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.

 

[Flashback]

Calendar or working? I was quoted working, which is closer to 6 weeks. I have a reminder set to chase up if not received by 27/5.

So my Qatar refund came through on April 29, so just under 2 weeks; wonder if the EU regulations had any impact on that being much quicker?

 

[Katie]

Finnair are still only cancelling flights to end June, so we haven't yet cancelled our flights to France in July (for the Tour de France). Our TA advised they're also only rescheduling to end Nov at this stage, so we can't just move the flights to next year, which is our current plan with this trip. Trying to avoid the $900pp cancellation fee, and then claim with TI, if possible.

We've also had a domestic trip booked to Melbourne to see Harry Potter next month. I received an email this morning that the June Harry Potter performances are being postponed (we've been assigned a date in December, there are options for what to do if the assigned date doesn't work). So, I guess I'll either cancel the flights or move them to the December date. That flight was booked under the last DSC promo, maybe I'll need the SCs next year ...

 

[Pushka]

Finnair are still only cancelling flights to end June, so we haven't yet cancelled our flights to France in July (for the Tour de France). Our TA advised they're also only rescheduling to end Nov at this stage, so we can't just move the flights to next year, which is our current plan with this trip. Trying to avoid the $900pp cancellation fee, and then claim with TI, if possible.

We've also had a domestic trip booked to Melbourne to see Harry Potter next month. I received an email this morning that the June Harry Potter performances are being postponed (we've been assigned a date in December, there are options for what to do if the assigned date doesn't work). So, I guess I'll either cancel the flights or move them to the December date. That flight was booked under the last DSC promo, maybe I'll need the SCs next year ...

Tour de France is much later now isn't it?

 

[BriarFlyer]

Tour de France is much later now isn't it?

In 2020 it's scheduled for a 29/8 start. I figure that isn't going to happen.

 

[Flashback]

Tour de France is much later now isn't it?

Pushed back 2 months to start August 29, but whether that actually happens or not....... seems unlikely given France's want to close their borders for longer than that.

 

[Flashback]

Unsurprisingly, I'm now starting to get cancellation notices for my flights in June (British Airways); so time to start dealing with all of those...... The flights were super cheap and they're now offering rebooking so long as any fare bucket (in your cabin) is available; so might do that rather than refund this time as there's no way I can see us getting those flights that cheap again. Previously you could only book into any fare bucket -3/+14 days of your original journey but that's now been expanded to 12 months.

 

[Katie]

Tour de France is much later now isn't it?

As others have said, it has currently been postponed slightly, but we're not confident of being able to leave or get back into Oz without more hassle than it would be worth. And the trip was for a friend's 50th, and he's decided to just push to next year as he and his wife figure this year is just too iffy.

 

[Curlycoat2]

I received an email from Qantas today saying they have extended their cancellations through to the end of July 2020. Does that mean that I should be able to ask now for a refund for a flight 8 June to LAX?

I don't want to go into manage my booking and select the wrong thing and end up with a credit if I can get a refund.

Thanks for all your help that you have been providing on this thread and others in the forum.

 

[blackcat20]

With the extension of cancellations through June/July, we were able to get our HNL-MEL JQ flight refunded. AA refunded our booking to HNL (flying HA). However our inter-island flights aren't cancelled so we got a credit, not a refund. Hilton booking also refunded.

 

[MollyJones]

After 2 months of promises and written assurances from Jetstar that we would get a refund they issued a credit voucher.
Apparently, because our flights (SGN-HUI) were Jetstar Pacific it’s only a refund. Funny, because I booked on the Jetstar website. (Yes, I know it redirects to the local currency)
It astounds me that they can give written confirmation - which I’ve sent them copies of, and then change their mind.
They tell me that they are confident they are meeting their legal Obligations. That may be so, but they sure as eggs aren’t meeting the moral or ethical ones. And to add insult to injury, the vouchers are only valid 6 months.

 

[Waypoint]

Sadly just cancelled OW RTW#4 QF redemption for Aug 1 when Qatar pulled DOH-HEL leg of a ten leg journey. Used QF callback which was as smooth as silk. Excellent Syd based agent who made some very experienced based observations on what he could do to try and redeem the trip then asking what we would like to do given many of the other legs were also likely to fall over if we were even allowed out of the country. No cancel penalties, points to be returned and apparently quite a delay on the taxes refund of 4-6 weeks.
So the strategy of waiting until flights are cancelled worked well, and the QF callback system was pain free. They even call you twice if you don't pick up the first attempt.

 

[Waypoint]

I received an email from Qantas today saying they have extended their cancellations through to the end of July 2020. Does that mean that I should be able to ask now for a refund for a flight 8 June to LAX?

I don't want to go into manage my booking and select the wrong thing and end up with a credit if I can get a refund.

Thanks for all your help that you have been providing on this thread and others in the forum.

Try their callback system. Worked a treat for me. The online options don't equate with what they say should happen.

 

[Curlycoat2]

Try their callback system. Worked a treat for me. The online options don't equate with what they say should happen.

Thank yo I will try that!

 

[jukebox333]

Bouquets to TID; I took out a travel insurance policy 15 hrs (!) before Covid was declared a non-coverable event, and after a reasonable delay due to volumes, have paid out my claim for accommodation in Tokyo, Osaka, and Hong Kong. Highly recommended for your next trip.

Brickbats to Cathay Pacific, whose website claimed I would be automatically refunded the full value of my flight if I cancelled, but subsequently told me I would not be eligible for a refund when I did, and six weeks on are just bouncing me around with emails full of motherhood statements and no details of what is really happening.

And after obfuscating for 40 days, Cathay finally told me their Finance Department had processed a refund 7 days after I cancelled... to my cancelled credit card. And that is was now in my court.

A phone call to Westpac, who redirected me to call Amex, got my to a very friendly young lady, who helpfully advised Why Yes! You do have money credited to your account that no longer exists! (I wonder how long they would have held it, had I not called?). A quick chat to establish my bona fides, and she informed me it would be redirected in 7-10 days. Which it was. And I am now as reimbursed as I will be.

So all's well that ends well... as to when the trip is rescheduled? Who knows (other than "not 2020" - sadly my work commitments mean I can't get away then)

Stay safe, everyone.

 

[OATEK]

And after obfuscating for 40 days, Cathay finally told me their Finance Department had processed a refund 7 days after I cancelled... to my cancelled credit card. And that is was now in my court.

A phone call to Westpac, who redirected me to call Amex, got my to a very friendly young lady, who helpfully advised Why Yes! You do have money credited to your account that no longer exists! (I wonder how long they would have held it, had I not called?). A quick chat to establish my bona fides, and she informed me it would be redirected in 7-10 days. Which it was. And I am now as reimbursed as I will be.

So all's well that ends well... as to when the trip is rescheduled? Who knows (other than "not 2020" - sadly my work commitments mean I can't get away then)

Stay safe, everyone.

So CX did the right thing, they just didn't know that they had!

 

[Pushka]

Well, clearly our July cruise out of Rome is not going to happen, on so many levels, but Celebrity won't cancel just yet. But yesterday they announced that current bookings could be transferred to the same cruise, within 4 weeks of the original date, same number or less, nights on the same class of ship. With all the perks and at the same price. And we did get a good deal for this years cruise. So, assuming there will be a vaccine, we have rebooked the same cruise for next year. Of course the deal is off if there is no vaccine but we don't have to make any decisions now until May next year.

 

[Flashback]

Starting to receive the inevitable cancellations for my trips in July now. Given we got a steal of a deal with Qatar on these flights, I'm going to try and use their free date change policy to move the trip to April next year. Fingers crossed that Vietnam opens up by then...... could be a silver lining, as the weather in April is much nicer than July! Fortunately this one was booked just before COVID-19 happened, so I hadn't booked any other components other than 1 nights accommodation in Stockholm prior to our 9am departure on QR so an easy trip to deal with at least.

 

[Mtchrs]

Well, I've just had a very good news story in relation to a whY flight booking I had with Ukrainian International Airlines (yep, the one that had a plane shot down by trigger-happy Iranians).

It was a c. $270 fare for a 3h flight from Kiev to Baku in May, booked direct with UIA. The ticket documentation stated that it was refundable (even though it was the cheapest available when I booked back in December).

I got into MMB on their website, but it was unclear how to initiate a cancel for refund, so I thought the easiest thing to do was cancel for a credit, which was a very clear option. It seemed too much of a hassle to start emailing UIA for such a small amount. So I did that.

Well, lo and behold a few days later I get an email from a customer service agent informing me:

Dear John,

Thank you for contacting UIA.

Flight in your ticket was not canceled. Refund to the credit card that had been used for the ticket purchase is possible according to the fare rules. The amount for refund is 4036 UAH.

Have a nice day.

After getting off the floor, I reply basically 'Thank you'.

Refund appeared in my CC account within a few days.

How is that for service!

It was pre-covid-19 but I’ve also had a good experience with UIA and refunds. Cancelled via email and appeared on my card a couple days later.

 

[Mtchrs]

I have flights to South Korea in June with China Airlines and waiting for these to be cancelled.
Anyone had experience with the CI call centre and refunds?

 

[Monya Meow Meow]

I have flights to South Korea in June with China Airlines and waiting for these to be cancelled.
Anyone had experience with the CI call centre and refunds?

Yep I had the same flights to S.Korea for April and cancelled them early March.
One of the more pleasant and straightforward airlines to deal with, all it took was one phone call and everything was refunded back to me within a week.