Q: In 2019, I booked a trip to Antarctica through Aurora Expeditions, an Australian company. I reserved the tour through Expedition Trips, a Seattle-based travel agency. I made a $5,000 deposit and the trip was scheduled for late 2020. Of course, all of these trips were canceled because of COVID-19.
Aurora rescheduled the trip for November 2021, and we accepted. But since that time, Aurora has rescheduled the trip two more times. Now, they are departing from Chile instead of Argentina. That, combined with some recent health issues, made the trip much less desirable.
Aurora has agreed to cancel our reservation and return our deposit. Expedition Trips says it will take Aurora up to 90 days to issue a refund. We arranged the cancellation on Aug. 28, and they want until December. To me, that is outrageous. They've had my money since early 2019. Issuing a refund should be merely the click of a button on a computer screen.
My travel agent has been nothing other than helpful and courteous. They tell me that they can't issue me a refund until Aurora pays them. I get that. The issue is on Aurora's end. Can you help me get my refund?
Steven Meisel, Woodbury
A: You're absolutely right. Aurora has had your money for long enough and should return it quickly.
Another 90 days seems like a long time, but that's not as bad as it sounds. During the pandemic, refunds routinely have taken six to 12 months, sometimes even longer. Companies, and particularly smaller businesses, would go under if they had to issue all of their refunds at once. In a perfect world, refunds would take about a week. But during the pandemic, travelers had to cut travel operators a little slack.
From your perspective, things look a little different. It's just been way too long and you don't want to wait any longer. You contacted me in mid-October. And you're absolutely right — the agency is just your intermediary. It doesn't have your money and can't force Aurora to issue an immediate refund. The accounting department moves at its own pace.
