I made an extremely costly mistake. I had no idea about the Dubai World Cup until a friend brought it to my attention but unfortunately this was after I had all of my flights booked a week ago from today.
Since then, I've been trying to get rights to the event to photograph as media, so that I can get my pictures from the infield, winner's circle, front side of the track, the paddock, etc.
However, even if I do get accepted to enter the event as media, the cost to change my two flights back home (Dubai to New Delhi and New Delhi to Calgary) to two days later, plus the extra taxes, Air Canada's fee, New India Airline's fee are unfortunately going to be too costly and the airline's are not willing to waive or reduce the fees. I got extremely lucky with United Airlines last Fall on my flight to Kentucky, moving it up one day and having the $200 fee waived, however not this time.
Even though I did not pay for the air fare for my original tickets booked, the flight's as of booking today from Calgary to New Delhi have skyrocketed and are exactly DOUBLE what it was exactly one week ago, yikes! And because this was my mistake and my decision, if I was to extend my stay by two days, I would be responsible for covering the doubled airfare, airline fees, and taxes.
I would still love to be at the Dubai World Cup if I get qualified to enter as media but it will come at a huge price, so I will most likely be chalking this up as a valuable lesson learned and that lesson is to accept the optional travel insurance when booking flights, especially one that is two months away.