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Coronavirus Impact on Travel

idigTexas

By idigTexas
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AustinMT

AustinMT 952

Posted
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5 minutes ago, Gil Bang said:

ouch indeed.  My big concern is for him. He's an older dude, and not in great health.  His wife is a bit younger, and she can still fly back to San Diego. He can't handle a long flight anymore, so his daughter comes to Italy twice a year to visit him. 

I'm flexible, and so is the GF.  If this shit blows over in August, we are good to go there then. 

And no humblebrag intended, but I can afford to pay for a vacation. 

But yeah, getting his place for a couple of weeks gratis sounded pretty cool.  His place overlooks Lago Trasimeno.  It's fucking beautiful.  We had been there for 9 days or so previously.   We had already planned several day trips and overnight trips.  

Hope he is OK, and you get to go.

Delta has given us full flight credit (business class) so we will rebook in late September. Trains have refunded.  Waiting on Air France to respond on the flights from CDG to Italy, but those weren’t too bad and will get some back.  Only thing I am dealing with is Hyatt Paris Vendome, which required payment in advance and is being pissy French.  I told them just to give me credit and we will be there in the Fall but they are dragging.

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Hank_Hill
Hank_Hill

Pulling for Trump to get the corona personally. That rotted sack of potatoes has to have near HIV level immunity. 

Doug E. Fresh
Doug E. Fresh

Yep, heading over in a little over 12 hours. Lived there before (and in Scotland) from ‘05 to ‘11 so am a naturalized citizen with dual passports. It’s been a goal to get back for many years and that’

VABuckeye
VABuckeye

I've been thinking about typing this all day.  Well, here I go.   We like to brag about the "greatest generation" and shit on other generations.  Here is our chance to do what they did.  Mak

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Napoleon

Napoleon 8830

Posted
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3 hours ago, conVINCEd said:

Anybody ever been to the DRC?  Seems like a pretty safe place to be right now.

Big Papi has been within the last year  ask him about how safe it is  

 

2 hours ago, KeysPhoneWallet said:

Spring break vacation has turned into a road trip into a forest region for some outdoor nature time. No planes or tourist crowds this year

I have a friend scheduled to fly down to Buenos Aires with his 19 year-old son to see the city for a day before going dove hunting in Córdoba. I hope he still goes, but each day brings more alarms. 

 

1 hour ago, gmr548 said:

This is outright false with regard to the region of Italy in question.

I get that the north is borderline Germanic (actually, Tyrol is Germanic) and that’s where the country is hit hardest, but Italy is still fucking Italy. My Argentine students who had visited Italy, especially Rome, would say “When I got there, I realized that it was just like Buenos Aires. They’re just like us.”

The entire country is on lockdown and Rome is still the capital. Italy is a developing country. That doesn’t mean that they only have bicycles and Vespas and dirt roads. It means that they are like Alabama and Tennessee. Some modern shit, some dated shit, and some shit that looks like a city dump from the 1930s. 

I love everywhere I have been in Italy except for the shitty train station outsof Rome that I spent the night in sleeping on my backpack behind a bench, squeezed into the space between the bench and the wall. Rome is running the show. 

I have a friend who flew out of Milan’s #2 airport today... because even though the area was on lockdown, the airport wasn’t. That is not 1st World Common Sense. 

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CooterBrown

CooterBrown 18288

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Hope he is OK, and you get to go.
Delta has given us full flight credit (business class) so we will rebook in late September. Trains have refunded.  Waiting on Air France to respond on the flights from CDG to Italy, but those weren’t too bad and will get some back.  Only thing I am dealing with is Hyatt Paris Vendome, which required payment in advance and is being pissy French.  I told them just to give me credit and we will be there in the Fall but they are dragging.


Just got an email from Hyatt saying that for prepaid stays they’ll graciously give you 10,000 points and no money back if you decide to cancel.
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gmr548

gmr548 16695

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8 minutes ago, Napoleon said:

I get that the north is borderline Germanic (actually, Tyrol is Germanic) and that’s where the country is hit hardest, but Italy is still fucking Italy. My Argentine students who had visited Italy, especially Rome, would say “When I got there, I realized that it was just like Buenos Aires. They’re just like us.”

The entire country is on lockdown and Rome is still the capital. Italy is a developing country. That doesn’t mean that they only have bicycles and Vespas and dirt roads. It means that they are like Alabama and Tennessee. Some modern shit, some dated shit, and some shit that looks like a city dump from the 1930s. 

I love everywhere I have been in Italy except for the shitty train station outsof Rome that I spent the night in sleeping on my backpack behind a bench, squeezed into the space between the bench and the wall. Rome is running the show. 

I have a friend who flew out of Milan’s #2 airport today... because even though the area was on lockdown, the airport wasn’t. That is not 1st World Common Sense. 

The virus is overwhelmingly concentrated in Northern Italy - Lombardy in particular and Emilia-Romagna with the second highest number of cases by a significant margin. These are the two wealthiest and most developed regions in Italy and Europe, and while what you're saying is true of southern Italy, the difference in economic development in these regions is like comparing America's most dynamic economic regions to West Virginia or Mississippi. 

The lockdown isn't a full lockdown like it was in Wuhan. At least it wasn't before they expanded it - I am not sure if they've changed their tune. They were allowing "professionally" necessary travel, whatever that means. Lack of common sense? Maybe. But if Italy is a third world country for allowing that, what does that make the US, where things are more or less business as usual while the number of cases and fatalities rise and the testing capacity is woefully inadequate given the virus has been here since mid-January?

America doesn't have standing to lecture other countries on common sense.

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Napoleon

Napoleon 8830

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7 minutes ago, gmr548 said:

The virus is overwhelmingly concentrated in Northern Italy - Lombardy in particular and Emilia-Romagna with the second highest number of cases by a significant margin. These are the two wealthiest and most developed regions in Italy and Europe, and while what you're saying is true of southern Italy, the difference in economic development in these regions is like comparing America's most dynamic economic regions to West Virginia or Mississippi. 

The lockdown isn't a full lockdown like it was in Wuhan. At least it wasn't before they expanded it - I am not sure if they've changed their tune. They were allowing "professionally" necessary travel, whatever that means. Lack of common sense? Maybe. But if Italy is a third world country for allowing that, what does that make the US, where things are more or less business as usual while the number of cases and fatalities rise and the testing capacity is woefully inadequate given the virus has been here since mid-January?

America doesn't have standing to lecture other countries on common sense.

With Trump in charge during a health crisis, the USA is also a "developing country".

No question. That's all I will say, because this isn't CR, but I'm not saying that the USA is better than Italy, just that Italy is in trouble and will likely suffer a bit more since they are Italy rather than Austria, for example.

When the Swine Flu hit Argentina, most people spaced about the possibility that sharing a metal straw (una bombilla) to drink their loose-leaf tea (Yerba mate) was a way that the Influenza Porcina could be passed from person to person. And that was in the over-educated capital of Buenos Aires, where 60%+ of the population has at least some Italian heritage.

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Chopper

Chopper 17431

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A friend booked a family tour to France with her husband and 2 kids during spring break with Rick Steves travel company. I can't imagine a worse way to travel than with a large group but whatever. Anyway the payment was supposedly non-refundable. Now they're being allowed to use it as a credit for anytime within the next 2 years.

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HookEm

HookEm 2509

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For spring break, I had planned to take the family on an east coast road trip.  We were going to rent a car and hit up Nashville, Mammoth Caves NP, Smokey Mountain NP, Shenandoah Valley NP and finally end with 3 days in Washington DC before flying home.  Decided to cancel last night.  Just too much uncertainty with our flight out being 13 days from now.  My guess is all the DC museums will be shut down by then.

Thoughts on the decision?  Sucks because we got lucky with the cherry blossoms peak being right around when we would have been there.

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Nightfly

Nightfly 61

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10 minutes ago, HookEm said:

For spring break, I had planned to take the family on an east coast road trip.  We were going to rent a car and hit up Nashville, Mammoth Caves NP, Smokey Mountain NP, Shenandoah Valley NP and finally end with 3 days in Washington DC before flying home.  Decided to cancel last night.  Just too much uncertainty with our flight out being 13 days from now.  My guess is all the DC museums will be shut down by then.

Thoughts on the decision?  Sucks because we got lucky with the cherry blossoms peak being right around when we would have been there.

Too tough with the kids to do it in the family truckster? 

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next2naus

next2naus 439

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18 hours ago, ernest_t_bass said:

We fly 22nd.  I can purchase trip insurance up to 48 hours before departure ($132 for 4 people).  Will cover cancelled flights and inability to fly due to illness.  Thoughts on purchasing the insurance?

ORD -> SJO

the Insurance will kick in if get Sick, not your fear of getting sick. small details

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AustinMT

AustinMT 952

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13 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

 


Just got an email from Hyatt saying that for prepaid stays they’ll graciously give you 10,000 points and no money back if you decide to cancel.

 

Hyatt is giving us a full credit for rebooking at the same hotel, which we will use later this year.  

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texasfight2025

texasfight2025 145

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13 minutes ago, Reynolds Woodcock said:

Since we’re all just posting our travel plans now, I’ve got a trip to Istanbul and Israel the last 10 days of May. Can cancel the whole thing within 48 hours of leaving for about $200 out of pocket. Fingers crossed

Israel now has a 14 day quarantine for all international visitors.

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conVINCEd

conVINCEd 21477

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1 minute ago, ShaggyBevo RIP said:

5 cases at present count. https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

I was talking about DR Congo, and being a little sarcastic about it being a safe place, but it looks like it’s starting to creep south in Africa.  Still no cases there though.

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PenelopeWitherspoon

PenelopeWitherspoon 19305

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We are still wait and see on Spain scheduled to leave April 4.  As of right now, my flights have not been cancelled.  That might be the case, but since I booked them ages ago, we will see.  

My company just shut down all non critical business travel, and I was scheduled to be in CPH in early May (also going to Paris before the trip).  I have gone ahead and booked my flight knowing that I can move it (thanks BA).  

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Junior Miller

Junior Miller 1502

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41 minutes ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

We are still wait and see on Spain scheduled to leave April 4.  As of right now, my flights have not been cancelled.  That might be the case, but since I booked them ages ago, we will see.  

My company just shut down all non critical business travel, and I was scheduled to be in CPH in early May (also going to Paris before the trip).  I have gone ahead and booked my flight knowing that I can move it (thanks BA).  

Spain is in pre-Italy right now. Been talking to tons of friends from back there and they're at the point of playing a champions league home match with no fans, and for them that's drastic. Their cases doubled yesterday. 

My question for people who have these travel plans is how could you even enjoy the trip? Just the possibility of getting this in a foreign land and possibly getting stuck there with no family/support (I'm assuming you're going on vacation and do not have family there) would make the trip totally unenjoyable for me. 

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4th&Five

4th&Five 41995

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13 minutes ago, Junior Miller said:

Spain is in pre-Italy right now. Been talking to tons of friends from back there and they're at the point of playing a champions league home match with no fans, and for them that's drastic. Their cases doubled yesterday. 

My question for people who have these travel plans is how could you even enjoy the trip? Just the possibility of getting this in a foreign land and possibly getting stuck there with no family/support (I'm assuming you're going on vacation and do not have family there) would make the trip totally unenjoyable for me. 

I leave for an international trip on Saturday. I’m a bit stressed now just with how I assume it will look here when we get back. I’m going to try to enjoy the trip because who knows when we’ll be able to travel again (supposed to go to Europe in July as well)?

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TXSooner518

TXSooner518 2455

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Supposed to take the kids for their first trip to Universal Orlando in mid-May. Originally booked flights on SWA for $218/ea, have rebooked for $90/ea. Rebooked hotel for $60 cheaper total for 5 nights. Can cancel hotel up to 5 nights before trip. Only potential risk is got the tickets for the park through Sam's Club, which can only be used through May 22. I would anticipate Sam's will work with us in the event that things deteriorate to the point that the trip isn't feasible. 

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PenelopeWitherspoon

PenelopeWitherspoon 19305

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2 hours ago, Junior Miller said:

Spain is in pre-Italy right now. Been talking to tons of friends from back there and they're at the point of playing a champions league home match with no fans, and for them that's drastic. Their cases doubled yesterday. 

My question for people who have these travel plans is how could you even enjoy the trip? Just the possibility of getting this in a foreign land and possibly getting stuck there with no family/support (I'm assuming you're going on vacation and do not have family there) would make the trip totally unenjoyable for me. 

First, I need BA to do something about the flight.  If they allow me to rebook to next year, I will.  Otherwise, I need them to cancel my flight.

Second, the trip in early May (leaving the 6th of May) is a work trip with some time in Paris added on.  That is just under 2 months out, and I think this might be quieting down by then.  

Ultimately, it is still a wait and see game as far as I am concerned.  It is called being prepared but not panicking.  

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tfoolry

tfoolry 8352

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2 hours ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

First, I need BA to do something about the flight.  If they allow me to rebook to next year, I will.  Otherwise, I need them to cancel my flight.

Second, the trip in early May (leaving the 6th of May) is a work trip with some time in Paris added on.  That is just under 2 months out, and I think this might be quieting down by then.  

Ultimately, it is still a wait and see game as far as I am concerned.  It is called being prepared but not panicking.  

They’ll step up next month if no improvement.  I’m still waiting on easyjet to cancel my Milan flights in May.  Most of those EU carriers need to preserve their liquidity at this point but I’m hoping they do the right thing & start offering refunds & waiving change fees.  If they don’t, they’ll get a barrage of chargebacks In addition to continued bad PR which they definitely don’t need If they want to survive this.  

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AustinMT

AustinMT 952

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37 minutes ago, tfoolry said:

They’ll step up next month if no improvement.  I’m still waiting on easyjet to cancel my Milan flights in May.  Most of those EU carriers need to preserve their liquidity at this point but I’m hoping they do the right thing & start offering refunds & waiving change fees.  If they don’t, they’ll get a barrage of chargebacks In addition to continued bad PR which they definitely don’t need If they want to survive this.  

Just canceled a flight form CDG to Milan and back from Venice to CDG today.  Air France gave full credit (we are going to rebook the full trip for later this tear)

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Armybrat

Armybrat 41395

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2 hours ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

First, I need BA to do something about the flight.  If they allow me to rebook to next year, I will.  Otherwise, I need them to cancel my flight.

Second, the trip in early May (leaving the 6th of May) is a work trip with some time in Paris added on.  That is just under 2 months out, and I think this might be quieting down by then.  

Ultimately, it is still a wait and see game as far as I am concerned.  It is called being prepared but not panicking.  

When we had to shorten our London trip in 2018 (the wife broke her wrist badly and required surgery back home), British Air tried to up-charge me $3,000 to change to an earlier flight home. TheIr usual penalty was $200, but we had originally booked our r/t flight through AAA instead of directly with BA. Wound up getting that screw job “reduced” to $1,500.

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