Travel during CoVid is complicated:
- The amount of work required by a travel advisor is at least 3 times what it was in pre-pandemic times
- Government advisories are constantly changing.
- There are often changing entry and exit requirements that regions (e.g., by province or state or county) as well as countries (Canada and elsewhere) can announce at any time.
- Health forms and questionnaires are common.
- There are often changing testing requirements to get on different forms of transport.
- As a general rule of thumb, everyone should be double-vaccinated at least to fly, take cruises and often most tours, etc.
- Rules and regulations can change at a moment’s notice, and it’s not unusual for me to receive updates on countries or cruises lines now requiring booster shots as well.
- There are different rules for those who cannot be vaccinated (e.g., children under 5).
- Insurance is always strongly recommended, with constantly changing implications of morphing government advisories, and how that interplays with insurance inclusions/ exclusions, as well as quarantine, etc.
- With insurance, pre-existing health matters also now have to consider whether someone has had CoVid, and stability periods, etc.
- Some countries/ cruise lines accept a letter of positive test. Others do not.
Here is just a sample of CoVid complications from interruption/ cancelation issues, giving some examples with river cruising that happened long after the initial waves of cancelation in 2020. (Kindly note: river cruising was perhaps the most accessible form of travel throughout the pandemic, given with their small and intimate ships, elevated safety rules to meet each country’s rules, and the fact some companies successful continued to sail throughout 2020-2022 in European markets):
- have seen Netherlands closing almost overnight with river cruise companies having to bus clients to next port and/or get special 24 hour waiver
- Austria closed to folks travelling essentially, with Christmas markets shut down across Europe very quickly in 2021
- Germany required new testing and closed most Christmas markets – 2 years in a row
- France continually changed rules for entry and testing
- Canadians were not being able to go to Hungary at different points
- Throughout all, I worked with my clients to protect their financial investments, and get them home/ rebooked/ travelling
- These issues were also experienced across land trips, hotel stays, tours, ocean and expedition cruises, etc