Forgive the lack of posts over the past few days. After an amazing ResellingDO, I incurred an injury and have been trying to get back from it.

In the process of trying to heal up (it’ll be a while, but the staples–as opposed to stitches–come out next week), I came to the conclusion that I had to take some advice that Joe Cortez–editor emeritus of Tagging Miles–shared; namely: When not to travel.

I thought I’d share the process by which I ended up having to cancel 5 hotels reservations, and 4 (and maybe a 5th) flights.

If the doctor says you shouldn’t fly, ask him to document it

My doctor knows how often I like to travel, but, luckily, sometimes calmer minds prevail and I realize when I shouldn’t. This was one of those cases where we saw eye to eye and I relented from my great desire to visit Vietnam.

The hotels required one phone call to Hyatt, since I had mostly booked points+cash options vs. nonrefundables.

The nice thing about the situation, was that I was able to cancel most of the flights via direct messages. Twitter really has become pretty awesome now a days.

One of the flights I had to cancel was via United:

It’s important to note that United said to send my doctors note when I rebook, not at the time of cancellation.

The other flights were on American, and were similarly easy.

Conclusion when Cancelling a Trip

When bad things happen, it just sucks. But, it certainly does become more complicated when you have to cancel travel. Generally speaking, the number one rule is: Get a doctors note. Not all airlines have the same policy, so it can certainly be a Your Miles May Vary (YMMV) experience. I haven’t rebooked travel yet, but when I do, I’ll be sure to share the other side of the experience. Of course, as Joe would say – this might just be a perfect reason to have travel insurance.

Have you ever had to cancel a flight due to an injury?