Costco Travel broke its promise, Princess is heartless, but Delta is generousIn late 2022, my wife and I booked an 11-day Alaskan cruise-tour for September 6-17, 2023. The Costco Travel package included a riverboat cruise, a nature walk, and 4 overnight stays during the initial 4-day land portion from Fairbanks to Anchorage. On the 7-day cruise from Anchorage to Vancouver, it included crew gratuities, wi-fi, and a beverage package. In addition, the package included a $425.00 digital shopping card for use in Costco warehouses and online.By June 2023 the total amount had been paid via our Costco Citi Visa card: $6,004.00 (cruise-tour fee for two) plus $574.82 (various port fees and taxes payable on our behalf by Princess). We were scheduled to begin in Fairbanks on the morning of September 6, 2023. We had arranged our own airfare with Delta from our location to Fairbanks on September 5 and from Vancouver back to our location on September 17.In mid-August, one of us developed a condition that made it impossible to leave home for any kind of travel. We hoped that medication would bring the symptoms under control prior to our trip but it did not.Early on September 5, I called Costco Travel and explained why we would have to miss the trip. The Costco Travel agent called Princess and was told that neither a refund nor a credit for future travel would be issued. The entire cruise-tour fee of $6,004.00 was retained by Costco Travel/Princess. The port fees and taxes were returned only because Princess would not be paying those pass-through fees on our behalf.I also called Delta and explained that we needed to cancel our flights. The agent was very understanding and, within a couple of days, Delta credited full refunds back to my charge card.The tour information from Costco Travel stated that the $425.00 shopping card would be issued approximately 10 days after the beginning of our trip. When it didn’t arrive after two weeks, I searched the web site and was surprised to discover a Q&A saying that no card would be issued if we did not physically travel.I filed a claim online with Costco Travel requesting the shopping card and never got a response of any kind. After a couple of months, we brought this up with customer service at a Costco warehouse. The agent said she understood and would work with Costco Travel to try to get the digital shopping card. She also suggested that the Costco Citi Visa had trip cancellation insurance for anything paid with the card. I discovered that feature had been terminated some time before we paid for our cruise-tour. At this point, I have given up on trying to work with Costco Travel and am writing this review.In my view, Costco Travel should have issued the digital shopping card whether we were physically on the tour or not. Costco Travel/Princess got the exact same cash from us as if we had been on the ship. Between the two of them, there actually were some financial benefits from our absence: no food served, no hotel or cabin cleaned, and no beverages consumed. By taking back the shopping card, Costco Travel unfairly reneged on its promise and profited an additional $425.00 at our expense because of a situation over which we had no control.My advice is to book your own airfare and never use Costco Travel. The one-star rating is one star too many!
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