Insurance Cuts Risks of Hurricane Season Vacations
H O U S T O N, Aug. 27 -- You spend hundreds, even thousands of dollars for a few days of rest and relaxation. But if you travel during hurricane season — you're taking a risk that your trip could be cut short.
That's what happened to Danielle Tifft, P.J. Reed, Jeremy Moore and Melissa Fulghum of Houston who came home from a vacation in Cozumel, Mexico, with memories that will last a lifetime and a trip cut in half.
While enjoying their vacation, the four got a phone call telling them they had exactly one hour to pack and be in the lobby ready to check out and go back home. "I was very, very angry," says Reed. "We thought it was our friends playing a joke on us," he adds.
But this was no joke. And the most frustrating part about the whole ordeal was that no reason was given, and "50 people were left behind and told they would have to fend for themselves as far as hotel, lodgings, meals and air fare," stresses Tifft.
Decisions, Decisions
It turns out that the early departure was weather related, and it was Funjet Vacation's charter Sun Country Airlines that made the decision to evacuate the vactioners.
Moore explains that had the four of them known bad weather was at the root of the problem, they would have understood. Funjet officials apologized for the communication breakdown and said that because its airline may have been overly cautious, customers will get refunds for the time they missed within two weeks.
Hurricanes, Tropical Weather Won't Dampen Cruises
The vacation company was not at all obligated to compensate its clients, according to Evelyn Carroll, who has been a travel agent for 26 years. "You know that it's hurricane season and it's just a risk you take in the Caribbean," she argues. "They had to go with what the charter company decided to do to protect planes and people."
Jokes Steve Jarvis, president of Pleasanton, Calif.-based insurer, BenefitHouse.com. "The first thing I would do in a weather emergency situation is probably duck. But seriously, you need to heed all advisories and warnings," he adds. In the case of a hurricane, you usually have two to three days' advance notice, which you can use to prepare, Jarvis advises.
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