MASTER Cancel Travel b/c of COVID-19 Questions Thread

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:If traveling by air domestically and/or to countries not on the hotspot list is dangerous (and, thefore, selfish) why doesn't our government step up and say so? Dr. Fauci, who seems to be the most honest, straightforward government official in this fiasco, has warned older Americans and those with underlying medical conditions to limit travel and stay away from crowded venues. Therefore, those of us not in those categories assume that it's perfectly ok for us to travel.

Probably intense pressure from the airlines/tourism lobby. They have to keep something going. Good for shareholders and bad for country.

This. I was shocked the CDC flat out told people not to cruise. Yet the cruises are still going!

And many ppl are not cancelling.

Because the cruise lines are only offering future travel credit, which many people cannot use.

It?s prob just adjusting POV. Cancelling and losing money vs good investment to keep family safe.

We aren?t planning to go on the cruise but are waiting until the very last second to cancel hoping something happens and the cruise line has to cancel our cruise. The we get our money back. I?ll rebook if I have to but don?t want to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do you think the National Parks out west will be like? Yellowstone? Grand Canyon? Yosemite? Glacier?

As of right now, we're still planning to go to Yosemite and San Fran in early April with two elementary school-aged kids. I think the parks will be okay because it's pretty easy to distance yourselves there, with the exception of meals. Even then, you can do a decent job of minimizing the risk.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Before you fly anywhere make sure you'd be happy staying there at least 2 weeks. Dunno who pays for the hotel. https://www.fox10tv.com/news/coronavirus/church-group-from-gulf-coast-quarantined-in-hotel-near-bethlehem/article_4efcec20-5fbb-11ea-affa-a35bc1a2243c.html

I had read about coronavirus but became more aware when FCPS cancelled the Longfellow Chinese exhange yet the USA allowed them to enter and stay and roam about at random.

That church group is not in Israel and just wants to get back to the USA. "we all want to be home,? Bell said. ?We want them to fly us to the United States as quickly as possible. That?s what we want and that?s what we?ve asked for and that?s what we?re hoping for, but we?ve just got to wait it out. The Israeli authorities have a lot to do with that. The Israelis have shut down their borders right now which means they?re not letting anyone in. Well, for us to get to an airport, we?ve got to cross Israeli borders, so that?s part of the deal too. It?s a complicated situation.?

They went overseas on March 1 for their trip of a lifetime. https://weartv.com/news/local/alabama-church-members-held-for-quarantine-in-bethlehem-hotel
I suppose the Maryland, Fairfax, and Houston Nile River cruisers were also on special junkets. Who pays for the extra cruise time in quarantine? The hotels and extraction [if done by govt] of these individuals who travel by choice?

I wonder how many Nile River cruisers are ambling around...perhaps the govt should stick all in quarantine.

My nephew is with his church group overseas this week. On one hand I'd say I can't believe that both the church went ahead with it AND that my SIL let him go, but then I realized that the viewpoint on DCUM is pretty skewed and that most folks really are going ahead with travel.

Which country? I wouldn't be too concerned as long as it wasn't a hotspot. Still planning to go to Mexico for our spring break.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Family trip to LA, San Diego, and Santa Barbara over spring break. Flying. All pretty young (DH is oldest at 45) - family trip. DS was gonna check out the UCs but I would imagine they may cancel tours. We were considering Universal but that seems like a bad idea. Should we still go? Airfare isn?t refundable but hotel is

Yes, cancel. I just cancelled during the MCPS spring break to some of those same cities. No one should be on planes or in places with large crowds. We need more information to prevent spreading this virus. You and your family may not get sick, of if you do, mildly so, but carriers are spreading this and putting vulnerable groups at risk serious illness including death. Until we have more conclusive imformation, help confine this. 9 cases in DC and that?s only detected. We just don?t have a handle on this except we sgould be washing our hands more thoroughly.

This response is really conservative. OP, if you're risk tolerance is moderate or higher, don't cancel yet. Wait and see how this develops as the date gets closer.

[Anonymous]

We are scheduled to fly to the west coast in April to visit someone who is in a high-risk group. We realistically think this might be the last time we ever see this person. Are there any precautions we can take to still make sure we can have this final visit? If we all wear the surgical masks to avoid transmitting (just in case we've picked it up and are contagious before symptomatic), would that work? Any other suggestions?

[Anonymous]

I’m curious. Do those people still planning to travel overseas have travel insurance which covers medical costs should they get sick? I understand most insurance excludes epidemics. Also, if you are travelling to a country with a primarily state-run medical system, most of the more sophisticated medical facilities which might be needed for critical care, are in the public system and your private insurance wouldn’t prioritise your above a public patient.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you think the National Parks out west will be like? Yellowstone? Grand Canyon? Yosemite? Glacier?

As of right now, we're still planning to go to Yosemite and San Fran in early April with two elementary school-aged kids. I think the parks will be okay because it's pretty easy to distance yourselves there, with the exception of meals. Even then, you can do a decent job of minimizing the risk.

Our planned trip also includes Yosemite, and I think the national parks will be fine. What gives me pause is the airport/plane ride. We won't decide until right before the trip because our plane tickets are non-refundable anyway (and lodging is refundable until a few days before). I'm hoping that in the next 2-3 weeks, we get a better idea of the situation and whether flying, even domestically, actually should be avoided or not. One parent and one kid in our family do have asthma, which we will also need to consider.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m supposed to fly Dca to Milwaukee at the end of the month. 24 hour trip, no medical issues on my end.

Flew to Milwaukee yesterday. Completely full flight. Only saw maybe 5 people in the airport wearing masks. Milwaukee is not in a panic yet. Of course things could change.

[Anonymous]

NYC for a weekend? Have tickets to a concert, planning on taking the bus or the train up. Will likely avoid the subway. Would you cancel?

[Anonymous]

Yes I would cancel the NYC trip.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn’t cancel NY but I would consider driving up and avoiding the theater

[Anonymous]

+1 cancel NYC

[Anonymous]

My mom just had a positive experience canceling a flight for my 91 y/o grandmother on SWA. FYI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NYC for a weekend? Have tickets to a concert, planning on taking the bus or the train up. Will likely avoid the subway. Would you cancel?

I would cancel an NYC weekend. It's so easy to reschedule that one.

[Anonymous]

We live in NYC and are going to the theater twice this week. We also have a trip to Latin America at the beginning of April that we are taking, at least for now. The flights are not refundable/changable and we wouldn't get much back even with trip insurance on the other activities & hotels.

At this point I expect we will still go. We are 2 healthy parents, late thirties, and 3 kids ages 5-10. We will likely stay away from the one local grandparent for the foreseeable future, since kids are still in school and parents are commuting to work daily.