Level 3 Travel Warning issued for Italy

If travelers cancel on their own, they will have to individually absorb the costs or, if they bought insurance thru RS, they will receive a credit toward future RS travel within a certain period of time - I believe 15 months. On the other hand, if RS cancels, they have to offer refunds. Is RS waiting until the last minute to cancel trips, expecting that most worried travelers will not wish to wait until the last minute and will cancel on their own? This would limit the amount of refunds RS needs to offer when it eventually cancels the trips.

If travelers cancel on their own, they will have to individually absorb the costs or, if they bought insurance thru RS, they will receive a credit toward future RS travel within a certain period of time - I believe 15 months. On the other hand, if RS cancels, they have to offer refunds. Is RS waiting until the last minute to cancel trips, expecting that most worried travelers will not wish to wait until the last minute and will cancel on their own? This would limit the amount of refunds RS needs to offer when it eventually cancels the trips.

If you don't have Cancel for Any Reason insurance, chances are you will not get a refund as most insurances don't cover pandemics. Why cancel before the very last minute if you are not going to get a refund???

One reason for non-insured travelers with RS to cancel, I believe, is that if they cancel prior to 14 days from departure they will get a 50% refund ( forfeiting 50% as a cancellation fee). So, in the absence of hard information from RS, when approaching the two week point prior to a tour, non-insured travelers who do not wish to travel because of the virus situation will have to face the question of whether to chose a 50% refund (and pay the 50% cancellation fee) or to wait and take the chance for a possible full refund if RS cancels the trip. I would guess that many would opt for the 50% "bird in the hand."

Yes, I am thinking the same thing. I will cancel 1 day before departure,

This is incorrect information....look under Money Matters. There is a chart that shows that cancellations with fewer that 30 days remaining are charged 100% of amount as a fee. If you cancel 66 to 30 days before, you get are charged 50% as a fee. It is not clear if this includes airfare ordered through them. That may be forfeited totally. Please be careful about giving people incorrect information that may cost them money down the line.

A note on airfare, that refund is based on what the airlines charge. Right now, many major airlines are refunding tickets due to the global situation (Delta, United). Lufthansa has a 24 hour cancellation policy. Assuming that is correct (and there may be information I am missing), when cancelling 30 days before your program should result in a refund of 1/2 the fee for the program and your airfare. Cancelling with less than 30 days before your program should result in your airfare returned but no refund of you program fee. My guess is that the reason they only look a month ahead is that they will owe fewer refunds if cancelling the program since some folks will call "chicken" and cancel to save at least half the fare!

CORRECTION -- MY UNDERSTANDING STATED IN THE ABOVE POST IS WRONG FOR INTERNATIONAL TRIPS. Kannusa in correct in his/her reply. For those trips, the 50% forfeiture time line is 66-30 days prior, and there is 100% forfeiture within 30 days, as Kannusa points out. So my point about what uninsured traveler might cancel instead of waiting should be modified for the different time line, and the decision point for the 50% refund would be 30 days prior, and NOT 14. Obviously, the best approach is to call or email Road Scholar immediately if any questions or doubts, and not to rely on the discussion board.

Sorry if my response came off too strong...

It's very sketchy the way RS is handling this serious situation. Most RS participants fit the "increased risk" criteria. I understand RS is a business but it appears to be more concerned about the bottom line than how it will affect its customers. Supposed to travel to Japan and the country has closed public schools for a month. Many restaurants and cherry blossom festivals are cancelled. RS needs to do the right thing.