Initially, this story started with hope and excitement. I bought a ticket in August. I went about my business and began preparing for my trip. I arrive at the airport, and the airline employee swipes my passport twice. He asks me if I have another passport. I don't. He explains that I needed to have a valid passport for at least 3 months (mine was set to expire in 2 months). I go to another customer service desk, and they confirm the same information. For context, I was not notified that you need these things when you travel internationally. And no, there was no way for me to know because it was my first solo international trip. I thought that if I had a valid passport, that would have been enough, but I was wrong. For the record, Tripmasters did not notify me until the day of my flight. While they will try to hide behind it being written in their agreements and as an automated message when you call them, that is inconsequential. Here's why: I had no context, so the message didn't mean anything to me because it was never explained to me. And yes, I could have looked it up, but if I didn't know what to look for, how would I have known that I found it? Tripmasters neither explained nor warned me on their end that this could happen. And they had months to do so. I was overwhelmed and upset. I called Tripmasters and spoke with a representative, explaining the situation to see what could be done to remedy it. He basically says I need an emergency passport. That made sense to me. I was clearly upset about the situation. I asked why I was not told beforehand, because this could have been prevented. He responded that it was my "obligation" (direct quote) to have checked beforehand. I provided the context above, and he was doubling down on his comment.I felt invalidated and dismissed. For the record, I worked in customer service for over a decade. When dealing with people under a lot of stress, you don't want to antagonize them; it makes it worse. I provided feedback about how they could have changed the policies, such as sending a notification or a to-do list to prevent future problems. His response was dismissive. He also said that it wasn't Tripmaster's responsibility. I disagree. I notified Tripmasters via email that they lose money, it leads to bad reviews, it looks bad with your vendors, and it is an overall miserable experience, especially for the customer. They assigned me to another rep and apologized. So I moved forward and got my passport 2 days later. Meanwhile, they are calling me about the status, adding more pressure. I called them to let them know I had my passport. The representative informs me that I would need to rebook a new flight that costs $936, in addition to the penalties accrued for missing the first flight. It felt like an ambush. I would have appreciated a heads-up before I paid $200 for my passport. And that I would incur more penalties if I cancelled. Here is the breakdown: Total Paid to date on this booking $ 1,829.62*Total International Air Portion $ 691.91*Total Land Portion $ 1,137.71Penalties:Penalty on International flight reservations $ 691.91Penalty on Land reservations $ 809.92Insurance coverage (non-refundable) $ 121.00Refunds:Refund that applies from your International Air Portion * $ 0.00Refund that applies from your Land Portion * $206.79So a story that started with hope and excitement ended in disappointment and despair. I ended up canceling the trip because I couldn't afford it anymore. A trip six years in the making, after having to cancel when covid hit. Moral of the story: I will never use Tripmasters again, and I would recommend that you do the same
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