our travel agency just closed what happens now

[kamac56]

Just found on the news that our travel agency that we went thru for the cruise and air is closing today due to ginacial difficulties. I have printed our documents so we are good to go for that but has anyone had this happen to them before? i know alot of people find the PVP the way to go and I will in the future go that way and get my own air, however this time the price was really good, but now we are wondering what will happen.

[jayesouthworth]

Did you pay in full or partial? If you paid in full, did Carnival receive the full payment or if partial, did Carnival receive the partial payment as well? If the partial payment was received, contact Carnival direct and work with them. Good luck..I hope your defunct travel agency paid for your cruise instead of pocketing the money.

[Mikel1733]

Try and find a way to confirm that the payments you made found there way to Carnival. G'ma might be able to offer some suggestions. I would call carnival direct. They may or may not talk to you direct. There are other travel agents who post here that can offer help also. Keep the thread where they will be able to see it. Good luck. Did you have travel insurance?

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Did you pay in full or partial? If you paid in full, did Carnival receive the full payment or if partial, did Carnival receive the partial payment as well? If the partial payment was received, contact Carnival direct and work with them. Good luck..I hope your defunct travel agency paid for your cruise instead of pocketing the money.

 

I don't think you can print your docs out until your cruise is paid in full can you?

 

The cruise seems ok if that is the case.How about the air portion?

 

Bill

[travelntreats]

Just found on the news that our travel agency that we went thru for the cruise and air is closing today due to ginacial difficulties. I have printed our documents so we are good to go for that but has anyone had this happen to them before? i know alot of people find the PVP the way to go and I will in the future go that way and get my own air, however this time the price was really good, but now we are wondering what will happen.

Sorry to hear your TA went out of business. You have your cruise docs printed out already and Fun Pass ??? Air ticket(s) confirmation # ? If you have that I suspect you did electronic air tickets as well and there would be nothing the TA would have done were they still in business.

 

You have everything all taken care of. What are you worried about that could happen ?

 

Consider yourself lucky that you have everything in order as there was another well known agency that closed it's doors and left with some clients $$$ !

 

I would not say it is necessary to use a PVP as there are many good agencies out there still that can service your vacation travel planning.... Just do your research before giving them a c.card !

[kamac56]

I did call carnival and our cruise is and has been paid in full now comes the question of the air, and of course we are expecting 20" of snow here so the phones at the airlines are 1/2 hour to 1 hour wait. The biggest problem I have is its a christmas present for my family and I need to be sure we will get to go. I was told the airline might not honor the ticket. So I will sit on the phone this afternoon for an hour and try to find our about our air. But I am thankful that I have printed out the docs and fun passes at least for the cruise. thanks everyone for your input, I needed to vent.:)

[Djptcp]

DH and I went through this in 2008 when the online cruise agency Cruise Value closed overnight. I had 3 cruises booked with them and paid the balances in full on 2 of them. The first was a 10-day on Holland America due to leave in several weeks from when the agency closed. I called HAL immediately and the final payment had been made. Whew! Then, I called Carnival - they had only the deposit, no final payment. I called American Express and they were terrific. They immediately put a hold on the amount of the final payment and started an investigation. I had to provide them with some things, but it was pretty painless and they judged in my favor. Meanwhile, I had to transfer the cruise reservation to Carnival and make the final payment again. As I said, Am Ex reimbursed me for the first final payment. The 3rd cruise was on Princess and not until later in the year -- they had the deposit. I decided to just cancel the reservation and start over with that one since it was months into the future.

So, my advice is to call Carnival and your credit card company immediately to find out the status of your reservation.

BTW, DH and I lived in MN for many years and coincidentally I was reading the Star Tribune this morning and read about the company you were with closed. It had been around for a long time, too.

Cruise Critic was where I first learned about Cruise Value going under -- nothing from CV until weeks afterwards. I hope all goes well!

[kamac56]

So today I called the air company and was on hold for 1 1/2 hours and Hobbit had NOT paid for the air, so I will need to purchase air again for 6. The gal at the airlines stated that they are trying to get a deal for all of us on the flight close to the price we originally paid. I than called my carnival seamiles card and a gal there was the highlight of my day, she walked me thru starting a credit, I did have to send some things to her but as Djptcp stated it was painless. However what I find odd is that I have a confirmation number and flight number and asked why I have that if the air isn't paid and she said that they have always had a booking deal with Hobbit and they hand out the confirmation number when the trip is set up.

 

Now its a waiting game to see what price we can get for air. It stinks that the agency doesn;t have to help at all nor was there any e-mail or anything, found out on the news. Its ironic I have the insurance but that too does not cover bankrupcy. "who would have thunk? Its been a very stressful day:eek:. However on the piositive side carnival seamiles card was the best!

[redlef]

. . . . so the phones at the airlines are 1/2 hour to 1 hour wait.

 

I don't know if this will work with your airline, but I have had success in the past looking up a local phone number in another city. I was dealing with a flight cancellation at Continental about 10 years ago, and found a local phone number in Florida and called and got right in. This tact has helped me get concert tickets as well for fast selling shows.

 

Good luck, I'm glad to hear that SeaMiles is working with you and it sounds like even the airline is acting human.

[steveaaaaa]

So today I called the air company and was on hold for 1 1/2 hours and Hobbit had NOT paid for the air, so I will need to purchase air again for 6. The gal at the airlines stated that they are trying to get a deal for all of us on the flight close to the price we originally paid. I than called my carnival seamiles card and a gal there was the highlight of my day, she walked me thru starting a credit, I did have to send some things to her but as Djptcp stated it was painless. However what I find odd is that I have a confirmation number and flight number and asked why I have that if the air isn't paid and she said that they have always had a booking deal with Hobbit and they hand out the confirmation number when the trip is set up.

 

Now its a waiting game to see what price we can get for air. It stinks that the agency doesn;t have to help at all nor was there any e-mail or anything, found out on the news. Its ironic I have the insurance but that too does not cover bankrupcy. "who would have thunk? Its been a very stressful day:eek:. However on the piositive side carnival seamiles card was the best!

 

 

Did you have insurance? If so there is a chance that they will have to pay any additional cost's associated with replacement tickets.

 

Steve

[LHP]

Just found on the news that our travel agency that we went thru for the cruise and air is closing today due to ginacial difficulties. I have printed our documents so we are good to go for that but has anyone had this happen to them before? i know alot of people find the PVP the way to go and I will in the future go that way and get my own air, however this time the price was really good, but now we are wondering what will happen.

 

Having not been through this.....the only advice I can recommend is pretty standard....document, document, document....every conversation, every name, date and time when dealing with the airlines.

 

As already stated...it is my understanding that the Carnival documents won't print until payment in full is received....so you are good there.....

 

Sending out our best "hope it works out" cruise vibe~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Cruisin4US]

We found out today (on the news) about this travel agency closing. Our cruise has been paid in full, however, our airline tickets have not been paid by this travel agency.

 

The airline does have our names in the group booking, but no funds from anyone in this group booking. So, we have airline seats, they're just not paid for yet. We're now working with the airline and our credit card company. Both seem quite helpful.

 

We've used this travel agency for many, many years and have had only good experiences. They stated on their website "that it will be temporarily closing its business operations while it seeks additional financing and considers other alternatives".

[Chacooe]

Let first start out by saying I do not know that much about flying since I have not been in a plane since 1976, so I would be the first to say I don't know that much about how airlines work today but I was thinking, can you check on-line to verify your ticket since you have a confirmation number and whatever other information they gave you. It would seem that with today's technology you should be able to verify it online.

[travelntreats]

Even if they could check online, they already know that the travel agency that closed did not pay for the tickets despite being paid by their clients. Moot point.

[kamac56]

I do have insurance and hope someone can help me desipher this statement, I called them but they are closed for the holiday. If I read it right it sounds like I am out of luck.

 

The company will pay a benefit up to the maximum shown on the confirmation of coverage , if you are prevented from taking or unable to continue your coverage due to:

 

H: Banckrupcy and/or default of your travel supplier which occurs more than 14 days following your effective date. Coverage is not provided for the bankrupcy or default of the agency whom you purchased the land/sea arrangements. your scheduled departure date must be no more than 24 months beyond your effective date.

 

I do have a confirmation number for the airline but when I put it in it on line it states there is no reservation.

On the news here yesterday there was another gentleman that has the same issue only they didn't pay for any air or hotel and there were 12 of them, so mine doesn't seem as bad.

 

Thanks everyone for your help and Happy Holidays!:cool:

[crzndeb]

I would start checking daily, common travel websites for air deals...I see you still have a month before sailing. After Christmas, they may start running deals and you might end up with a great price. Keep your air confirmation handy, but if it hasn't been paid yet, you may find a better deal booking your own air. Good Luck!

[zqvol]

H: Banckrupcy and/or default of your travel supplier which occurs more than 14 days following your effective date. Coverage is not provided for the bankrupcy or default of the agency whom you purchased the land/sea arrangements. your scheduled departure date must be no more than 24 months beyond your effective date.

 

Unfortunately the highlighted language is your situation. You may have to book separate air, but my guess is that you come out OK. You can always call carnival and see if you can add the dreaded Carnival air package at an affordable rate.

[Cruisin4US]

Kamac56,

 

We just purchased tickets on our own this morning with this same airline, where we were part of a group booking (that Hobbit did NOT pay for). After seeing the GREAT price we could get for airfare, we didn't want to wait for our fair price from the airline, and canceled our names with the group booking. We'll be getting a refund for the air portion that was paid to Hobbit from our credit card company - thankfully.

 

Hope that this information may be helpful, and that everything works out for you.

[salty dingo]

Carnival will usually not deal with the booked passenger if the booking was done via an agency.

 

However, if the agency is shut down, I believe Carnival should change the booking to one that is direct with Carnival.

 

You may want to call and discuss that with Carnival.

[shavdog]

We booked a cruise with air thru hobbitt about two months ago...I emailed nwa and they got back to us that our group has been paid for...I saved the email...I emailed celebrity and they got back to us saying our cruise has been paid in full...I saved the email...I hope all of this works out...I might still call both of them to confirm...