Have you had to change/cancel travel due to COVID-19 (involuntarily or voluntarily)?

[robtemt]

I thought I would start a thread as a resource for AFFers who have changed or cancelled travel plans directly or indirectly due to 2019 n-CoV.

• Did the airline/cruise company cancelling or change your flight/cruise? Or, did you proactively or reactively cancel or change it on your own (and why?).
• Did they notify you directly, or did you discover it on your own?
• What was your original plan, and what was the revised plan?
• What was your experience like?
• Did you go through any travel insurance claim process, and how was that part of it?

For the record, part of my role at work is to monitor medical related issues, filter out mis/disinformation, and brief other staff using only verified facts from trusted sources, so I am not one to buy into sensationalism or hysteria. BUT, I am also an advocate of forward planning and monitoring situations that could affect travel plans.

Post automatically merged: Feb 10, 2020

To start it off…. We have begun voluntarily changing (or making back up plans for) our upcoming holiday SYD-(+/- SIN)-LAX-SJO-LAX-HNL-LNY-HNL-SYD

We are booked to the USA via SIN on SQ in a few weeks (F Saver Reward Booking). A few things caused us to start making contingency plans on getting to the USA including:

• Reading posts from Buttermilk Chicken regarding her RTW flight being disrupted between HKK and CEB
• Member Pushka raising a good point if Singapore will be next.
• Monitoring the World Health Organisations surveillance on n-CoV (as part of my responsibilities at work). Singapore confirmed infections were 28 on 5 Feb, 40 on 8 Feb, and 43 on 9 Feb. Several of these cases were human-to-human contact, with no recent travel to China.
• Bloomberg’s article this morning HERE, which discussed the spread of the virus from a conference attendee in Singapore, via a resort in France, to people in France, Spain, and the UK.

We contacted SQ, to discuss the options of alternative carriers, to which there were no available flights. The agent was very friendly, and said she understood the desire to rebook and avoid an Asia transit, but she said until official bans are in place, there were no options, but “we will offer options if Singapore becomes affected by travel bans”.

We began searching other options. We contacted VFF, who found one seat on DL SYD-LAX in W, and one seat on VA in J SYD-BNE-LAX. No other business or premium reward seats (except any seat) were available +/- 1 day of our desired travel (with pre-booked hotels, cars, and other flights to South America, and Hawaii). We will keep looking for another J seat on same day, and hopefully two on the same flight to free up closer to the date.

We have left our SQ bookings as is for now, and will cancel either that booking of the DL/VA booking closer to the date as thing develop.

Overall Experience:

• Wait times on the phone are obviously a bit longer, but I’ve not been on hold longer than 15 minutes with either VA or SQ.
• Staff at both SQ and VA call centres have been friendly, empathetic, and helpful in searching, but have no/limited availability and flexibility in voluntary changes so far.

 

[james4321]

On premium line got through after the messages almost straight away.

Could you post the premium number please.?

 

[Pushka]

Could you post the premium number please.?

It's the usual 131313 number then punch in the QFF details and it automatically flicks to it.

 

[james4321]

It's the usual 131313 number then punch in the QFF details and it automatically flicks to it.

Thank you

 

[abby-line]

So the big question, will QF refund a J-class OW Classic award booking based on the 318k points it would cost me to book it today, or the 280k points it cost me back in Aug 2019?

 

[glasszon]

What's the best way to contact SQ? I got a J points booking for MEL-SIN-MLE return in April and unsurprisingly all those flights are cancelled, is there a way to arrange a refund without having to call and wait in the queue for hours?

 

[Seat0B]

A quick search indicates most TI policies don't cover airline or TA insolvencies. Ours certainly doesn't.

TA insolvencies in Australia may be covered by the industry insurance scheme, but not sure if your particular TA would be covered. Worth checking their web site to see about that.

 

[get me outta here]

Cruiser elite just posted the email address in the SQ tips and tricks thread. Nip over there.

@glasszon - SQ Tips, Trips and Tales

What's the best way to contact SQ? I got a J points booking for MEL-SIN-MLE return in April and unsurprisingly all those flights are cancelled, is there a way to arrange a refund without having to call and wait in the queue for hours?

 

[Seat0B]

Shout out to Accor and Pullman Melbourne for just agreeing to a full refund on a large non-refundable booking. In total they have agreed to refund on 3 separate rooms for 10 room nights across the lot. That is very decent of them. As many before me have noted, some companies are doing a better job than others of appreciating that they will want/need our business when this is all over.

Just by the way, the comedy show we were going to was cancelled, some or all of our Qantas flights were cancelled (from Canberra and Gold Coast) or had very major changes and 3 of the 5 of us are in quarantine after returning from overseas. Add in the 14 day local quarantine requirement for those returning to Queensland and I reckon it was in the "it was never going to happen" category!

 

[drron]

Well all our UK places have now answered.The only one giving an unconditional refund was Hand Picked Hotels with one of their properties in Bath.Two others will only let us change dates.We're due to be back in October so changed to then.If we don't get there my sister will probably able to use them.
The bad one is an apartment through London Connect.At the moment will allow us to change dates-nothing suitable.But that would cost us 1 nights accommodation.If we just cancel we lose the lot.

 

[Flashback]

As a data point..... folks had JQ PER-DPS-PER (to start a QR DPS-LON-DPS), JQ cancelled the flight to DPS but not the one back to PER. Called this evening, got straight through and full amount for the JQ booking refunded without any hassle.

Next job......... the QR flights. That won't be quite so easy I don't think.

 

[OATEK]

Into my third week waiting for BA & Cruise refunds. They keep say they are coming, but ....

 

[p--and--t]

We were supposed to be flying out this Friday.

Bet you glad you changed your mind

‘LEAVE NOW’: Bali declares state of emergency as coronavirus escalates

The number of cases and death toll continues to rise.

7news.com.au

 

[Pushka]

Bet you glad you changed your mind

‘LEAVE NOW’: Bali declares state of emergency as coronavirus escalates

The number of cases and death toll continues to rise.

7news.com.au

We thought it was just rumbling away but not getting any airplay. My gosh, that's today's announcement. Awful. They will implode. I'm betting there are 1000's of Aussies there.

 

[Flashback]

As a data point..... all booking.com cancelled bookings (including those that were non-refundable, where the accommodation provider agreed to refund) received within 2 days of request. Hotels.com bookings cancelled 9 days ago still not received. BA bookings cancelled 2 weeks ago still not received.

 

[Flashback]

Finally had a (placeholder) response from QR, took 8 days to acknowledge the refund request. It's more than I've had from BA though, 2 weeks gone and still no notification to even say they're processing my refund request.

Dear Valued Customer,
Thank you for submitting a request for a refund or a travel voucher to Qatar Airways. Your case is in process.
We understand your worry during this time, especially as original travel dates approach, then pass. Rest assured that as long as your request was received at least 72 hours before departure, it will go through as expected. All requests will be processed within 2-4 weeks of receiving them, on a first-in, first-out basis.
While you cannot reply to this email, you can request any further services you need at Submit a request – Qatar Airways Support.

We remain grateful to you for your understanding and loyalty and we look forward to welcoming you onboard when the moment is right.

Sincerely,
Qatar Airways

 

[Flashback]

Finally had a (placeholder) response from QR, took 8 days to acknowledge the refund request. It's more than I've had from BA though, 2 weeks gone and still no notification to even say they're processing my refund request.

Well, I was too optimistic. I've now received a voucher (not a refund, as I requested quoting EU261/2004 and their CoC 11.3). Guess I'll have to call and go through that fun as they clearly can't read the text that was written in the ticket.

Note the voucher is issued in QAR (with 10% bonus added) and FYI here are the T&C:
You have up to one year to use the voucher, and can book your travel within a period for up to one further year after.
If you decide to rebook to your original travel destination, don’t worry about any difference in fare; we will try and book you with the same fare class. If you change your plans and decide you would like to travel somewhere else, you can use the same voucher for your new destination.

 

[wrldtrvllr]

Finally had a (placeholder) response from QR, took 8 days to acknowledge the refund request. It's more than I've had from BA though, 2 weeks gone and still no notification to even say they're processing my refund request.

I got a response overnight from QR as well - about 6 days after request submitted. I too requested refund for partially flown ticket - be interesting to see what they offer considering one segment was cancelled by them...

 

[Flashback]

I got a response overnight from QR as well - about 6 days after request submitted. I too requested refund for partially flown ticket - be interesting to see what they offer considering one segment was cancelled by them...

It seems like they put in a massive shift yesterday, lots of reports of people receiving responses from them and/or vouchers. Now I need to decide whether I can be bothered to spend the time calling them to force the issue on the refund........ or whether I just keep the voucher. Guess I need to think about when I might be able to use it, compare fare prices to then and then make a decision.

 

[clifford]

It's more than I've had from BA though, 2 weeks gone and still no notification to even say they're processing my refund request.

Was the flight cancelled by BA, or did you cancel the ticket?

I've now received cash/avios refunds from BA, for for three requests I made 2-3 weeks ago. One flight (paid ticket) was cancelled by BA and I applied for a cash refund using their online form. I noticed the cash back in my credit card account today. The other two bookings were avios award booking which I cancelled using the online "JavaScript workaround" method, and the avios were refunded immediately, with the cash (minus cancellation fee) taking a couple of days to be returned.

This was so much better than the experience I've had with Qantas, where I online cancelled a CGK-SYD business class award three weeks ago. Not a peep out of Qantas. I guess I'll have to ring them at some stage.

I've also cancelled a couple of tickets with Aegean (A3) and a couple of tix with UK train companies, and the money has come back within 2-3 weeks.

I'm also going to have to cancel some Oman Air paid business class tickets, but I'm not looking forward to that process!

 

[Flashback]

Was the flight cancelled by BA, or did you cancel the ticket?

I've now received cash/avios refunds from BA, for for three requests I made 2-3 weeks ago. One flight (paid ticket) was cancelled by BA and I applied for a cash refund using their online form. I noticed the cash back in my credit card account today. The other two bookings were avios award booking which I cancelled using the online "JavaScript workaround" method, and the avios were refunded immediately, with the cash (minus cancellation fee) taking a couple of days to be returned.

This was so much better than the experience I've had with Qantas, where I online cancelled a CGK-SYD business class award three weeks ago. Not a peep out of Qantas. I guess I'll have to ring them at some stage.

I've also cancelled a couple of tickets with Aegean (A3) and a couple of tix with UK train companies, and the money has come back within 2-3 weeks.

I'm also going to have to cancel some Oman Air paid business class tickets, but I'm not looking forward to that process!

Mixture of:

1. Used the book with confidence guarantee to not take a flight scheduled the next day, eVoucher request submitted for that one (as refund not available under that guarantee) - submitted using online eVoucher form
2. Cash booking reduced with Avios, BA cancelled 1 flight in the booking (which entitles to a full refund) - submitted using Javascript workaround to get the cash refund page
3. BA Avios booking, BA cancelled all flights - phoned in as Javascript workaround wouldn't work
4. Avios booking using Lloyds upgrade voucher, BA cancelled all flights - phoned in as Javascript workaround wouldn't work
5. OnBusiness booking, BA cancelled all flights - phoned in as Javascript workaround wouldn't work

I was surprised at Jetstar, positioning flights my folks had to come over here (connecting to an ex-DPS QR flight to LON) - 1 flight cancelled, but when called up straight through and full amount refunded. Pleasantly surprised.