AIBU to ask whether you have cancelled or postponed travel/holiday due to Coronavirus

[croon979]

Up until this weekend I was relatively relaxed about Coronavirus. However, I was due to go to Dublin with work this week for a conference and my organization (global business) has temporarily banned attendance at conferences and all non- essential business travel due to Coronavirus.

It has caused me to read up a bit more about it and I am feeling a bit more anxious about it all. I am a chronic asthmatic very prone to chest infections which usually result in one hospital visit a year.

I am meant to be going to Lanzarote with my family including mum, brother, my husband and children for holiday in early April, a little over a month away. I see there is now a confirmed case in Tenerife!

I mentioned to my family that we may need to keep an eye on it and could need to cancel postpone if things escalate. Most thought this was an overreaction. Maybe it is. I wasn’t saying we definitely should but just wanted to put on their radar that we may need to.

Has anyone else postponed travel or holiday plans in light of this virus?

This has some testing numbers

www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/covid-19-testing/

Obviously quite fast moving atm and UK is about to increase testing.

Yes, for travel lots of places are closed. China shut all tourist attractions weeks ago (although am sure nobody is planing a trip there) but HK shut Disney and ocean park. Not sure if they have reopened.

twitter.com/DHSCgovuk/status/1233030161395671040 is latest UK

Just FYI for anyone going to Japan soon, I have friends living there and it’s an absolute ghost town. From next week lots of businesses are closing and travelling on mass transit has been discouraged.

Regarding hot weather, an expert on the radio said yesterday that they don't believe warmer weather will halt the spread. However, he did say that it if we could slow the spread until the nearer the summer in the UK the NHS would be better placed to deal with an influx of unwell people.

DS is booked on a school ski trip in early April to Austria. Via coach not plane. I feel uneasy about him being away and am waiting to see what school say and how things progress. I feel for the teachers as they may not want to go, but feel pressurised as I'm assuming there will be no refunds if they cancel due to teachers backing out, rather than on government advice.

Cancelled a week in the canaries. Was supposed travelling with an elderly relative and a baby.

We were planning to book two summer holiday abroad this weekend. (waiting on OH's consultant appointment yesterday to check his cancer doesn't need more treatment yet - thankfully he's got a reprieve for another few months!). We had everything ready - flights ready to book, accommodation ready to book - we'd done all the homework and checking pricing/availability etc. We've decided not to risk it. Manchester airport is a hell-hole at the best of times, so the risks of contracting the virus due to the crowded airport, flight, etc has put us right off. We're now going to hold back and wait to see what happens.

We are meant to be going to Abu Dhabi on 31 March. We lose £6.5k is we cancel. Not planning to cancel at the moment but I am not keen on going. Don’t want to be stuck in a hotel room for weeks. DS2 got chicken pox in Portugal when he was 2 and is was a nightmare being stuck in the same room for 5 days - and at least DH and I could take it in turns to go for a walk round the hotel grounds.

I am in Italy right now having a wonderful time and I am not afraid.

Peoplepleaser1 mine is too in the beginning of April to Austria also by coach .I am not a worrier by nature but i am really torn because what is either there or here locks down while they are away .Really torn they are desperate to go nothing off the school about which way it may go .

if not is .

@Hearthside I feel the same. It's a lock down that really worries me. Plus the fact that the ratio of adults to kids would make it so hard for the adults to care for them.

We've had zero communication from the school about this too. It's quite frustrating but I guess understandable as they probably are in a complete as to what to do and thins could change so much in a month.

I'll PM you if I hear anything if that's ok?

Sorry, please excuse typos but I'm sure you get my drift!

Peoplepleaser1 yes that is absolutely fine to pm me if you do .It is knowing what situation will be in a month .My DC will be gutted if they can't go even though they would understand why .

It is hard if schools shut then what do the parents who need to work do. I think the government are weighing all these things up.

I'm booked for Australia in early April 😬

Us too Student, via Singapore. We shall go if the plane does - DS moved to Sydney last year, and want to see him! We are supposed to be staying in Singapore for 5 days early May on our way home, but DH wants to change to a direct flight.

The big multinational company I work for has cancelled all international travel so I've had to cancel trips to Singapore, Australia and Russia.

I'm due to go on honeymoon to Mexico in April and will be going if the plane will take me!

We'd booked the ferry from the UK to Spain for September and would be driving and staying all over. You get a big discount for paying the full balance when you book, but don't get anything back if you cancel. As it stands, we've got until the end of July to cancel and just lose £200.

By that point we'll have a 3 year old and a 3 month old in toe, fingers crossed, all being well. We're playing it by ear. Not booking any hotels that need a deposit and will decide end of July.

I was reading yesterday no one under the age of 9 years has died, but even so. Don't really fancy taking any risks with any of us and I can't imagine it being very much fun getting stuck in one of the hotels for 2 weeks on lockdown.

If you have existing health conditions, personally I wouldn't take any chances going to places with an outbreak or attending big events with thousands of people flying in, but I am a bit of an old lady about these things.

@HasaDigaEebowai it's still winter in Iran. Yes it's a hot country, but at the moment it's not particularly, average temps in Feb are 0-11c with some warmer outliers

I cannot believe so many people are still going on holiday abroad or in the UK. Haven't you watched the news? It's people travelling about that's spreading it.
My DH has been to the shops twice today and we are stocked up with tinned food, rice, pasta, long life milk, toilet rolls, flour, yeast. I feel that's a much better use of the money. People need to start thinking about how you would cope being in self isolation for at least 14 days.
Best wishes everyone.

So what are the chances of the FCO saying no travel then? Despite the significant escalation since I started this thread, I think slim to none....

@CassandraKnew it surely can’t be that surprising that most people aren’t willing to lose thousands of pounds on a much-anticipated holiday? If the FCO hasn’t advised against travel then travel insurance won’t cover people deciding not to go. Most people can’t afford to lose thousands and book again another time.

I think it's low too, you would think South Korea should have one by now but no it's just 2 areas in it presumably so travel insurance doesn't need to pay out.

US just shifted yesterday to reconsider travel to Italy as a whole, which looks like it's similar to our avoid all but essential travel category.

Will be interesting to see what announcements next week are. The Chief Medical Officer has said they are considering all options including closing all UK schools if it escalates so anything is possible this year. Japan has just closed all it's schools to Easter I think - it has 241 cases currently and given recent increases in Italy and now France is at 100 we may be there quite soon. I've just basically written off our travel money though hopefully things will improve.

I know - it there is no South Korea ban, I think a ban against travel to canaries is unlikely!