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We flew Albuquerque to Chicago to London on Sunday; the plane was empty enough that many people had empty seats next to them. One of our return flights was canceled and rescheduled for lack of passengers. This will likely be an economic crisis more than a health crisis if this continues.
Face masks are uncommon even on the street or underground. Saw a lady on the train coming back from Hampton Court with one. There were a hundred or more school kids going through the palace - no problem, no masks. Seems like it isn’t a panic here in London.
My experience is one can secure hotel reservations, with no up front charge, but a cc # to secure. They will charge your card - hotel dependent - anywhere from one to two weeks before the beginning of your stay. Set up a reminder of charge dates, adding one week, with daily repeat so you give yourself plenty of head room to cancel without charge.
Also another general trick - if you are too late to cancel your reservation (fee applies), you may call to push the reservation to a later date, then subsequently call to cancel that to avoid the penalty.
We flew Albuquerque to Chicago to London on Sunday; the plane was empty enough that many people had empty seats next to them. One of our return flights was canceled and rescheduled for lack of passengers. This will likely be an economic crisis more than a health crisis if this continues.
Face masks are uncommon even on the street or underground. Saw a lady on the train coming back from Hampton Court with one. There were a hundred or more school kids going through the palace - no problem, no masks. Seems like it isn’t a panic here in London.
Awesome, I'm going LAX to London Thursday/Friday so fingers crossed to the empty seats!
I was going to take one of my parents to Japan for the peak bloom of the cherry blossoms, but ended up canceling since they’re in the high risk category (late 70s w/pre-existing conditions). Airline ended up waiving any change fees (but we have to use the credits within a year) and hotel cancellation was pretty straightforward since we were pretty far from the deadline.
We’ll probably end up going to Washington DC instead, but it was still pretty disappointing.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Originally Posted by Mr. Zero
I was going to take one of my parents to Japan for the peak bloom of the cherry blossoms, but ended up canceling since they’re in the high risk category (late 70s w/pre-existing conditions).....
We’ll probably end up going to Washington DC instead, but it was still pretty disappointing.
You may end up with equal health risk in DC for blossom fest. That is REALLY crowded. I have only seen crowds like that at Tokyo train station, not in Japanese countryside.
I would find a nice quiet beautiful blossoming rural location for 2020 season. (There are many options since we have had such warm mild winter)
Interestingly my wife booked a Mediterranean trip for Spain, France, Italy and a couple of other countries in the region early last year. Worried about the coronavirus and having issues with canceling isn’t a problem. Although we had travel insurance for the trip with cancel for any reason; an email just arrived today from Viking Travel indicating they were offering a later date trip voucher good for two years if any of “their” customers chose to cancel their upcoming trip. The only requirement was that they needed to be notified 24hrs prior to the scheduled air transportation. The Viking customer would then be given a voucher good for two years to any destination of their choice that Viking was offering. This speaks highly of the company for making that offer to their travelers who worry about health issues at this time. Travel insurance or not Viking appears to have their customer’s peace of mind in their best interest. I will always recommend a company like this to others not only for their good services but for the actions they took today associated with the travel cancellations.
Interestingly my wife booked a Mediterranean trip for Spain, France, Italy and a couple of other countries in the region early last year. Worried about the coronavirus and having issues with canceling isn’t a problem. Although we had travel insurance for the trip with cancel for any reason; an email just arrived today from Viking Travel indicating they were offering a later date trip voucher good for two years if any of “their” customers chose to cancel their upcoming trip. The only requirement was that they needed to be notified 24hrs prior to the scheduled air transportation. The Viking customer would then be given a voucher good for two years to any destination of their choice that Viking was offering. This speaks highly of the company for making that offer to their travelers who worry about health issues at this time. Travel insurance or not Viking appears to have their customer’s peace of mind in their best interest. I will always recommend a company like this to others not only for their good services but for the actions they took today associated with the travel cancellations.
You realize that the voucher they’re offering is an interest-free loan to the travel company? I give them credit for being proactive in the face of a coming collapse in traffic across all sectors of the travel, service and entertainment industries. Major venues are cancelling events, restaurants in convention areas are empty, and airlines are losing their cash-cow business travelers. I heard that major cruise lines are meeting with VP Pence this weekend — weird?
Major venues are cancelling events, restaurants in convention areas are empty, and airlines are losing their cash-cow business travelers. I heard that major cruise lines are meeting with VP Pence this weekend — weird?
Yeah, it's not all about the possibility of getting coronavirus, it's also about if it's worth traveling to a destination where venues are closing.
Yeah, it's not all about the possibility of getting coronavirus, it's also about if it's worth traveling to a destination where venues are closing.
Or not being able to return home because flights between the country you're visiting and the US have been shut down.
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