Coronavirus Impact on Travel

rage-a-holic · February 26, 2020

Cozumel just told this ship to fuck off. I was really curious whether Mexican officials were going to be more concerned about a possible contagion or losing tourist dollars. Glad they did the right thing.

https://www.foxnews.com/travel/cruise-ship-msc-meraviglia-coronavirus-concerns

p.s. fuck all cruise ships and cruise ship people

also posted in the main coronavirus thread

RollLeft · February 26, 2020

2 hours ago, VABuckeye said:

This shit will be a distant memory by September.

That is some shit. I tend to flush before i even get to look at mine. No memory whatsover.

February 26, 2020

I don’t mean to humble brag but I just got a very exclusive VIP wristband to the Wuhan House corporate activation party at SXSW.
sorry you suckers don’t get to attend but it’s pretty much the most Bad ass party at the festival.

Brisketexan · February 26, 2020

14 minutes ago, Lobo said:

I don’t mean to humble brag but I just got a very exclusive VIP wristband to the Wuhan House corporate activation party at SXSW.
sorry you suckers don’t get to attend but it’s pretty much the most Bad ass party at the festival.

Yep, word is that it's a killer party.

February 26, 2020

You gotta wear a mask because it stinks like sex in there. Plus the drug haze.

Borachio · February 27, 2020

Got a trip booked for Chernobyl and Auschwitz first week of April. The extra radiation should be able to kill this thing right?

Which reminds me, if anyone has recommendations for Kyiv let me know.

TwiceHorn · February 27, 2020

10 minutes ago, Borachio said:

Got a trip booked for Chernobyl and Auschwitz first week of April. The extra radiation should be able to kill this thing right?

Which reminds me, if anyone has recommendations for Kyiv let me know.

I hear Sverdlovsk/Yekaterinburg is nice this time of year, also.

Brisketexan · February 27, 2020

Got a trip booked for Chernobyl and Auschwitz first week of April. The extra radiation should be able to kill this thing right?
Which reminds me, if anyone has recommendations for Kyiv let me know.

Do the “plastic wrap around your suitcase” deal when you’re flying in to Kyiv to keep your bag from being ransacked. Trust me.

CooterBrown · February 27, 2020

You gotta wear a mask because it stinks like sex in there. Plus the drug haze.

Don’t need a VIP pass to experience that at South Austin’s mom’s house.

Sam Lin · February 27, 2020

Family canceled a March cruise in Europe. Company has had multiple travel cancellations for Asia travel. I have tickets to F1 Vietnam in a month and I fully expect the event to be cancelled (despite organizers constantly making statements that the race will not be cancelled). I'm weighing my own travel plans out of Asia in the next months, not because I think I'll get the virus, but because I don't want to wind up quarantined somewhere. Coronavirus now has cases in every country that I have flight options through to get between Thailand and the US.

I was in Asia for SARS and for H1N1, I wasn't worried then and am not worried now, but the travel restriction reactions make this virus the most intrusion into my normal life.

Napoleon · February 27, 2020

On 2/24/2020 at 1:38 PM, msbesq said:

Wife and I are going to Venice, Emiglia-Romagna, Florence and Rome in three weeks. Oh boy.

On 2/24/2020 at 3:01 PM, AustinMT said:

Heading to Reims, then Milan, Venice, Florence then Paris in mid April. Hoping it will be ok by then. Good luck to you guys

A flatmate/friend of mine from Buenos Aires is now a bartender at the Westin Excelsior Hotel in Florence and took this photo just a few days ago from the patio bar.

I would think that a drink at sunset is worth a visit even if you don't stay there.

The hotel's link: https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/flrwi-the-westin-excelsior-florence/

In Buenos Aires, Alberto ("Tito" to his friends) used to bartend at a bar called "Jack the Ripper". (Shown here)

If you don't mind checking a bottle of Tito's, he's probably comp a drink or two.

You can tell him that his Bald American flatmate from Texas suggested stopping in for a drink. (He doesn't know me as "Napoleon".)

AustinMT · February 27, 2020

3 hours ago, Napoleon said:

A flatmate/friend of mine from Buenos Aires is now a bartender at the Westin Excelsior Hotel in Florence and took this photo just a few days ago from the patio bar.

I would think that a drink at sunset is worth a visit even if you don't stay there.

The hotel's link: https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/flrwi-the-westin-excelsior-florence/

In Buenos Aires, Alberto ("Tito" to his friends) used to bartend at a bar called "Jack the Ripper". (Shown here)

If you don't mind checking a bottle of Tito's, he's probably comp a drink or two.

You can tell him that his Bald American flatmate from Texas suggested stopping in for a drink. (He doesn't know me as "Napoleon".)

We are staying at the Westin for 4 nights (and have been known to have a drink or three). We will find him, assuming we get to go...

HenryJames · February 27, 2020

I'm going to San Antonio next weekend.

Or am I?

GreenspointTexas · February 27, 2020

Lotta calculations saying 3-4 weeks roughly, for total worldwide spread

StruggleBus · February 27, 2020

16 minutes ago, HenryJames said:

I'm going to San Antonio next weekend.

Or am I?

The CDC has been forcing us to take the quarantined patients here at Lackland to and from local hospitals. Wouldn't be surprised if it causes an outbreak here.

The incompetence of our leaders is astounding.

StruggleBus · February 27, 2020

16 minutes ago, HenryJames said:

I'm going to San Antonio next weekend.

Or am I?

The CDC has been forcing us to take the quarantined patients here at Lackland to and from local hospitals. Wouldn't be surprised if it causes an outbreak here.

The incompetence of our leadership is astounding.

texasdago · February 27, 2020

Not sure why we don't let people self-quarantine like they're doing in the UK and Italy. Many are doing it when they return from Italy, whether they show symptoms or not.

Trying to rebooked on our French hotel to July. Let's see if they will let us do it. We are supposed to fly in/out of Malpensa which is not a good location to be.

Edited February 27, 2020 by texasdago

hornbri · February 27, 2020

https://parenting.nytimes.com/health/coronavirus-family-travel-advisory?&te=1&nl=morning-briefing&emc=edit_NN_p_20200227&section=topNews&campaign_id=9&instance_id=16317&segment_id=21669&user_id=d725ad22469cbf65f0623132d4206e3e&regi_id=104874598;section=topNews

Spoiler

Coronavirus Is Spreading. Should You Cancel Your Family Vacation?

Experts weigh in on the latest warning from the C.D.C., which says that clusters of infection are likely in American cities.

By Christina Caron

Feb. 26, 2020

Image

Passengers at the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok. Concerns over the spread of coronavirus have led some families to reconsider their vacation plans.CreditRomeo Gacad/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

With spring break on the horizon and summer fast approaching, many families are thinking ahead to school breaks and sunny vacations. But fears about the coronavirus outbreak, which has sickened more than 82,000 people worldwide and killed more than 2,800, are adding a new layer of anxiety.

All but 60 of those deaths have been reported in mainland China, but the disease is now spreading widely in other areas of the world. Cases in children have been rare. So is it still safe to travel abroad? Should you avoid attending amusement parks in the United States that attract international visitors? Or what about cruises, which can become incubators for viruses?

In the United States there have been at least 60 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, which causes a respiratory illness known as Covid-19. Almost all of those people traveled from Asia or were in close contact with those who did, but one person in California tested positive for the infection despite having no known connection to previous cases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Wednesday.

[Track the spread of the disease.]

The C.D.C. has said that the eventual spread of coronavirus among U.S. communities is nearly certain.

“We are asking the American public to prepare for the expectation that this might be bad,” Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the C.D.C.’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said Tuesday at a news briefing.

While it’s unclear how severe the spread will be in the United States, Dr. Messonnier said Americans should be ready for a “significant disruption” to their daily lives.

Are amusement parks and other tourist spots in the United States safe?

Based on what we know now, people should feel “very comfortable” traveling to destinations in the United States like California and Florida, said Dr. Aaron M. Milstone, M.D., a professor of pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “But that could quickly change.”

“One isolated case would not change my recommendation,” Dr. Milstone added on Thursday, referring to the case in California.

As for amusement parks or other popular spots, “I wouldn’t feel that people need to isolate themselves from public places where there might be international tourists,” Dr. Milstone said.

Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, M.D., an infectious diseases specialist and professor of pediatrics and epidemiology at Stanford Medicine, agreed.

“I think traveling in the U.S. is fine right now,” she said. But, she added, “the situation is extremely fluid.”

Should I worry about air travel?

Traveling on airplanes and in airports should be safe because, unlike chickenpox or measles, the virus doesn’t appear to be airborne, meaning it most likely does not linger suspended in the air, Dr. Maldonado said.

“I don’t know exactly what the mechanism is, but this is really acting like a large droplet transmission,” she said, which means you’re more likely to get it from contaminated surfaces or people near you. “As you sneeze or cough, these are larger droplets that spew out and they tend not to travel more than three feet or so.”

So if someone on a plane did have coronavirus, she said, you would need to touch the same surface they touched or sit near them in order to potentially be infected.

It’s probably a good idea to use wipes to clean tray tables, bathroom handles and other parts of the plane that you might touch that are not regularly sanitized by the flight crew. Alcohol wipes have not been proven to prevent coronavirus but they might help minimize exposure to infectious organisms, Dr. Maldonado said.

Although experts are hesitant to be alarmist about domestic and international travel in general, Dr. Michael Mina, M.D., Ph.D., an assistant professor of epidemiology and immunology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, recommended that pregnant women and others with compromised immune systems think twice about nonessential travel, especially if they’re planning a trip through a major airport in the United States or abroad.

“Now is the time where we actually do want to start thinking, ‘Well, do I really need to take that trip to go on vacation?’” he said, referring to higher risk populations. “If it were me, I think I would probably try to decrease my risk as much as possible, and one way to do that is reducing travel.”

What about cruises?

There has been concern that cruise ships might aid transmission of viruses, since passengers are isolated together in an enclosed environment.

The Diamond Princess, the cruise ship where hundreds aboard recently tested positive for coronavirus, has faced criticism for ineffective containment measures.

Bari Golin-Blaugrund, senior director of strategic communications for the Cruise Lines International Association, a cruise industry trade association, said the industry has adopted enhanced screening measures for all passengers and crew during the coronavirus outbreak.

“Out of the 272 ships within the global C.L.I.A. fleet, only one has confirmed cases of Covid-19 onboard,” Golin-Blaugrund said in an email on Tuesday.

Dr. Mina said he would be “a little wary” about a cruise, but right now there is no reason to think most cruise ships will have anyone infected with coronavirus.

Is international travel OK?

Jessica Sendra, 48, who lives with her wife and son in Ann Arbor, Mich., said her family decided on Monday to cancel their March vacation to Italy, which recently received a Level 2 travel warning from the C.D.C. advising older adults and those with chronic medical conditions to consider postponing nonessential travel.

“It almost felt like it wasn’t even a decision anymore — we just had to bite the bullet,” Sendra said.

But she said that she and her family are still planning on traveling throughout Europe in July, a special trip to celebrate her son’s high school graduation.

“I’m just going to pretend that everything’s going to be fine this summer,” she said.

Experts say that whether or not you should cancel your plans really depends on where you’re heading, especially for travel outside of the United States.

Right now, the C.D.C. is recommending that travelers avoid all nonessential travel to China and South Korea and asking certain populations to consider postponing nonessential travel to Italy, Iran and Japan.

“Would I fly to Heathrow tomorrow?” Dr. Milstone asked. “Sure. To me the concern would be going to a country where there’s spread and people aren’t sure why it’s happening.”

But even if you travel to an area without an outbreak, you should be prepared for the possibility of being quarantined if an outbreak develops in the region where you’re traveling.

Dr. Maldonado recommended vacationing somewhere in the United States rather than going abroad for that reason alone.

“It’s just too unpredictable right now to get out and find yourself quarantined for a couple of weeks,” she said.

Take precautions when traveling.

If you do decide to travel — within the United States or abroad — experts advise that you wash your hands with soap often, avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth, and use alcohol wipes and gels if you need to wipe down a surface or do not have access to running water and soap.

Don’t bother using a standard face mask unless you are ill, because they have not been shown to be effective at preventing illness and can give a false sense of security, Dr. Mina said.

And if you think you might be sick, cough into your elbow rather than your hands.

Try to stay away from people who appear to be sick, but keep in mind that some people with the virus do not show symptoms or only have mild symptoms, which is another reason good hygiene is important.

“I think that it would be very, very surprising if it did not transmit at least to some degree asymptomatically,” Dr. Mina said. “The majority of symptoms from a viral infection come from the immunological response to that infection. So by the time you’re actually having symptoms you’ve already enlisted a pretty good, robust immune response and that means you’ve already had virus that’s replicating.”

Stay up-to-date on the latest news.

Ever since news of the coronavirus outbreak surfaced in January, the updates have been swift and unpredictable. The outbreak, which originated in China, quickly spread to other countries, with additional outbreaks identified in South Korea, Iran, Japan and Italy.

Families making vacation plans need to be prepared to pivot at a moment’s notice.

For the latest information, check the C.D.C. website for travel alerts and the website of the World Health Organization, which has been issuing daily updates about the spread of the coronavirus. The New York Times has also been tracking news about the outbreak in a series of live updates and articles.

One silver lining for parents traveling with kids is that children appear to be less susceptible to coronavirus than middle-aged or older adults. Though it is unclear what part they may play in spreading the disease.

[Need a primer on coronavirus? Here’s what parents need to know.]

As information emerges about how the virus is transmitted and how lethal it is, you can make a more informed decision about what risks you’re willing to take while traveling. Right now, the mortality rate of coronavirus is still poorly understood, in part because we don’t truly know how many people have been infected. People with mild cases, for example, may have never visited a doctor and some deaths may be unreported. Right now experts say that coronavirus has a fatality rate of under 3 percent. It appears to be more deadly than influenza, which has a fatality rate of 0.1 percent, but much less deadly than MERS or SARS, two different types of coronaviruses.

Consider buying travel insurance.

During the travel ban to China, major American airlines have been canceling flights and offering free rebooking or refunds. But what if you’re concerned about an area that has an outbreak but no travel ban? Or what if you’re feeling queasy about travel in general?

When Sendra booked her family’s vacation to Italy, she did so using frequent flier miles and points that ended up being refunded. She also asked the airline to waive any fees, which it agreed to do, and she was successful in receiving refunds for tours and apartment rentals in Italy.

Not everyone is so fortunate, especially if you paid for tickets that have a strict no cancellation policy.

[Advice about traveling during the coronavirus outbreak.]

Kasara Barto, public relations manager at Squaremouth, a travel insurance comparison service, said the company received a “huge spike” in calls from travelers asking about insurance coverage during the coronavirus outbreak.

It’s important to read all the fine print and understand what trip insurance does and doesn’t cover to ensure that you’ll receive a reimbursement.

“Under a standard policy, fear of traveling is never a covered reason to cancel a trip,” Barto said.

There is, however, a “cancel for any reason” policy, she said, that allows travelers to cancel their plans for any reason at all — including worries about contracting coronavirus — up to three days before departure and receive a refund of up to 75 percent of the prepaid trip.

This type of insurance doesn’t come cheap. It’s usually 40 percent pricier than standard policies, and it typically must be purchased within three weeks of the first day you begin booking your travel plans, Barto said.

Some insurance policies are more family-friendly than others, so it’s smart to compare policies on TravelInsurance.com, Squaremouth, InsureMyTrip or other similar websites to assess whether the cost of the insurance would be worthwhile.

And if you’re thinking about traveling outside the United States and your health insurance doesn’t cover you while you’re abroad, you may want to consider medical travel insurance that would substitute for your United States health insurance. Experts recommend purchasing not only emergency medical coverage but also emergency medical transportation coverage.

If you’re feeling very anxious, it might be best to stay home.

Your risk of contracting Covid-19 in areas where there are not currently any identified outbreaks are probably “very low,” Dr. Milstone said. But, he added, news about the virus is changing by the day and everyone has a different tolerance for risk.

“If you’re not going to enjoy your vacation because you’re nervous about this, then it’s probably not worth you going,” he said.

Christina Caron is a parenting reporter at The New York Times.

gecko · February 27, 2020

Random observations from a frequent flyer....

People are not sneezing and coughing all over fellow passengers (people are f**king inconsiderate idiots). You just don't hear the random nasal launch or coughing fit on planes. Are sick people doing the right thing and not flying or are the suppressing symptoms in order to not call attention to themselves?

United has suspended distributing the over heated hot towels in business class.

Over last 3 weeks planes are not full and terminals (other than IAH) seem to be a lot less populated. LGA's lack of travelers is pretty amazing. It could be seasonal but United is flying regional jets between IAH and LGA of late.

In related news....

Wife and I have a cruise booked (our first) for September. Its basically Amsterdam to Boston via Norway, Iceland and Greenland. Go or no go date is in June. We're still in but wavering. We'll wait and see.....

AustinMT · February 27, 2020

People are definitely in unnecessary panic mode already. Wife went to Costco yesterday for the normal run; people were loading carts with non-perishable items and water (and., oddly, large quantities of toilet paper), and certain items were almost picked clean. She got to the checkout, and the lines were 20+ deep so she just left.

ShaggyBevo RIP · February 27, 2020

1 hour ago, AustinMT said:

People are definitely in unnecessary panic mode already. Wife went to Costco yesterday for the normal run; people were loading carts with non-perishable items and water (and., oddly, large quantities of toilet paper), and certain items were almost picked clean. She got to the checkout, and the lines were 20+ deep so she just left.

Was at Costco yesterday and all the sanitation supplies and canned meats were the front and center displays.

I'll admit to grabbing large bags of rice, beans, lentils, plus some dried fruit and canned goods that can be donated to the food bank at a later date if unnecessary.

Edited February 27, 2020 by ShaggyBevo RIP

hookemATL · February 27, 2020

I know a lot of folks have mentioned having conferences/etc. cancelled because of this issue.

anybody willing to take a run at whether something like IBM Think would be affected? I’d assume anything tech related with people arriving from all over the world would be on the possible chopping block.

Telegraph_it · February 27, 2020

22 hours ago, VABuckeye said:

This shit will be a distant memory by September.

Or not. The 1918 flu was really the 1918-19 flu. It came back with a vengeance after the summer months.

ShaggyBevo RIP · February 27, 2020

23 hours ago, VABuckeye said:

This shit will be a distant memory by September.

Might want to look at how it is hitting the Singapore and Australia right now.

AustinMT · February 27, 2020

1 hour ago, Telegraph_it said:

Or not. The 1918 flu was really the 1918-19 flu. It came back with a vengeance after the summer months.

So did Woodrow Wilson.

deadshank · February 27, 2020

LOL (I guess). One of my best friends is traveling on bidness from Heathrow to Oslo to Paris to Madrid, skipping scheduled meeting in Milan and back to London before heading back to Houston.

Gets on plane at Heathrow and a Chinese guy takes the seat next to him and immediately starts coughing.

I don’t know if my friend can hold his breath the entire trip. He’s not happy.

DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt · February 27, 2020

24 minutes ago, deadshank said:

LOL (I guess). One of my best friends is traveling on bidness from Heathrow to Oslo to Paris to Madrid, skipping scheduled meeting in Milan and back to London before heading back to Houston.

Gets on plane at Heathrow and a Chinese guy takes the seat next to him and immediately starts coughing.

I don’t know if my friend can hold his breath the entire trip. He’s not happy.

that would be a great hidden cam prank. would love to see people's reaction to that going down. i'd fucking lose it.

texasdago · February 27, 2020

We are changing our travel. Not concerned about what would happen in Italy and France but what would happen trying to come back so that's that. Our hotel in France rebooked us into July so we'll swing there for a week. Love the mountains in the summer. Meanwhile, we're working on some itinerary changes. Not skipping skiing.

Js1 · February 27, 2020

48 minutes ago, deadshank said:

LOL (I guess). One of my best friends is traveling on bidness from Heathrow to Oslo to Paris to Madrid, skipping scheduled meeting in Milan and back to London before heading back to Houston.

Gets on plane at Heathrow and a Chinese guy takes the seat next to him and immediately starts coughing.

I don’t know if my friend can hold his breath the entire trip. He’s not happy.

4th&Five · February 27, 2020

27 minutes ago, texasdago said:

We are changing our travel. Not concerned about what would happen in Italy and France but what would happen trying to come back so that's that. Our hotel in France rebooked us into July so we'll swing there for a week. Love the mountains in the summer. Meanwhile, we're working on some itinerary changes. Not skipping skiing.

It’ll probably be all over the US soon so what’s the point of stopping people coming in now? That ship sailed.

msbesq · February 27, 2020

Wife just told me under no circumstance is she going to Italy at the end of March. Have the travel insurance, I'll just re-book for October.

mdleast · February 27, 2020

Curious for those mentioning cancelling due to travel insurance, are you sure that’s covered? My understanding is that simply being uneasy about travel like this is not typically covered (as opposed to an all airports are shut down/no one allowed in the country type of scenario).

VABuckeye · February 27, 2020

5 minutes ago, msbesq said:

Wife just told me under no circumstance is she going to Italy at the end of March. Have the travel insurance, I'll just re-book for October.

You need a reason other than OMG Coronavirus to use that travel insurance.

VABuckeye · February 27, 2020

1 minute ago, mdleast said:

Curious for those mentioning cancelling due to travel insurance, are you sure that’s covered? My understanding is that simply being uneasy about travel like this is not typically covered (as opposed to an all airports are shut down/no one allowed in the country type of scenario).

Epidemics are excluded. If you want to cancel you're at the mercy of the terms and mercy of your airline and hotels/stays.

msbesq · February 28, 2020

4 hours ago, VABuckeye said:

You need a reason other than OMG Coronavirus to use that travel insurance.

Nope. Already checked. Can re-book the entire trip at no cost anytime through October. Went through a travel agency and it covers our airfare, rental car and hotels.

wild_turkey · February 28, 2020

Travel agencies are still a thing? I thought the faded out around the time AOL rose to prominence.

staboner · February 28, 2020

7 hours ago, mdleast said:

Curious for those mentioning cancelling due to travel insurance, are you sure that’s covered? My understanding is that simply being uneasy about travel like this is not typically covered (as opposed to an all airports are shut down/no one allowed in the country type of scenario).

yeah this would be my concern. the one time i had to cancel a trip for medical reasons i had to get a exam, doctor's note, etc (which I had already because my sicks was real). took like 45 days but I got the refund which was nice.

I see VA's post. yeah, at the mercy of your airline I am afraid. if thats the case maybe just wait it out as it may get canceled for you and you get a credit or cash back

msbesq · February 28, 2020

4 hours ago, wild_turkey said:

Travel agencies are still a thing? I thought the faded out around the time AOL rose to prominence.

Incredible deals exist through them online. That’s Travelzoo’s business model of self-guided tours. It partners with certain agencies. We went to Ireland in November for $1800 total for one week, which included airfare from IAH, nice hotels and a rental car. The deals are there in non-peak times and you stay on the fringe of a major city. We drove around the country and had a great time.

52-80 · February 28, 2020

7 hours ago, wild_turkey said:

Travel agencies are still a thing? I thought the faded out around the time AOL rose to prominence.

I use the corporate travel agency for multi-destination and/or open-jaw routing. They can bundle together cross-alliance flights and find way better deals than I can.

For more straight forward trip, they're an unecessary overhead.

GreenspointTexas · February 28, 2020

Serious question: do any of yall see them cancelling domestic flights at any point in time?

That would pretty much bankrupt the airline industry wouldnt it?

Spankytoes · February 28, 2020

16 hours ago, mdleast said:

Curious for those mentioning cancelling due to travel insurance, are you sure that’s covered? My understanding is that simply being uneasy about travel like this is not typically covered (as opposed to an all airports are shut down/no one allowed in the country type of scenario).

It's not covered. I had to cancel a trip to Istanbul the week after the airport got bombed and a week before there was a coup to take over the government. AA told me to suck it and pay up. Travel insurance only covers the basics if you need to cancel or move your trip.

VABuckeye · February 28, 2020

Yep. The travel insurance you click on when you purchase an airline ticket is more related to personal health or death of you or someone in your party or the death or serious illness of a family member back home. Fear is not a valid reason for travel insurance to kick in.

msbesq · February 28, 2020

Depends on the company and the policy. Our insurance allows us to cancel for any reason whatsoever at least 72 hours before the trip and we can rebook anytime within a year of purchasing the policy at no cost to us, other than the cost of the insurance. I bought for the medical coverage but this is an added bonus. Our agency has told me twice just let them know when we want to go again and we’re going to rebook for September/October. You don’t get your money back but you get another trip at no additional cost.

VABuckeye · February 28, 2020

Again. If you purchase travel insurance through the airline what I stated is 100% correct. You purchased a higher level policy through a travel agency. Good for you but that policy is in the minority.

Quote

Does Travel Insurance Cover Coronavirus Trip Cancellations?

An epidemic disease as coronavirus proves the importance of paying attention to the print of a travel insurance policy, so a traveller knows what it includes, and what he/she risks losing for cancelling a trip in cases like this.

This is why, travellers that have already made all arrangements necessary for a trip, whether to China, Europe or elsewhere, before rushing on to cancel their plans with the confidence that travel insurance will cover them, should check if it actually does.

The thing is that most travel insurance policies do not cover trip cancellations for reasons as fear of an epidemic disease, as they do not consider it a good enough reason for trip cancellation.

In fact, almost every existing travel insurance policy excludes epidemics and pandemics on purpose, as insurance companies are most scared that an epidemic or pandemic by nature could put these companies out of business if they had to pay out millions of dollars for all their policies.

Travel Insurance Coverage & Coronavirus Cancellations Explained

Edited February 28, 2020 by VABuckeye

msbesq · February 28, 2020

I'm not generalizing, I'm just stating how the policy works for us.

4th&Five · February 28, 2020

Shit. There goes my trip

ShaggyBevo RIP · February 28, 2020

2 hours ago, VABuckeye said:

Yep. The travel insurance you click on when you purchase an airline ticket is more related to personal health or death of you or someone in your party or the death or serious illness of a family member back home. Fear is not a valid reason for travel insurance to kick in.

Which is why you need to buy it thru Allianz and pay for the top rate for cancel for any reason..

Oops- Allianz looks to have excluded Coronavirus earlier this month. https://www.allianztravelinsurance.com/coverage-alerts/2019-novel-coronavirus.htm

Edited February 28, 2020 by ShaggyBevo RIP

F250 · February 28, 2020

On 2/27/2020 at 12:30 PM, hookemATL said:

I know a lot of folks have mentioned having conferences/etc. cancelled because of this issue.

anybody willing to take a run at whether something like IBM Think would be affected? I’d assume anything tech related with people arriving from all over the world would be on the possible chopping block.

IBM backed out of RSA, I think they would cancel that one if things are still bad by the time IBM Think rolls around. By the way I was supposed to at RSA this week but I said no way to flying to San Francisco during 12 Monkeys season.

Edited February 28, 2020 by F250

VABuckeye · February 28, 2020

20 minutes ago, ShaggyBevo RIP said:

Which is why you need to buy it thru Allianz and pay for the top rate for cancel for any reason..

Oops- Allianz looks to have excluded Coronavirus earlier this month. https://www.allianztravelinsurance.com/coverage-alerts/2019-novel-coronavirus.htm

Yeah, I have Allianz and read the exclusion for my trip insurance to Spain.

Junior Miller · February 29, 2020

I booked a trip for the 15 mile drive down to uptown Dallas. With Coronavirus afoot I'm thinking about postponing.

Edited February 29, 2020 by Junior Miller

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Are amusement parks and other tourist spots in the United States safe?

Should I worry about air travel?

What about cruises?

Is international travel OK?

Take precautions when traveling.

Stay up-to-date on the latest news.

Consider buying travel insurance.

If you’re feeling very anxious, it might be best to stay home.

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