I never cancel trips… so I’ll book things that are non-refundable on occasion, since the savings usually end up being worth it to me. Well, for a recent trip planned with a friend, something came up and he is unable to go. I went into Damage Control Mode to salvage as many points and miles and as much money as possible. Cancelled Trip

Part 1: Salvaging Money and Points from a Cancelled Trip: Hotels

Part 2: Salvaging Money and Points from a Cancelled Trip: Flights

Part 3: Salvaging Money and Points from a Cancelled Trip: Summary and Lessons Learned — Summary:  Due to some unforeseen circumstances I had to cancel my recent trip to Europe that a friend and I had been planning on going on during his spring break. Not normally one to cancel trips, I had booked some things that were non-refundable, and also had not taken out insurance on the trip. With this in mind I had a few options: go on the trip alone or cancel as much as possible. I ended up deciding that it made more sense not to go based on what I was sure I could get back – the Club Carlson Points and the taxes from our award tickets. Here’s how I did overall:

  • $3.01 Money Maker from non-refundable hotel room, refunded in local currency, and favorable exchange rate.
  • $-142.40 from non-refundable Norwegian tickets
  • $100 LUV Voucher from Southwest that I probably never would have gotten around to calling about if I hadn’t already had to make so many phone calls.

So, all in all, cancelling this trip cost me $139.39, and getting me on the phone anyway got me a $100 voucher. Not too bad. This is probably about the same as insurance would have cost me for trip for two people. In the future, for trips I am planning with someone else, I think I will consider taking out insurance on the trip, since in some cases going or not going will not be dependent just on me. Insurance would have taken out some of the hassle of getting refunds.