Another day, another round of policy changes from a variety of travel companies. Here’s the latest series of changes and policy announcements for customers and agents to keep in mind as the travel industry deals with the troubling coronavirus/Covid-19 Issue.

GOWAY TRAVEL

Effectively immediately for all new bookings, all travel deposits made to Goway from 3-31 March 2020 will be transferrable to another Goway destination or travel date. This means that travellers can deposit now on their dream vacation and have the peace of mind of knowing that if they choose not to travel there (or if world events conspire against their plans), they’ll have the freedom to transfer their deposit to any other Goway destination of their choice. Deposits with Goway never expire, which means that travellers won’t be on the clock to make travel plans or feel rushed into making big decisions regarding their dream vacations.

In addition, as a gesture of goodwill, Goway is providing a more flexible cancellation fee structure for travellers. For new bookings deposited from 3-31 March 2020, in the event of a cancellation for a non-insured reason, Goway will offer 25% of the cancellation fees as a future travel credit. This future travel credit is provided up until 5 days prior to departure, and is valid for one year from date of issue for travel to the same destination.

Goway also offers an insurance policy that covers 75% of cancellation fees, regardless of reason for cancellation, as long as travellers cancel at least two days before scheduled departure. (This cancellation benefit is not valid to residents of New York.) For complete details of the plan, Canadian residents can go to tripmate.com/wpOR441A and US residents can go to tripmate.com/wpF441E.

PRINCESS CRUISES

Princess Cruises is temporarily modifying its cancellation policy for cruises and cruise tours departing through May 31, 2020. The cruise line is implementing this revised policy to assist guests making decisions regarding their upcoming cruise vacations during the evolving worldwide COVID-19 situation.

The details vary by departure date.

Date of Departure*

Policy Update

Apr 3 or earlier: Cancel up to 72 hours before sailing to receive Future Cruise Credit (FCC) for 100% of cancellation fees

Apr 4 – May 31: Cancel by Mar 31, 2020 and receive FCC for 100% of cancellation fees

Jun 1 – June 30: Final Payment moves to 60 days prior to sailing (from 90 days)

* Date of departure is from the start date of your cruise or cruise tour, whichever is earlier. Excludes Chartered Cruises

Guests that choose to keep their booking as currently scheduled for departures between March 9 and May 31 will receive the following Onboard Credit amounts (USD):

$100 per cabin for 3-day and 4-day cruises

$150 per cabin for 5-day cruises

$200 per cabin for 6 day and longer cruises

SILVERSEA

Silversea Cruises has temporarily eased its new booking and cancellation policies, providing travellers with additional time to evaluate their travel plans with the leading ultra-luxury cruise line in this moment of uncertainty surrounding travel.

Travellers who make new bookings on sailings departing between June 1 and December 31, 2020, will be able to cancel until just 30 days prior to departure, paying only a customary administrative fee on the cruise fare. Additionally, Silversea will negotiate on guests’ behalf for the same cancellation options on other components of the booking such as air travel, hotels and shore excursions. However, Silversea does not have control over these third-party suppliers, and, therefore, different terms may apply for these specific components.

“Travelling the world with Silversea should never be a source of anxiety,” says Roberto Martinoli, Silversea’s Chief Executive Officer. “For this reason, and to ease the minds of our guests and trade partners, we have temporarily relaxed our new booking and cancellation policies. This period of uncertainty is for sure going to ease eventually, but as the situation evolves, we are pleased to provide our guests with more time to decide whether or not to travel.”

ROYAL IRISH TOURS

Royal Irish Tours (RIT) have announced a new booking policy for 2020 travel, to give agents peace of mind in booking their clients’ Ireland or UK vacation.

For all new bookings made from March 5 – 31, 2020, Royal Irish Tours will have a fully flexible policy in place to allow guests to postpone their trip for any reason up to 14 days before departure. This is for new bookings only, and guests can travel on any later departure date in 2020.

“We want agents to be able to continue to sell our product with confidence. It’s a tough time for us all, and our partners on the ground in Ireland & the UK have been fantastic in light of what’s happening. We are happy to be able to offer this flexibility,” said Conor Duffy, Director at Royal Irish Tours.

Any questions or concerns, please call the RIT office at 905-773-6773.

COLLETTE

Collette, global tour operator, is dedicated to providing a worry-free experience for both travel professionals and guests, from start to finish. It stands behind an industry-leading Travel Protection Plan, offering a full cash refund for any guest who has to cancel up to 24 hours before departure, providing flexibility should any situation arise. The company has already guaranteed more than 35% of its travel dates through 2022, showcasing a commitment to its guest and their plans.

“Our plan is designed knowing that life happens and that sometimes, plans change. We want to provide a worry-free experience for both you as well as the guest.” said Jaclyn Leibl-Cote, President of Collette.

With multiple guaranteed dates on nearly every tour, guests will be sure to find a tour that suits them and can remain confident knowing that if their plans change, Collette is on their side.

SAINT MARTIN

The Prime Minister Hon. Silveria Jacobs recently activated the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in connection with two confirmed cases of the coronavirus COVID-19 on French Saint Martin. These persons are currently in isolation at the Hospital on the French side and will remain there for 14-days according to the Prefecture.

EOC chaired by the Prime Minister has been activated to continue with the preparedness, response and mitigation measures that need to be taken in connection with the coronavirus COVID-19 and will continue to function on a heightened level of awareness. There are zero cases of suspected or confirmed COVID-19 on Dutch Sint Maarten at this time. Our screening processes at our ports of entry have been stepped up in cooperation with the airlines who are also following their own screening protocols based on World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations.

CARIBBEAN PUBLIC HEALTH AGENCY

The leaders of the Caribbean tourism and health sectors, who are working together to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus throughout the region, are implementing readiness and response measures to prevent and contain the virus.

While there has been no local spread of the virus in the Caribbean, community transmission is now reported in many other countries than China, some of which have nonstop flights to Caribbean States.

Due to the current increased risk of importation of COVID-19 to the region, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) has upgraded the risk of Coronavirus disease transmission from "low" to "moderate to high".

In light of this, CARPHA Executive Director Dr. Joy St. John is urging health authorities of CARPHA Member States to shift their mindset from preparedness to readiness and rapid response and continue to do all that is necessary to strengthen their capacity to respond to possible importation of cases.

The recently established COVID-19 Caribbean Tourism Task Force comprises representatives from CARPHA, the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA), the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), and the Global Tourism Resilience & Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC).

SAINT LUCIA

Saint Lucia’s Department of Health and Wellness is proactively working with all pertinent government agencies on island to execute The National Preparedness and Response Plan for COVID-19. To date, Saint Lucia has not reported any cases of the coronavirus.

The Department of Health and Wellness has noted an escalation in the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 internationally as well as the spread to countries outside of China. Saint Lucia remains open for business and in an effort to restrict the likelihood of the introduction of COVID-19 into Saint Lucia, the Department of Health and Wellness on February 4, 2020 put in place travel restrictions on non-nationals with a travel history within the last 14 days from Mainland China; whether in- transit or originating.

Effective Wednesday, February 26, 2020, extension of travel restriction other jurisdictions also names Hong Kong, the Republic of Korea, Italy and Singapore Additionally, any Saint Lucian national returning to Saint Lucia with a travel history to any of the mentioned countries will be quarantined for 14 days.

OTHER UPDATES

In case you missed it, here's our coronavirus update story from Thursday's newsletter, with information from Canadian airlines.

Airlines in Canada and other countries are responding to the coronavirus with new, flexible cancellation and flight change policies.

Several airlines announced changes on Wednesday, including Air Canada, Transat, WestJet and Sunwing.

The Travel Industry Council of Ontario also issued a bulletin.

AIR CANADA

Canada’s largest airline says that passengers who purchased a ticket between March 4 and March 31, 2020 will be allowed to make a one-time change to their flight up to 14 days before travel without incurring a change fee. The waiver applies for travel within 12 months of the issue date of the original ticket and applies to tickets purchased in any cabin. Customers who wish to cancel a flight can do so and apply any unused ticket value toward the purchase of a new ticket within 12 months of the issue date of the original ticket. However, “applicable change fee and fare difference will apply for new travel dates and will be collected at the time of booking the new ticket.” Changes can be made online, through a travel agent, or by calling 1-888-247-2262. The one-time change fee waiver also applies to Aeroplan Flight Reward bookings. Customers should contact Aeroplan directly if they choose to make changes to their bookings.

AIR CANADA VACATIONS

ACV says that, starting now, it will offer its CareFlex travel protection free of charge for the month of March “to give customers more freedom to travel.” Travellers, it said, “can book with confidence knowing that our comprehensive travel protection plan allows them to change their booking, transfer their package, and cancel with an in-house travel credit and/or a partial refund up to three days before departure. Free CareFlex travel protection is available for select destinations and resorts in Las Vegas, Mexico and the Caribbean, Hawaii, and Europe between March 5 and 31, 2020 for travel between March 5, 2020 and April 30, 2021. When making bookings online, travel agents will need to ‘select’ CareFlex at $0 during the booking flow.”

AIR TRANSAT

“In order to offer travellers more flexibility and allow them to book their next trip with peace of mind, Transat offers them the possibility of changing their travel dates, destination or hotel at no charge,” officials said in a release issued Wednesday. “This policy applies to new bookings for flights on all routes offered by Air Transat and for South packages made between March 4 and March 31, 2020 for travel between now and October 31, 2020. As a result, it will be possible for travellers to change their booking up to 24 hours before departure. Note that travel must be completed within 12 months of the original travel date and that if the price for the new booking is higher, customers must pay the difference. The policy excludes group bookings. Cancellation requests are subject to the terms and conditions.” Transat said more information can be found at transat.com/peaceofmind.

SUNWING

Sunwing says its operations in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and the U.S. have not been impacted by the virus and are operating normally. “Nonetheless,” it said in a note to travel agents and partners, “we recognize that some of your clients may be reluctant to finalize plans and make a financial commitment due to this evolving set of circumstances. In order to alleviate these concerns, we are introducing a more flexible approach for changes to new bookings made in the next two weeks.” The airline said it will waive any administration fees association with the first change for any new bookings made between March 4 and March 19. The policy applies to all new bookings with a departure date from now “up to and including June 24, 2020.” Any change must be requested at least 14 days prior to travel, or normal conditions will apply, and “regular conditions will apply should the change made result in a lower or higher price.” In addition, Sunwing said cancellation fees still apply. The new booking arrangements apply to all Sunwing bookings, including flight and hotel-only reservations, together with both cruise and vacation packages.

TICO

The Travel Industry Council of Ontario has issued a statement saying TICO registrants are required to warn customers of the reports of Coronavirus. “Prior to reserving travel services for a customer, a travel agent shall bring to the customer’s attention any conditions that the travel agent has reason to believe may affect the customer’s decision to make the purchase.

This would include any safety concerns relating to the travel destination at the time of booking, regardless of whether the government has issued a travel advisory for that destination,” TICO said. “Travel agents may also have a continuing obligation to inform customers of a deteriorating situation in the travel destination after the travel services have been reserved.

After booking, if there is a change to any matter that is referred to in a representation (e.g., an advertisement or brochure) that, if known, might have affected the customer’s decision to purchase, the registrant shall promptly advise the customer of the change.” The organization also said that consumers who have bookings to the affected destinations “are subject to the terms and conditions of the booking, which may include possible penalties for changes and cancellations” and that there “is no provision in the Act or the Regulation that requires a registrant to provide a refund or offer alternate travel services because a government advisory has been issued.”

WESTJET

The airline’s website says that all new flight bookings made between March 3, 2020 and March 17, 2020 for travel through June 24, 2020 will be allowed a one-time change fee waiver. “The one-time change fee waiver is available for any itinerary change made more than 14 days from departure,” the airline said. Standard change fee rules apply for changes within 14 days of travel. Difference in fares also will apply. Customers should visit the WestJet “manage trips” page on westjet.com or contact the airline for assistance. Customers who have booked through a travel agent should contact the agent for changes.