"It was my first, my maiden cruise," a dream vacation for Georgia Tate.
She would be joining her daughter Jackie, her son-in-law, and several friends for a Greek Isle cruise in July of 2022.
"I was going to have one of the forward-facing suites. I mean, I just kept upgrading. I was going to do this right," said Georgia.
To make travel easy and streamlined, they booked everything through Norwegian Cruise Line.
Norwegian even took care of booking their flights.
But about a month out, the group heard about issues with flight cancellations.
They called Norwegian to see if they could fly out earlier, but say they were told they'd missed the deadline to do that by a few days.
Georgia and Jackie were set to fly out the day before their cruise left.
"Everything's packed, everything's in the car. We're, you know, excited about it. And then I got, the first thing I got was a text," Georgia recalled.
She then called Jackie.
Their flights had been canceled.
During Fourth of July weekend in 2022, a glitch forced American Airlines to cancel thousands of flights, and Georgia and Jackie's flight was among them.
They say American Airlines tried for hours to get them to their destination, but they wouldn't be able to make the cruise.
"The best they could do is get us to the second port, an hour after the boat left," Jackie said.
While working with the airline, Georgia says they also spent hours trying to get a hold of Norwegian on their emergency line.
Once they got through, Georgia and Jackie say the person on the Norwegian line kept asking if they wanted to cancel the cruise.
They did not cancel.
During the booking process, Georgia bought trip insurance and filed a claim through Aon Travel Insurance.
Both Georgia and Jackie also contacted their respective credit card companies to see if the charges could be reversed.
Jackie paid through Visa and said her charges were immediately reversed.
Georgia paid using an American Express card and had a different experience.
"They told me, 'you have nothing to worry about. You made the airline flight through them [Norwegian]. It's a no-brainer.' And then they talked to Norwegian."
Georgia says American Express denied a charge reversal.
She disputed the claim with Norwegian. The cruise line refunded her $2,437.24 and suggested any additional funds would have to go through insurance for a refund.
Those additional funds left Georgia out more than $7,500.
Georgia's claim with Aon Travel Insurance was under review for months.
Initially, it was denied.
The Let Joe Know team reached out to Aon again. They came back and offered Georgia cruise credits, stating her situation didn't meet the requirements for a financial reimbursement according to the trip insurance policy.
Now, Georgia's left asking if trip insurance is even worth the price.
"It's so restrictive. Read the 36 pages of the contract with your attorney."
As for American Airlines, they are refunding Georgia's flight.
However, since it was booked by Norwegian, the funds went back to them.
The Let Joe Know team is working on getting that money to Georgia.
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