Coronavirus - Travel impacts II

[luckydude]

Another cruise ship now faces the prospect of an infected passenger and uncertain journey off the coast of South Island, New Zealand:

https://news.yahoo.com/passengers-held-cruise-ship-zealand-over-virus-fears-044832678.html

This one is called the Golden Princess, part of the Princess Cruises.

Lucky Dude

 

[Sunset]

Another cruise ship now faces the prospect of an infected passenger and uncertain journey off the coast of South Island, New Zealand:

https://news.yahoo.com/passengers-held-cruise-ship-zealand-over-virus-fears-044832678.html

This one is called the Golden Princess, part of the Princess Cruises.

Lucky Dude

Strange that it's mostly Princess, and not holland America ships as don't they both cater to the older crowd ?

 

[Sunset]

Has anyone cancelled a Costco arranged cruise ?

We have a cruise out of the UK for end of May.

I notice when I go to the website, they have a form to cancel your cruise, and it says it will do whatever the cruise line currently says, which in my case would be a future credit.

Naturally I'd prefer a refund.

So I went to the Princess site, and if I'm reading it correctly I'll get a refund of the total costs minus the deposit ($400). The deposit will be a future cruise credit.

I think I need to confirm this prior to doing it.

 

[luckydude]

Long queues of American passengers returning from Europe at airports:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...lines-long-six-hours-plane-baggage-claim.html

Lucky Dude

 

[NW-Bound]

Long queues of American passengers returning from Europe at airports:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...lines-long-six-hours-plane-baggage-claim.html

Lucky Dude

Totally awful!

Given that some of these poor passengers are coming back from the virus hotspots in Europe, the risk is extremely high that they also contaminate fellow passengers while waiting for processing in these 6-hour-long lines. Oh, the poor humanity.

I just saw that the number of cases in Italy has jumped up to 21,157 from 17,660 yesterday. Germany and France are at 4,500, about where Italy was 1 week ago.

 

[luckydude]

Totally awful!

Given that some of these poor passengers are coming back from the virus hotspots in Europe, the risk is extremely high that they also contaminate fellow passengers while waiting for processing in these 6-hour-long lines. Oh, the poor humanity.

I just saw that the number of cases in Italy has jumped up to 21,157 from 17,660 yesterday. Germany and France are at 4,500, about where Italy was 1 week ago.

I have never been impressed by the efficiency of the US passport control when I fly back from overseas, regularly having to wait 1-2 hours in line. Heck, as a US citizen, I can clear UK passport control via automated eGate with zero wait, and yet as a US citizen it takes me far longer to enter my own country.

This 5-6 hour wait among a huge crowd is beyond ridiculous, totally defeats the purpose of virus screening at the airport, and risk spreading the virus far and wide.

Lucky Dude

 

[ABQ2015]

What is the source for that? My DS & family are headed for Mt. Batchelor next week.

Mt.Bachelor is suspending ski operations from March 15 to 22 per KTVZ.com website news. The number of COVID-19 cases in Deschutes County, Oregon, recently jumped from 1 to 3.

 

[braumeister]

Vail Resorts, which operates a great many ski resorts, mostly in Colorado, sent out an email this morning. This is the pertinent part:

We have made the difficult decision to suspend the operations of all our North American mountain resorts and retail stores beginning Sunday, March 15, 2020 through Sunday, March 22, 2020 and will use that time to reassess our approach for the rest of the season.

 

[Pellice]

I should have been on my way to a birding tour in Puerto Rico right now, but it was postponed to December. I was relieved - and happy to rebook for the end of the year. This is a small company and I'm sure they're taking a hit. I was also able to cancel my flight for a future credit, no change fee.

Then I went birding yesterday and felt much better afterwards. I know this BB has a large percentage of people who walk out into the natural world regularly, and, it helps.

 

[tulak]

I cancelled our ski trip to Whistler yesterday. We were scheduled to leave this week. Luckily, we got full refunds from Airbnb. Our timing was good, since as it was pointed out, Vail resorts is closing all their resorts for at least the next week.

There are some local resorts open. One of them sent out e-mail that they are not selling any tickets, but are open for pass holders. You definitely want to check before heading to the mountain.

I also cancelled our Airbnb for London in May. I’m very skeptical that trip is going to happen at this point. Fortunately, the only place I booked was in London, but I have flights on Norwegian, Easyjet, LOT, BA, that I need to cancel or reschedule. I’m also thinking the IIHF hockey game that I have tickets for in Lausanne isn’t going to happen. That’s a bummer, since I’ve been wanting to visit Switzerland for a long time.

 

[becca]

Shortened Vacation

We had plans for our annual visit to Key West, flying, last Tuesday 3/10, staying with friends who live there. After much arguing, my husband convinced me to go...even though they were already advising people over 60 to avoid non-essential travel. I am 67, dh is 73. I will add that some other family members and friends encouraged me to go too. So we went. The planes down there were full. Life in Key West was just as laid back as normal. No one down there seemed concerned, no closures or cancellations. I stayed glued to the internet feeling like I was watching the world burn. Then we started hearing rumors that domestic travel was going to be shut down. Unable to get through to Delta on the telephone (6 hour wait) we drove to the Key West Airport on Friday and changed our flight to return from 3/17 to 3/14. This cost us $1100. We are hoping we can renegotiate this with Delta if we can ever get through to them. The flights home yesterday were about half full. I wore a mask and doused myself with hand sanitizer. The second I walked into our house I stripped off my clothes and headed to the shower.

I am so happy to be home.....worried I might have caught something traveling but if I get sick I would rather be sick at home than somewhere else.

One lesson I learned from this. Don't let anyone "bully" me into doing something I don't feel comfortable with. My gut instinct told me not to go and we would've saved ourselves a lot of stress and money staying home. It was a vacation I totally did not enjoy.

 

[Helen]

We drove down to Pam Springs in mid January, our condo is rented through the end of March. I am trying to talk my spouse into staying here through April. The weather will be warmer, we can play tennis, swim and ride bikes. And, it's less crowded here so if we have to duck into a store off hours there won't be as many people.

 

[NW-Bound]

China now does not want travelers from overseas, and that also applies to repatriating Chinese. It is a response to a surge in cases that are "imported". Chinese expats are now trying to escape from virus hot spots abroad.

Beijing - Chinese officials drastically tightened restrictions on travelers arriving in the Chinese capital on Sunday as fears mounted that the country where the outbreak first emerged could see a renewed uptick in imported cases.

All inbound travelers to Beijing will be sent to a mandatory 14-day quarantine at a government-run exhibition hall at their own cost, according to senior Beijing official Chen Bei. The city also said it would reject state medical insurance payouts for returning citizens’ virus tests and hospital stays as a way to dissuade overseas Chinese from repatriating.

As the virus spreads around the world and chaotic scenes overtake Western cities, tickets prices to China have skyrocketed as its citizens rush back home. Beijing Capital International Airport said it was banning private jets from landing because so many Chinese elite had booked emergency return trips. Videos on social media showed the airport’s baggage conveyers overloaded. Beijing officials also closed the city’s brand new Daxing airport and rerouted all flights to Beijing Capital to help funnel passengers directly into the quarantine center, which is several miles away in northeast Beijing’s suburbs.

 

[camfused]

...it's a game of chicken. My flight is in 32 days. Wait until they cancel it?...

Well, sort of. I am playing chicken too with Delta, sort of. I have 13 days to go before the flight. There is no reason at all for me to cancel up until a couple hours before the flight. This just increases the chances they will cancel the flight, which I want to happen, since I might get a full refund. If I cancel before then, I have to file for the 75% CFAR insurance, which I suspect will be a hassle.

 

[Chuckanut]

Here's a reason I keep going back to Italy:

https://www.kiro7.com/news/trending...m8VMvaoFsm0nnfGyZuEm6-ZCwRTK-aq8bGT1a-_sdwRnA

With Italy’s 60 million citizens forced to remain at home until at least April 3, people leaned out of their windows, stood on balconies and on the streets to join in the Flash Mob Sonoro,

Beginning at 6 p.m. local time, Italians began harmonizing. In Milan, people waved Italian flags and sang the national anthem, Billboard reported. Farther south, people played instruments or simply banged on pots and pans.

 

[ivinsfan]

Just wait it out a little longer no chance that cruise wil! go. Then you can get your money back.

This comment was for Sunsets..

 

[ivinsfan]

Vail Resorts, which operates a great many ski resorts, mostly in Colorado, sent out an email this morning. This is the pertinent part:

Pretty much all about the money here..they will shut down the season early instead of stay open and empty.

 

[braumeister]

Pretty much all about the money here..they will shut down the season early instead of stay open and empty.

Maybe. Also from the same email:

All our scheduled employees, both seasonal and year-round, will be paid during this upcoming eight-day period, without needing to use any vacation or sick time.

 

[sengsational]

AirBnB Doing Well

I've never had a problem logging into my AirBnB account...until today. What? Just when it's time to cancel? Normally it's userid password. Now it's asking for phone number? When I put that in, it doesn't accept it. My account may have a throw-away SIM phone number from a former trip...I have no clue.

So I dug down and found a phone number for support and called. It disconnected me while on hold (I'm fuming at this point), but they called me back (wow!). I then learned that I'm as much of an idiot as people tell me I am, hehe! Down there, mixed in with the "Continue with FaceBook" and "Continue with Google" (I NEVER use those), there was a "Continue with email"

I think if you've cleared cookies, they've made phone number the default now, instead of userid password.

Anyway, I went to my reservation and it plainly showed that I get all my money back when I cancel. As it turns out, the refund policy was all my money back until March 20 anyway, but even if it had been a more restrictive policy (varies based on what the host selects when they create their listing), I'd have gotten back all money due to the "unforeseen circumstances" clause (or some such terminology).

I'm happy with this result. Glad AirBnB is giving people money back without friction.

 

[Sunset]

I've never had a problem logging into my AirBnB account...until today. What? Just when it's time to cancel? Normally it's userid password. Now it's asking for phone number? When I put that in, it doesn't accept it. My account may have a throw-away SIM phone number from a former trip...I have no clue.

So I dug down and found a phone number for support and called. It disconnected me while on hold (I'm fuming at this point), but they called me back (wow!). I then learned that I'm as much of an idiot as people tell me I am, hehe! Down there, mixed in with the "Continue with FaceBook" and "Continue with Google" (I NEVER use those), there was a "Continue with email"

I think if you've cleared cookies, they've made phone number the default now, instead of userid password.

Anyway, I went to my reservation and it plainly showed that I get all my money back when I cancel. As it turns out, the refund policy was all my money back until March 20 anyway, but even if it had been a more restrictive policy (varies based on what the host selects when they create their listing), I'd have gotten back all money due to the "unforeseen circumstances" clause (or some such terminology).

I'm happy with this result. Glad AirBnB is giving people money back without friction.

I think it depends on which country the Airbnb was located within ??
Asking to confirm, which was your Country ?

We have an Airbnb in Scotland, but it was not on the list of "unforeseen circumstances" . So have not cancelled it yet.

 

[Teacher Terry]

The ski resorts in Nevada and California just closed after getting snow. They usually stay open as long as possible with sometimes making it until July.

 

[Scrapr]

What is the source for that? My DS & family are headed for Mt. Batchelor next week.

News must travel slower up here in the PNW. Bachelor closed next week!

https://www.mtbachelor.com/info/cov...R7SJg_hHahkw7ao0vWdgvBS1fzE_7iWIbzSlPuvdwE_aY

 

[ivinsfan]

Maybe. Also from the same email:

They will get all this money back from the government ..if I understand the new assistance bill correctly

 

[Trooper]

Long queues of American passengers returning from Europe at airports:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...lines-long-six-hours-plane-baggage-claim.html

Lucky Dude

I don't get the long lines, unless I am missing something. From the article:

Customs and Border Protection Officers were completely overwhelmed as U.S. citizens rushed to get back into the country as President Trump's European travel ban went into effect.

But the travel ban doesn't apply to returning US citizens, correct? Are the lines possibly caused by folks returning earlier than planned to get outta Dodge? Or are they possibly caused by delays from the additional screening?

 

[tulak]

Regarding Airbnb, their policy is changing quickly. I tried cancelling for Canada two days ago and it didn’t qualify. The next day, I was able to cancel because their policy changed overnight.

It also doesn’t hurt to start the process. I was able to contact Airbnb, who then contacted the hosts to see if they were willing to fully refund the reservation. One of them agreed to a full refund without the policy change.

And one thing you will notice is that Airbnb heavily uses the idea that they are an unbiased 3rd party facilitator between the host and guest. If the cancellation doesn’t fall under their covid-19 policy, then you need to work with the host to get a refund.