CoronaVirus Dilemma

[Tippytoes12]

Would you be scared if there was an Asian on your liveaboard? I live in a big city in US and I’ve never seen it myself but I heard horror discriminative acts happening mostly in Europe towards Asians in general. I wonder if people from Europe or other countries would react as such if I was on the boat.

How do you define Asian ? Is an Asian an person of Chinese ethnicity who was born and lives in America more of a risk than one of the thousands of expats from the Netherlands or Ireland or Germany who has been living in a Chinese city for several years ?

 

[urbaneve71]

So if they are rerouting people -- are they charging you for that? I would hate to be hit for a extra money once my ticket has been paid for

 

[Jay]

PAL are not very user friendly when it comes to changes. Read the fine print on your ticket (*if possible, see attached). They are not (yet) doing what other airlines are doing (waiving change fees etc).

Some 'rules' which aren't clear but I'm finding out through experience:

•If they make a change to the timing of your flights greater than two hours you have the option for a full refund.
•If part of your booking is a flight with a lower status (e.g. non refundable / re-routable), ALL flights in that booking are deemed to be that (lower) status. (even though when you paid you paid more for those higher status flights).

 

[DeepSeaExplorer]

I could see a situation where other countries deny entry to US citizens due to uncontrolled spread of the disease here.

 

[Thrawn7]

•If they make a change to the timing of your flights greater than two hours you have the option for a full refund.

PAL made a schedule change of 11 hours. I just cancelled my ticket for a full refund

 

[WOODMAN]

So if they are rerouting people -- are they charging you for that? I would hate to be hit for a extra money once my ticket has been paid for

So far no mention of any changes in price, but the dance isn't over yet. Things have been fairly quiet for a few days now, and if it just holds this way, I won't complain. But we have a month to go, and anything can still happen. I only hope there is still something left of Sabang when we finally get there!

 

[Centrals]

I only hope there is still something left of Sabang when we finally get there!

With not much Koreans around, certain bars would have to shut down! But most dive operators who do not rely on chinese and Koreans should be able to coup with the sudden decline in business.

 

[DougieG]

Thanks for everyone's interest in this thread. I am the original person who started the thread. I am at the point I have to make a decision. To summarize:

We (my family) have a dive trip scheduled in June to the Philippines. I have already paid $3000 (likely non-refundable) in down payment back in the Fall. I owe $11,000 more which at this point is past due (have not paid yet because of Coronavirus concerns). It's an expensive (all inclusive) trip, but a trip we were really looking forward to. I have no trip insurance that would protect against Coronavirus-related cancellation. I have 3 choices:

1. Cancel the trip and lose the $3000
2. Pay the $11,000 and hope everything works out.
3. Ask for a month extension on the final payment to hopefully get more information before choosing between 1 or 2.

Any thoughts? Would anyone choose option 2? Thanks.

 

[tursiops]

#3 is not likely to help. Confusion and uncertainly will likely still be high.
I am assuming you can actually get there...that is, your flights do not go through
Hong Kong, for example?

Do you know about the Decision Amplifier?

• You are faced with #1 or #2, strong pros and cons for each. So you get ready to flip a coin: heads, #1, tails, #2. You tell yourself that you have got to make this decision NOW, and whatever it says, you will do what the coin tells you.
• You flip the coin.
• It doesn't matter which side comes up; what matters is your reaction to it! What matters is if you look at it, and say, "Whew! Tough decision, but OK." versus, "Oh, crap!"

Another way to look at it is is, "What is the worst that can happen?" The worst with #1 is you lose $3000 and have to delay the experiences and memories that you would have gotten. The absolute worst with #2 is your daughter dies from COVID-19 and you don't, and you have to live with that. However, the most-likely worst is you get quarantined somewhere and spend 14d wishing you hadn't gone on the trip, and wasting the $14,000.

What is your tolerance for the worst case?

 

[Damselfish]

Seems worth trying for an extension, heck ask for longer. I have no idea what sort of trip this is, and whether you are booking directly or through an agent But it's possible travel may be down enough that they would prefer the chance you will come over outright cancellation. Worth a shot. (If a place isn't fully booked, a deposit/reservation probably wasn't blocking others from booking.) Failing that, if I were only 3k into a 14k trip I'd lean towards 1 over 2, but much of that choice depends on your personal circumstances.