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I spent four days in Seoul from the 20th to 24th of last month and a night transiting through Narita on my way home to Canada via ORD. The trip was planned many months ago and was a Round-the-World combination of revenue and award flights focused on a visit with friends in Cape Town, flying TK down there but then a collection of premium award flights via the Indian and Pacific oceans: EY in J and the Apartment, JL in F to ORD. The outbreak in South Korea was only just being reported as I prepared to fly to that country from South Africa and because it had been limited to a city in the south and among a group of a specific church, I figured taking proper precautions in Seoul would not pose a great risk. I visited a number of museums in the capital but noticed just about everyone was wearing a surgical mask (much more so than normal in such Asian cities) and crowds were sparse at the museums I visited and generally across the city. I split the stay between two hotels, and at the first the daily breakfast was deserted with only a couple of us each morning at what would be the peak hours. The desk staff confirmed the usual tour groups they receive had all cancelled. My second hotel was busier, in the student/university district, where both the hotel and streets/malls were filled with under 30s for the most part (I'm in my youthful 70s!). Most public buildings, my second hotel included, had temperature scanner cameras set up to check for feverish visitors and tables filled with hand sanitizer. At some, face masks were handed out for those not already wearing one.

Entering ICN from my EY flight, we were given a fairly comprehensive health survey to indicate any ailments (colds, allergies, etc.) and channeled past the aforementioned video temperature scanners as well as being given a forehead thermometer check. Anyone holding a China/Hong Kong passport or arriving off a flight from China or Hong Kong/Macau was channeled away from the rest of us. The same screening occurred off my flight from ICN at NRT, though no thermometer check. Arriving at ORD, no such precautions were in evidence and I quickly passed through Global Entry and ultimately made my way over to T3 for my flight home to YYZ. (As we taxied to the gate at ORD T5, I noticed two 777s from Chinese airlines land but don't know if those passengers were directed to a separate area of the customs hall.) Arriving at YYZ, I used a Nexus kiosk and it had a question about having traveled to China, something the GE kiosk at ORD didn't have. But that was the only "screening" I experienced back home.

I would normally take two or three days off to reorient to time zones and get back into a daily routine, so I called a few friends to assure them I felt fine but would self-quarantine myself for a few more days, other than doing some grocery shopping to stock up. I had a few community meetings over the first week back, but decided not to attend (so not sure what Metrolinx will do with our new subways or Alphabet|Google will do at their Sidewalk urban community. And I forewent a craft beer tasting at a local brewery). I also rescheduled a couple of lunch dates and other social engagements to ensure that 14-days would pass. Fortunately I can do any business needed from home as I normally work out of my home office as a film producer, and handle other matters by email and phone calls. There was plenty to read in my mailbox and with the daily delivery of three local newspapers to my door, and my DVR had recorded almost three weeks of series and other network TV shows...plus there was lots of new material on Netflix and AmazonPrime!

It's Day 11 today, though I have taken a few walks in the chill winter air at hours when few people were on the street. I will have my first person-to-person encounter Friday evening with a friend who is brave enough to be my first social contact in two weeks! So far, no fever or cough or other symptoms. Lots of FaceTime and Skype chats.

The big issue is: do I travel again to Asia (Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta with a transit at SIN) at the end of the month? I am booked on the longest scheduled flight in the world, SQ's EWR-SIN A350 (OK maybe QF's from Perth to LHR is a bit longer) and looking forward to it and the few days in these two cities as a birthday treat and indulgence. Thus far both Malaysia and Indonesia have not reported outbreaks. Here in Canada, we have 13 reported cases, 5 here in Toronto. I have read that some countries are stopping people who've been to Singapore from entering (Thailand) so my biggest concern at the moment is getting caught (and stranded) in that city state. All my hotels are flex rate so can be cancelled with 2-days notice, and I'm pretty sure I could reschedule the SQ flights. I would still have separate positioning flights to get to EWR from YYZ, but I planned a few days in NYC to visit the new Museum of Modern Art and a few other museums, and meet up with friends. At worst I'd have to pay the cost of changing the return EWR-YYZ flight.

So I'm curious if there are others who have been in the same situation of returning from an affected country and how you've been handling it...or if you have a trip booked in the next month or two to one of these countries. So interested in reading how you're handling it.

kennycrudup

Don't even have to go anywhere- there's at least 4 cases in Santa Clara county

Adam Smith

What isnt an impacted country these days?

I rearranged a trip to avoid northern Italy (and had to cancel SIN/KUL from the trip since I was flying MXP-SIN), but I'm still going to Rome tomorrow and southern Italy later this month.

travelina

Spain - Madrid and Barcelona next month. I don't expect I will go to either.

Jerkstore

I’m going there, too (4/6-4/18). Ill change my plans based on what United offers me as we get closer (through ZRH on Swiss). If they let me cancel, I’ll get the cash back. If they don’t and it’s still bad, I’ll see if I can change to a different European city without a fare difference. But my gf and I are pretty set on going somewhere because I’m not tossing $4500 in flights and I don’t feel like paying a fare difference in top of that. I don’t really think United will let me do much. Will be an interesting month.

Duke787

Just had to cancel a personal trip (that I've been planning for 10 months) to Japan including giving up the always excellent and coveted NH F seats.

That was a big bummer. Also had to give up SIN and DXB on work trips which was a shame (love SIN and have never been to DXB itself, just the airport so was excited to finally check that off).

We are contemplating a short weekend to Caribbean / Florida / Mexico instead and planning a replacement "big" trip for the fall (though unlikely to return to Japan, might do Maui which would be new but also would be hedged against international travel bans still being in place).

e90dude1

First the fires and now this, seem doomed....even down there they have 53 cases already...FML

smartytravel

is it really that risky to travel to Spain right now? I have a trip planned there in May.

Hawkeyefan

?? We're going there next week, not hesitating. The paranoia around this is totally absurd. Just ridiculous.

Admiral Ackbar

I'm in Paris right now and we are enjoying visiting a nearly empty city. Taking the usual precautions but will probably self-quarantine as much as possible when I get back home to be safe. I have a bit of congestion (no fever or coughing whatsoever) that I usually get when I come here in the winter so do not want to take any risks. I can work from home no problem so why not.

But businesses are being hit hard (one thing after another here) there is no doubt.

transportprof

I'm in Southeast Asia now, and have already transited SIN once, and will be returning there for a three day stop-over on the way home to Vancouver. Perhaps it's wishful thinking, but there isn't any place in the world that I would rather be quarantined (or even hospitalized) for Covid19 than Singapore. Note they've had over 100 cases of the virus already and not one fatality yet. Their medical care is in a class by itself, so if I had to have any kind of medical attention, I have a lot of faith that I'd get great care in Singapore.

Big Meech

A while back, I booked Czech Airlines PRG-ICN in business class using Etihad guest. Needless to say, I'm not going to Seoul any more as Czech Airlines has pulled the route indefinitely, leaving me without a flight.

I’ve spent the better part of this week on the phone with Etihad trying to get a suitable alternative. Because this is such a unique route, there aren’t any like-for-like replacements, which complicates things. I’ve offered to fly from alternative airports in Europe to alternative airports in East Asia to accommodate. However, Etihad has told me everything from “it needs to be the exact same route” to “we can’t fly you on a different partner” to “we can’t fly you on Etihad, only on partners”. I’ve still yet to receive the same answer from anyone.

My flight was ticketed by Etihad, so I would think that they would be obligated to get me from point A to point B, even if it’s on their metal. They’ve offered a refund of the miles, but that’s not really an option given my itinerary.

What are my options in this situation? Am I crazy or is Etihad wrong for their lack of flexibility?

enthusiastictraveler

This is a good share of ideas, thank you!

livetovacation60

Booked to spend the better part of 3 weeks in Paris and various cities in Belgium. Scheduled to leave on April 12th......looks like were probably going to cancel and still waiting on British Airways to update refund/re-ticket options for mid April.

GUWonder

The first country in which I've been to with the Wuhan coronavirus already present was the US, and Chicago at that. I've since been to some countries/cities in Europe where the same virus has had multiple cases reported too, including places with far more cases per capita than reported to be the case for Chicago at the time. I haven't been sick with even a cold in quite some time, and I will continue to fly -- as much as already booked -- between the US and Europe, but I'm not booking additional, non-refundable international trips far out in advance at this point. But some of this is bargain hunting of sorts, such as using miles to book trips way out that were previously hard to find using miles at a reasonable value.