TourClaim Operator Staff Guide

Overview

TourClaim helps your guests find out whether they may be eligible for reimbursement under the Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption benefits included with many major credit cards.

When a guest can’t make a tour they’ve paid for, those benefits sometimes cover the loss even when your own cancellation policy doesn’t — but most guests don’t know the coverage exists. TourClaim checks eligibility, prepares the paperwork, and files the claim on the guest’s behalf.

Your role is small and simple: when a guest loses money on a non-refundable booking, point them to TourClaim, and hand over standard booking documents if TourClaim asks. You never interpret coverage, predict outcomes, or handle the claim yourself.

How it works

You don’t operate any of this — but understanding it helps you answer guest questions and know what to expect.

1. Guests reach TourClaim through your branded link

Your company has a dedicated TourClaim intake link you can drop into cancellation emails, your website, or a QR code at the desk. When sent from a FareHarbor booking, the link carries the guest’s booking reference with it, so their claim starts already tied to the right booking and your company — they don’t type in booking numbers.

2. TourClaim reads the booking from FareHarbor automatically

Once a claim starts, TourClaim looks the booking up directly in your FareHarbor account — confirmation, trip date, amount paid, and status. This means much of the documentation is collected for you. Staff are often asked for nothing, because the booking record is already there.

3. The guest does the rest — sometimes with an AI assistant

TourClaim collects the cancellation reason, the card used, and any supporting documents directly from the guest. For many operators, TourClaim’s AI assistant follows up with the guest by text message to gather what’s missing.

4. TourClaim files and tracks the claim

TourClaim assembles the packet and files with the credit card’s benefit administrator — the third party that actually decides the claim. As the claim moves along, TourClaim writes the status back into your FareHarbor booking notes (next section).

Claim status, right inside your FareHarbor bookings

When write-back is enabled for your account, TourClaim posts updates directly into the FareHarbor booking’s notes. Your ops team stays in the loop without learning a new tool — the claim’s progress shows up exactly where you already work.

Each update tells you three things at a glance:

• Status — where the claim is: Filed, Under Review, Approved/Paid, or Denied.
• Card support — whether the guest’s card is supported or unsupported (see below).
• Reason support — whether the cancellation reason is one TourClaim recognizes as commonly covered.

Auto Cancel: TourClaim releases the booking for you

If your company has Auto Cancel turned on, a guest who files a TourClaim for an upcoming trip doesn’t need to call you to cancel. TourClaim tells the guest it will release the booking, gives them time to change their mind, and then cancels it in FareHarbor so the spots go back on sale.

Auto Cancel is for FareHarbor operators only, and it stays off unless your company asks TourClaim to turn it on.

What the guest sees

1. A notice before they submit. The last step of the claim form tells the guest that submitting releases their booking, how soon, and that they’ll get an email with a button to keep it.

2. An email right away. TourClaim emails the guest the exact time the booking will be released, in your time zone, with a Keep my booking button. The release is always at least an hour after that email goes out. If the contact on the FareHarbor booking isn’t the person who filed, that contact gets the email too.

3. A confirmation once it’s done. After FareHarbor shows the booking as cancelled, TourClaim emails the guest that the booking has been released. Their card claim carries on separately.

What you see in FareHarbor

When the claim comes in, TourClaim’s note appears on the booking as usual. Shortly after the release time, the booking’s status changes to Cancelled and its history records the cancellation, made by TourClaim’s FareHarbor user (Copernican in this example).

Releasing a booking doesn’t refund it. The payment stays on the booking, and whether to refund is still your call under your normal policy — see Before you refund a guest.

If the guest changes their mind

• Keeping the booking also withdraws the guest’s TourClaim while it can still be withdrawn online. If the claim is already being processed, the release still stops, the claim stays open, and TourClaim’s team follows up with the guest.
• Once the release time has passed, the button can’t bring the booking back. If the guest still wants to go, rebook them as you normally would.
• If the guest can’t find the email, ask them to check their spam folder. If it’s still missing, email support@getcopernican.com as early as you can: TourClaim’s team can hold a release that hasn’t started yet.

When TourClaim leaves the booking alone

TourClaim doesn’t release the booking when:

• the trip is less than 24 hours away;
• the booking is already cancelled or rebooked in FareHarbor, or marked as a no-show;
• the person who filed doesn’t match the booking, or the booking has no email address on it;
• the guest’s reason sounds like a change (“I booked the wrong date”) rather than a cancellation.

If the booking is still active, TourClaim emails the guest that it was not released and to contact you directly if they still need to cancel.

What “supported” vs “unsupported” means

You’ll see these two words in the booking notes — for the card and for the reason. Together they tell you how likely the guest is to be reimbursed through their card.

Supported vs unsupported card

Supported vs unsupported reason

How a card is checked — and kept current

Card coverage isn’t guesswork. When a guest’s card hasn’t been seen before, TourClaim researches its benefits against the card benefit administrator’s published policy, a TourClaim specialist reviews and approves the findings, and the card is then marked supported. Because administrators change their terms over time, supported cards are re-checked and updated so the status stays accurate. Until a card is verified, it stays unsupported rather than being assumed.

Before you refund a guest

This is the part that protects your revenue. When a guest reaches out and you’re inclined to refund them, check the TourClaim note on the booking first. If the card is supported and the reason is supported, the guest likely has a real path to be reimbursed by their bank — so a refund from you may be unnecessary, and refunding now risks paying the guest twice.

When in doubt, leave the claim to run and check the notes — or escalate to a manager. A few days’ patience can mean the guest is made whole and you keep the booking.

When to mention TourClaim

The simplest trigger: any time a guest is upset about losing money on a booking you can’t refund. Specifically, when a guest:

• Cancels a reservation unexpectedly
• Misses a tour due to illness or injury
• Is affected by severe weather
• Has travel delays or an airline cancellation that prevents attendance
• Has a death or serious illness in the family
• Can’t attend for another event that may be covered by their card benefits

What to provide

Most information is collected from the guest or pulled automatically from FareHarbor — not from staff. Only if TourClaim requests it, provide standard records you already keep:

• Booking confirmation, receipt, or invoice
• Cancellation confirmation and the date cancelled
• Proof the reservation was non-refundable (if applicable)
• Amount paid, and amount refunded (if any)

Requests usually arrive by email and name a specific booking. Forward the document through your normal channel — no cover letter, no opinion on the claim. Medical documentation comes from the guest’s provider, never from your staff.

What to do — and not do

The golden rule: refer, don’t interpret.

What to say

Frequently asked questions

Quick reference