Rebate Policy
for coronavirus-related cancellations.
Comfort Rentals Aruba is a wholly-owned subsidiary and a vacation rental affiliate of Prestige Vacations Aruba. Therefore, all information and policies provided in the below publication are also integrally and equally underwritten by Comfort Rentals Aruba.
Please note: As per Prestige’s standard terms and conditions, Guests may cancel their booking at any moment in time. However, the Guest will then always forfeit the Cancellation Fee that is applicable at that point in time, which fee increases as the cancellation date gets closer to the booking’s arrival date. For any overpaid amounts beyond the Cancellation Fee, Guests first and foremost maintain their rights to receive a (partial) cash “Refund” as per agreement. In such a case, Guests will unquestionably receive the rightful amount refunded in cash (e.g., when the applicable Cancellation Fee is less than the total paid amounts at the moment of requesting cancellation). So, please know that the below “Rebate Value” options are offered in relation to only the inevitably applicable Cancellation Fee in accordance with Prestige’s standard terms and conditions (or in accordance with any non-standard, temporarily valid policy).
For cases related to the coronavirus threat, Guests can rest assured that their paid amounts for future bookings are protected. In the event, a Guest has to cancel a reservation for any reason related to the coronavirus threat – besides issuing to Guest any rightful partial cash refund as per agreement – as delineated in the following paragraphs Prestige’s Rebate Policy mitigates (i.e. grants a rebate value on) the otherwise forfeited cancellation fee that is applicable on such cancelled reservation. Note: The rebate value is a credit value that can be used as the same value payment on a future re-booking of the same accommodation. Whenever a national or international advisory on travel to Aruba is newly imposed, or an existing advisory is retracted, this Rebate Policy will be adjusted or updated accordingly.
100% rebate values: Prestige hereby guarantees its (already booked and potential) future guests that if any of the following cases matches the guest’s reason to cancel his/her booking, namely
– case (a)
the guest is either an elderly person or has a serious chronic medical condition (thus adhering to USA’s CDC initial advisory),
or
the guest is the US or Canadian resident (thus adhering to Canada’s advisory, USA’s Department of State advisory and CDC’s Global Warning Level 3 advisory),
or
if the country where the guest resides takes a national mandatory measure that prohibits all its residents from leaving that country or from travelling to Aruba (= total outbound lock-down) for a period that spans over the guest’s booked travel dates.
– case (b)
as the Government of Aruba with the reopening of its borders as of July 1, 2020, has introduced strict Travel Health Requirements that include items for which travelers will incur extra expenses – i.e. PCR test and Aruba Visitors Insurance – and due to personal circumstances the guest is unable to comply with these nationally set travel requirements,
or
if the Government of Aruba takes a restrictive measure against inbound travel from any country (= total inbound lock-down) for a period that spans over the guest’s booked travel dates,
or
if following the above possible measure by the Government of Aruba, the airline preemptively cancels the guest’s flight to Aruba (which can even be a flight that is scheduled for a date later than the period limit of this possible measure by the Government of Aruba),
or
if any member of a guest’s travel group is placed by their local authorities in mandatory quarantine or isolation related to coronavirus infection,
then:
- If due to the occurrence of the mentioned case (a), a guest requests to cancel an existing booking, Prestige will grant to the guest a rebate value equivalent to 100% of the Cancellation Fee on the thus canceled future booking with Prestige. Note: Guest may be requested by Prestige to provide written medical validation of this case.
- If due to the occurrence of the mentioned case (b), a guest requests to cancel an existing booking, Prestige will grant to the guest a rebate value equivalent to 100% of the Cancellation Fee on the thus canceled future booking with Prestige. Note: Guest may be requested by Prestige to provide written validation of this case.
- This rebate value can then be used by the guest to make any new booking with Prestige for the same accommodation, within one (1) year after the date that such case (a) or (b) ceases to exist.
Less than 100% rebate values: Unfortunately, even the travel insurance that guests may have – and non-refundable paid extra for! – to protect themselves against the foreseeable costs involved if they have to cancel their travel plans, most likely will NOT cover booking cancellation fees related to the coronavirus. For example, as published on its website on March 10, 2020, the multinational insurer American Insurance Group (AIG) declares that “Trip cancellation for concern or fear of travel associated with sickness, epidemic or pandemic, including Coronavirus, is not covered.” 1. Know that Clause 11 of Guests’ current Vacation Rental Agreement with Prestige similarly stipulates – among others – that Prestige will not “accept liability for any loss or damage caused by acts of God or other reasons beyond its control”. But nonetheless, irrespective of whether future guests have – and hopefully are indeed covered by – travel insurance or not, but primarily to uphold its fair business policy: Prestige even in certain individual and personal cases, if related to the coronavirus situation, will mitigate the applicable Cancellation Fee as follows.
Less than 100% rebate values: Prestige hereby guarantees its (already booked and potential) future guests that, even though neither of the previously mentioned cases (a) or (b) matches the guests’ situation, but if otherwise any of the following cases related to the coronavirus threat occurs, namely
– case (c) if the guest is involuntarily impeded from traveling (for more info, see Supplemental Information 1 below);
– case (d) if the guest voluntarily chooses to take self-impeding, precautionary measures at a personal level (for more info, see Supplemental Information 1 below),
then:
- If due to the occurrence of the mentioned case (c), a guest requests to cancel an existing booking, Prestige will grant to the guest a rebate value equivalent to 80% of the Cancellation Fee on the thus cancelled future booking with Prestige. Note: Guest will have to provide Prestige with a written and legitimate validation of this case, before becoming eligible for this rebate value.
- If due to the occurrence of the mentioned case (d), a guest requests to cancel an existing booking, Prestige will grant to the guest a rebate value equivalent to 50% of the Cancellation Fee on the thus cancelled future booking with Prestige.
- This rebate value can then be used by the guest to make any new booking with Prestige for the same accommodation, within one (1) year after the date on which the rebate was granted.
Supplemental Information 1.
Related to the coronavirus, travelers can also be involuntarily impeded from traveling, for example, because of an issued doctor’s instruction to refrain from travel, or because their employer won’t allow it, or because the traveler must adhere to a preventive self-quarantine or isolation.
On the other hand, at a personal level, some travelers may voluntarily choose to take self-impeding precautionary measures, for example by choosing to cancel their travel plans entirely without imminent official reasons or even choosing not to leave their home at all, or because they want to avoid any risk of becoming infected – for instance – when they are underway to Aruba.
In any case, the standard Cancellation Fee remains applicable and the Guests are then granted the indicated (partial) rebate value corresponding to either of the above-described cases (c) or (d).
Sources:
- As per the official Coronavirus Advisory published by AIG on March 10, 2020.
This publication was first compiled on February 29, 2020
and when necessary is adjusted or updated by
Prestige Vacations Aruba
Last Update: July 6, 2020
Still valid on: