Coronavirus - Travel impact

[gattara]

Ok but if your find yourself sick in a country fighting this virus do not expect a "normal" hospital encounter.

Yeah, this is what I'm thinking. Also, our Rick Steves tour guide told us about the language barrier being an issue in some Italian hospitals. Not feeling well and not being able to understand medical personnel ... I'd like to avoid that scenario if I can.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Oh geez...remember a few weeks ago I posted info about the 3M full face mask with cartridges? Used for painting, mold removal, etc. P100 filters.

Totally sold out everywhere.

What is going on out there?

America has 30 million masks, needs 300 million for health care workers fighting coronavirus, HHS secretary says

 

[Rianne]

DH/me have UK Cambridge (N99) masks used by the UK Ministry of Defense. Says kills bacteria and viruses. Got them on Amazon. I'm just reading the carton. Says the filters are treated with silver to actively absorb and kill bacteria and viruses. I wore it when I was around a bunch of kids (flu was rampant). Very uncomfortable and only useful for 200 hours. Exp date 12/2022.

 

[NW-Bound]

Ok but if your find yourself sick in a country fighting this virus do not expect a "normal" hospital encounter.

Sure. But under normal circumstances, Italian hospitals can provide decent care.

Of course I still prefer the local hospital where I was treated 7 years ago for a major operation. There was a menu of food I could order via a Web portal. Everybody had their own room and bathroom. There's a couch for visitors who can come in/out 24 hours, stay as long as they like.

The price is of course outrageous. And if the patients instead of their insurance company have to pay that, they would vote for more spartan accommodation.

 

[NW-Bound]

Back on travel or the virus outbreak around the world, does anyone remember the breakout at a French ski village, where a British brought the virus from a Singapore conference he attended?

As you recall, a bunch of relatives/friends of this Brit tested positive along with him. They then closed the local school, and tested some local people who might be infected.

Then, the news died out. Nobody mentioned that anymore. I searched and found that there were no new cases. Happy ending. And as there's nothing to talk about, people just forget.

Why did it get so bad in Italy? 528 cases and 14 deaths now. In that incidence in France, all the infected Brits recovered and were released from hospitals. None of the latter are elderly.

 

[Chuckanut]

Bold emphasis added by yours-truly...

Chuckanut, DH & I are booked on a Rick Steves trip to Sicily in a little over a month. A couple of days ago his office sent us an email containing the info in your link. We're holding tight for now. Not ready to change to one of his other tours, as offered. It's impossible to know how this will play out, so though I'd like to think we could switch to a fall trip and be good to go, I'm not so sure. The cases in Italy are adding up quickly. We don't have travel insurance, and honestly we don't even care much about losing money. The idea of going there, having to be quarantined, tourist site closures, etc., well... to us, it's just not worth it. Worst of all, we have an elderly cat I already worry about leaving, and to think about adding to our time away and not having control over our return date makes me too anxious. A couple of our previous Rick Steves tour guides told us about Italian hospital experiences, and let's just say I may not want to end up there.

FWIW, you may want to buy emergency evacuation insurance that takes you to a hospital near your home, that's what I do. Of course, you have to be really sick for that to take affect. Still, it's peace of mind. My medicare supplement policy provides up to $50,000 lifetime overseas medical coverage, which should be enough.

I don't buy the comprehensive policies that cover every last way one could lose money on a cancelled or messed up trip. In over ten years of traveling internationally, I have saved enough money by not buying the comprehensive policies that I could probably pay for at least one 2-3 week overseas vacation with the savings. I view them in the same way I view service contracts on home appliances - a poor deal for the consumer.

I have a small fear that countries will over react, and I will be quarantined in a grubby youth hostel in Lower Slobovia with over hormoned 20-somethings.

 

[NW-Bound]

FWIW, you may want to buy emergency evacuation insurance that takes you to a hospital near your home, that's what I do. Of course, you have to be really sick for that to take affect. Still, it's peace of mind. My medicare supplement policy provides up to $50,000 lifetime overseas medical coverage, which should be enough...

In the case of a virus infection, can the evacuation transport company get you through the quarantine? What is the procedure for that? I think there's a lot of uncharted territory here.

 

[DallasGuy]

I was looking to purchase airfare tickets to Seattle in August. American Airlines had some very good "basic economy" fares last week. Basic Economy does not allow for cancelling your reservation at the last second and if you can't go for whatever reason, you've lost your money. Southwest Airlines does...and you have up to 12 months to use your refund. Until this coronavirus situation has run it's course, I will only purchase the basic economy flights on SW because of their cancellation policy.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

I was looking to purchase airfare tickets to Seattle in August. American Airlines had some very good "basic economy" fares last week. Basic Economy does not allow for cancelling your reservation at the last second and if you can't go for whatever reason, you've lost your money. Southwest Airlines does...and you have up to 12 months to use your refund. Until this coronavirus situation has run it's course, I will only purchase the basic economy flights on SW because of their cancellation policy.

Little known but awesome Southwest Rewards policy: If you book a trip using rewards, and cancel prior to the flight, the points are redeposited in the account. Only the security fee (e.g. $5.60) is lost (actually not lost - available to use on future flights for a year).

 

[camfused]

Just cancelled our trip to Italy/Paris at the end of March, due to the Coronavirus. Looks like I will lose about $1600 (that's after the trip insurance (cancel for any reason) claim), unless Delta gives me a full refund.

 

[luckydude]

Thanks for sharing.

I do not know Chinese either, but Google Translate came to the rescue. I found what I thought was the post, and am enclosing the translation below.

Here's the link to a Daily Mail article (admittedly a less than reputable source but probably more credible than the Chinese government) on re-infection rates of patients previously "cured":

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...-positive-SECOND-time-one-Chinese-region.html

Lucky Dude

 

[Trooper]

Just cancelled our trip to Italy/Paris at the end of March, due to the Coronavirus. Looks like I will lose about $1600 (that's after the trip insurance (cancel for any reason) claim), unless Delta gives me a full refund.

Just curious as to why you will still lose $1600, even with CFAR trip insurance. We're considering upgrading out trip insurance to CFAR for our May European cruise.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Just curious as to why you will still lose $1600, even with CFAR trip insurance. We're considering upgrading out trip insurance to CFAR for our May European cruise.

The only CFAR I could find only refunded 75% of the trip expense if it wasn't for a reason covered under other plans.

 

[RetireAge50]

We cancelled a trip to Japan due to the return Celebrity cruise being cancelled. The cruise company gave us full cash refund plus a 25% future cruise credit. Delta airlines also gave us full cash refunds on our non-refundable flights. Nice!

On another note, purchased 100 shares of RCL and NCLH for the stockholder discounts on future cruises. Another positive to this otherwise negative news.

 

[ivinsfan]

We cancelled a trip to Japan due to the return Celebrity cruise being cancelled. The cruise company gave us full cash refund plus a 25% future cruise credit. Delta airlines also gave us full cash refunds on our non-refundable flights. Nice!

On another note, purchased 100 shares of RCL and NCLH for the stockholder discounts on future cruises. Another positive to this otherwise negative news.

Of course one has to see how much this ends up affecting cruises on a permanent basis.

 

[Gumby]

The moderators are closing this thread so that we can better organize the various threads related to the coronavirus COVID-19 and reiterate some ground rules for posting. Here is the link to the new thread https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f46/coronavirus-travel-impacts-ii-102348.html