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 Travel & Outdoors | June 2007 
Hurricane-Proof Your Vacation
 Beth J. Harpaz - Associated Press
| | This file satellite image provided by NOAA and taken in October 2005 shows Hurricane Wilma as it reaches the Mexican Yucatan peninsula. Caribbean islanders still get night sweats recalling the dark hours in 2005 when Hurricane Wilma's shrieking gales and drenching rain unearthed caskets from cemeteries, tossing corpses onto porches and roofs in the Bahamas. (Associated Press) |
Despite forecasts of a busy hurricane season, the idea of a summer vacation on a tropical beach appeals to many travelers. And there is one advantage: It costs less now than at other times of year.
“Many of these places — Florida, the Caribbean and Mexico — are warm-weather destinations and this time of year is their offseason, so deals are abundant,” said Linda D’Arcy, a travel specialist with American Express Travel.
Here’s what you need to know about making your vacation hurricane-proof.
The forecast: The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration predicts 13 to 17 named storms in the Atlantic this season, with seven to 10 becoming hurricanes and three to five expected to be major. Last year forecasters also predicted a heavy hurricane season, but they were wrong. The El Niño weather phenomenon, which warms the Pacific and calms storms in the Atlantic, kicked in unexpectedly.
Air travel: According to David Castelveter, spokesman for the Air Transport Association, if a hurricane is headed for your vacation destination and you’re not there yet, air carriers “will generally, under any severe weather conditions, provide some sort of a period of time in which you can use that ticket without paying the penalty for changing a nonrefundable ticket.”
If you’re at your destination and you need to leave because a hurricane is en route, “they’ll just rebook you on whatever flights they have to get you out.”
But it gets complicated when the forecast is imprecise. “They’re not going to allow passengers to just change reservations because of a remote possibility that a hurricane could be near,” Castelveter said.
Some passengers who tried to leave Cancun ahead of Hurricane Wilma in 2005 found airlines unwilling to rebook them without hundreds of dollars in additional fees. That’s when it pays to have used a travel agent or tour company, or to have purchased insurance.
Insurance and other guarantees: For 5 to 7 percent of the cost of your trip, you can buy trip-cancellation insurance that will refund tickets and reservations if your vacation is canceled, delayed or interrupted because of severe weather or other reasons. You’ll also be covered for rebooking flights, extra days in a hotel, loss of belongings, damage to rental cars and certain medical expenses, according to Jon Ansell, spokesman for the US Travel Insurance Association. A comprehensive policy also usually includes 24-hour hot line assistance.
You can buy trip insurance through travel agents, tour operators, cruise lines, airlines and even travel-booking Web sites. Or visit www.ustravelinsurance.org to see a list of member companies like AIG.
Trips booked through Expedia.com are automatically covered by the Web site’s “hurricane guarantee,” according to Expedia spokeswoman Katie Deines.
“If there is a major weather-related incident and someone is unable to travel to their destination or the trip is disrupted by a hurricane, we will refund their payment, and if they’re in the middle of a trip, we’ll re-accommodate them and work with the airline and hotels to do that.” She said “there’s nothing special the customer has to do to be eligible. Anyone holding tickets for affected areas is covered.”
In addition, Expedia offers a package protection plan that allows you to cancel your trip for any reason, not just weather. That costs $49 a person within the continental U.S., $69 to Europe and $89 elsewhere.
American Express Vacations also offers a “Cancel For Any Reason” plan. For trips $999 a person or less, the insurance costs $89 per adult, $109 for Europe. And you don’t need an American Express card to use American Express Vacations — it’s a travel company that sells to anyone.
Many hotels and resorts have hurricane guarantees, but details vary. Most refund unused days; some credit deposits toward a future trip.
Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic will refund 100 percent of your money if a hurricane watch or warning is issued for La Romana or your origination city or route, within 48 hours of your scheduled arrival, plus 5 percent of the refund will be credited to a future visit. Sandals Resorts and Beaches Resorts offer a “Blue Chip Hurricane Guarantee” that assures a free future vacation if a hurricane interrupts your stay. The Bahamas Hotel Association, which has about 75 members, has a long-standing “Hurricane Cancellation Policy” that gives travelers the choice of using deposits toward a future stay or getting a refund.
“The real question is what happens when there’s a storm out there, and you’re traveling within the bubble, which has a huge error margin within a five-day forecast,” said Florida Keys & Key West tourism spokesman Andy Newman. “Each property is going to have its own policy on that. So ask the question in advance,” especially if you’re the type of person who’d rather stay home than take a chance on a storm that might or might not make landfall.
Cruises: “Cruise lines can and do change their itineraries for many reasons, including to avoid bad weather,” according to Douglas Stallings, editor of “Fodor’s Complete Guide to Caribbean Cruises” and “Fodor’s Caribbean Ports of Call.” And passengers are not usually entitled to any sort of compensation.
But “you might get some sort of onboard credit, especially if you have to spend a day aboard ship” that you had expected to spend sightseeing or shopping on an island.
Policies vary by cruise line. Carnival provides a standard $20 per person credit for each missed port if other ports of call cannot be substituted. “If we know before a voyage starts that we cannot offer the scheduled itinerary for whatever reason, guests have the option to cancel without penalty,” said Carnival spokeswoman Jennifer de la Cruz.
On the other hand, even if the itinerary changes, you’ll still get a vacation on a cruise, whereas a land-based trip wouldn’t be so easy to salvage.
“There are many worse things that could happen to your vacation than having to go to St. Thomas instead of San Juan because of a storm,” Stallings said.
Last year, New Jersey’s attorney general sued Royal Caribbean Cruises for diverting a Bermuda-bound cruise to Canada and refusing to issue refunds. The ship was headed into a tropical storm, and because it departed from New Jersey, the only alternative itinerary was to head north. Passengers were given a $42.50 credit as compensation and a 25 percent discount on a future Royal Caribbean trip.
Under the lawsuit settlement, all the passengers got was an increase in the discount on future trips to 35 percent, according to the attorney general’s office.
Florida: The state maintains an emergency hot line just for tourists at (800) 287-8598.
For meeting planners, Visit Florida, the state’s tourism agency, has a program called “Cover Your Event,” which provides free supplemental insurance that covers any costs directly related to rebooking a meeting should it be displaced because of a named hurricane, August-October. Coverage will pay for room rate differentials and rescheduling expenses such as reprinting program books, signs, etc.
The Florida Keys & Key West tourism site at www.fla-keys.com offers a downloadable brochure about hurricane safety information. The Web effort and a related storm safety communications program have won awards from the 2007 National Hurricane Conference and the 2007 Florida Governor’s Hurricane Conference.
The major theme parks — SeaWorld Orlando, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, Discovery Cove, Universal Orlando and Disney — all have hurricane guarantees, but details on credits, rescheduling and refunds vary. In general, you must book your trip through the theme parks’ vacation companies to be eligible. |
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