Traveling Outside of the US soon - What do you think?

[NDP22 11]

Hi all,

 

I am currently in a bit of a predicament. My wife and I have scheduled to travel back to her home country (Norway) at the end of the month. We bought tickets over a month ago before this was as large of an issue. Last night, our president said the US is banning all travel from the Schengen area for the next 30 days beginning Friday. With that math, all travel would be banned until April 13th. We have planned to come back on the 14th.

 

What I'm wondering is what is your all's opinions on this? I am very much up in the air on it. We have been informed that we can change our flight for free. However, with me working, this timing works out great for me. 

 

I am asking for opinions here as well. I would just like to hear some other viewpoints to get a better perspective on things.

 

Thanks in advanced!

 

 

Also, I am not sure if this is the correct location to put my post, so if not, I'm sorry!

Edited March 12, 2020 by NDP22

[JT4/25 38]

you are lucky that you can change your flight for free.  British airways refuse to let me change a flight to Italy unless we pay 275.00 per ticket.  we are scheduled to leave NYC on April 8th and return April 20th.  Of course we are not going but we have not officially cancelled the ticket to see what will happen.  As of this morning, they were only offering me 366.00 total on 3 tickets that cost 3500.00.  If I were you...I would cancel...the unknown is too stressful...for me at least

[Ortolan 381]

The way I read it this morning, not all travel is really banned. U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents (green card holders) will be allowed back in and out of the country, with screening for illness and temperature, etc. The problem might be that the number of flights will be much less going back and forth.

[Dashinka 23,238]

Personally I feel the hype on this is all overblown.  That being said, you do have to take into account the potential disruption to your trip if you decide to go and in fact you can even go.  We have not heard how the EU is going to respond yet, so will they require a quarantine period if you go now.  I was in a similar situation two weeks ago.  I was scheduled to meet up with my wife in Russia (she left two weeks earlier) flying through Korea.  Russia banned almost all flights from Korea, so I started thinking of alternate routes, then Russia said anyone coming from certain countries including the US would have to self quarantine for 14 days.  I had planned on being there only 8 days, so in the end I decided to cancel and save my ticket for later in the year.  Of course we also had to find a new route for my wife to come home, and right now I am glad we booked her direct from Moscow to Washington DC in a few days, but I am watching events closely.

 

My recommendation would be to delay your trip unless you don’t mind major out of your control disruptions.

 

Good Luck!

[JFH 12,189]

I work for an airline. Travel is banned for non-US citizens and residents only. USCs and LPRs can still travel but will face fever scanning/heath screening upon return and may he quarantined. 
As someone else has mentioned, this will affect flight capacity. Not as many planes will be needed between Europe and the US if only USCs and LPRs are allowed to fly. So you may find that your flights are re-scheduled by the airline and your, for example, 10 am flight on Thursday becomes a 4.00 pm flight on Tuesday.

[NDP22 11]

35 minutes ago, JT4/25 said:

you are lucky that you can change your flight for free.  British airways refuse to let me change a flight to Italy unless we pay 275.00 per ticket.  we are scheduled to leave NYC on April 8th and return April 20th.  Of course we are not going but we have not officially cancelled the ticket to see what will happen.  As of this morning, they were only offering me 366.00 total on 3 tickets that cost 3500.00.  If I were you...I would cancel...the unknown is too stressful...for me at least

Yeah, I was honestly starting to get nervous about not being able to get a refund or change the dates of the tickets. Delta sent out a notice saying any change within a few dates can be done for free so that's a major relief. I appreciate your input though! The unknown is definitely stressful... Hard decision to make here for sure.

[NDP22 11]

43 minutes ago, Ortolan said:

The way I read it this morning, not all travel is really banned. U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents (green card holders) will be allowed back in and out of the country, with screening for illness and temperature, etc. The problem might be that the number of flights will be much less going back and forth.

Ahh, I gotcha. I am going to continue to monitor my flights and go from there. Thanks for the info!

[NDP22 11]

41 minutes ago, Dashinka said:

Personally I feel the hype on this is all overblown.  That being said, you do have to take into account the potential disruption to your trip if you decide to go and in fact you can even go.  We have not heard how the EU is going to respond yet, so will they require a quarantine period if you go now.  I was in a similar situation two weeks ago.  I was scheduled to meet up with my wife in Russia (she left two weeks earlier) flying through Korea.  Russia banned almost all flights from Korea, so I started thinking of alternate routes, then Russia said anyone coming from certain countries including the US would have to self quarantine for 14 days.  I had planned on being there only 8 days, so in the end I decided to cancel and save my ticket for later in the year.  Of course we also had to find a new route for my wife to come home, and right now I am glad we booked her direct from Moscow to Washington DC in a few days, but I am watching events closely.

 

My recommendation would be to delay your trip unless you don’t mind major out of your control disruptions.

 

Good Luck!

I agree with that as well. It definitely seems to be overblown. I understand that precautionary measures need to be taken, but I feel like some are bit extreme. 

 

And I see... Hmm, that is definitely something to take into consideration. It wouldn't be worth being in quarantine the whole trip. I believe I'm going to wait this out a few more days and go from there.

 

Thanks for the input!

 

[NDP22 11]

36 minutes ago, JFH said:

I work for an airline. Travel is banned for non-US citizens and residents only. USCs and LPRs can still travel but will face fever scanning/heath screening upon return and may he quarantined. 
As someone else has mentioned, this will affect flight capacity. Not as many planes will be needed between Europe and the US if only USCs and LPRs are allowed to fly. So you may find that your flights are re-scheduled by the airline and your, for example, 10 am flight on Thursday becomes a 4.00 pm flight on Tuesday.

Okay, I see. I wasn't sure what exactly the stipulations were. I saw that it said all travel FROM Europe was banned but didn't know what the other way around was.

 

I will definitely keep an eye on my flights.

 

Thanks for the info!

[Dashinka 23,238]

4 minutes ago, NDP22 said:

Okay, I see. I wasn't sure what exactly the stipulations were. I saw that it said all travel FROM Europe was banned but didn't know what the other way around was.

 

I will definitely keep an eye on my flights.

 

Thanks for the info!

Yes, you need to look deeper as it seems to only apply to Shengen foreign nationals.  I was a little worried as well since technically Russia and Moscow is part of Europe.

[DELETEME1234 208]

4 hours ago, NDP22 said:

My wife and I have scheduled to travel back to her home country (Norway)

What's your wife's status? It's not entirely clear from the sidebar/timeline. Spouses of USC are exempted, but perhaps @JFH can indicate how, if at all, airlines are expected to establish marital ties to USC. 

[NDP22 11]

18 minutes ago, Poseidon1212 said:

What's your wife's status? It's not entirely clear from the sidebar/timeline. Spouses of USC are exempted, but perhaps @JFH can indicate how, if at all, airlines are expected to establish marital ties to USC. 

She just received her GC and is now is a "permanent resident".

[DELETEME1234 208]

Just now, NDP22 said:

She just received her GC and is now is a "permanent resident".

Then you guys should be fine. The ban doesn't apply to USC and LPRs. The only concern would be the availability of flights. If you're flying Delta you should be set during unforeseen circumstances, at least that's my experience with them. Especially when dealing with intercontinental flights. 

[JFH 12,189]

11 minutes ago, NDP22 said:

She just received her GC and is now is a "permanent resident".

Then you will be fine but check your flight booking regularly. Capacity is going to be reduced. 

[African Zealot 1,452]

To me it is a no brainer however we are all different and have different circumstances. My simple advice is postpone it. Ending up in a forced 14 day quarantine (either when you get there or when you return) will take literally all the joys out of your trip.

 

Yes I also think this whole thing although very serious is overblown, but it is what it is and you have to work with what you have and the situation as perceived.

 

Your call.

Edited March 13, 2020 by Ray.Bonaquist