A primer for traveling amid coronavirus scare
What seemed like an orderly and conventional spring and summer travel scene suddenly turned chaotic. The worldwide coronavirus epidemic (pandemic?) is changing everything. Airlines are canceling flights to Asia wholesale and they’re starting to cancel flights to Europe, especially Italy. So far, domestic travel hasn’t been affected much, but a few more outbreaks could change that quickly. Cruise bookings are down as people don’t much like the prospect of being confined to their cabins for two weeks on a cruise ship parked in a harbor somewhere.
So far, I haven’t seen any industry-wide shift in hotel policies, but that, too, could quickly change. I’m neither a doctor nor an epidemiologist, but I can certainly read the tea leaves.
If you want to cancel an upcoming flight to, say France or Germany, you will either have to wait for more cancellations, rely on your airline’s generosity, or swallow that onerous ticket-change fee. Not a happy choice.
No matter where you’re traveling, foreign or domestic, the “rights” you have may be something less than you might expect:
If an airline cancels your flight, you have a legal right to a full refund, even on a nonrefundable ticket and even if the airline offers you a replacement schedule. The airline might try to coax you into accepting a future flight credit, but you can demand the dollars.
Almost everywhere in the world, contract laws mean that if a hotel can’t accommodate you, it owes you a refund. But outside the US, enforcing such laws is often not easy. If you have a prepaid hotel, your best bet is to wait for the hotel to set a policy. And avoid nonrefundable rates.
“Cruise passengers’ Rights” vies for the title or world’s shortest book, and you’re pretty much limited by what the cruise lines offer.
If you bought travel insurance before the insurance company’s stated date for the outbreak, cancellation coverage depends on the policy’s “covered reasons,” and viral outbreaks and epidemics typically are not listed as “covered.” If you get sick while on a trip, however, you will probably be covered for medical expenses. But almost all travel insurance benefits are limited to “unforeseen” contingencies. Insurance companies have set their official dates for onset of the epidemic somewhere between Jan. 21 and 27. Arrangements made after onset dates are considered “foreseen,” meaning cancellation and medical coverage is unlikely.