The value of a polite request…

We had everything booked for Iceland for 2020, and then of course Covid hit. We had trip insurance, but most places I had booked were refundable, minus two. Both were so great to work with! One was a place I booked using Booking.com and it was nonrefundable. When I cancelled it o n Booking.com, I figured I was just out the money but a little box popped up and suggested contacting the property, so I did. They were fantastic as we just wanted to change it to 2021. They took care of everything, and we were set. The other place I had booked directly, and they too let us change the dates even though that was not their normal policy. We absolutely loved both places! In case anyone is interested, they were Vogafjos Farm Resort in Myvatn and Northern Light Inn in Grindavik (basically a 5 minute walk to the Blue Lagoon). I highly recommend both of them!

Thanks for sharing your positive experience. In 2020 we had our yearly trip to Maui scheduled at the end of March. What ensued was a lockdown, Condominium closing & Flights cancelled. Our rental car was cancelable. I notified our Condo host that we would need to cancel. I didn’t even ask for a refund but heard back immediately telling us it was not our fault and he would give us a complete refund for the 3 weeks we missed. We have been renting from him for years and were very grateful.

In 2018 the website for Kilmainham Gaol tickets said that tickets were non-refundable. A scheduling conflict arose and I couldn't go. I emailed the ticket office advising them of my change in plans and telling them to please give the tickets to someone else. They very kindly refunded me my money without me even asking.

In 2017 we were staying at the Simpson House Inn in Santa Barbara when the Thomas Fire erupted. Ash was falling and the groundskeepers were watering down the gardens and the house. We told the owner we were leaving and asked for a rain check for a future date. He said no, I'm refunding your money.

This was pre-Covid, but our daughter was on a domestic flight(I think Delta) and her traveling companion had some status and was upgraded to Premium Economy. Our daughter went up to the gate agent and said, "I know I don't have any grounds to ask, but is there any way you could upgrade me to Premium Economy?" and the gate agent did. I imagine the gate agent appreciated someone who didn't demand an upgrade thinking she was entitled to it.

In March 2020, I had the same experience with Booking.com as mikliz97, except they notified me that the Best Western in Wells, England was refunding my hotel stay(which was supposed to be nonrefundable, so it hadn't even occurred to me to ask for the refund!)

Years ago, my Delta flight from Frankfurt to San Francisco via Dallas was cancelled and I was put on a flight connecting in Atlanta. Because of the cancellation my carefully selected window seat was changed to a middle seat in the coach middle section. At check-in I politely mentioned how disappointed I was in the changes and asked if there was any way that I could be upgraded to a better location. The agent said she could not do anything but that I should ask the gate agent. So I again very politely explained the situation to the gate agent and asked if I could be moved to any unassigned business class seat. To my amazement the gate agent smiled and granted my request.

My husband says that if you want power, you should be a gate agent.

Having worked several years as a Customer Service supervisor I can say for certain that a polite customer will always come out ahead of someone trying to intimidate me by acting tough and demanding. In fact the number of times I just “ went to the beach” ( that was our tool to use in our mind when someone was ranting at us) then came back and politely told them our policy stood and we could not change this. My favorite was when they demanded to speak to a supervisor after ranting at me for 5 minutes and I told them I was..l then asked if there was anything else and was usually met with silence.

Probably lots of stories, but one involved a getaway to Mexico, back 10 years or so ago. Our mid-winter flight down to Mexico was cancelled due to weather. The angry crowd descended on the gate agent, I saw that based on the weather and other available flights, we were not leaving. We would have to wait for a flight out, then try to make a connection to Cancun, probably getting stranded in another city. I told my wife that we should just exit security and go to the main check-in desk for Delta.

When I got up to the desk, I told the agent that I knew she could do nothing about the weather and that we were flexible. I mentioned that if it helped, we could as easily just fly out on the same flight the next day, it would cause us to cancel a nights hotel last minute, but we probably wouldn't get there anyway that night. She looked relieved, started to chat, mentioned that would be great, thanks, etc. Then offered to book us on the flight, as well as change our return date if we wanted, no charge, and upgraded us to first class all the way.

We headed home, enjoyed a day off in the snow, even had Mexican that afternoon with some drinks. The hotel even understood about the delay and waived any cancellation, a bit amused to hear we were stuck in a foot of snow and -20 Deg. F weather.

I’ve had several times where being kind & polite resulted in being treated the same during airplane travel, and some nonrefundable hotels gave me either a voucher or a total refund in 2020 when I wrote them a kind email translated in Italian. The one in Bergamo who refunded my money will definitely be the hotel where I stay this September.

The specific instance I’ll share is where I was able to directly observe how being polite, or not, changed the outcome of a transaction - not directly a monetary gain in this case but being able to eat at a nice restaurant. I stopped into a restaurant in Italy and asked for a reservation for a dinner while I would be in that city. The evening I ate there, I happened to be seated facing the direction where I could view the interactions of the restaurant hostess and a steady stream of customers. After about six interactions, I could accurately predict who would get a table and who would be turned away. Like a flight gate agent, she had the power to decide.

In 2019, my husband and I had to cancel our trip to England due to his health just four days short of departure. I notified the owner of the flat we were renting that my husband had been hospitalized. She fully refunded our fee which I had not expected nor requested. I'll always remember her kindness. On the other end, I've been asked several times to switch seats on the airplane so that husband and wife could sit together and one time so that an adult daughter could be seated next to her handicapped, elderly mother (no brainer, there.) Then, there was that time in economy that the young woman seated next to me asked if I would switch with her boyfriend who was in first class! Again, a no brainer.

Lindy, did the boyfriend really want to switch out of first class? LOL!

My husband, daughter’s family and I were waiting for a flight home from Hawaii and the question came up. If one of us was offered first class, would we take it or stay with the family. We had various answers. I ended up being upgraded to first class…and yep, I took it! ; )

Jean, all's fair in love and first class upgrades. My daughter is never going to live down the time we were going to Key West, during spring break of her senior year in high school. My husband and I were upgraded and our entitled child wailed "are y'all going to leave me all alone in coach?" I"m sure I don't have to tell you what we said!

I was impressed once by the husband who gave up his first class seat to remain with his wife. It was a tiny puddle-jumper flight. They did ask the attendant if they could have the before take off cocktails anyway, and they got them.

The boyfriend thanked me profusely for taking his first class seat! I'm a marriage and family therapist and had a very good feeling about their relationship future!

Lindy, that’s great! On the other hand, I gladly enjoyed my first class seat, and we’ve been happily married for 43 years! : )

Carol, we’ll kindly get back on topic to your question!

Certainly your husband was happy for you, Jean. Another quality of a good relationship, right Lindy.
Yes, sorry, Carol for deviating.

I'm really impressed by Aimee's ability to find really low fares. I'm guessing basic economy and possibly no carry-on?

Aimee, keep the boyfriend. . .

We were in Rome earlier this month and had reserved a tour of the Colosseum with Walks of Italy, using a voucher from our cancelled 2020 trip. Well...when traveling, Covid isn't the only thing that can put you out of commission. We ended up with a nasty case of food poisoning the night before our Colosseum tour. In the morning we knew that no way were we up for a tour--my husband managed to make it down (and up!) the 78 stairs from our apartment to a little store to buy Sprite and that did him in (and he was in better shape than I was). Plus, we had scheduled the first tour of the day. So, three hours before tour time, I emailed Walks of Italy and explained the situation. I acknowledged that we had missed their cancellation deadline but asked if they would kindly consider giving us a credit. The next day I received a very kind response and a voucher, with no expiration date, for future tours. This company was also very easy to work with when we were unwinding our 2020 trip. I truly appreciate their customer service, and am looking forward to more tours with this company!

One of my favorite songs was written in tribute and lists the things the lyricist learned from that beloved one. One line is, "I know a please, a thank you and a smile will take me far." I don't think there are many things truer in life.

I had to cancel a trip to Italy in 2018 due to a sudden illness of my husband...he's fine now.
All the apartments I had booked through Airbnb had to be cancelled, and all were refunded but one, which later was refunded through my cc travel insurance.
I hadn't thought to check cancellation policies then, and the ones who refunded me were ones whose policies were non refundable.
I had written each host an explanation, and each one wrote me back such a kind letter wishing us well; except the one who didn't refund.
The kindness of strangers.
Now, when booking, I always go for ones with the best cancellation policies.

It does no harm to be polite and respectful, and often works to your advantage.

Not Europe, but before Covid, I had to extend a stay in Washington DC. My hotel room was a king suite and had the best view in the hotel (ok not really a great view but still).

I was only able to book a two double bed room for the extension, but the hotel let me stay in the same suite and didn’t have to move.

They probably kinda remembered me, I spent a lot of time in D.C. that year, always the same hotel.

We had pre purchased tickets costing $20pp to go up the Montparnasse Tower in Paris for our planned trip in 2020. Since it didn’t happen, I emailed the company, and even asked the hotel we were supposed to stay at to help me get a refund. Since I was not successful in that, I turned to my CC company to deny the charge and still was not successful. So, I decided I would just take the tickets with me when we finally got to Paris this past April. And guess what? I pleaded my case with the human taking tickets at the door, and he let us use our 2 year old tickets to go up the tower. Face to face interactions often work where other avenues do not.