***Please use my personal email for all communications as I am unable to access the treasurer email during the day. sondraherman@live.com You can also message Mr. Lawrence at lawd@waseca.k12.mn.us or you can send a message via the website wasecabands.org Messages from the website are being forwarded to the appropriate staff or volunteer. Please remember our organization operates by volunteers….please be patient with us, we are doing the best we can to deal with an unprecedented situation.***
For those who purchased “cancel for any reason” insurance: Once our refunds are issued on Monday, June 1, BRT will submit refund information to the insurance company. The insurance company will process your claim for the balance of what you did not get refunds for.
6/2/20 – UPDATE Thanks to those of you who made it to the school to pick up your refund check and flight vouchers last night. I think we only had a few that were not picked up. If you are one of those few, please contact Mr. Lawrence to make arrangements.
Airline results:
Delta – issued flight vouchers in the name of the ticketed passenger to be used by 12/31/2021. This was not by our or BRT’s choice, but rather the only option we received from Delta in order to obtain at least something of value
Sun Country – they were only willing to issue future flights for the passengers as a group. Flight vouchers for individuals were not an option. The way we got around this option, was Bob Rogers used the band booster portion of the payments to purchase the group tickets from Sun Country, which allowed us to give cash refunds for these flights. BRT will attempt to sell this group of tickets to a future group with a different school. IF they are able to achieve this, the band booster organization will receive the funds from this purchase to put back into our program. IF this happens, the booster board will discuss and vote on how these funds will be used.
Although families received refund values of approximately 92% of your out of pocket costs, the booster club, as it stands, will receive ZERO! We felt it was most important to make our families as whole as possible and it is because of BRT’s hard work and creative thinking that allowed families to receive a high value! Our outcome truly could have been much different and much less pleasing!
5/29/20 – UPDATE Yesterday you should have received the following email from IPS/BRT:
5/18/20 – UPDATE We are getting VERY close!! We have communicated with BRT this morning. We are working on the final adjustments to make sure everyone is getting credit for the correct out of pocket payments. The calculation has been done by BRT, reviewed by Mr. Lawrence and myself and verified against the treasurer records. The amount of refund will differ for each person based on out of pocket payments, Fair Share payments made by the Booster Club and how much student account/fundraising money was used toward payments. You should be receiving a message from the BRT Individual Payment System, hopefully by the end of this week, but it could be early next week. Again, thank you so much for being patient! Sondra
5/7/20 – UPDATE It has been quite a while since I have updated this website, but it is because there hasn’t been much to update, not because we aren’t working on it. We knew this would be a very slow process and a path none of us have walked before, including Bob Rogers Travel. No amount of preparation could have prepared any of us for this scenario! I’ll go back to my earlier messages where I said it could take “weeks to months” and there are “NO guarantees”. Unfortunately, we are going to be in the “months” time frame.
Devon and I did have a conference call with BRT on Tuesday to update us on the progress they have made. Unfortunately, they are running into some snags, mainly with the airlines. Because we had 2 different airlines booked, we are getting 2 different responses for how they are handling the refund/re-book process. Delta & Sun Country are offering to very different responses. School staff are involved in helping to resolve the situation as well as the CEO of BRT. They have certainly NOT dropped the ball on this and are working very hard to stay on top of the airline situation. Over the course of the past month, the refund/re-book process has evolved so we are hopeful there may still be more give in our favor.
Other than the airlines, the amount of refund we’ll receive from the other vendors (Disney, Universal, etc.) is very positive. The snag with the timing of the refund is only being held up by the fact that these vendors have furloughed nearly all their staff so there is no one currently available to issue the refunds. We were assured that because BRT is one of 5 “Premier Businesses”, they will be at the top of the list for receiving refunds once they are able to start the refund process. BRT themselves have not yet received the refunds so they do not have cash flow to start returning any funds.
I know how hard it is to continue being patient, but that’s all we can do right now. Myself and Devon have a lot of confidence in Bob Rogers Travel and please believe us when we say they are doing everything possible to get us the most favorable outcome!
Hope you are all staying well! Sondra
4/16/20 – UPDATE Because there are so few staff working at Disney & Universal and the airlines are constantly changing, I don’t have any new information at this time because it is difficult for BRT to have the opportunity to talk to staff of these entities. BRT promises they are still working hard to get what the can in refunds.
4/2/20 – UPDATE I have not received any new information from BRT this week regarding refunds. We are working together to get you as much as possible, get it to you ASAP and save as much extra cost in the process. In order to do all of these things, refunds will likely not be processed through the IPS (Individual Payment System online) because there would be additional fees associated with the process which would reduce your refund. We will work out the details with BRT as soon as we have more information. NOTE: If you are a family living in separate households that have had more than 1 parent/guardian make payments, please contact me using my email above. I want to be sure proportionate refunds go to the correct payer. Thanks, Sondra
3/26/20 – UPDATE You should have received a message/update received today from IPS/Bob Rogers Travel regarding the refund process. PLEASE keep in mind, you are only eligible to receive refunds UP TO the amount you paid out of pocket and is dependent on how much refund is available from BRT. Fundraising and fair share earnings are not eligible to be refunded to families. We will continue to communicate information as it becomes available. This is still not guaranteed, but it IS hopeful!
3/25/2020 – UPDATE Just a quick word from BRT: I messaged with Dan (our BRT rep) & Katie (our BRT trip coordinator) today and expressed my sincere appreciation to them for all they are doing for us! The travel & tourism industry has been hit very hard and I can’t imagine all the different trips they are having to work on at the moment! BUT they are pushing on to do what they can. They have run into some issues with vendors because many are shut down without the ability to work from home. This isn’t necessarily a permanent road block; just causes more delays as we will have to wait for them to get back to working before they can proceed. Keep in mind, although our destination was Florida, vendors can be scattered across the country so we don’t know what state shut downs we are dealing with. We ask that you continue to be patient with the process. I promise, I don’t have any more information from BRT than I have already shared. Thank you! Sondra
3/18/2020 – UPDATE Thank you all for your patience as we go through the unknown! I am getting questions regarding refunds of trip fees and luggage fees. I assure you, Bob Rogers Travel is working VERY HARD on behalf of our organization! We have NO guarantees. If you purchased travel insurance, there is a process you need to go through. Please see the BRT page for instructions. There was not group coverage so we do not have recourse other than the good faith of vendors involved.
As far as luggage fees, these were deposited shortly before the trip was cancelled. I will be refunding these, but they will NOT be coming to you separately at this time. I will be crediting them back to student accounts and refunded once we know the status of other refunds. If you prefer to leave them in the student account for payment of future band fees, please send me a separate message to communicate this otherwise they will be refunded at a date TBD. I am trying to preserve the use of office supplies, checks and postage (and the time it would take to write 100 checks) in hopes I can send out all in the same mailing. If you are in need of your luggage fee refund sooner, I can do that. Please send me a separate message to let me know. I don’t want to hold on to any money that is needed for necessities.
As a board, we have not had the opportunity to meet as a group to discuss things. There are still too many unknowns to even know what decisions we are trying to make or will need to make.
We are happy to continue to answer questions, but know that we have no control over what happens to monies paid to BRT for the trip. We are in communication with them and have confidence they will do everything possible!
With sincere thanks for your patience,
Sondra Herman – Waseca Band Booster Treasurer
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Hopefully you have all received the message regarding the cancellation of our trip.
Please be patient as we work with a VERY BUSY travel company who is working hard to get any refund that is possible! This could take weeks to months and we will share what we know as it becomes available! This WILL be a slow process…
PLEASE STAY TUNED ON DAILY BASIS FOR UPDATES REGARDING COVID 19 AND HOW IT AFFECTS OUR TRIP!!
Here is the most recent update we have received from our travel company regarding COVID 19 FAQ’s
COVID-19 Cancelation Information 3-10-20
UPDATE TO LUGGAGE CHECK IN TIME —-> 3-5pm 3/22/2020 at the High School Gym (this is a change from 5-7pm)
Trip Inclusions & Exclusions
2020 Orlando trip inclusion & exclusions
Don’t forget, THIS week is uniform fittings which means unders kits need to be put together and turned in to be packed with uniforms
Bob Rogers Travel Coronavirus Statement
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Band Trip Book – Please be sure to have a parent or guardian AND your student read completely and sign the last page. This signature page should be turned in no later than March 9th
Student Medical Form should be turned in no later than March 9th
Waseca 2020 Band Trip Medical Form – Student
Flight Rosters and Chaperone/Rooming List is now available
Flight 1: Delta Delta Flight Names
Flight 2: Sun Country Sun Country Flight Names
Marching Unders kit needs to be checked in during the uniform refitting with Nicole Perrizo March 9 – 13th. These will be packed on the trailer with each uniform. See Luggage documents at the bottom of this page.
Last opportunity to pay the luggage fee will be at the luggage check-in night, Sunday, March 22nd.
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2020 Orlando Band Trip Itinerary is HERE! ?
2020 Waseca HSB Orlando-Itinerary 02-24-2020. (1)
Trip Dates: Monday, March 23 – Saturday, March 28, 2020
✔Important Upcoming Dates:
- MANDATORY Trip Meeting for all parents & students: @PAC Sunday, March 1, 2020 immediately following Spring Sports Registration (approximately 6pm)
- Uniform refitting: Week of March 9, 2020 @ school – more info to come
- Check in Marching Jays drawstring bag with unders kit: This can be done at the trip meeting 3/1/20 or at uniform fitting week of 3/9/20
- Drawstring bag will be transported on the uniform hanger on the trailer – DO NOT PACK in luggage
See the following attachments for luggage information: