Rethinking going to Japan... just talking out loud... Thoughts?

[LovesTimone]

So as most of you know DH and I are going in November of this year. We have booked air portion of our trip...I have put off booking hotels with all this Corona Virus mess going on...

Still full on planning, and making plans... full steam ahead...

We really really want to go to Japan this is on our bucket list...

Now with that said...

Last night DH said I'm not ready to change up our plans by any means... We do need to keep watch on it, and figure out when or if we should change plans... Then he said where would you want to go if Japan is not possible? we both looked at each other said "Paris" we love love Paris... again this might not be a option so just talking out loud...

I have been reading several different articles on virus and several of them states once it starts getting warmer, and really heating up it will kill the virus off?... something about the heat kills the airborne partials, which stops the spread of the virus...I read late at night in bed, so I might have miss understood what they were talking about...
Anyone seen or read anything or have thoughts on this?

We have some friends that are going to the Olympic's at the end of July... and she said that they are planning on making the decision in April whether or not to go...

Thoughts?

 

[Chisoxcollector]

It kills me seeing everybody's trips be put in jeopardy. I know the importance of a vacation pales in comparison to the threat of serious illness. But for most people, myself included, a trip to Japan is a huge, bucket list, possibly once in a lifetime experience.

We were in Japan from Feb 3 to Feb 16. We talked about canceling, but decided that if everything was going to be open, we would go. For all we knew, Japan would be off limits for a long time if things took a turn for the worst. And when it "opened" up again as a possibility, maybe we wouldn't be able to go for whatever reason.

If my trip were coming up in the next few weeks, I too would be leaning towards canceling. Especially now that schools are closing.

If my trip was several months out, I'd stay in a holding pattern as long as possible. I'd avoid booking anything non refundable for as long as possible.

I wish all of you that are in this situation the best, and hope that, one way or another, you end up with an awesome trip to Japan.

 

[Sarahboo]

Man, this is heart breaking. I agree with Chris. It was a bucket list trip for me, and I'd hold off as long as possible and see how it plays out.

I was under the impression that they didn't have enough information about the virus to know how it would be impacted by heat - but admittedly I have been far more consumed with other world happenings and haven't kept up as much as I would have if I was headed to Japan soon.

My fear is that if it's bad enough to cancel a trip to Japan in November, I'm not sure Paris will be any better given the recent spreads in Europe. It seems like it's more a question of whether it's safe to travel to a densely populated area with large groupings of tourists and less where would be the right place to go.

If it were me? I'd keep planning on Japan and watch the news/data coming from the WHO, you still have a few months to make a decision and a backup plan is a great idea, but I would personally wait to make a decision.

 

[Linkura]

Yeah, if it’s still bad in Japan in November, decent chance France will also be bad.

 

[heybets30]

As we found out, we're planning around the same dates as you, LovesTimone. We've got 2 kids, son will be 11 and daughter 13. We're not planning on changing a thing. Luckily, I had convinced hubby to do this for our 15th anniversary & my 5-0 in November, not this spring as he thought we should try. We're 8 months out. We used points for ALL hotel nights already (Kyoto was getting pretty booked - guess because of fall colors), and we used mileage for 3 free tix, so we don't really have an opportunity to "cancel" or change, as trip insurance doesn't cover mileage/rewards items.

That said, our trip is 8 months out. I would never take my kids into a situation should it totally escalate and become a worldwide pandemic and stick around through the fall. However, what a wonderful world we live in where so many countries have already taken precautions to try to get this stopped - and especially in time for the Olympics.

This is our once-in-a-lifetime trip, as I mentioned, we used every single reward we could to make this happen so we have more $$ there to experience all the good stuff. We're going unless things have hit the toilet come October 1 ... that's sort of our "let's check on how things are on Oct 1 that might affect our trip Nov 4". And so I keep excitedly planning!

 

[gelatoni fan]

SARS was detected in February, broke out in March and started dying off in May. Things began to settle down in July but it took a couple years for things to fully recover. People are mostly speculating that warmer weather will stop this virus but it's already spread a whole lot more than SARS ever did so there's no guarantee.

 

[hotblooded]

I have a trip to Japan planned for April 1-17. With every passing day, cancelation seems more likely. Our hotels are booked refundable but I’m still sad at the prospect.

 

[Magnum_PI]

I don’t blame you for pondering alternatives (I don’t plan on changing my trip to Egypt this Sept, but I’ll be sad if ABD chooses to cancel if the situation gets bad there). But try not to worry too much! We don’t know what the situation will look like even 3 months from now. Keep an eye on the situation (casually), you have time to decide. I don’t think you need to pull the plug on things yet. Try to stay optimistic for the moment if you can!

 

[LovesTimone]

OP here...

At this point with them closing schools, festivals, and large events and gatherings and TDR... I think that it is the smartest move getting in front of it....

I am wondering if the Olympic committee is rethinking having the Olympic's this year. While it would be a devastating blow to the athletes who have worked so hard to get there... My worry would be that things might have settled down, and are looking much better, then you have an influx of people in and out, which could start up a second round of this virus...

I'm not doing any finger pointing... Really.... honestly feeling like that China possibly wasn't as forthcoming as they should have been when this whole thing started... These are the type of things that all Countries should show transparency in, when it come to the health of the world is at stake and work together for the greater good, of its people... all people.... okay off the soap box...

DH and I talked about it again last night... So I am going to keep planning, and working on everything... and we are just going to hoover in the wait and see game... If a really good hotel rate should be offered up, then I would go for the free cancellation choice... as at least we have a plan... which makes me feel better...

I am going to take a peak at some other options - and make a list of place's to go... depending on the level of the virus... Paris of course is on top of the list.... if it gets to the point that international air travel is not something that we want to do... We have bounced around maybe doing a trip to New England, somewhere and road tripping it even possibly into Canada....and a couple other choices... so we have a back up plan... Which makes me feel better...

Has anyone seen anything on a possible vaccine? are they working on a flu shot? I really haven't seen anything on it... Thoughts

 

[Magnum_PI]

OP here...

At this point with them closing schools, festivals, and large events and gatherings and TDR... I think that it is the smartest move getting in front of it....

I am wondering if the Olympic committee is rethinking having the Olympic's this year. While it would be a devastating blow to the athletes who have worked so hard to get there... My worry would be that things might have settled down, and are looking much better, then you have an influx of people in and out, which could start up a second round of this virus...

I'm not doing any finger pointing... Really.... honestly feeling like that China possibly wasn't as forthcoming as they should have been when this whole thing started... These are the type of things that all Countries should show transparency in, when it come to the health of the world is at stake and work together for the greater good, of its people... all people.... okay off the soap box...

DH and I talked about it again last night... So I am going to keep planning, and working on everything... and we are just going to hoover in the wait and see game... If a really good hotel rate should be offered up, then I would go for the free cancellation choice... as at least we have a plan... which makes me feel better...

I am going to take a peak at some other options - and make a list of place's to go... depending on the level of the virus... Paris of course is on top of the list.... if it gets to the point that international air travel is not something that we want to do... We have bounced around maybe doing a trip to New England, somewhere and road tripping it even possibly into Canada....and a couple other choices... so we have a back up plan... Which makes me feel better...

Has anyone seen anything on a possible vaccine? are they working on a flu shot? I really haven't seen anything on it... Thoughts

It definitely doesn’t hurt to have contingency plans! Although it’s possible North America will see an outbreak too at some point, but it’s impossible to say like so many things in this situation.

To your question about a vaccine, yes it is definitely being worked on. Feverishly (no pun intended, but it’s there so... ), and by multiple pharmaceutical companies with cross-cultural teams of scientists working together. I had read one vaccine candidate is 6 weeks away from human testing. That said, we’re a solid 12-18 months from having an effective vaccine being commercially available (and even that timeline is ambitious). But they’re certainly on it!

 

[MikeOhio]

If it’s still in Japan at that point I would assume it would be everywhere including Paris.

 

[scrump]

Both DH's company and mine now have travel restrictions in place to Japan, as well as a 2-week self-quarantine policy, which DH cannot do (he cannot work remotely). So if our trip were happening soon, we would not be able to go. We are booked for July/August, so have a little more time to monitor but I am thinking if ANA were to offer full refund policies for our flights, I might just go ahead and do it. I think they are refunding some international flights, but ours don't qualify yet. At that point, we would simply be out of the money we spent on tickets to some Olympic events, which I hope will get covered under our insurance policy (we have cancel for any reason).

I am thinking it will still get worse before it gets better, but I'm not sure it will get better in time for us.

 

[Ceilidhscot]

Must admit I’m more concerned about a second wave towards the end of the year than now. If it mutates over the summer then it could be even worse next year (with a higher mortality rate) and by then people will be more complacent (having thought, oh it’s not too bad as it didn’t affect me / my family that much).

If it drags on with people in quarantine, they’ll also be less likely to repeat again at the end of the year as employers are less likely to be as accommodating if the person has already taken 14 days earlier in the year so the potential for spread will be higher.

I really hope I’m wrong as booked for Japan spring 2021 (and will have an 11 year old and 79 yr old in our group). Definitely don’t want to put either of them at risk.

 

[Carol_]

I would worry more about being allowed back into the country.

 

[LovesTimone]

OP here....

We are really monitoring what is going on... Our trip is 8 1/2 months away...

I did call Delta, just to see if I could get any info.... and the customer service rep. I spoke with she said that if you cancelled or changed our flights now... it would be like normal, no concessions due to the virus. She did say that once it got closer and depending on the travel level, will determine how things would be handled... and that was it...

I have a friend that works as a flight attendant, she is a senior flight attendant 35 years, she asked me not to disclose what airline and from what she can tell, all the scheduling for the summer, and Olympic flights are still all in place.

I talked with my neighbor last night, and she has a friend who's Son and Daughter in law, live in Shibuya... they are expats living abroad, they have been there for 4 years... Her friend said that her son said everyone is wearing mask and gloves, using precautions and going about their daily lives, very calmly, like really nothing was going on... He did say that some of the tourist areas are pretty empty... Yoyogi Park is really the only place you see people out in groups or gathering around, families sitting together to get some fresh air, and sunshine... she went on to say, that this week he started working from home, and his wife is a teacher and she has been home and is working on lesson plans... she said she and her daughter in law's mom, send a care package once a month with things that they miss or can't get there... they each sent the an extra box with nothing but mask and gloves, hand sanitizer, and soap with sanitizer, and bleach wipes...

As of right now... I am still planning on Japan... I actually printed out daily sheets, as well my list for packing, things we need to buy for the trip, and a souvenir and shopping list... LOL....... can you say OCD

I really hope that something gives and we get to go... pixie dust needed...

 

[doombuggy]

I would worry more about being allowed back into the country.

Yep. This is why my dad, sister and step mom cancelled their trip to japan. They were set to leave next week.

 

[scrump]

OP here....

We are really monitoring what is going on... Our trip is 8 1/2 months away...

I did call Delta, just to see if I could get any info.... and the customer service rep. I spoke with she said that if you cancelled or changed our flights now... it would be like normal, no concessions due to the virus. She did say that once it got closer and depending on the travel level, will determine how things would be handled... and that was it...

I have a friend that works as a flight attendant, she is a senior flight attendant 35 years, she asked me not to disclose what airline and from what she can tell, all the scheduling for the summer, and Olympic flights are still all in place.

I talked with my neighbor last night, and she has a friend who's Son and Daughter in law, live in Shibuya... they are expats living abroad, they have been there for 4 years... Her friend said that her son said everyone is wearing mask and gloves, using precautions and going about their daily lives, very calmly, like really nothing was going on... He did say that some of the tourist areas are pretty empty... Yoyogi Park is really the only place you see people out in groups or gathering around, families sitting together to get some fresh air, and sunshine... she went on to say, that this week he started working from home, and his wife is a teacher and she has been home and is working on lesson plans... she said she and her daughter in law's mom, send a care package once a month with things that they miss or can't get there... they each sent the an extra box with nothing but mask and gloves, hand sanitizer, and soap with sanitizer, and bleach wipes...

As of right now... I am still planning on Japan... I actually printed out daily sheets, as well my list for packing, things we need to buy for the trip, and a souvenir and shopping list... LOL....... can you say OCD

I really hope that something gives and we get to go... pixie dust needed...

I am pulling for you. I feel like this thing will last a few more months (just my gut reaction - would love for it to be shorter), but want to feel comfortable saying that your trip would be firmly in the "bounceback" zone and things will be near normal, if not fully normal. I am not feeling so optimistic for my trip - booked for July/August. My main concern is being detained over there, so am operating around mostly that scenario. A full refund from the airlines would make my decision.

 

[LovesTimone]

I am pulling for you. I feel like this thing will last a few more months (just my gut reaction - would love for it to be shorter), but want to feel comfortable saying that your trip would be firmly in the "bounceback" zone and things will be near normal, if not fully normal. I am not feeling so optimistic for my trip - booked for July/August. My main concern is being detained over there, so am operating around mostly that scenario. A full refund from the airlines would make my decision.

OP Here
That is a main worry... we might get to go...then what about getting back to the US... or facing quarantine upon arrival... We are still hoping to go... I think that we will have to really look hard, and see what what the reality of going could or would be, and any problems or issue we might face...

Pixie Dust...

 

[nono]

Japan is looking better than France right now...

 

[Haley R]

Japan is looking better than France right now...

So I just yesterday talked to the Airbnb host we stayed with last year. She’s a teacher and I was curious how things are going in Japan. She said everyone is going about their normal business for the most part. She expects them to be in school after break that they’re on right now. She sent me pictures of yoyogi park because she was out walking