A week before I was set to fly to Guatemala to explore pyramids, swim in lakes, hike volcanoes, and eat way too many tamales, I tested positive for the coronavirus. By the time I got my results, I knew I was extremely sick but I was praying it was just a horrendous case of the flu. I could see the doctor’s face drop when she placed her stethoscope on my back, listening to my lungs and asking if I had asthma. I did not.

The first 30 hours were the worst and I just slept. I had delusional thoughts that I would mostly recover in time for my trip, but my friends talked some sense into me. I needed to quarantine for at least ten days and my flight was five days away.

Deep down I knew that I couldn’t board that plane, much less have the stamina to trek through a jungle. It still hurt when I finally accepted it and started reviewing my itinerary to see what refunds I could get. Here’s how I navigated it all.

Get Travel Medical Insurance

If I would have just bought travel medical insurance, I would have not had to worry about anything else. They cover the expense of your trip and day excursions if there was an emergency and you couldn’t go. There are also policies that allow you to cancel your trip if your travel companion can’t make it. Also if you hate your trip while you’re there, they will cover the cost for you to fly home early. I was just planning to buy a policy a few days before I left in case I got Covid in another country and racked up medical expenses, but if I would have purchased the policy earlier, it also would have covered my entire trip. Estimated prices for my trip came in at $70 total. Worth it! You can find a list of some here.

Know The Cancellation Policy

My trip itinerary was a mishmash of hotels and experiences from several travel booking sites and airlines: Hopper, Expedia, Tripadvisor, United, Spirit. Plus there were the businesses in Guatemala I booked with directly.

While I was sick, in the back of my mind I knew the closer I got to my departure date, the less likely I was going to get any type of refund. I had booked a few hotels that had a “no cancellations” policy. They were a deal and I didn’t think anything would deter me from my plans. Knowing this, I reached out to customer service with a very humble attitude. I never even mentioned the policy and just let them do their best to help me out. That is what customer service is essential for and if you have some humanity, it’ll get you far. Both Expedia and Hopper fully refunded me the costs of the four hotels I had booked.

It was a simple script, I have covid, I’m extremely sick and I need help canceling a trip, what can you do? If there was a rule that wouldn’t allow something, I’d ask if they could make an exception since we were in a pandemic and this isn’t a normal situation. On Hopper, it was very simple to get a refund after a few minutes on the customer service chat. With Expedia, also via chat, one customer service agent had to contact a hotel directly to get them to fully refund me which I was very grateful for.

All the local expeditions I planned were even simpler to navigate. They all had a 24-hour cancellation policy so a day after shooting off a few emails, I got replies filled with wishes of a speedy recovery and full refunds.

Be Patient, Yet Ready For A Battle

Airfare was a different story. I wanted a full refund for my flights, but I didn’t have the energy for a lengthy phone call. The wait times to talk to airline representatives were over an hour. All that waiting would completely wear me out so I stuck to the chat feature after my first round of calls. Spirit Airlines had a cancellation fee but they waived it because I had Covid. They issued me a trip credit. With American Airlines, you can just cancel your trip through their online portal and it automatically credits to your account.

My third flight was from Guatemala City to Flores for $99. It was on TAG airline and booked through Expedia. This was the biggest headache. TAG has a 48-hour change policy. This is weird because on their website they say they have no change fees. However, within the 2-day period, there is a fee. Five days before my flight I reached out to Expedia to change my flight, they said there are no cancellations so I would not get a flight credit.

The best option they said was to pick a new date a few weeks later, that way I don’t lose the flight and can change it again if I don’t make it to Guatemala in time. I didn’t know when I could reschedule so I said I would contact them again tomorrow. I did and I was told there was no change fee but I would have to pay the airfare difference. Online the new flight I saw was for the same price of $99 but internally for Expedia, it was $199. The difference would be over $100 which didn’t make sense for me to pay since it was cheaper to just buy a new flight. I asked for an exception, they said I would need to contact the airline directly and gave me a number. I called at various times throughout the day and no one ever picked up or returned my messages.

I went back to Expedia chat and I was told there was a change fee since it was within the 48-hour travel window. I told them to review all my attempts to figure the situation out and I shouldn’t have to pay a change fee since the delay was their issue. I also asked to speak to a supervisor. They said the supervisor would call me back in an hour. They didn’t. I called Expedia customer service directly and after holding for 45 minutes, I was repeatedly told that what I was asking for was out of the question, I still asked for a supervisor and was on hold for an hour before I talked to the most delightful woman who apologized for the hassle, gave me a trip voucher and wished me a speedy recovery.

Was this four-day battle worth the $99? Depends, I was quarantined and had nothing else to do so yes. Would I try this again? No, because I learned my lesson and would have bought travel medical insurance!

Fourteen hours before my originally scheduled flight to Guatemala was set to depart, I tested negative for Covid. By this time I knew it was for the best and didn’t regret canceling. Now weeks later, I still have random coughing fit once a week and a dry, scratchy throat when I wake up. I’m on the mend but know that when I finally make it to Guatemala, it’ll be worth the wait.