Couple tries to postpone Puerto Vallarta wedding after travel advisory. They can’t believe Sunwing’s response: ‘ You have to fly into a war zone’
A woman described a nightmare experience that a friend is going through. The reason why he’s having a hard time? A travel advisory to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, has completely detoured a dream destination wedding for a couple he knows. But what’s worse is that Sunwing, the Canadian travel company the couple booked with, has offered little room to rebook despite local accounts of violence and huge security concerns with the trip.
TikToker Sam Doll (@sam_d0ll) heard from one of her friends that Sunwing really isn’t the best travel company to book with. That’s partially because they won’t allow a young Canadian couple to rebook their trip to Puerto Vallarta, which may not be safe to travel to at this time. But if the couple canceled their trip due to the travel advisories, they’d receive a 100 percent penalty.
So, why is Sunwing refusing to make any accommodations for the pair?
A couple books a destination wedding—with assurances
A friend of Sam Doll’s friend decided to book a destination wedding to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. They invited many friends, who all booked their trips with Sunwing, a Canadian travel and vacation company that offers many vacation “packages” for travelers alongside “cheap” flights.
Then, around 21 days before their wedding, they read about Puerto Vallarta’s travel advisories. After the killing of cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, otherwise known as “El Mencho,” the U.S. Embassy placed a shelter-in-place restriction on travel there. Canadian airlines canceled flights amid safety concerns in many areas in Mexico. These travel advisories have stranded tourists in Mexico, with few options to travel home.
So, no one in the bridal party felt safe traveling to Puerto Vallarta. According to Sam Doll, they had heard accounts of mutual friends traveling there and having to detour due to the unrest in the area. Based on that information, the couple and their friends made a move to postpone the trip.
“ They hit up the travel agent that planned this entire wedding and they’re like, ‘OK, yeah, we have to figure out a way to postpone this because no one’s comfortable coming or a lot of people aren’t comfortable coming,’” Sam Doll recalled.
But Sunwing’s response left everyone, including mutuals and even strangers, shocked.
@sam_d0ll i guess don’t book with sunwing ? #wedding ♬ Hungarian Dances composed by Brahms – Kazukicki KAWAI
An agent gives a shocking response
An agent responded, saying that because the airports were open and operational, a 100 percent penalty would be incurred if they moved the dates. This shocked the couple and their friends, who thought that Sunwing Groups would be more lenient considering the current situation in Puerto Vallarta.
“ The airport’s open,” Sam Doll said, while mocking the company. “We’re not giving, we won’t even give you money back for the [expletive] flight. You have to fly into a war zone. There’s military. You’re good.”
So, the couple turned toward travel insurance. But that also didn’t cover the travel advisory. “ Your travel insurance, like your health insurance, that you want to get when you go somewhere else, it’s null. If you travel somewhere with a warning or restriction, you’re entering at your own risk. They’re like, ‘yeah, we’re not insuring you for that,’” Sam Doll said.
The most surprising part in her eyes was that the couple had no options to postpone in any regard. Previously, when they booked with the group, they thought there was, at the very least, an emergency cancellation option.
That’s why Sam Doll expressed confusion at Sunwing’s policies. To her, they were asking for bad press.
“ Your whole thing relies on the fact that people want to go somewhere and they don’t want to go here, and now they know we better not book with you because God forbid something happens,” she said, finishing off her video.
Commenters add their thoughts
Commenters added that they’ve heard awful things about Sunwing, adding that booking with the company is “not worth the small savings they often don’t even offer.”
One viewer said, “I will never travel with Sunwing again. A restaurant at the resort we were staying at blew up. We did not feel safe and they did absolutely nothing.”
Another added their experience, saying, “I worked at sunwing. They basically hate their customers. They are so corrupt.”
Some commenters even shared positive experiences that they had with completely different airlines, expressing distaste for how Sunwing approached the situation with the couple.
“Shame on Sunwing. I was supposed to go to CDMX this Thursday (no travel advisory but feels sketchy going to Mexico with everything happening) and Air Canada gave me a full refund to my AC wallet, no questions asked.”
Another review outside of TikTok have referred to Sunwing as the “WORST AIRLINE EVER,” something that seems to ring true for Sam Doll’s TikTok audience.
The Mary Sue reached out to Sunwing Vacations LLC and Sam Doll via email for comment.
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