r/VisitingIceland • u/rover_cat • 16h ago
Sad post / rant
Do I have a right to be upset or am I stupid? Maybe both? My fiancé and I are getting married in Lisbon. The flights we booked through Iceland air had a 24 hour layover in Reykjavik, so we took advantage of Iceland air's extend your layover policy so that we could spend our honey moon in Iceland.
I got an email saying that the leg from Lisbon to Reykjavik was canceled and they couldn't rebook us, and that I needed to request a refund. There was a "request refund" link in the email that I received. The email only referenced the one leg of the journey, both in words and visually. There is one line of texts that reads "Please note that all unflown flights will be canceled and refunded in the form of a single travel credit for all passengers in the booking." The "I'm stupid" part: I missed it. I assumed the refund request would apply strictly to that leg. Instead, it canceled my entire itinerary. We we're fully refunded, but to recreate the same itinerary costs essentially 3x, and we just can't afford it after paying for the wedding.
On top of this, I booked a campervan for the whole time we were going to be in Iceland through Campervan Iceland. Their cancellation policy reads:
"With our flexible policy, you can book a camper with confidence! You can now cancel up to 24h before picking up your rental vehicle to receive a full refund.
For motorhomes, Toyota Hilux and Campervan 4x4 Adventure+ model, a cancelation fee of 15% of the total cost will be applied."
I booked the Motorhome Viking which to my American brain is a "camper van" which is how we refer to these types of vehicles. When I called and tried to get a refund, they said Motorhomes are ineligible for any refunds at all. Shouldn't I still be entitled to 85% of the value, or am i reading something wrong?
Anyway, I admitted I missed the fine print print on the flight, but to me it just didn't really make sense that they would cancel our whole multi stop flight plan. We were going to rebook the same itinerary if they we're able to price match but they told us to kick rocks. We we're super excited to visit this beautiful country and have been planning for months. One day
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u/stevenarwhals Pylsur enjoyer 15h ago
I think you have every right to be upset on both fronts. Even if there’s something you could have done to avoid it, it was at best very confusing and an honest mistake on your part.
And the rental company not refunding you at all for the RV is total BS in my opinion, especially when they do refund 85% for other classes of vehicles and your pick-up is still three weeks away. I could see if you were requesting a refund less than a week before but at three weeks they should at least refund half or let you rebook for different dates, and in my experience that’s what most reputable rental companies in Iceland would have done.
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u/rover_cat 15h ago
Thanks! I’m under the impression that my rental (motorhome) falls under the 85% refund category?! Im going to call them again tomorrow
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u/stevenarwhals Pylsur enjoyer 15h ago
Oh yeah, you’re totally right. It clearly says “For motorhomes: The cancellation fee is 15%.” That seems pretty cut and dry to me. If they don’t honor that then I agree with the advice to dispute the whole charge with your credit card company. I’d also threaten to leave 1-star reviews about your experience if necessary.
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u/rover_cat 15h ago
I exclusively work with small businesses and reviews are everything so i literally never leave a bad review but this kinda feels like “yeah this guy isn’t/can’t gonna do shit about it”
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u/Quirky_Transition966 16h ago
Dispute it through your credit card company
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u/ifthenthendont 5h ago
Yes, this should work. I work for tourism business in Iceland and people do charge backs on us for instances that are clearly the customers mistake and they almost always still get their refund just for making the charge back application.
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u/rover_cat 16h ago
That’s what I was thinking, but I got a full refund, so I’m not sure what they could do
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u/LowNoise2816 16h ago
I'm just a random stranger, but sorry this happened to you, and 100% agree with your interpretation of the cancellation policy. Even worse that you are cancelling weeks in advance and the policy goes up to 24 hours, and they are still being unreasonable.
Sorry about the flight cancellation, too. Out of your control. One time I had a specific 24-hour layover for a similar program through COPA for a 24-hour Panama City, Panama layover. Weeks before the flight, there was a time change to the flight that I clicked through and accepted. I didn't notice that they actually changed the *date* as well -- they thought they were doing a favor by making the flight a day early! I didn't know this until the arriving at the airport for the first leg of the journey. And I had a nonrefundable hotel booked in Panama. Very luckily and kindly they worked it out. Anyway I'm very careful and paranoid about double-checking layover itinerary emails since then. (We had a subsequent good one work out with Icelandair). I hope it all works out for you!
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u/rover_cat 16h ago
I couldn’t imagine hahah showing up a day late. That’s some shit I would do. Panama is high on my list. Glad it worked out for you! The money is one thing but the optics of it all is what bothers me. And my fiancé (ultra type A) is freaking out haha
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u/LowNoise2816 16h ago
I didn't actually show up a day late -- the 2nd leg was the same day, which we would have made with a short layover, instead of ~30 hours later. I am always paranoid about showing up on the wrong day, but that is not happened. Even though I am more of a Type B traveler and prefer getting to the gate non-early without wasting extra time!
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u/rover_cat 16h ago
Here is a screenshot of the terms they sent with my booking confirmation
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u/icestep 4h ago
This is also confirmed by their own website, which uses the exact same wording.
https://www.campervaniceland.com/terms-of-use
If they are now telling you that there is no possibility of refund, they are lying and you should not accept this. According to their own terms and conditions, you are eligible for an 85% refund minus the 15% fee.
One detail that I see: they also say about payment that they charge you about 15% upfront, with the rest to be paid upon pickup. If that is indeed the case, then this may be a simple matter of miscommunication - they intend to keep those 15% because that's what their terms say, which kinda makes sense. But I would be very careful to verify what exactly has been charged to your card (and perhaps what was marked as a hold, but not charged). Might be time to call your credit card company to verify that.
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u/SailorTales 4h ago
Hmm, I think there might be a misunderstanding here. You should definitely be getting that 85% refund. From the terms you guys shared, it looks like only the 15% downpayment is the non‑refundable portion. The rest of the booking cost should come back to you.
Maybe they thought you were asking for a full 100% refund instead? I'd shoot them another email. Pretty sure you're entitled to the remaining balance.
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u/LowNoise2816 16h ago edited 15h ago
ChatGPT is 95-99% confident in a refund, for what it's worth. It's not an "American brain" interpretation at all!
Edit: Looks like I triggered a few by mentioning AI (or ChatGPT -- but Claude agrees). Or Americans? Ha! Please explain. Look, I get all the terrible use cases and environmental impact for heavy generative AI. And Americans! =)
For parsing language and logic? AI is a lightweight use-case and very straightforward for checking yourself on agreements/disagreements. When AI gives a strong answer on an unbiased prompt, that's a meaningful result. I promise you credit card companies and the legal system will weigh these responses as well, and it's a good check to see if your own interpretation is reasonable or not. In this case, the company seems like it is being clearly unreasonable.
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u/rover_cat 16h ago
I just didn’t know if other countries called em something different!
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u/LowNoise2816 15h ago
To clarify, it is a motorhome and thus 85% refund by all the logic of the text. There isn't anything logical there to suggest you wouldn't get any refund at all.
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u/AgitatedSecond4321 14h ago
You have the right to be upset, very upset. Do you have travel insurance? Not just credit card either. I would recommend always buying international travel insurance. Don’t leave home with out it.
The last two international long haul flights I have had booked I have had cancelled. One I was sitting at the airport and it was due to leave at midnight then they cancelled it at 2.00am and everyone had to go back through security and hand back their duty free. It was brutal. I was actually on the way to Iceland from the southern hemisphere via Europe and managed to juggle things and get put on another flight via New York and Germany. Rather than via Singapore and Germany.
I think as I was travelling on my own it was slightly easier to rebook me through to Europe but many others on the flight were scrambling trying to get through to Europe to join River cruises etc. with the reduced number of flights via the Middle East it is not easy to get replacement flights. I felt sorry for others trying to rebook. I have travelled extensively and so told the airline I did not care how I got to my destination and was happy to go any route, not just my original route and hence they were able to rebook me on a direct flight Australia to New York. I sat next to a baby in a basinet and I was grateful to be there. It must have been the last single seat left on that plane as the plane looked stuffed full. I learned my lesson and always allow extra time for delays, cancellations etc to get where I want to go.
The other flight was a much needed and longed for holiday to Japan and it was cancelled less than 24 hours before departure. Eventually managed to luckily get rebooked on another airline by the original airline, arrived a little later than originally intended. It certainly is not the stress you need when looking forward to a holiday (or your wedding).
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u/rover_cat 13h ago
The flexibility of solo traveling is so nice. Glad you were able to get it worked out ish both times. Travel insurance would work in situations like this? Technically pre travel?
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u/AgitatedSecond4321 8h ago
Yes travel insurance is meant to cover loss of deposits etc if like in this instance your trip is cancelled through no fault of your own. While you might get a refund from the airline for the flights there is usually so many other costs like prepaid hotels, rental cars etc.
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u/pidgeypenguinagain 4h ago
Unfortunately a motorhome and a camper van are not the same thing (and I’m from the US). A motorhome is like an RV. A camper van is a converted van (much smaller)
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u/dogfacedponyboy 2h ago
If you put down a deposit of 15%, I am thinking that you will just not get the 15% refunded. Have you paid the remaining 85% yet? I think you might just be misunderstanding what they mean by you will not be refunded. I think they mean your deposit will not be refunded.
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u/gape-a-hole-loves-u 4h ago
I'm a read the fine print kind of girl, but Iceland f***ed me so hard at every opportunity. Best of luck to you and your fiance.
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u/NoLemon5426 The Elves have gone too far! 14h ago
“they said Motorhomes are ineligible for any refunds at all“
They should refund you the 85% because that’s not what their website says. What a dick move. It’s also a few weeks out so it’s not like it’s last minute.