Your cruise agent can’t legally require you to buy the travel insurance product he or she is selling. So why does 82-year-old Marla Caplan say that is precisely what a consultant did after booking her latest cruise?
That’s our question of the day.
Recently, while browsing the Vacations To Go website, Caplan found a great deal on a Princess cruise to Alaska. The 11-night closed-loop cruise aboard the Crown Princess was discounted to just $1,956. The price and dates were right, and Caplan was soon chatting with an agent named Ty.
“He told me that, with taxes included, the total price of the cruise would be $2,266,” Caplan recalled. “But then he said there was one more thing to discuss. He [the cruise agent] said I needed travel insurance to protect myself.”
Caplan says she was fairly certain she had travel insurance coverage through her American Express credit card but wasn’t sure. She told the cruise agent that she would get back to him about the travel insurance after she checked.
Vacations To Go: “You must buy our travel insurance when you book the cruise.”
The cruise agent balked and let Caplan know it was now or never for the travel insurance policy.
Ty [the cruise agent] told me I must buy the travel insurance on the spot. If I didn’t purchase it at the same time as the cruise, I would be out of luck. I couldn’t buy it later. But he also assured me that I had 10 days to cancel the policy if it turned out I didn’t need it.
Marla Caplan
Not wanting to risk ending up uninsured for her cruise, Caplan says she reluctantly agreed to buy the travel insurance policy. After Ty added the additional $410 travel insurance fee to the tab, the total cost of the cruise rose by nearly 20 percent.
The great deal Caplan thought she had snagged was quickly evaporating and she had a bad feeling.
But the cruise agent wasn’t done yet. Next, Caplan says he attempted to sell her some shore excursions that, you guessed it, also needed to be purchased immediately.
I felt intimidated. I’m 82 years old, and he was talking fast. He didn’t seem to want to take no for an answer. I know now – at least I think I know now – that it’s because he gets a commission on all the products he sells to Vacations To Go customers.
However, now, intimidated or not, she firmly drew the line. Caplan told the cruise agent she would not be booking any shore excursions with him.
Related: Carnival Cruise Line canceled Greenland. Why won’t our agent refund our shore excursion?
They hung up and her next phone call was to American Express card services. She wanted to find out if she already had a travel insurance policy covering this cruise.
It turned out she did.
That meant the travel insurance policy the cruise agent had just sold her was unnecessary and Caplan intended to cancel it.
What is the Go Plan by Vacations to Go?
The Go Plan is a travel insurance product sold exclusively by Vacations to Go and specifically tailored to its customers. The Go Plan is underwritten by Generali Global Assistance, Vacations To Go’s “preferred travel insurance provider.”
One part of this product is an official travel insurance policy, which includes all the coverage cruise ship passengers should need: cancellation protection, trip delay and interruption, lost and delayed baggage, health care benefits, and a generous emergency evacuation limit ($250,000).
Even better, the Go Plan has a clause that will protect the traveler if the cruise line or tour operator becomes insolvent and cancels the trip. Readers need to look no further than last year’s mass trip cancellations and eventually bankruptcy of Vantage Travel to understand just how important an insolvency clause is in a travel insurance policy.
The Go Plan also provides “informational and concierge services.” Those services include pre-trip guidance and assistance with making additional travel plans like car rental and restaurant reservations.
As with any travel insurance policy, the coverage is based on certain conditions. Not everything that happens to the insured will lead to a successful claim. So it is always critical that the cruise ship passenger reads through the entire policy during the look-over period, which is 10-14 days after policy purchase depending on the state you live in.
Of course, as comprehensive as the Go Plan is, if another travel insurance policy already covers you, it’s unnecessary.
And Caplan didn’t want or need this additional travel insurance policy for her cruise to Alaska aboard the Crown Princess.
Asking the cruise agent to refund the duplicate travel insurance
A few days after she confirmed that her included travel insurance coverage from American Express would be sufficient for her cruise, Caplan called Ty. When he didn’t answer, she left him several messages. She says her words were clear and indicated her intentions.
“It was June 2 when I left a voicemail because he [the cruise agent] wasn’t returning my call,” Caplan told me. “I said ‘PLEASE CANCEL THIS INSURANCE BECAUSE I HAVE INSURANCE INCLUDED ON MY CREDIT CARD.’ He waited for several days and called me back. I believe that was on purpose.”
By the time the cruise agent returned Caplan’s call, it was beyond the 10-day look-over period of the travel insurance policy. Ty informed her that, unfortunately, it wasn’t possible to cancel and get a refund. Her Go Plan was nonrefundable and active.
Feeling tricked and victimized, Caplan then did as the Consumer Rescue advocacy team recommends and elevated her complaint to the supervisory level at Vacations To Go.
That’s when Caplan’s frustration soared.
Asking a Vacations To Go supervisor to cancel the unwanted cruise insurance
The supervisor at Vacations To Go was very dismissive. He told me that I had 10 days to cancel the travel insurance product and that I had missed the cut-off. When I told him I had called his ‘cruise counselor’ and left a message well before the deadline to cancel, he was rude and told me there was nothing more to do.
In fact, after that call, the supervisor sent a follow-up message to reiterate his findings. His wording was deliberate. While he acknowledged that Caplan had been attempting to reach the cruise agent, they had not actually spoken until after the 10-day review period was over. There was no explanation as to what caused the delay.
To me, the likely reason seemed obvious. The cruise agent had no motivation to return Caplan’s call while she could still cancel the commissionable travel insurance policy. Instead, he was protecting his own monetary interests and, in the process, taking advantage of an older traveler.
Asking Consumer Rescue for help solving this problem
After that call with the Vacations To Go supervisor, Caplan decided she needed outside assistance. First, she filed a credit card dispute with American Express. But then she came across several articles in which I detailed the potential unintended consequences of filing chargebacks for consumers:
- Surprise! You’re on your favorite cruise line’s Do Not Sail list. Now what?
- Credit card dispute: Everything you need to know before you file one
That’s when she realized a credit card dispute wouldn’t fix this problem. In fact, she surmised, it might even end with her cruise being canceled for non-payment of a balance.
Caplan gave me a call and asked for guidance.
What should I do now? I don’t want my cruise to be canceled, but I also don’t want to pay for duplicate insurance that I never asked for. That $410 is an unnecessary charge and it isn’t insignificant. I believe that the cruise agent took advantage of me – a senior citizen. He shouldn’t be allowed to continue to do that. Can you help me, Michelle?
Marla Caplan to Consumer Rescue
I hoped I could. Caplan’s phone records show that she called the cruise agent multiple times over several days after booking. That seemed to me to be a good indicator that she had attempted in good faith to cancel the unwanted travel insurance during the look-over phase.
With just days before the cruise, time was running out.
Why didn’t the cruise agent cancel this travel insurance policy upon request?
I sent my inquiry over to our executive contact at Vacations To Go to see why Caplan’s request to cancel the Go Plan wasn’t promptly processed.
Marla Caplan believes that one of your agents forced her to buy unnecessary travel insurance.
When she tried to cancel the policy just two days after, the agent didn’t return her call until over 10 days had elapsed since he first “sold” the policy to Marla.
Marla is an 82-year-old woman, on a budget and traveling with her service dog. She has travel insurance included in her credit card membership. She didn’t intend to buy additional insurance for this cruise, but felt intimidated by the agent.
Then when she complained about her experience, a supervisor reiterated to her that her insurance policy was nonrefundable after 10 days. This seems to overlook the fact that she attempted to cancel the insurance just days after the agent applied it to her contract.
I will be publishing an article about her experience and I hope to have a positive ending to report. Could your team please have a look at the timeline of events and determine if there was an error by the agent who didn’t cancel the policy when the customer first asked which was well within the initial 10 days after purchase? Thank you!
Michelle Couch-Friedman, Consumer advocate
Very shortly, and just before Caplan boarded the Crown Princess on her cruise to Alaska, she received the news she had hoped for.
Have a wonderful trip! Here’s the refund for the unnecessary cruise insurance
The same supervisor who Caplan believed brushed her complaint off previously now said that he had been able to negotiate with Generali to cancel and refund the unwanted travel insurance policy.
Hello Ms. Couch-Friedman,
Thank you for your inquiry regarding Ms. Caplan’s concerns. After thorough review of Ms. Caplan’s account of the timeline of events, we found there was no fault of Vacations To Go’s agent nor agency with the instructions provided to cancel for a full refund of her purchased insurance policy.
We confirmed Ms. Caplan did not call back in the allotted time to receive a full refund. However, we strongly advocated on behalf of Ms. Caplan with our insurance partner for an exception which was finally approved. Ms. Caplan [will] receive a full refund of the purchased policy from Generali Travel Insurance.
This issue has been resolved.
Vacations to Go
And although there was still no explanation as to the lapse in response from Caplan’s cruise agent, she was satisfied with the outcome.
Thank you, Michelle. I know Vacations To Go would not have canceled and refunded that travel insurance policy without your intervention. I do feel the cruise agent tried to take advantage of me because he didn’t think I would be able to do anything about it. Thank you for being there to defend me. It is greatly appreciated. What a wonderful service Consumer Rescue provides. You’ve made me very happy.
Marla Caplan
You’re very welcome, Marla. That’s why we’re here: to defend victimized consumers when we can — young and old.
Our investigative and mediation services are fast, friendly… and always free of charge.
(Michelle Couch-Friedman, Consumer Reporter and Founder of Consumer Rescue)
If you or someone you know has a consumer problem they can’t solve on their own, the Consumer Rescue advocacy team can be reached here.
Good to see the happy result. Question I am guessing some folks might have (I know I do): Is calling the only way to cancel these types of policies? I recognize that the OP might not have known them either, and I don't. Does one create an account with the insurance company and then if after say 4 days I want to cancel I can log back in and then access what I hope is an easy-to-find 'cancel a policy within the look-over period' button.
Good to see the happy result. Question I am guessing some folks might have (I know I do): Is calling the only way to cancel these types of policies? I recognize that the OP might not have known them either, and I don't. Does one create an account with the insurance company and then if after say 4 days I want to cancel I can log back in and then access what I hope is an easy-to-find 'cancel a policy within the look-over period' button.
Because Marla bought this policy through what I would call an insurance broker of sorts, that was the correct place for her to go to for canceling the policy. However, if you buy an insurance policy directly through an insurance company there is a number on the first page of the policy to call if you need to cancel during the look-over period.
Vacations To Go sound like some truly ethically challenged folks. Instead of apologizing for a bad agent they doubled down and found no fault! Wow. This is a company to avoid.
"we found there was no fault of Vacations To Go’s agent nor agency with the instructions provided to cancel for a full refund of her purchased insurance policy."
Um, WHAT? What part of 2 days after her purchase didn't he understand?
Great job though Michelle, getting her money back! Wow… that's a crooked agency!
FWIW we've used Vacations To Go several times, and have always been satisfied..