Price Protection Not Covered by Travel Insurance

My Grand Bahia Principe Runaway Bay Jamaica Trip and Do You Need Price Protection Guarantee?

First Published Date: August 21, 2016

Today, I am presenting a video of my recent Grand Bahia Principe Runaway Bay trip to Jamaica. I will not talk about the details of my trip, because you will have a good idea of the full trip after watching the video. However, I will talk about a price protection guarantee customers can buy in all-inclusive vacation packages – which might come in handy if vacation prices drop.

All-inclusive vacation packages are popular among North American vacationers going to Caribbean countries. Flight, hotel, unlimited food, drink – basically everything is included in this type of package. Travellers who are looking to relax without worrying about anything else usually choose this type of all-inclusive package.

Price protection guarantee is a separate add-on that you can purchase for all-inclusive vacations. It can run from $50 to $100 or even more. Price drop protection is actually not covered by premium credit card insurances that cover all sorts of travel insurances such trip cancellation, trip interruption, medical emergency, flight delay, and so on.

When I bought my vacation package in November from a 3rd party travel agent, the original vacation provider was offering a price protection guarantee as a promotion free of charge, so I did not mind accepting it – just in case. At the same time, I setup a price drop alert on the travel website that would alert me when the price drops below what I paid previously.

In April, I received an email alert stating my vacation price has dropped roughly $200. I contacted the claim call centre to find out the procedure. I was told that I could claim only once, so if the price even drops further I won’t be able to claim if I decide to claim it right then. My options were to claim at that time or wait for a further drop to claim later, so I decided to claim right away.

The process was simple. You just need to give the agent all your related info and mention you would like to claim. I received the difference on what I paid versus what it had dropped to within three business days in my bank account.

All-inclusive vacation packages tend to drop significantly before two months or just before the departure date, as vacation providers try to empty their unsold inventories. So it may make sense to have this feature added if you would like to minimize your risks. However, you need to decide on whether you would like to pay extra to buy this protection. There is also the possibility that the price won’t drop at all. Based on your risk tolerance and lifestyle, make an educated decision before paying for anything extra and always do your research