Annalisa12

I won't do anything different.

I will still use my travel agent. She has gone in to hibernation but my 5 figure sum in a trust account is safe.

I always checked cancellation clause first due to having my own business and things poppedup. I'm ok to lose $500 to cancel or change dates instead of full amount.

I've always known what i book is non refundable and am prepared for that. Lost my money when I booked a wrong date last year.

Yemona

I will continue to overspend on travel but will do it more consciously.

yandosan

Always choose the hotel with full cancellation refund. You might have to search longer but it's worth it.

ft101

If you see a lockdown coming, get to somewhere you'd prefer to be locked down in, and be prepared for a few months there.

worldiswide

I really like this thread and the perspectives and views.

have never bought 3rd party tickets are never will for all the reasons mentioned.

very rarely bought travel insurance as willing to self insure most of the time. Have bought med jet during years we did African safaris and will think about it again

don't do a lot of non refundable hotels or prepaid land arrangements.

as some of the others have mentioned love to be off the beaten path and I might think twice about locations. We have spent a lot of time all over Asia and probably over 20 trips in China in 20 years, and I would not feel safe there for a good while. Its just too risky..and it makes me sad since I realky enjoyed every time.

otoh I think Americans may not be welcome to visit without some proof of health that may be hard to obtain or validate.

can't wait to be back on a pl and but thinking it's a way off.

Artpen100

Agree with the above, particularly about not using Amex points under AmexTravel. They are a disaster. One thing I plan to do is burn up all my FF points on the various airlines as soon as I can. Because awards are flexible, and devaluation is likely.

ens100

What a great thread. Some of the things mentioned above are the same I will be doing going forward, however if there is one thing that sticks out the most is to spend more time in one place to enjoy and appreciate that city / country etc. I used to love to squeeze in a number of countries in a given trip to try and "maximise" as much possible and rush from one place to the other. Being stuck in lock down has given me a sense of perspective that sometimes less is more.

Not saying this will last forever but for the next few trips will take the time to enjoy the destination

gaobest

I had an amazing Hilton experience with a refund so I’m sticking with Hilton brand for hotels.

n166

fair point about not using OTAs - however, when things are up and running and again, and I see a >Ł100 difference on a Ł400 flight between an OTA and going direct with the airline, i fear my reptilian brain will kick in and justify the OTA

insurance is still super important - i've had Amex Platinum until now and it is great having such comprehensive insurance. it's got me out of a few pickles. luckily i didn't have any flights booked for this period, so i'm not sure how they've handled covid disputes

n166

"honey, you don't understand. i just have to go to Bora Bora for a few days before the lockdown starts again"

bitterproffit

Same, and extension of free night certificates, extension of status, etc. Really pleasantly surprised with Hilton.

sp427

Thanks everyone for some great responses and tips -- I hadn't thought about some of these at all and they'll definitely be helpful for future travel! Some clarifications & additional thoughts below:

@progapanda: I read your response and it was seriously like reading something I wrote myself! I see you're also in NY -- hope you're staying safe and sane!

@TheStrangerIn29K: my thoughts on not using AirBnB anymore are b/c of what happened early on with people not getting full refunds (never followed up on what's changed, but sounds like they are now). It seems easier to get refunds for non-refundable rooms from a big hotel / OTA like Hotels.com vs. haggling with an AirBnB owner. Also, I do feel the hotels I've stayed in are far cleaner than any AirBnB I've stayed in, and I think hotels will seriously up their game (by force or by choice) in terms of cleanliness standards, whereas I'm not sure that a random cleaner cleaning someone's home will be incentivized as much to do so. Also, if I'm in a foreign country, I would prefer having access to the front desk that might have more info/access to things, and might be able to help me if something goes wrong, etc. I understand the appeal of a larger space for some, but I don't have kids and have no need for a kitchen or the like, so a hotel room is fine for me & my partner.

@kiwifrequentflyer: as I mentioned, I'd *definitely* make sure to have some form of medical/evacuation-related insurance. I spent thousands on travel insurance while globetrotting from 2013-2016, put in a claim twice, denied twice, and decided all the effort required to put in the claim only to have it denied in the end was too much of a hassle. I also had an annual travel policy a few years ago, which was comforting to have for a few trips (no claims though), but I mostly ended up in/out of Australia for 3 months at a time, and the policy only covers trips that are 1 month or less, so I didn't renew for 2019 or 2020. Also, a lot of my international travel now starts from SYD to {international destination} instead of from NY. I think for my purposes, an overseas health cover is what I need (note: if anyone has any recs for Australia, please reach out to me privately, thanks!)

- Travel agent (clarification): the one we used in Australia works at a small company affiliated with the Hello World Travel network, but I'm not sure if this small company will make it through July. From reading some posts about people who have used Hello World agents, I see a lot having trouble getting their money back, some even have cancelled flights but no money back, some are only getting credit to use with the specific travel agent, etc (note: I do think it's fair for travel agents to take a cancellation and/or admin fee for the work they actually have done, so I wouldn’t expect to get all my money back). This is the first time I booked a flight (or anything) using a travel agent and now I wish I had just booked it myself directly on the Qantas website.

- Hotels: on second thought (thanks everyone!), I've changed my mind on booking non-refundable rooms -- I'll book refundable only, unless the trip is immediate. Someone asked why I don't book directly with hotels instead, and it's for a few reasons: I have no loyalty to a hotel chain (I travel for leisure, not business), I book really nice hotels based on the location and not all of these hotels are part of loyalty programs; with Hotels.com, I accumulate 1 free night after every 10 nights (not sure if you can do the same on booking.com or agoda but I started with hotels.com years ago and have just stuck with them); and, when I had to cancel my 9 refundable hotels for this year, I did it all on 1 website, and for the 4 that were non-refundable, I had 1 email thread & person to follow-up with, not 4 different hotels.

- Wait & see on cancellations: I, too, learned that non-refundable airfares are refundable if the airline cancels on you first (or in AA's case, if they make a schedule change that affects your journey by more than x mins)! In mid-March, after Qantas already announced they were cancelling all international flights after March 30, I called Qantas and asked for a refund on my April flight to the US -- they quoted a $600 cancellation fee (which, at the end of the day, isn't so bad on a $7k fare). But, I held off on cancelling (just because I wanted to think about it), and by April 1, QF officially cancelled my flight & sent an email notification saying the funds would be automatically credited to my Qantas account via voucher -- their official flight cancellation allowed me to put in for a refund for the full amount (just did it last week, I assume this will take 4-6 weeks, unlike AA which refunded in 1 week). I have another QF flight in early July from SYD to Ecuador, and I'm assuming that'll be cancelled based on the situations in both Australia (closed borders, no international travel allowed) & Guayaquil, but I certainly won't be cancelling it myself (until the day before, if it hasn't already been cancelled).

- Hoarding FF points: no more! I'll use them and never keep such a huge amount that would worry me if an airline went bankrupt or if the points were seriously devalued.

- Luxury guided tours: I'm rethinking these only because of the payment terms on some of these (full payment 60/90/120 days before trips). I'm unsettled with the idea that if I made my final payment on Apr 1 for my July trip, a single tour operator would've had $30k of my funds in their account, for a trip that was 90+ days away. If I cancel, they'd keep the money as a credit for next year, and if they cancel the trip, they'll refund it (note: I didn't make my final payment on Apr 1 and the company hasn't asked me to yet). I love the company and will definitely take trips with them next year and every year after that -- BUT (1) what if they don't make it through this crisis? and (2) that would've been $30k interest-free to them! I still love this way of travel and the tour operators I use, so I'm just hoping they change some of their practices in the future.

- Cruising: when I cruise again (<150-person boat always, not the 1,000+ people ones), I definitely would opt for better cabins, just in case I ever get stuck. I always thought "I'm never in the room other than to sleep, so why does it even matter what the size is or if there's a large window/balcony," but after reading about these cruise ship ordeals, I see it would've mattered (to me anyway). I'm fortunate that I can afford it, so I will pay up from now on. I've never found the mega-boats appealing, and after this virus debacle, I definitely wouldn't take one.

- Staying informed: since most of my travel has been with luxury tour operators, I've never worried about what was going on or getting stuck b/c I knew they'd take care of it all (paying for flight changes, charter flights, the works). I was in Peru for 6 days in March, and left my hotel for LIM airport on March 15 at 9pm for a Sunday 12am flight -- completely unaware that a state of emergency was declared an hour earlier and the airport/country would close in 48 hours. I've read horror stories of folks being #stuckinperu for weeks because the Peruvian government wouldn't reopen the airport to let repatriation flights in/out. So, lesson learned, I'll actually pay attention to the local/world news from now on before and during travel!

- Staying connected with STEP: while traveling the world solo for a few years, I was very good about putting my travel details into STEP (so the US government would know where I was in case there was a disaster in the country I was traveling in), but I haven't for the past 2 years out of laziness/complacency about travel being hiccup-free -- but based on what's happened with coronavirus and people stuck overseas, I'll definitely start using STEP again.

Redhead

Yep. I switched all my spend to the Citi double cash Mastercard. I'll keep earning miles but not going out of my way to do so.