INTERACTIVE SURVEY - Travel Plans messed up by COVID-19? Be Proactive? Or Patient?

[nickykim]

Following on from my earlier post - Oman has refunded my business class non-refundable fare to my credit charge taking a $145 cancellation fee. I am very happy with that - all other arrangements were cancellable, so out of pocket only the $145 cancellation fee.

 

[mickismick]

1. Your origin, transit & destination country/cities,.
Bali from NTL->BNE->DPS with planned accommodation in Ubud and Seminyak.

2. What were/are your travel dates?
Mid April

3. Business or Pleasure? and with whom? (family, children, friends, work)
Pleasure holiday with Wife and Son.

4. Had you already booked your flights or cruise? With whom?
Flights booked. Redemption business rewards with VA (I'm VA platinum).

5. Did you book through a travel agent? Or DIY?
DIY

6. Are you on an organised tour or doing your own thing?
Own thing.

7. Have you had any of your travel already cancelled by an airline? or cruise co.?
Not yet.

8. What other arrangements did/will you make because of that?
N/A

9. have you been on the telephone or a chat with an airline or tour company? What for?
Yes. Look at options should COVID-19 become a real issue in Bali.

10. How long did it take? Did you get your issue sorted?
VA Platinum, was only on hold for about 2 minutes. Was only an enquiry call, so relatively quick.

11a Are you still going ahead with your full trip? Just Part of the trip? Or None of the trip?
At this stage, yes.

11b. What are your reasons for the above?
Young, fit, healthy, and I've busted my cough without a holiday for 12 months. I need those daily massages

12. If you have not yet decided (14), then how long will you wait before making a decision, and why?
Watch and see. I cancelled my accommodation for a full refund more than 1 month from taking the trip. Happy to rebook closer to the date.

13. Do you have major concerns regarding your trip? What are they?
Only getting stuck, on holiday, in quarantine.

14. Are there any imposed restrictions which are causing trouble for your itinerary?
No.

15. Did you buy travel insurance BEFORE Jan 31 2020? with whom?
Yes, but only activated the free travel insurance with my CC.

16. Have you got travel insurance that covers cancellations? Or cancel for any reason?
No.

17. Does your insurance cover epidemics/pandemics or not at all? Or are you unsure?
No.

18. Have you already cancelled flights/cruise/accommodation? Did you get charged fees / points?
Cancelled accommodation before the 1 month full refund cutoff. No charges.

19. Have you changed / rebooked your flights/cruise/accommodation? To when? Did you get charged fees/points?
Will rebook accommodation closer to date. There's so much available now, I'm confident we'll get something nice for a much lower price at this stage.

20. Have you, or do you, intend on claiming your trip cancellations on insurance?
No.

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We're all still looking forward to our trip. If things get out of hand, we will change the dates and destination to top-end domestic for some warmth in July.

 

[Ktan89]

Holy Moly. Similar to my predicament in so many ways. But you're travelling REALLY soon. :/
A complicated itin, which is similar to mine...so many moving parts.
I'm also very concerned that if one part gives, that it will domino effect all my other parts.
I've so many things paid already (early bird but no cancellation) Agree with your 11b answer. Same.
Have a similar situation as your DOH SIN at the end of ours, Rome>DOH>BKK. At the moment NO ONE will let us back in, to anywhere, certainly not Thailand, and not Sydney either, (unless quarantined 14 days.) on our way home. Doubt even that our flight with Qatar will be running right now (that's next on my check list.) It's going to want to perk up pretty fast, before the whole house of cards starts to fall for manypeople. Holidays are just so parts dependent. Pull one bit out, and Jenga....

For me... it's almost worse to postpone/change, as it is to cancel. So many pieces I'd NEVER get to match up again. So much of it was just luck.

Also, non refundable - $2500 accommodation in France, approx 50% of Scenic River cruise, because I couldn't possibly make up my mind 90 days out. (they say I can change, but to when??) , $2000 of Venice accom, unless the ban is still on, and $2000 of Bangkok accom, unless italy is still banned from going in...in those cases I think i could claim on my insurance. So a loss of about $10K I think.

Looks like we are postponing the trip. Half the group doesn't want to go America and Coachella has been rescheduled which means we can get our money back - VIP tickets $1800 each.
Really sad about this. I was looking forward to be in (almost empty) J class all the way.

Jenny I know it's hard not knowing what could happen in 3 months and that your hard work planning this trip will be constantly in your mind but don't drive yourself crazy (like i did). I suggest not to think about it until 3 to 4 weeks out because things can change and who knows.. this whole thing could be behind us or at least the travel restrictions will be lifted.

Since your not scared of the virus and just worried about travel complications, i wouldn't dwell on this too much now or it will do your head in because it's not controllable, not this far out. You will be notified if flights are effected and deal with it accordingly.

 

[bPeteb]

1. Your origin, transit & destination country/cities,.
BNE-SYD-JNB QF 1 x J revenue, 1 x J points
JNB-CPT 2 x BA Y
Cape Town four nights
CPT-JNB 2 x BA Y
Intrepid Explore Southern Africa - SA-Botswana-Zimbabwe-SA (JNB return)
Jburg 1night
JNB-SYD-BNE QF 1 x J revenue, 1 x J points

2. What were/are your travel dates?
July 15 - Aug 7

3. Business or Pleasure? and with whom? (family, children, friends, work)
Pleasure. With partner plus sister and close friend all doing some of above

4. Had you already booked your flights or cruise? With whom?
QF, BA and Intrepid. Hotel through Expedia, hotel through Intrepid, Airbnb

5. Did you book through a travel agent? Or DIY?
DIY

6. Are you on an organised tour or doing your own thing?
Combination

7. Have you had any of your travel already cancelled by an airline? or cruise co.?
No

8. What other arrangements did/will you make because of that?
n/a

9. have you been on the telephone or a chat with an airline or tour company? What for?
no

10. How long did it take? Did you get your issue sorted?
n/a

11a Are you still going ahead with your full trip? Just Part of the trip? Or None of the trip?
Yes, all

11b. What are your reasons for the above?
Life long dream of ours, no reason to panic, we will cancel when we have no other option

12. If you have not yet decided (14), then how long will you wait before making a decision, and why?
Only when it is cancelled for us or we have no option but to cancel

13. Do you have major concerns regarding your trip? What are they?
yes, I have no spleen and have Ulcerative Colitis/Crohns therefore have a very compromised immune system

14. Are there any imposed restrictions which are causing trouble for your itinerary?
not as yet

15. Did you buy travel insurance BEFORE Jan 31 2020? with whom?
yes, TID

16. Have you got travel insurance that covers cancellations? Or cancel for any reason?
yes Cancellation Costs - Unlimited
1. We will pay the value of the unused arrangements, less any refunds due to you, if you have to cancel any pre-paid transport or accommodation arrangements due to any unforeseen or unforeseeable circumstances outside of your control.
2. We will pay the reasonable cost of rearranging your trip prior to you travelling because something unforeseen and outside of your control occurs, provided that this cost is not greater than the cancellation fees or lost deposits which would have been incurred had the trip been cancelled.
3. We will pay the cancellation cost of tuition or course fees up to $2,000 if the sole purpose of your trip is to attend that course and that course is cancelled due to circumstances outside of your control. < BACK TO CONTENTS 10 3.0 WHAT’S COVERED AND WHAT’S NOT
4. We will pay the travel agent’s cancellation fees up to 10% of the amount paid to the travel agent or $1,500 for a single policy or $3,000 for a family policy, whichever is the lesser, when full monies have been paid or the maximum amount of the deposit has been paid at the time of cancellation. We will not pay any travel agent’s cancellation fees above the level of commission and/or service fees normally earned by the agent had the trip not been cancelled.
5. We will pay you for loss of frequent flyer or similar air travel points you used to purchase an airline ticket following cancellation of your airline ticket and you cannot recover the lost points from any other source.
The cancellation must be due to unforeseen or unforeseeable circumstances outside of your control. We calculate the amount we pay you by multiplying: a) the cost of an equivalent class airline ticket based on the quoted retail price at the time the ticket was issued, less your financial contribution; b) by the total value of points lost divided by the total value of points used to obtain the ticket.
The maximum amount we will pay for all claims combined under this section is shown under Policy Benefits (page 6) for the plan you have selected. For what we will not pay in this section, please refer to Exclusions to Sections 1-13 (page 15) and General Exclusions: applicable to all sections

no for cancel for any reason, I think

17. Does your insurance cover epidemics/pandemics or not at all? Or are you unsure?
mmm... yes, I think so if we cancel because we're following the advice of the govt/WHO

We will not pay for any claim arising from or relating to the following:
A loss that arises because you did not follow advice in the mass media of a government or other official body’s warning:
a) against travel to a particular country or parts of a country;
or b) of a strike, riot, bad weather, civil commotion or contagious disease;
or c) of a likely or actual epidemic or pandemic; or d) of a threat of an epidemic or pandemic that requires the closure of a country’s borders;
or e) of an epidemic or pandemic that results in you being quarantined;
and you did not take the appropriate action to avoid or minimise any potential claim under your policy (including delay of travel referred to in the warning).
Please refer to who. int, smartraveller.gov.au and dfat.gov.au for further information.
No cover is available for any event under any section of this policy should you travel to a country or region where the Australian government has issued a “Do Not Travel” warning

18. Have you already cancelled flights/cruise/accommodation? Did you get charged fees / points?
no

19. Have you changed / rebooked your flights/cruise/accommodation? To when? Did you get charged fees/points?
no

20. Have you, or do you, intend on claiming your trip cancellations on insurance?
if it's cancelled, hell yes!

We also have five domestic holiday weekends booked, all flying QF, Easter (Kewarra Beach with Luxury Escapes), May long weekend (Perth staying at Tribe booked direct), October long weekend (Kangaroo Island Qantas Hotels) and just a weekend in November (Canberra another LE)

 

[JennyMG]

Jenny I know it's hard not knowing what could happen in 3 months and that your hard work planning this trip will be constantly in your mind but don't drive yourself crazy (like i did). I suggest not to think about it until 3 to 4 weeks out because things can change and who knows.. this whole thing could be behind us or at least the travel restrictions will be lifted.

Since your not scared of the virus and just worried about travel complications, i wouldn't dwell on this too much now or it will do your head in because it's not controllable, not this far out. You will be notified if flights are effected and deal with it accordingly.

Thanks Ktan89, I actually find all these posts very helpful. I wish I could 'not think about it', and that was my original plan, leave it to the last minute to decide, since about 60% of our trip is cancellable, with much of it being able to be recouped on insurance (like Venice ATM, since we can't travel there.) the one sticking point is the River cruise in the middle of it.
Scenic have this odd policy (prob. not odd for them, as it protects them), you can cancel (lose deposit) any time up to 3 months before. (that's on 22nd March). The cruise cost ...well...a lot. 30% loss if you cancel after 90 days before, 50% loss if you cancel after 60 days before, and total loss if you cancel inside 30 days. So, I wish it was a matter of 'not thinking about it, but with a huge amount of money at stake, I have to.
If the Scenic cruise (Rhine river) goes, then the rest will go, as it's right in the middle of our 'tour'.
They also allow you to postpone it...but until when, and to what date, I don't know. I can't imagine it would be very far down the track, and well,...who knows - it maybe over, maybe not. And after a postponement, you DEFINITELY can't cancel, unless you lose the lot. So...

As far as the virus is concerned, I'm not terrified or panicking, but I certainly am on edge...I have asthma,..and a history of being a bit dicky in the lung area. Not scared, but not happy either. I'd say that I'm MUCH more likely to get the virus there than here....every surface, every person, every one of 100 trains, and 8 flights...every restaurant, every crowd,...you'd be wondering. In June/July it's definitely not going to be 'over', and there'll be no vaccine yet, ...again....So....

I REALLY hope you're right, and what's more, I agree. That WAS my plan to wait, until I found the Scenic cancellation policy.

 

[JennyMG]

Every day I change my mind.
Now it looks like my mind has been made up for me.
I can't see France, Germany and Italy, all coming up Trumps (parden the pun) within 10 weeks. Not enough to have a lovely, comfortable, worry free holiday anyway. Travel warnings, spiralling numbers, 24/7 TV coverage, .... that kind of Europe is not what I signed up for.
Well...that's it then.
Shame that in a year or two they'll have quadruple the numbers, it'll be chaos, through all the rebookings and postponements. Don't know WHEN I'll be able to rebook and get a 'normal' Europe experience.

 

[codash1099]

1. Your origin, transit & destination country/cities,.

PER SYD LAX SEA MSY PHL DUB LHR TXL CDG LHR SIN PER

2. What were/are your travel dates?

March 1-April 18

3. Business or Pleasure? and with whom? (family, children, friends, work)

Pleasure, solo


4. Had you already booked your flights or cruise? With whom?

n/a
5. Did you book through a travel agent? Or DIY?

Air through agent, accommodation mix of direct to hotel and OTA

6. Are you on an organised tour or doing your own thing?

Own thing

7. Have you had any of your travel already cancelled by an airline? or cruise co.?

No

8. What other arrangements did/will you make because of that?

TA working to curtail trip at DUB

9. have you been on the telephone or a chat with an airline or tour company? What for?

Not game to try

10. How long did it take? Did you get your issue sorted?
n/a

11a Are you still going ahead with your full trip? Just Part of the trip? Or None of the trip?

See 8

11b. What are your reasons for the above?

Age and health. Probable upgrading of warnings. Possibility of restrictions being applied.

12. If you have not yet decided (14), then how long will you wait before making a decision, and why?

Decided

13. Do you have major concerns regarding your trip? What are they?

nothing else

14. Are there any imposed restrictions which are causing trouble for your itinerary?

Not yet

15. Did you buy travel insurance BEFORE Jan 31 2020? with whom?

Yes. CGU through HBF

16. Have you got travel insurance that covers cancellations? Or cancel for any reason?

Covers cancellation but current situation probable not severe enough. Guess that will need a “Do not travel” warning.
17. Does your insurance cover epidemics/pandemics or not at all? Or are you unsure?

Covers pandemics. Phew.

18. Have you already cancelled flights/cruise/accommodation? Did you get charged fees / points?

in progress. Charges unknown at this stage. Accommodation all cancellable/refundable

19. Have you changed / rebooked your flights/cruise/accommodation? To when? Did you get charged fees/points?

Awaiting confirmation of rebooked flights


20. Have you, or do you, intend on claiming your trip cancellations on insurance?

Waiting.


As an extra note, this is a good example of the value of using a TA for air booking. I’d hate to be trying to sort this out with QF from deep in the USA.