Coronavirus - Travel impacts II

[tulak]

I just checked my EasyJet flight from Venice to Paris in early April (I have not cancelled any of the flights yet). I have 3 seats and there are only 7 others taken, on the whole plane. Yet, EasyJet has not cancelled the flight. Even if they do, i'll be surprised if I get a refund out of it, because, let's face it, its EasyJet.



Still hoping that Delta and Air France cancel my other flights. I wish Italy would prohibit incoming flights, now that the whole country is locked down. What on earth do they expect people to do when they land!

I have an EasyJet flight booked for May. In addition to Norwegian and LOT.

At this point, it’s not looking good. I suspect that I might find out how well my Sapphire credit card’s travel insurance works.

No big deal if I take the hit. But I was looking forward to this trip, so if it doesn’t happen, that’ll be a bummer.

 

[Rosie]

Here are the rules regarding cancellation refunds:

The rules according to who? Source?

 

[NW-Bound]

What about food shopping?

I'm curious about that also. Buying food is somewhat essential.

It's not a complete lockdown as in Wuhan. They want public places such as theaters, churches, museums closed, but still leave public transportation such as buses and metro still running. On TV newscasts, I still saw a few pedestrians on the streets, and it did not look like Wuhan.

 

[tmm99]

It's not a complete lockdown as in Wuhan. They want public places such as theaters, churches, museums closed, but still leave public transportation such as buses and metro still running. On TV newscasts, I still saw a few pedestrians on the streets, and it did not look like Wuhan.

And from what I read, the cafes are still open, and people are advised to stand/sit at least 1m away from one another, but 1m is not even close to being adequate IMO.

 

[Sunset]

Having never been on a cruise before, I have to ask those who have:

Is the cruise industry over? Was it a Love Boat fad that will now decline or will you risk a cruise again when/if a vaccine for this becomes available?

I'll be cruising again.
Frankly, while I've see the show Love boat, a cruise just doesn't come across that way to me.

Do you think the airline industry is over since they had crashes ?

 

[Freedom56]

The rules according to who? Source?

US DOT site has some information.

"Am I Entitled to a Refund?
When the airline is at fault:

Cancelled Flight – A passenger is entitled to a refund if the airline cancelled a flight, regardless of the reason, and the passenger chooses not to be rebooked on a new flight on that airline."


https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/aviation-consumer-protection/refunds

 

[NW-Bound]

The Grand Princess has docked at Oakland port. Americans have been gradually taken off, and flown to military bases for the quarantine. Foreign travelers are still kept on board. A Briton couple said they were told they would have to wait till the end of the week. The British government is working feverishly to arrange for a charter flight to take Brits home. For passengers of smaller countries, whose government does not have the means or want to incur the cost, I wonder what happens to them.

Meanwhile, I wonder about the tourists in the Tenerife hotel that was locked down on Feb 27. Not much attention is given to them anymore, but I found out that they were slowly getting tested and the ones who tested negative have been released. Some Italian tourists have tested positive, and are still at the hospital along with many other guests. Spain says people who test negative can leave, but many airlines said they would not take as passengers people who have not been 14 days in quarantine.

 

[luckydude]

A primary physician in California describes how a group of 14 American men went to Italy on a skilling vacation and all 14 tested positive for the virus upon return, with 4 hospitalized and 3 of them very ill. The 3 are relatively young and have no underlying medical conditions:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...LA-suburb-calls-schools-shut-immediately.html

Unfortunately the US government is doing nothing to screen travelers returning from Italy as the country locks down.

Lucky Dude

 

[luckydude]

The Grand Princess has docked at Oakland port. Americans have been gradually taken off, and flown to military bases for the quarantine. Foreign travelers are still kept on board. A Briton couple said they were told they would have to wait till the end of the week. The British government is working feverishly to arrange for a charter flight to take Brits home. For passengers of smaller countries, whose government does not have the means or want to incur the cost, I wonder what happens to them.

The folks in Oakland must wonder why their community is the lucky one to receive and process these cruise ship passengers. They missed out on all the cruising fun yet must bear the risk of getting some unwanted and potentially deadly souvenirs.

Lucky Dude

 

[audreyh1]

The folks in Oakland must wonder why their community is the lucky one to receive and process these cruise ship passengers. They missed out on all the cruising fun yet must bear the risk of getting some unwanted and potentially deadly souvenirs.

Lucky Dude

It’s not as if they are using a publicly accessible section of the port or not completely cordoning it off/isolating it or using public transportation to transfer passengers or not decontaminating afterwards.

What’s the point of your comment? Doesn’t seem very useful.

 

[Alan]

We had booked a few days in a hotel in London some months back. However, SIL is still very much in need of TLC following her heart op so we will be in Edinburgh next week looking after her. The hotel is paid for and non-refundable but when I called they said that in light of the Coronavirus outbreak they have changed their policy and the booking is now suspended until January 2022 so that when we feel safe to travel again we can simply call up and rebook. Very nice, I didn't expect that.

We have a driving holiday planned in June and a couple of weeks booked at holiday cottages in Cornwall. We'll decide closer to the time whether or not we go.

We booked a "crossing" on the Queen Mary 2 during the sales last year for September. This is Southampton to New York, and our daughter is going to meet us there for a few days before we all fly to LA and stay with her for a couple of weeks. We won't be booking any hotels in NYC or flights until much closer to the time.

 

[JoeWras]

US DOT site has some information.

"Am I Entitled to a Refund?
When the airline is at fault:

Cancelled Flight – A passenger is entitled to a refund if the airline cancelled a flight, regardless of the reason, and the passenger chooses not to be rebooked on a new flight on that airline."


https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/aviation-consumer-protection/refunds

Good info.

This reminds me it is always good to know your rights with regard to the law, and not what some company says.

In my state, all the dump trucks say: "Not responsible for broken windshields." And people think it is the law. It is not. They are expressing their freedom of speech. You can put all kinds of things on the back of vehicles, but it is not a code of law.

For the record, in my state dump trucks can very well be responsible in a majority of direct rock hit cases.

 

[audreyh1]

On Thursday I’m supposed to fly out to GA help with my Dad’s care and DH fly out to join me for a few days. And return home on Mar 31, before flying out again in April.

But,

Atlanta is starting to look like another outbreak city. I’m not worried about this week. I am worried about end of the month disruptions in ATL.

Also, at some point soon DB in the Atlanta area probably shouldn’t be driving down to see DF in his elderly group care home.

We had already planned on the possibility of driving out in April to stay for an indefinite time, but things are happening faster now.

So we are probably going to cancel flights and drive out this weekend instead, and hunker down in central GA for a while.

 

[Golden sunsets]

Upthread I indicated that we were wavering on whether to return early from our winter in Mexico. Our return ticket was for 3/28. We had been wavering for several days and then on Sunday decided to pull the trigger and return early. We got home last night. We were heavy users of purell and clorox wipes on the two flights. We noticed a lot of that. And the 20 second hand wash in the lavatories was also noticeable. 20 seconds is a long time.

Delta allowed the ticket change with no change fee, even though we had purchased the tickets long ago. Fortunately the cost of the flight yesterday was only $4 more than we had paid for it last October, which is an indication that ticket costs have dramatically reduced. Usually tickets for next day travel, especially to/from a resort destination during high season are exorbitant.

We are glad that we made the decision to return. Today we will fill the pantry back up with a major grocery trip, in case we have to shelter in place. We are in our early 70's and I have occasional asthma, which contributed to our decision to return early.

 

[REWahoo]

... on Sunday decided to pull the trigger and return early. We got home last night.
...
We are glad that we made the decision to return.

Wise move.

 

[TromboneAl]

Here are the rules regarding cancellation refunds:

Refunds

The almost universal policy is that regardless of cause, when an airline cancels your flight, you have a right to a full refund of the remaining value of your ticket.

What does "remaining value" mean? Do tickets depreciate?

 

[Dalmore]

DW and I are off to Norway in a few hours. DS and BIL were supposed to join us, but backed out last week. I expect we will be fine and will be using common sense to reduce our risks - washing hands, wipe down our seating area on the plane, etc.

Leaving the masks and toilet paper at home.

 

[audreyh1]

What does "remaining value" mean? Do tickets depreciate?

You may have flown partway already, or on a return trip.

 

[REWahoo]

DW and I are off to Norway in a few hours. DS and BIL were supposed to join us, but backed out last week. I expect we will be fine...

Best of luck, hope you don't get stuck.

 

[braumeister]

DW and I are off to Norway in a few hours. DS and BIL were supposed to join us, but backed out last week. I expect we will be fine and will be using common sense to reduce our risks - washing hands, wipe down our seating area on the plane, etc.

Leaving the masks and toilet paper at home.

Have a wonderful time. We made our first visit to Norway last year and absolutely fell in love with the country.

 

[Rianne]

Niece and her new husband just got back from Dubai. They always wanted to go there, ignored travel warnings and had a great time. Now they want us to come over and share all there pictures and stories. I have not responded to the text. Can't decide what to do. Mask and gloves? I feel weird about this.

Illinois is in bad shape re: test kits and how to handle cases. I listened to NPR ILL yesterday. Our major hospital does not have test kits. It's "call your doctor" if you feel sick. Gov. of Rhode Island setting up tent sites where you can drive through, get tested and wait for results in your car. My understanding is you have to have symptoms and have called in and approved to go from health worker. She explained this process on MSNBC and it sounds so smart. No Dr office or exposing yourself to other people carrying the virus.

 

[Fermion]

The younger people in the USA are not really taking the virus seriously. I mean people under 40. You can even see it on message boards like MMM which skew younger and I see it when talking in town to anyone in their 20s to 30s.

To them it is just the flu.

 

[Chuckanut]

Leaving the masks and toilet paper at home.

Big mistake to let us know where there is unguarded TP.

 

[REWahoo]

Niece and her new husband just got back from Dubai. They always wanted to go there, ignored travel warnings and had a great time. Now they want us to come over and share all there pictures and stories. I have not responded to the text. Can't decide what to do.

Why not say you'll do it in a couple of weeks?

 

[Rianne]

Why not say you'll do it in a couple of weeks?

Good idea. Her parents have not responded to text either. My DB, her father, is not in the best health. I think I'll wait and see how they respond first. I have PKD (kidney disease) but it's stable, no symptoms. The uncertainty of this virus is frustrating. We have a high Chinese student population at U of I. I keep thinking if (when) we ever get testing underway the positive results will explode in this area.