pfreet

While we are shut down in many parts of the world, I feel there's social backlash to travel right now. But I want to plan my next trip. Is it OK to start making travel plans again? Or am I an insensitive jackass?

etch5895

Well, 240 flights departed various airports in Korea to Jeju today. I'm not sure where you are, but there doesn't appear to be much social backlash against travel. Granted, these are domestic flights, but still.

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LondonElite

Plan all you like. Just don’t book anything until you know there are flights, you’ll be allowed to go without a two week quarantine, and are covered for medical care.

lhrsfo

Yes - the problem will be renewing your travel policy. Mine runs out in August and I suspect that the renewal options will either exclude COVID, or be ruinously expensive.

mtofell

You'll always be considered this by some..... Covid-19 or not. I figure the people I see when carrying out said travel are doing the same so who are they to judge?

Reminds me of my younger days frequenting bars..... I'd see a guy sitting there and think, Wow, this same guy is here every night. Then it occurred to me... he's probably thinking the same thing about me

I say go for it. I can promise you there is at least one other insensitive jackass out there with you!

Centurion

You are a Jack A. Just kidding. I wanted to be first person to name call.

n166

do all the planning you want, just be prepared for it to not happen as quickly as you want. you're not a jackass for planning, you'd be a bit of a jackass for expecting to be able to travel wherever you want in the short term

MiamiAirport Formerly NY George

You can fly today if you want in the US but some destinations have strict quarantine requirements. Overseas is a different story. Most routes to Europe, Asia and Pacific from the US have been temporarily suspended.

bensyd

My policy (which I cleverly renewed in January) has a specific exclusion for pandemics. Surely most policies would? The lack of insurance cover will kill most international leisure travel and almost all non-essential business travel, imo.

mmff

Do you think most people travel for non-essential reasons only if they have insurance coverage? I wish you were right but I don't think that's the case at all.

bensyd

For international? Yes absolutely. And until there is a vaccine I would assume the number of people travelling without insurance would be even lower. Let's say someone has booked their European holiday and at check-in when their temperature is taken it registers they have a fever. They are sent for testing and it turns out they have Covid-19 and can't travel. No insurance so they lose flights/hotels/excursion etc etc. How many people do you think are going to chance that when they can book a domestic/driving holiday with far less risk? I could also foresee a situation where poorer countries will not let tourists enter without medical insurance in case they develop Covid-19 and require hospitalisation.

As lhrsfo points out the cost of insuring that risk will probs make it prohibitevley expensive for 95% of travellers.

Ford Fairlane

I had some flights reserved that I ended up cancelling before the airline cancelled them, which means I ended up with a bit of credit on account instead of refunds to my credit card. Since then, I've booked a trip here and there that I'd love to take, but then either I or the airline cancel them before the date of departure. I know none of them are going to happen for a while, and the funds just go back to my mileage account. It's a psychological crutch, I guess, the thought that "Yay, I have a trip scheduled two weeks from now!" The trips don't happen, but as soon as one dies, I reserve another. I can't get the money back anyway. Might as well fantasize in the form of a short-lived itinerary.

I don't know where your home base is on the planet is, [MENTION=813161]pfreet[/MENTION], but if you can afford to put a day's wages into flight reservations that might not happen (which is what I've done) and keep recycling them into updated reservations, it might be worth it.

Or, to put it another way, this is what I've done to help ease me through my travel withdrawal.