Have you had to change/cancel travel due to COVID-19 (involuntarily or voluntarily)?

[robtemt]

I thought I would start a thread as a resource for AFFers who have changed or cancelled travel plans directly or indirectly due to 2019 n-CoV.

• Did the airline/cruise company cancelling or change your flight/cruise? Or, did you proactively or reactively cancel or change it on your own (and why?).
• Did they notify you directly, or did you discover it on your own?
• What was your original plan, and what was the revised plan?
• What was your experience like?
• Did you go through any travel insurance claim process, and how was that part of it?

For the record, part of my role at work is to monitor medical related issues, filter out mis/disinformation, and brief other staff using only verified facts from trusted sources, so I am not one to buy into sensationalism or hysteria. BUT, I am also an advocate of forward planning and monitoring situations that could affect travel plans.

Post automatically merged: Feb 10, 2020

To start it off…. We have begun voluntarily changing (or making back up plans for) our upcoming holiday SYD-(+/- SIN)-LAX-SJO-LAX-HNL-LNY-HNL-SYD

We are booked to the USA via SIN on SQ in a few weeks (F Saver Reward Booking). A few things caused us to start making contingency plans on getting to the USA including:

• Reading posts from Buttermilk Chicken regarding her RTW flight being disrupted between HKK and CEB
• Member Pushka raising a good point if Singapore will be next.
• Monitoring the World Health Organisations surveillance on n-CoV (as part of my responsibilities at work). Singapore confirmed infections were 28 on 5 Feb, 40 on 8 Feb, and 43 on 9 Feb. Several of these cases were human-to-human contact, with no recent travel to China.
• Bloomberg’s article this morning HERE, which discussed the spread of the virus from a conference attendee in Singapore, via a resort in France, to people in France, Spain, and the UK.

We contacted SQ, to discuss the options of alternative carriers, to which there were no available flights. The agent was very friendly, and said she understood the desire to rebook and avoid an Asia transit, but she said until official bans are in place, there were no options, but “we will offer options if Singapore becomes affected by travel bans”.

We began searching other options. We contacted VFF, who found one seat on DL SYD-LAX in W, and one seat on VA in J SYD-BNE-LAX. No other business or premium reward seats (except any seat) were available +/- 1 day of our desired travel (with pre-booked hotels, cars, and other flights to South America, and Hawaii). We will keep looking for another J seat on same day, and hopefully two on the same flight to free up closer to the date.

We have left our SQ bookings as is for now, and will cancel either that booking of the DL/VA booking closer to the date as thing develop.

Overall Experience:

• Wait times on the phone are obviously a bit longer, but I’ve not been on hold longer than 15 minutes with either VA or SQ.
• Staff at both SQ and VA call centres have been friendly, empathetic, and helpful in searching, but have no/limited availability and flexibility in voluntary changes so far.

 

[Pushka]

Let alone all the US presidential candidates.

We are now unbundling all our trips this year. No Bali. No Europe. Just trying to work out when to cancel to minimise cancellation costs.

 

[Scr77]

That was my non lawyer take on this policy also

Do you mean the CC ANZ cover? They will cover many non listed conditions through an assessment plus $75. Been using it for many years, no claims though thankfully.

My original policy never covered epidemics (Despite them insisting verbally that I was). I was looking at the ANZ CC insurance as a backup. Even though the PDS looked favourable, l called and they said not covered under a clause about covid19 being in mass media. I wasn’t prepared to take my chances and fight if I needed to claim medical costs.

Decided to fight the original insurance company based on 2 phone calls where they named policy holders and said were were covered for covid. (bottom level sales person and the call center manager backed them up). We got the complaints department to get the recorded phone calls and they agreed in writing to provide coverage. It was a harrowing week, but now that we are definitely covered for medical, we are not sure about going.

 

[Flashback]

OK, this is nuts. I just booked a flight for next week an hour ago. Have just received a cancellation e-mail and been rebooked onto the next available flight.

I had a flight in April cancelled as well, had to rebook that to a flight 30 minutes earlier, that's 30 minutes less sleep! Oh well

 

[Flashback]

OK, this is nuts. I just booked a flight for next week an hour ago. Have just received a cancellation e-mail and been rebooked onto the next available flight.

I had a flight in April cancelled as well, had to rebook that to a flight 30 minutes earlier, that's 30 minutes less sleep! Oh well

The flight I rebooked onto in April, has also been cancelled. Oh, BA..........

 

[RooFlyer]

Here's the correct ref to DOH : Doha airport closed to travellers from India, other coronavirus-hit countries

That's entry into Doha, not the airport being closed. You can still transit. (I know it was the headline, not you, but lets try not to panic ourselves more than we need to

 

[FlyboyAl]

Well, I've just bitten the bullet on my trip to the US next Friday - I'M GOING!
I've got friends over there who I can stay with if needed, and can even go work for a mate (for free), if I get stuck there.
I'm more worried about political decisions on travel than I am about the virus.
Might move my accommodation to Anaheim as I suspect there might be some cheap hotels there with the closure of Disneyland!!!!!

 

[I love to travel]

Well, I've just bitten the bullet on my trip to the US next Friday - I'M GOING!
I've got friends over there who I can stay with if needed, and can even go work for a mate (for free), if I get stuck there.
I'm more worried about political decisions on travel than I am about the virus.
Might move my accommodation to Anaheim as I suspect there might be some cheap hotels there with the closure of Disneyland!!!!!

And you have a spare $300000 if you get sick?

 

[FlyboyAl]

And you have a spare $300000 if you get sick?

And I might get hit by a bus tomorrow.

 

[FlyboyAl]

However, this from Smart Traveler
We now advise all Australians to reconsider your need for overseas travel at this time.
Regardless of your destination, age or health, if your overseas travel is not essential, consider carefully whether now is the right time.

 

[PineappleSkip]

Yes, I got this too. Mrs Pineapple's "comprehensive" policy has an exclusion for claims that arise from a pandemic etc but I'd take this as meaning not covered if you get coronavirus or your travel is disrupted, but ok if you break your leg or have a heart attack etc.

It also has a general exclusion "We will not pay if ... your claim arises from or is associated with travel to any country with a ... reconsider your need to travel ...[warning]".

The disclaimer for claims associated with travel to warning countries would appear to exclude any claim arising from any travel anywhere other than Aust. Their website appears all set to continue to gaily take money and issue policies. But why would you bother?

Cheers skip

 

[p--and--t]

Well I've been off line to AFF for only four days and hundreds of messages about Covid-19 in several threads. Taking hours to catch up!

Anyway I will add my tale of woe.

Had three tours overseas (one incorporating a cruise) plus intervening hotel nights and flights organised booked and fully paid to commence early April.

While I was away got an email telling me the middle tour (which incorporated a cruise) has been cancelled and a full refund will be forthcoming in a couple weeks.

Dodged a bullet there because the ship I was booked on, is the one currently in isolation lock down that had 45 cases on board on the Nile - win

Then left with two tours with a gaping 2 week hole in the middle and non-refundable intervening hotel nights.

So in the meantime have organised to move the third tour up a couple weeks to "almost" fill the gap of the missing second tour. Got an agreement after escalating to a manager for no penalty change in dates - win .

Today, thought I'd try my luck with hotels . com and pleaded my case over the non-refundable hotel nights. After some toing and froing and them contacting the hotel while I waited, have managed a full refund - win .

Now trying to sort out four non-refundable non-changeable flights across 3 airlines on two different tickets. Two flights taking me to and from a country I will no longer visit and return flights after the tours that are 2 weeks later than the new itinerary calls for.

Wish me luck to sort the remainder without impost

OK a follow-up to the saga.

Woke up this morning to an email saying the travel company has cancelled all land tours all destinations all durations worldwide until May 1st at the earliest

Their website crashed this morning - understandably - and call hold times much longer but got through and given a promise of all land tour components fully refundable in the next 21 days.

We had two non-refundable flights on one ticket with AT - however as luck would have it, they issued a schedule change overnight which we rejected and will get a full refund.

We have four non-refundable flights on EK . We have been told as of yesterday's instructions, we can reschedule for free or accept a flight voucher that is only valid until Oct2020 or pay a hefty cancellation penalty.

As this travel agent's access to EK crashed this morning they couldn't pull up the exact cancellation current as at today (it seems policy changes have been made at least a couple times in the last couple weeks).

I'm crossing my fingers that in the turmoil over the next 14 days EK will issue a schedule change that we can reject and get a full refund.

 

[Flashback]

Oh it's good to be in the UK....... 4 more countries have banned us

Oman, Norway, Cyprus and Czech Republic.

Not affected just yet by that, but if Norway extends their ban past March 26 then I get into a spot of bother.

 

[yld200]

Cancelled my trip from LHR>DXB to go see my sister and her kids last night.

We were supposed to fly out tonight but decided to be responsible considering everything going on even though we are low risk and don't have any elderly around us. We held off as long as possible to see if flights would get cancelled but not luck there. Flights were booked on the 29th of Feb so we missed the free changes / cancellation policy BA brought in for flights booked from the 2nd March.

On a £400 fare /pax (Y to DXB, Y+ return) we only got back £130 each.

 

[OATEK]

Cancelled my trip from LHR>DXB to go see my sister and her kids last night.

We were supposed to fly out tonight but decided to be responsible considering everything going on even though we are low risk and don't have any elderly around us. We held off as long as possible to see if flights would get cancelled but not luck there. Flights were booked on the 29th of Feb so we missed the free changes / cancellation policy BA brought in for flights booked from the 2nd March.

On a £400 fare /pax (Y to DXB, Y+ return) we only got back £130 each.

After rejigging our bookings twice already, looks like time to pull the plug. Was going to visit daughter (and granddaughter), but as daughter said, she doesn't want to finish up looking at me through a window in an NHS ED.
P.S. Now down to cancellations. Dont know what BA will do but AirBnB has aready cancelled and sent a full refund. Have 2 accommodation bookings that will probably not give us anything. The cruise company, after agreeing to move our booking to 11/21 have nw come back and said they will refund. So more good than bad so far with the big ticket items.

 

[Flashback]

Those with any UK travel planned, be sure to check for updates in the next 24 hours or so.

 

[Flashback]

After rejigging our bookings twice already, looks like time to pull the plug. Was going to visit daughter (and granddaughter), but as daughter said, she doesn't want to finish up looking at me through a window in an NHS ED.
P.S. Now down to cancellations. Dont know what BA will do but AirBnB has aready cancelled and sent a full refund. Have 2 accommodation bookings that will probably not give us anything. The cruise company, after agreeing to move our booking to 11/21 have nw come back and said they will refund. So more good than bad so far with the big ticket items.

I would recommend waiting for 24 hours.

In general, it's best to wait until 2-3 days before travel to cancel as policies are constantly evolving for the better.

Lots of hotels are offering refunds etc. now where they weren't previously, even on non-flex rates.

 

[Pushka]

Those with any UK travel planned, be sure to check for updates in the next 24 hours or so.

Do you think that Aussies will be on an exclusion list? Son is going to UK in 3 weeks time.

 

[Flashback]

Do you think that Aussies will be on an exclusion list? Son is going to UK in 3 weeks time.

I can't really say at the moment but think an official announcement will occur either today or Monday.

 

[Flashback]

I suspect this is where it will show up:

Travel to England from another country – COVID-19 rules

Check if there are any COVID-19 rules in place for travel to England from abroad.

www.gov.uk

Foreign travel advice - GOV.UK

Get advice about travelling abroad, including the latest information on coronavirus, safety and security, entry requirements and travel warnings.

www.gov.uk

[Withdrawn] COVID-19: specified countries and areas

Countries and specified areas affected by COVID-19 with implications for returning travellers or visitors arriving in the UK.

www.gov.uk

IATA - International Travel Document News

www.iatatravelcentre.com

 

[Flashback]

Oh it's good to be in the UK....... 4 more countries have banned us

Oman, Norway, Cyprus and Czech Republic.

Not affected just yet by that, but if Norway extends their ban past March 26 then I get into a spot of bother.

I believe it's only Northern Cyprus, as opposed to the Republic of Cyprus.

I have a few trips booked in March/early April that look like they're about to go coughoo. Let's see what comes out later today