I am safe at home and finishing my quarantine in two days. At that time, I will be then be able to remain at home under lock-down! This tantalizing view from my bathroom shows me the (quieter) world outside. I am curious to know where other people are and what they are doing? Are you stuck somewhere and cannot get home because you have no money or access to travel options? Are you in self isolation or quarantine having come back to your home county? Have you had to cancel your travel plans and are…
Dodging National Closures – Last Plane to Bangkok
I was in the USA for family reasons on a long arranged trip and was in the Northern suburbs of Philadelphia, USA. My Home base is in the northern suburbs of Bangkok, Thailand. Having worked in public health, I monitored the virus carefully. As the infections accelerated flight cancellations, lockdowns and compulsory quarantined accelerated. I decided to cut short my US business and get back to Bangkok. This was a rather nerve wracking trip as I tried to dodge the virus, country closures and airline shutdowns. Booking Finding a way home from Philadelphia proved to…
Can You travel? No. Implications and Advice
I flew home rather hurriedly last week. On March 15th I said people should not travel anymore and return home. A view I got some criticism for. C’est la vie. I decided to cut short my US visit, cancelled my UK business meetings and long looked forward to weekend hiking trip and hightailed it home. The world then changed very quickly in a week. On March 15, Canada warned its citizens not to travel and asked them to return to Canada. The EU introduced its blanket travel ban on March 17. The UK also gave…
Virgin Atlantic Sucks- COVID19 Fail
II try and avoid these type of posts but I have become so disillusioned with Virgin Atlantic. Imagine if in December, I had bought a non refundable airline ticket through Virgin Atlantic. Imagine if I changed my mind about the dates and wanted to change or refund it Would I deserve that option? A big fat “no”. I get that. I support that. Imagine, however, if since I bought the ticket that the world changed completely? Imagine that a new and scary virus emerged. A virus that results in thousands of deaths airports being shut…
Self Isolation- How to do it
I am in self isolation. Like many over the last few weeks, I have returned home under requirements I not mix with others as I may have been exposed to the COVID19 virus. it can take up to two weeks for symptoms of COVID-19 to appear — although usually they show after five days. So 14 days is on the safe side. For an extrovert, its a nightmare. Although the reality is that much I would normally go out to do and see is closed anyway! If you are sharing your home with others, you…
Airline closures and suspensions- Status of Key Airlines
The travel industry is in a really tough place right now. I can’t see how airlines will survive without government financial aid. Every airline is making major changes. The tally is one airline shut down forever, six who have suspended all operations for a period of time and several who have made massive cuts to operations. What do you need to do? Whatever they are doing, if you are tickets, then you and/or the airline will probably be making some sort of changes to flight time, date or destination. If you have booked through a…
Should you travel? No.
Unless you have to, NO. While people are taking advantage of air and hotel discounts, everything is in such a state of flux right now. Airlines are shutting down If you have an urgent reason to travel or you are going home, then proceed as quickly as you can. Travel safe. Staying in another place means you increase your risk, potentially put others at risk and overwhelm health systems. While I understand that hotels, restaurants and venues are suffering, the situation cannot be helped by us. To those struggling, I hope to be able to…
SAS suspends nearly all operations
This is a weird time in the world. Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS), the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway and Sweden shuts down due to the essentially non-existing demand for air travel from Monday March 16 and until further notice. The airline said “ Due to the coronavirus and the measures implemented by national authorities, the demand for air travel is essentially non-existent. SAS has therefore decided to put most of its operations on hold, starting Monday March 16 and until necessary prerequisites for commercial air traffic returns. To support our customers, we will in the…
American ditches Fleet, Network and Frequency
Sunday evening March 15, I fly to Dublin, Ireland with American Airlines. Little did I know when I booked my trip that this would be the very last day for that flight until at least May. Flights from Charlotte, Philadelphia and Phoenix to London Heathrow, Dublin and Manchester will be suspended on March 15 and the return trips back to the USA will be flown March 16. These are part of a 75% cut in American’s international capacity which will be accompanied by a 20% cut in its domestic capacity in April and…
Travel just got interesting- Impacts & Info for a Pandemic.
The WHO has finally called the COVID19 virus situation a pandemic. Before now, the UN’s health agency described it as an epidemic. Calling it a pandemic, states that it has officially spread around the world and reflects WHO’s concern at what it calls the “alarming levels of the coronavirus spread, severity and inaction”. The reaction has been swift. India invoked section 2 of its Epidemic Diseases Act to deal with #Coronavirus crisis by sealing its borders from Friday 13 March until 15 April. All visas (except for official ones) are suspended. President Donald Trump said…
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