Changing or Cancelling a Vacation Package

Almost everything depends on two dates: the day the balance falls due, and the day the terms tighten. Before those, changes are often straightforward. After them, what is possible narrows quickly, and on some arrangements it narrows to nothing. Call +1 (323) 800 6001 and we will tell you exactly where your booking stands rather than leave you reading terms at midnight.

Nobody books a trip expecting to change it, so these terms are usually read for the first time under stress. This page sets out what normally happens, what the words mean, and what to ask at the moment of booking so you are not finding out later. We are describing how these arrangements generally work; the terms you agreed to are what actually govern your booking.

The two dates that decide everything

Write both of these down the day you book. They matter more than any other detail of the arrangement.

• The balance due date. Usually some weeks before departure. Until then you have generally paid a deposit, and your exposure is limited to it. After it, you have paid for the trip.
• The date the terms tighten. Most arrangements have a point at which changing or cancelling moves from straightforward to costly, and then to impossible. It is often, but not always, the same as the balance date.

We tell you both without being asked, at the time of booking. If you have booked somewhere else and do not know yours, find them before you need them. The difference between acting the day before and the day after one of those dates can be the whole value of the trip.

Changing the dates

Moving a trip is usually more achievable than cancelling it, and it is worth asking about first.

A package generally moves as one piece: the flight and the accommodation shift together or not at all. What it involves depends on the arrangement, on how close you are to departure, and on whether the new dates are more or less in demand than the old ones. Moving from a quiet week to a peak one normally means paying the difference, and moving the other way does not usually return it.

Where a trip was booked as two separate things rather than one package, each part changes on its own terms. That can be better, because you may be able to move one and keep the other, and it can be worse, because you are dealing with two sets of rules and two deadlines.

Call us before you change anything yourself. There are cases where moving the flight first and the accommodation afterwards works out considerably better than doing it the other way round, and that is not obvious from the outside.

Changing a name

This one surprises people, so it is worth being clear about.

Correcting a spelling is usually possible. Replacing one traveler with a different person frequently is not, particularly on the flight portion, because an airline ticket is issued to a named person and is generally not transferable. Some arrangements allow a substitution up to a deadline; many do not allow it at all.

Accommodation is often more flexible than the flight here. That can mean a party of four losing one person keeps the room and loses the ticket, which is a poor outcome and a common one.

If there is any chance of the party changing, say so when you book. It genuinely affects which arrangement we would recommend, and it is a five-second conversation at the right moment rather than an expensive one later.

Cancelling

The honest summary: what you get back depends almost entirely on when you cancel, and the scale is steeper than most people expect.

Cancel well before the balance date and you are usually looking at losing the deposit. Cancel after the balance is paid and the amount retained typically rises as departure approaches, in steps rather than smoothly. Close to departure, many arrangements retain the full amount, because the seller has already committed to the airline and the property on your behalf.

This is not a seller being difficult. Once a ticket is issued and a room is held, those costs exist whether you travel or not. Understanding that in advance makes the terms read as arithmetic rather than as a penalty.

Two things worth knowing. Cancelling one person from a party of several often changes what the remaining travelers pay, because room rates are frequently built around occupancy. And travel protection, if you hold it, addresses some reasons for cancelling and not others - the policy wording decides, not the seller.

What typically happens, and when

A general shape rather than a promise. Your own terms govern your booking.

Ask these six things at the moment you book

Thirty seconds at booking saves a great deal later. Ask them even if you are certain nothing will change.

• When is the balance due? Put it in your calendar that day.
• When do the terms tighten, and by how much? Ask for the steps, not a general answer.
• Can we move the dates, and what would that involve?
• Can a name be corrected, and can a traveler be replaced? These are two different questions.
• If one of us drops out, what happens to the others?
• Is this one arrangement or two separate bookings? It changes every answer above.

Write down what you are told. When something does change, months later, you will be glad you did.

There is a seventh question worth asking if anybody in the party has a health condition, or if you are booking a long way ahead for older travelers: what happens if somebody becomes unfit to travel. The answer is rarely in the booking terms at all, because it usually sits with travel protection rather than with the seller. Knowing that at the point of booking, rather than months later, is what gives you the chance to arrange cover while it is still straightforward. It is the most common regret we hear from travelers who have had to cancel, and it is entirely avoidable.

What we do when you call us to change something

First we tell you where you stand, plainly, including when the answer is that you have left it too late. We would rather say that immediately than spend twenty minutes arriving at it.

Then we look for the version that costs you least. Sometimes that is moving the trip rather than cancelling it. Sometimes it is changing one part and keeping the other. Sometimes it is cancelling one traveler rather than the whole booking. These are not always obvious, and a booking site will not look for them on your behalf.

If you hold travel protection we will tell you what generally falls inside such cover, though the policy wording decides and we are travel agents rather than insurance advisers.

We answer the phone at any hour, which matters here more than anywhere else: these situations rarely arrive during office hours. Call +1 (323) 800 6001 as soon as you know something has changed. The earlier you call, the more options exist.

How booking by phone works

1. Call +1 (323) 800 6001 at any hour and speak to a travel expert.
2. Give us the details: the traveler's full name exactly as printed in the passport, date of birth, passport number and expiry, the home city, the US city and the dates that would suit.
3. Hear the realistic options: the routings, the total, the cabin, the connection times and the change and refund rules, explained before anything is booked.
4. We book it and email everything to you and to the traveler, request the assistance and meals, and stay reachable 24/7 while they travel.

Why book with Fond Travels

Fond Travels, LLC is an independent US travel agency in Woodbridge, Virginia, booking travel since 2017. We are not tied to one airline or booking site, so we compare the routings side by side and tell you which one actually suits the person traveling. We are rated 4.8 out of 5 by more than 2,500 Google reviewers and we answer the phone around the clock, which matters when a flight goes wrong at three in the morning in another time zone. Read how booking by phone works with our team.

Related pages

• What a package includes - what you are actually committing to.
• Together or separately - which changes how a change works.
• When to book - and how the terms tighten over time.
• Vacation packages - what we arrange as one booking.