How to minimize deposit risk booking a charter

I have plane tickets to STT purchased but no boat yet reserved for a trip in March. One reason I didn't book the boat so far is that the companies I have talked to, CYOA primarily, said they only will take a non-refundable deposit. With so much up in the air (this was 2-3 months ago) I decided to wait. But I did see someone on here post to just use a credit card for the deposit. Not sure how that helps if it is a non-refundable depoisit. Isn't the charge taken at the time of the deposit? Can the credit card company force it to be refundable?

Anyone have advice? Any of the boat brokers on here offering guaranteed refunds in the specific case that BVI either closes its borders again or requires a quarantine?

The credit card company will not protect you if the contract states the deposit is nonrefundable. Especially when you post on the interweb that you understand the terms of the contract and CYOA closely monitors this forum.

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Hopefully the BVI will be fully open to tourism in December. TMM gives 100% refunds on all charter deposits if the charter is cancelled because the BVI boarders are closed. All of the charterers who had put down deposits on Ocean Song, including all owner bookings, were refunded 100% - no questions asked.

This is not an accurate account of the CYOA Cancellation Policy which can be found in its' entirety here. https://www.cyoacharters.com/cancellation-policy/

I spoke with Sarah in mid-may. I'm not sure how this could have been misunderstood because I felt like she was very explicit about it It prompted me to go reach out to travel insurance companies, but of course none of them are offering coverage for canceled trips right now. However, I will request a new quote and clarification from cyoa based on this post. Thanks!

If CYOA is running, Ie., the USVI is open, but BVI is closed, you could have a great time exploring the USVI. BVI being closed should not stop you.

The only way to minimize risk totally would be if the charter company would put the money in an escrow account safe from charter companies that may/will go under...and have a refund policy in the event of borders being closed.

Right now the charter companies like many businesses are thinking about a short term cash grab to try and keep afloat...at the long term cost of their reputation among charterers. Personally I wouldn't put new money on the table for a charter until we find a "new normal" but do have a credit I want to use up as soon as possible.

TMM will have a distinct marketing advantage in my mind with a 100% refund policy....

I can tell you from personal experience the credit card companies will not help you at all.

Warren - I was going to say the same thing - we had a fantastic experience with CYOA - and there is that added benefit of “hey we can go anyway!”

Very impressive that TMM is offering that for the border closure situation - I think all the companies should do that - it is completely beyond anyone’s control.....

That is certainly a thought that has entered my mind, I love St. John. But we are hoping to do an 11 day charter, and because of that length of time AND for sentimental reasons I would really like to get to some spots in the BVI.

This is what we are doing. Original was May, rescheduled to Nov. Now with BVI closed until Dec it looks like we will just do USVI and maybe swing to SVI.

It sounds like you might have misunderstood the CYOA policy and Covid cancelation offer. While the deposit might not be refundable, it can be applied to a future charter. We found CYOA to be immediately responsive and very accommodating in working through the two charters we had booked with them. On one, since we were just a month and a half from the charter start, they held our deposit and we applied it to a future charter (now already taken) and on the second charter we paid a nominal fee to reschedule since we were more than 90 days from our charter start. I found Sarah super helpful and clear on what our options were. You might want to call Sarah and ask for clarification.

Very Good Question... We had a Charter booked for the month of July. Still to this day we have not received our deposit back. The Industry has many reputable Charter Companies out there but we are stuck in the middle between Boats at Sea and charter boat Lady Fiona. Highly advise to stay away from these two! Chartering is a great vacation but you need to do your homework and go with reputable people.