COVID-19 travel contingency plan for Canadian

[mshanson3121]

Unfortunately our area (Ottawa) has 1 case now (travel from Austria). Still not a community transmission.

According to the NB Medical CEO, so far all Canadian cases are the direct result of travel, or transmission between close contacts. *So far* we have no community transmission. Praying it stays that way, though sure it won't.

 

[damo]

According to the NB Medical CEO, so far all Canadian cases are the direct result of travel, or transmission between close contacts. *So far* we have no community transmission. Praying it stays that way, though sure it won't.

I'd feel more confident about that if they were doing surveillance testing.

 

[jcourtney]

It looks like both WestJet and Air Canada are waiving their change/cancellation fees for flights until the end of April

 

[pf226]

If we end up having to cancel our end of April trip, we'll probably go in October maybe. Luckily we end up having a room only reservation, plus one CDN Resident ticket booked through Disney, and one CDN resident ticket with flex dates from Air Miles. And we're flying with WestJet which means we can cancel 24 hours up until departure with no penalty.

So, while it sucks, we'll wait until the week of to decide. We're still 6 weeks away, so lots can happen (good or bad) in that time frame. Unless Canada decides to say avoid travel to the US entirely, we'll think about going.

 

[Silvermist999]

It looks like both WestJet and Air Canada are waiving their change/cancellation fees for flights until the end of April

Waiting to cancel our WJ flights to almost the last minute paid off for us, even though we cancelled everything else a few weeks ago.

For anyone who cancelled recently with WJ and paid the fees before this announcement, I was told you can also get those fees refunded. Be prepared to be on hold for a while, I got through after almost 2 hours.

 

[ottawamom]

My return flight (I booked 1 way flights) isn't until May 2 so I have to wait to see if this will be extended before I cancel flights.

 

[Jrb1979]

With all that has gone on, my family has decided against flying anywhere. We sticking to places within driving distance. Our next trip isn't til May and we have decided to go to Cedar Point instead. We find we have just as much fun there as Disney and costs half the price.

 

[MoreTravels]

We are in WDW now. Here is our plan. We will continue to enjoy the parks until they shut them down. If and when they do, we will go home early with the new airlines free rebooking policies.

 

[ILovePixieDust]

BC's provincial health officer has now said to avoid all non essential travel outside of Canada. All public employess will need to self quarantine for 14 days and all others should do the same.

 

[ottawamom]

DisneyWorld is closed March 15th to the end of the month.

Disney World closed

CNN report

 

[mshanson3121]

We are in WDW now. Here is our plan. We will continue to enjoy the parks until they shut them down. If and when they do, we will go home early with the new airlines free rebooking policies.

So you're leaving Sunday were you supposed to be there past then?

 

[ILovePixieDust]

DisneyWorld is closed March 15th to the end of the month.

Disney World closed

CNN report

It's happened!!!

 

[Jrb1979]

How anyone is surprised is beyond me. Once they announced the closing of Disneyland it was only a matter of time. With our dollar dropping, I can see Disney being out of a lot Canadian's budgets now. For me and my family, we will stick to local parks like Wonderland. A lot more affordable and they have some good coasters.

 

[MoreTravels]

We are in WDW now. Here is our plan. We will continue to enjoy the parks until they shut them down. If and when they do, we will go home early with the new airlines free rebooking policies.

So it happens...

Ok, I am providing you with live on-the-field update.

For those who are DVC members, so far the cast members have been very accommodating. However, the lines will be busy. I got busy signal for 30 minutes and put on hold for another 60 minutes. The resort concierge can make cancellation but does not have authority to move points. When you call for DVC member service, you need to be prepared to wait for 2 hours so make sure your cell phone is charged.

For the airlines, it's similar... you will need to redial and redial and redial until the busy signal is done, then you hold for another 2 hours to speak to an agent. There is no "request a call back" feature. If you use the RBC Westjet companion voucher, you may run into problems because they do make reference to the original payment method even for "free rebooking". So if you use a companion voucher or reward ticket, your ticket may be considered invalid / expired and you may need to repurchase your companion ticket. It took me over 2 hours to sort that out... So essentially, if you want to leave early, you will need to spend about 4-5 plus hours on the phone.

Good luck to everyone.

 

[mshanson3121]

How anyone is surprised is beyond me. Once they announced the closing of Disneyland it was only a matter of time. With our dollar dropping, I can see Disney being out of a lot Canadian's budgets now. For me and my family, we will stick to local parks like Wonderland. A lot more affordable and they have some good coasters.

Yes down another cent yesterday and still falling. Looking to be down to $.71 today - a drop of $.05 in a short time.

 

[migel]

We're driving down for March Break in two days.
As of three hours ago, Donald Trump just banned all incoming flights from Europe to the U.S. (UK excepted) as of Friday, midnight.
Should be an interesting week at Disney.
And in just a few hours, Southwest opens up their mid-Aug to whenever fairs, so I get to book flights for our August visit.
This just keeps getting better....

Well, we were set to head out for the drive at 2 am, but reluctantly, we've decided to cancel. The closing of the Parks was not a huge deal as we have annual passes and go fairly often. It's more the uncertainty of the past couple of days. We'd be content to just hang at the condo for a week, but with some Provinces demanding mandatory 14 day quarantines for anyone returning from abroad...and now the States, I didn't want to take the risk. I'd be fine (retired) and our schools in Ontario are shut after today until April 5, but my wife has work to come back to. Just too much has happened in a span of 3 days. The only one happy about this situation (and doesn't even realize it), is our cat, Gizmo. No kennel for you.
Wishing everyone good luck!

 

[bankr63]

Leaving in 30 minutes. Expecting a very quiet vacation with everything shutting down. That's okay, we'll just blob by the pool. The renters who took our Vistana Resort week just cancelled this morning, so I guess we have a plan B if HHI is any kind of problem. Still no reported cases in Beaufort County SC though.

Will probably report back on the general situation when we get down south. Will be an interesting trip for sure.

 

[22Tink]

It looks like both WestJet and Air Canada are waiving their change/cancellation fees for flights until the end of April

I'm so happy about this. My DD was supposed to have a hockey tournament in Vancouver but all minor hockey events have now been cancelled. I thought for sure we'd be stuck because we booked the basic fare though AC. They didn't refund us but we were able to put the entire amount into a travel bank. So thankful!!

 

[Jrb1979]

I am surprised any one is still planning on leaving the country especially with almost all provinces telling people not to travel outside of the country. To each their own but with possibility of the border being closed its not the best time to be traveling

 

[Donald - my hero]

The Canadian government JUST released an announcement regarding travelling

Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, said in a press conference on Friday that there are now 157 cases of the virus in Canada and that the time has come for Canadians as well as event organizers to cancel their plans and limit their social interactions.
“My advice is to postpone or cancel all non-essential travel outside of Canada. This means reconsidering your vacations,” Tam said. “By making the choice to stay at home and not travel outside of Canada, you are protecting yourself, your family and doing your part to slow the spread of the virus.”