Sleeping in a shelter on vacation: How a package deal might strand you

A Saratoga family’s vacation package deal devolved to a dud. They say there’s a lesson for everyone about trip packages. 

Hawaii is where Maiko and Nate chose to celebrate their 15th wedding anniversary with their kids.   

“This is something I really wanted to do,” Maiko said.  

They booked a beach vacation in Maui. They paid $8,700 for a package and booked with Costco Travel, a company they trust. “That’s why we went with them,” Maiko said.  

The weeklong Hawaii trip began beautifully. But, two days in, it turned ugly. “We looked out the window and we saw, like, a storm coming in,” Nate said. It was a fire storm. Part of Maui was burning. 

Soon, fire officials ordered everyone to leave the hotel. Nate took action. But then, he hit an unexpected roadblock. 

“This is when we were officially evacuated. We said, ‘OK. Let’s just go home. So, I called United, and I said, ‘Can you change our flight? As soon as you can … as soon as you can get us out of here.’ And they said, ‘We‘re sorry, we can’t touch your ticket because it was booked through an agency.’” 

United Airlines confirmed that for us. 

So, Nate called Costco Travel. Another barrier. “They were closed,” he said. “And, given that emergency situation, every hour, or minute, or flight availability really counted,” Nate said.  

Nate and Maiko’s family wound up in an evacuation shelter. “It was a very sad situation, the whole environment there at the shelter,” Maiko said. “But we got some warmness from the locals. And that was really nice.”

Nate said the family had to wait three more days to get home. They eventually found a vacation rental and only spent one night in the shelter. When they arrived home, though, they asked Costco to refund their scuttled package vacation.

Nate and Maiko say Costco Travel offered them, by phone, far less than they expected. “It was a thousand something,” Nate said, out of almost $9,000 they paid. So, he called us.

“I didn’t know what else to do,” he said.  

We contacted Costco Travel. It declined to do an interview. In an email, the vice president and general manager said, “For all members that were in Maui during the fires, we have been working with our vendors to see what refunds we can provide for our members.” 

As for Nate and Maiko, Costco Travel said it,“... has refunded the member in full for the hotel and car portion of their trip during [sic] for the dates of Aug 8 - 12.”

That’s $2,058. It’s better, but Nate says it’s still off the mark. We asked Costco to see an itemized list of what it was refunding -- and what it wasn’t. Costco Travel refused, and said, “per our contracts [with vendors like airlines and hotels] we are not able to break down the individual component pricing.” 

And that was it with Costco Travel. 

“When you’re using any type of third party, whether that be a travel agent or a travel agency in general, just understand that you are not the one pulling the strings,” said Katy Nastro of the travel website Going.com. 

Nastro says booking directly with airlines and hotels will give you the most control to make changes and actually see the individual prices you’re paying. That being said, some travel agents’ bundles offer discounts. If a low package price tempts you, Nastro says you can try to recreate the package yourself. 

“It is in your best interest to shop around and see if you can build your own itinerary,” she said.    

Say you opt to book with a travel agent. Ask if there are any fees. Many airlines have scrapped change and cancellation fees; some travel agencies might not have. Also, ask the travel agency if anyone’s on duty 24/7. The American Society of Travel Advisors says many agencies do offer after hours support to help any time your trip goes haywire -- like Maiko and Nate’s. 

“It was quite an adventure,” Nate said.  

These weary and wary travelers recommend you book your trips yourself - directly with airlines, hotels, and such. Maiko and Nate are avoiding future vacation packages.

“Let me put it this way: this is the only time we’ve ever booked a package and this was the worst travel experience we’ve ever had,” he said.