Coronavirus (COVID-19) Respiratory illness - Effect on Travel

[oz_mark]

I think all Chinese airlines will soon be offering refunds... Air China already is for all flights to/from/via China - no questions asked. All carriers must refund domestic flights. CX has a cancellation waiver in place for mainland China. It would be pretty poor form if QF/VA sought to profit from this.

QF already have a policy allowing for changes or refunds on flights to/from between 24 Jan and.29 Feb.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

QF already have a policy allowing for changes or refunds on flights to/from between 24 Jan and.29 Feb.

And SQ + Air Asia too. Nothing on TG's site yet.

 

[p--and--t]

I just saw this informative summary as well.....

Canstar analysts found that CoverMore, NRMA, SGIO and SGIC – who are all underwritten by Zurich Australian Insurance Limited – would not pay for claims caused by an epidemic, pandemic or outbreak of infectious disease.
On the other hand, Budget Direct’s policy documents did not specifically mention any exclusion, and stated the insurer would cover the costs of travel cancellation if customers were unable to travel because of restrictions placed upon them during or after an epidemic.
CGU and HBF’s travel insurance policies – both underwritten by CGU Insurance – said they would not offer cover for pandemics, epidemics or other infectious disease outbreaks if the customer’s insurance was issued after an alert or warning had been distributed regarding any outbreak or possible outbreak.
AAMI and Southern Cross Travel Insurance policies also said any claims, costs, losses or damage would not be covered if they were associated with epidemic or pandemic illnesses, or with the outbreak of other infectious diseases.
Canstar finance expert Effie Zahos said it was important for travellers to read the fine print and question their insurers to ensure they were aware of what is included and excluded on their policies, because all policies differ.
“Whether or not you’re covered can come down to when you took out your policy and whether you travelled before or after a travel warning was issued,” Ms Zahos said.

 

[Pushka]

It seems like most are using a cut-off date for new policies.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Hmmm - ANZ credit card insurance doesn't specifically mention epidemics/pandemics, but it does have the following exclusion:

• any interference with your travel plans by any government, government regulation or prohibition or intervention or official authority;

So if you get sick from the virus you would be covered, but the actual lock-down of cities/prevention of internal travel could come under this?

Would be interesting to see if other policies have something like this if they don't mention epidemics.

 

[Pushka]

Hmmm - ANZ credit card insurance doesn't specifically mention epidemics/pandemics, but it does have the following exclusion:

• any interference with your travel plans by any government, government regulation or prohibition or intervention or official authority;

So if you get sick from the virus you would be covered, but the actual lock-down of cities/prevention of internal travel could come under this?

Would be interesting to see if other policies have something like this if they don't mention epidemics.

I think all policies cover you if the Australian Government issues a Do Not Travel alert that wasn’t in existence when you booked.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

US carriers + Hilton and Accor are offering free cancellations and refunds: Airlines and hotels offering full refunds in response to coronavirus outbreak (some limitations hotel bookings - seems to be for stays before 2 Feb, but i suspect this will be extended).

 

[RooFlyer]

SBS in its news bulletin just reported that the President of China announced a ban on live animal trade in markets etc.

That's pretty vague but hopefully it means that they will be doing something about that petri-dish environment for exotic and 'novel' diseases. You can only hope

 

[moa999]

Now 5+ cases in Australia.
First one reportedly arrived in Jan6

 

[p--and--t]

Over 2000 now confirmed overall.

With only 1050 of those actually in the quarantine area, and with an incubation period of 10+ days, there will be significantly more in coming days.

56 deaths and only 49 reported as recovering. Hopefully this ratio changes dramatically over the next week or two.

 

[QFflyermelbourne]

This is an astounding clip from the ABC's china correspondent who just flew Shanghai to Beijing today. If this one data piece indicates what's happened to travel I don't know how we won't see chinese airlines hitting the wall shortly. We know a number are already skating on thin financial ice. Will the government underwrite things?

Very sad situation that is only just beginning I fear.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1221259113285529601

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Will the government underwrite things?

Yes. Not least because the government can’t afford to let the whole aviation sector go out of business. Too many jobs.

 

[Must...Fly!]

Hmmm - ANZ credit card insurance doesn't specifically mention epidemics/pandemics, but it does have the following exclusion:

• any interference with your travel plans by any government, government regulation or prohibition or intervention or official authority;

So if you get sick from the virus you would be covered, but the actual lock-down of cities/prevention of internal travel could come under this?

Would be interesting to see if other policies have something like this if they don't mention epidemics.

It mentions it under natural disasters in the definition of terms, then refers to natural disasters in the actual policy as an all-encompassing term. I took away that you would be covered if you were not aware at time of booking.

On the airline front this would be another huge problem for Cathay Pacific.

Edit: Cathay have delayed all evening flights in to mainland China to 0400-0500 departures. This will allow crews to do an immediate turn and not overnight in mainland China. More info at FT: CX / KA / UO Delaying all Mainland-Bound Evening Flts - FlyerTalk Forums

 

[Pushka]

The world can not afford to let China just - stop!

Post automatically merged: Jan 27, 2020

It mentions it under natural disasters in the definition of terms, then refers to natural disasters in the actual policy as an all-encompassing term. I took away that you would be covered if you were not aware at time of booking.

On the airline front this would be another huge problem for Cathay Pacific.

Edit: Cathay have delayed all evening flights in to mainland China to 0400-0500 departures. This will allow crews to do an immediate turn and not overnight in mainland China. More info at FT: CX / KA / UO Delaying all Mainland-Bound Evening Flts - FlyerTalk Forums

I checked out the natural disasters issue too and we did take out extra premiums last year to cover us so we are covered but you can bet if this gets worldwide the insurers will bring out some obscure clause.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

It mentions it under natural disasters in the definition of terms, then refers to natural disasters in the actual policy as an all-encompassing term. I took away that you would be covered if you were not aware at time of booking.

That's a good pick up - so natural disasters are defined as a bunch of stuff excluding epidemics and pandemics. In the body of the policy they exclude cover for things like additional expenses unless caused by a strike, riot, hijack, civil protest, weather, natural disaster or accident affecting your mode of transport.

As natural disaster doesn't include epidemic/pandemic, it looks the policy may not cover it. At least for certain sections of the policy.

The 'any interference' by government would include either the Chinese government or Aussie government banning travel?

 

[Must...Fly!]

That's a good pick up - so natural disasters are defined as a bunch of stuff excluding epidemics and pandemics. In the body of the policy they exclude cover for things like additional expenses unless caused by a strike, riot, hijack, civil protest, weather, natural disaster or accident affecting your mode of transport.

As natural disaster doesn't include epidemic/pandemic, it looks the policy may not cover it. At least for certain sections of the policy.

The 'any interference' by government would include either the Chinese government or Aussie government banning travel?

I actually missed the "but not" when I skimmed it yesterday, sorry for my misinformation! Thank you though, I will look in to reconsidering my travel insurance options for Japan/China in April if this outbreak continues, as I rely on ANZ card insurance for almost all of my trips. Though by happy co-incidence, as my leave may not be approved I have booked everything fully flexible and flights are FF award tickets, so at worst I will lose the cancellation fees (about $250, I'll just wear that).

Just watched the Twitter video from above. Very quiet - does anyone have any links showing how low fares/hotels got during the SARS epidemic? Could be interesting.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

...I will look in to reconsidering my travel insurance options for Japan/China in April if this outbreak continues, as I rely on ANZ card insurance for almost all of my trips.

I think most airlines and hotels are offering some sort of free cancellation. So the insurance point might be a bit moot anyway. Hopefully.

 

[Pushka]

I think most airlines and hotels are offering some sort of free cancellation. So the insurance point might be a bit moot anyway. Hopefully.

Cruise lines that had relied heavily on the Asian China sector are likewise giving full refunds where necessary.

 

[get me outta here]

The electronic temperature taker that they use with everybody touches on the skin. Doesn’t look like that’s very hygienic.

 

[jase05]

Read that CZ has canned all domestic flights in and out of WUH until Feb 9th at the earliest and all International flights until March 1st.