place (to invoke the CFAR portion).

Well I guess it does and it doesn't as it doesn't cover 100% and costs 200-300% more. At those rates I guess they can stave off bankruptcy, but I'd suspect COVID has to be testing their actuarial model. I am curious if they are still selling these policies.

 

[hurnik]

Can you purchase this policy thru II ?

AFAIK, no. Although if you're getting a getaway (cash booking, basically), there's no point to use II insurance, IMO. Now, if it were an *exchange* then it's a different story as typically third party (insuremytrip, squaremouth) policies don't cover timeshares, just actual money you paid for the vacation.

I live in NY where we can't get CFAR policies period (even though the Governor announced a few months ago he was lifting the ban - no insurance company offers it here).

 

[hurnik]

Well I guess it does and it doesn't as it doesn't cover 100% and costs 200-300% more. At those rates I guess they can stave off bankruptcy, but I'd suspect COVID has to be testing their actuarial model. I am curious if they are still selling these policies.

A lot of companies temporarily stopped issuing them immediately after COVID. However, if you go to insuremytrip.com (depending on your state - us NY can't get CFAR) you can see how many policies there are with a CFAR option and find the pricing. Costs vary by age and insured amount, typically.