ABD China changes?

[dolewhipdreams]

FWIW, Kevin mentioned on the podcast this week that ABD has been telling him the same thing that @Sakura1017 heard, so there is no "insider" information available to TAs or anything.

 

[neurosx1983]

On a somewhat related note, I wonder if ABD China prices will drop when the new 2021 itineraries come out , or if existing dates will be discounted because I’m sure people are probably cancelling like wildfire

 

[1brooklynfamily]

Here are my concerns (we are scheduled for the March Vietnam/Laos/Cambodia trip)

1) We can't at all trust the infected numbers from these countries. We are talking about communist dictatorships that don't have freedom of the press. Laos still says they have no cases, but wealthy people who live there clearly aren't buying it -- all the private schools have closed. The ruling party there has absolute control over the media, and foreign media that operates there is subject to total censorship. Only 1 Chinese news agency and 1 Vietnamese agency is even there. To give you some perspective about Laos, there was a deadly dam collapse there a few years ago and coverage was forbidden. Journalists who tried to draw attention to the government failures went 'missing.' We just can't trust the Laos government will tell the truth about this virus because it will dramatically hurt tourism. Heck, I'm not sure Laos has proper testing facilities there to know if they have/don't have the disease. Here in the US we still only have one lab, the CDC, though they are trying to get the kits out to states. Cambodia has admitted to 1 case but the latest news is that they are still not screening airline passengers or stopping flights (again, don't want to lose the tourism dollars). Vietnam has several cases already and slightly better medical facilities, but will be overwhelmed easily if the virus spreads like in China.

2) Say we go there and my child gets a fever. I will immediately want to get back to the US, 2nd choice Singapore. Will we even be able to get there? Each country is handing quarantine differently and the situation changes day by day. I don't think they let you on a plane if you are symptomatic. Our trip w/ABD is two weeks long. Long enough to catch it and show symptoms. Will the US let us back in? Would our flights be cancelled if we are in an area with a sudden spike? What 1st world country would take us for treatment? Would we then be quarantined for weeks in an airplane hanger in Ontario, CA? Whether it's rational or not, the global hysteria is real and I don't want to be stuck in a country with poor medical services. The spread of this virus also means that we might have trouble getting medical help if we catch something very common but equally dangerous like food poisoning.

 

[Aelin1977]

Air Canada just announced yesterday that they are suspending all flights to China until the end of February. They have 33 flights a week.

 

[sayhello]

So after calling regarding China, it seems like they are just going to monitor it. They don't want to cancel tours right away. They are looking at what CDC recommends. They said you do have the option of switching to a different tour. Yet, in terms of getting a full refund it didn't seem possible at the moment unless your tour gets fully canceled due to lack of numbers. I wanted to point out about other tours that were coming up, but she knew mine wasn't until September so she kept playing the let's play it by ear routine.

Well, I kind of understand about September. A *LOT* can change in 8 months. There's no way they're going to cancel a trip that is 8 months out. Whether they should let people cancel or not is a different issue, but I can understand not cancelling for September.

Sayhello

 

[DisneyDarling216]

Here are my concerns (we are scheduled for the March Vietnam/Laos/Cambodia trip)

1) We can't at all trust the infected numbers from these countries. We are talking about communist dictatorships that don't have freedom of the press. Laos still says they have no cases, but wealthy people who live there clearly aren't buying it -- all the private schools have closed. The ruling party there has absolute control over the media, and foreign media that operates there is subject to total censorship. Only 1 Chinese news agency and 1 Vietnamese agency is even there. To give you some perspective about Laos, there was a deadly dam collapse there a few years ago and coverage was forbidden. Journalists who tried to draw attention to the government failures went 'missing.' We just can't trust the Laos government will tell the truth about this virus because it will dramatically hurt tourism. Heck, I'm not sure Laos has proper testing facilities there to know if they have/don't have the disease. Here in the US we still only have one lab, the CDC, though they are trying to get the kits out to states. Cambodia has admitted to 1 case but the latest news is that they are still not screening airline passengers or stopping flights (again, don't want to lose the tourism dollars). Vietnam has several cases already and slightly better medical facilities, but will be overwhelmed easily if the virus spreads like in China.

2) Say we go there and my child gets a fever. I will immediately want to get back to the US, 2nd choice Singapore. Will we even be able to get there? Each country is handing quarantine differently and the situation changes day by day. I don't think they let you on a plane if you are symptomatic. Our trip w/ABD is two weeks long. Long enough to catch it and show symptoms. Will the US let us back in? Would our flights be cancelled if we are in an area with a sudden spike? What 1st world country would take us for treatment? Would we then be quarantined for weeks in an airplane hanger in Ontario, CA? Whether it's rational or not, the global hysteria is real and I don't want to be stuck in a country with poor medical services. The spread of this virus also means that we might have trouble getting medical help if we catch something very common but equally dangerous like food poisoning.

My family is in the exact same boat, we were originally schedule for Japan, but had to move our deposit to China, and then this broke out. We are going to wait until the last minute the cancel, in a way hoping that the Wold Health Organization today issues a travel ban for the region and Disney cancels trip through June or July, but my family has decided that it is not worth the risk of getting sick and being stuck somewhere we cannot get any medical help. We would rather lose the $5K we are in (travel insurance included) than lost $40+K after flights and visa's are purchased. We are probably going to file a claim under our insurance to see if they will cover the deposit money we will lose, as someone in our party has a heart condition and will get a doctor's note saying they are not cleared to travel to China with the virus breakout. We will just book a new reservation on another adventure somewhere in Europe would be my guess, it just isn't worth the risk.

On top of it all, we have a close friend who travels frequently to the region and followed the SARS breakout in 2008, the closest thing we can compare it to at this point, she said that it took China far longer than the western world realized to get everything under control and back to normal. This has already effected more people than SARS so while they have tried and contained it, do we really know how well it is contained? People left the region to go all over the world before we really knew what we were dealing with, there are still WAY to many unanswered questions. Hong Kong is a long way from the "base infection" and everything is shut down there, same with most other major areas of China. I feel that the areas effected have far higher infection numbers than are being reported, and the risk is just too great.

 

[Theta]

We are scheduled for Japan in June. Our final payment coming up soon. We, too, are concerned about making that final payment.

If it were China, I would definitely be cancelling.

 

[sayhello]

My family is in the exact same boat, we were originally schedule for Japan, but had to move our deposit to China, and then this broke out. We are going to wait until the last minute the cancel, in a way hoping that the Wold Health Organization today issues a travel ban for the region and Disney cancels trip through June or July, but my family has decided that it is not worth the risk of getting sick and being stuck somewhere we cannot get any medical help. We would rather lose the $5K we are in (travel insurance included) than lost $40+K after flights and visa's are purchased. We are probably going to file a claim under our insurance to see if they will cover the deposit money we will lose, as someone in our party has a heart condition and will get a doctor's note saying they are not cleared to travel to China with the virus breakout. We will just book a new reservation on another adventure somewhere in Europe would be my guess, it just isn't worth the risk.

On top of it all, we have a close friend who travels frequently to the region and followed the SARS breakout in 2008, the closest thing we can compare it to at this point, she said that it took China far longer than the western world realized to get everything under control and back to normal. This has already effected more people than SARS so while they have tried and contained it, do we really know how well it is contained? People left the region to go all over the world before we really knew what we were dealing with, there are still WAY to many unanswered questions. Hong Kong is a long way from the "base infection" and everything is shut down there, same with most other major areas of China. I feel that the areas effected have far higher infection numbers than are being reported, and the risk is just too great.

This all totally makes sense.

I would really talk to ABD and see if there's any way they'd let you move your deposit one more time. I know their policy is to only allow it once, but I would think having you move your deposit is better than having you cancel.

Sayhello

 

[dolewhipdreams]

The WHO officially declared the virus a global health emergency, but I think this statement is important:

"He urged the public to remain calm, saying the WHO wasn’t recommending “measures that unnecessarily interfere with international trade or travel.” He said China was doing everything it could to contain the outbreak. “This is the time for facts, not fear. This is the time for science, not rumors. This is the time for solidarity, not stigma,” he said. "

Here's the link that I read: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/30/who-declares-china-coronavirus-a-global-health-emergency.html

 

[1brooklynfamily]

Since people who catch this have such a range of symptoms from just feeling slightly ill to full blown respiratory failure, I think this virus is going to be passed around a long time, maybe from now on, just like the common cold/flu. But by June/July doctors will surely be able to test for it quickly, and better predict who is most vulnerable to the worst complications. Then we'll add it to the ever-growing list of things we worry about all the time!

 

[Calfan]

We fly to Japan June 15 for our trip with Thomson. Our pay in full date is in March. I will of course continue to monitor things, but at this point, I fully intend to make our balance payment and take the trip.

 

[lovetotravel]

We fly to Japan June 15 for our trip with Thomson. Our pay in full date is in March. I will of course continue to monitor things, but at this point, I fully intend to make our balance payment and take the trip.

Please leave a report for your Thomson Japan trip! We are traveling to ABD SE Asia this summer and don't intend to cancel our trip unless cancelled by ABD.

 

[Calfan]

Please leave a report for your Thomson Japan trip! We are traveling to ABD SE Asia this summer and don't intend to cancel our trip unless cancelled by ABD.

Will do on the report!

 

[carpenta]

American Airline’s pilots union sue to force airline to stop flying to China.

 

[sayhello]

The New York Times just reported that the State Department has issued a “do not travel” to China advisory. "The department set the new advisory at Level 4, or Red, its highest caution, which is reserved for the most dangerous situations. "

Sayhello

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

The New York Times just reported that the State Department has issued a “do not travel” to China advisory. "The department set the new advisory at Level 4, or Red, its highest caution, which is reserved for the most dangerous situations. "

Sayhello

I was just coming on here to post the same thing! I still can't believe they've been dithering like this especially with the early trips. From what I heard from my family in the medical community, this is not going to go away quickly.

 

[lovetotravel]

NEW YORK (AP) — Delta Air Lines and American Airlines are suspending all flights between the U.S. and China as the coronavirus outbreak spreads. American Airlines says it is suspending flights beginning Friday through March 27. Delta says its suspension will not take effect until Feb. 6 to ensure that customers looking to exit China can do so. Delta’s suspension will last until April 30.

 

[lovetotravel]

Has anyone been notified of cancellations yet?
What options were given if you were cancelled by ABD?
What if you had a trip not in China but have flights to an ABD trip that stopped in China and Delta and American cancelled those flights, would ABD allow you to cancel or just make you change your flights to not go through China?

 

[dolewhipdreams]

Delta’s suspension will last until April 30.

It's hard to imagine that ABD won't cancel those April itineraries, now that there's a level 4 advisory and travelers might not even be able to get a flight into China.

 

[carpenta]

Non entry for all those who have traveled to China in the USA. Those who have been evacuated are now in quarantine. What is Disney waiting for?