I Cancelled My 'Jordan Trip' Just Before Departure: A Senior's Heart-Pounding Overseas Travel

Since my last post, I have been sharing my travelogue from Penang, but this time I will be posting about the content and methods of the itinerary I had planned for my next trip, which I suddenly changed.

This article was written by my wife, who plans our trips.

We are departing for a trip around the world on May 22nd.
This trip included a visit to Jordan.

There are a little over 50 days left until our departure, but we have made the decision to cancel our trip to Jordan.

We had already finished all of our reservations, including hotels.
Some were non-refundable, and for others, we had used award tickets.

As you know, the situation in the Middle East remains unstable.

We have never faced an emergency like this before, so I was honestly quite torn about whether or not to cancel.

The anxiety of 'Is it really okay to go ahead with this?' would not go away.

Reasons for giving up on Jordan

Since I was looking forward to the Petra ruins, I thought it would still be okay when the news broke at the end of February.

The situation did not change even as we entered March, and it remained unsettled even with two months left until departure.

'What should I do if the situation gets even worse while we just sit here and hesitate?' 'Maybe it would be better to just give up this time.'

That is how I started to feel.

When I checked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' overseas safety website, Amman is at Level 2 (Avoid non-essential travel).

Furthermore, Turkish Airlines, which we were planning to use, is also experiencing disruptions in its flights to Amman, Jordan.

I was anxious about what would happen from here on out.

In the end, we decided not to go.
The steps and methods we used to make changes are as follows.

Changing our destination

The first thing I did was 'change my destination'.

I arrived in Turkey on a round-the-world ticket and was scheduled to go to Jordan on May 24th.

First, I used AI to search for locations from Istanbul using Turkish Airlines, based on the criteria of 'a one-way flight of under 3 hours + low cost of living'.

The candidates were four countries: Georgia, Macedonia, Albania, and Azerbaijan.

Out of the four countries that came up as candidates, I chose Azerbaijan this time.

The reason I chose Azerbaijan was:

I searched for rooms to stay in on Airbnb and looked at the prices and room details.
・Looking at the prices tells you the cost of living.
・Looking at the room details tells you the standard of living.

I checked the number of flights and the time slots.
・Departure and arrival times are also important for us seniors.

I had AI provide information on sightseeing and recommendations.
・It is easy to live in.
・The capital, Baku, has a sea and an old town area.
・It is not very well known to Japanese tourists.

These were the deciding factors.

I called ANA to check if there were any vacancies on Turkish Airlines for the desired dates.

I was going to stay in Jordan for 19 days, but due to flight availability, my stay in Azerbaijan became 17 days.

Cancelling the hotels I booked in Jordan

I had booked three hotels.

Hotels with free cancellation were easy to cancel via their websites.

Non-refundable hotels were handled by using AI to draft an English email, which I sent to the hotels and the customer center.

The email content included:
・Information from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs advising against non-essential travel
・The situation where flights to Amman are being affected
　These two points.

Even the non-refundable hotels allowed me to cancel for free because of the conflict.

It is important not to give up and to negotiate, even for non-refundable bookings.

Canceling and booking flights

Canceling round-trip flights to Amman

I had booked a Turkish Airlines award ticket using ANA miles. When I called ANA, I was able to cancel it for free because the flight operations were unstable due to the conflict.

Booking round-trip flights to Azerbaijan

I called ANA and booked a Turkish Airlines award ticket using ANA miles.

Canceling and booking Airbnb

The Airbnb apartment I had booked in Jordan was cancellable so I canceled it through the Airbnb website. They refunded me immediately.

Booking an Airbnb apartment in Baku

In Azerbaijan, if your stay exceeds 15 days, you must register with immigration. I confirmed that the Airbnb owner would handle this for me.

This time, the decision was made before we had even departed for the trip.
If you are already traveling, contacting people for changes or cancellations is very difficult.

Overseas travel does not always go as planned.

I learned through personal experience that it is not just our own circumstances, but also changes in the global situation that can have an impact.

If you are planning a trip on your own, you can find useful information by checking the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Overseas Safety Website.

I also learned that you don't necessarily have to give up on non-refundable hotels or flights.
The hotel that was non-refundable initially said 'cancellation is not possible,' but by explaining the situation via email, I was able to cancel it for free.

This is an example showing that if you know how to handle these situations, you can make changes regardless of the terms.

I hope that for those who read this post, it will serve as a helpful reference if you ever find yourself in a similar situation.