Tourists who have planned to stay in an area affected by the coronavirus epidemic can postpone or cancel free of charge if they have visited a tour operator. But if they bought their ticket or their trip directly, they will have to negotiate ... or pay fees. This includes stays in China, South Korea, and in certain regions of Italy, the three countries most affected. This Thursday, February 27, there were more than 82,000 cases and 2,800 deaths worldwide.
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I bought a trip from a travel agency
“If one has purchased a stay (transport and hotel), article L211-14 of the Tourism Code allows the consumer to cancel before departure without any cost when exceptional circumstances, at the place of destination or nearby , have important consequences for the performance of the contract, ” said AFP Raphaël Bartlomé, head of the legal department at UFC-Que Choisir.
However, this provision, which came into force in July 2018, "does not provide instructions on how to understand the risky nature or not of a destination" , decrypts the general secretary of Tourism and Travel Mediation, Khalid El Wardi .
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Travel agencies systematically reimburse their customers when the Quai d'Orsay classifies the area where they had to leave in red or orange. But in the event of an epidemic, such as the new coronavirus which is spreading across Europe, "it is extremely difficult to judge, in a changing situation, what is the area of immediate proximity" allowing to cancel or postpone your trip no cost, he explains. You will have to look on a case-by-case basis and see if the request is reasonable on the date requested: it is not if it is made a year before the planned trip, for example.
Likewise for the destination: "if I go in the heel of the boot of Italy, there is no risk, but if I go in the area (affected by Lombardy and Veneto), I can raise this hypothesis and be reimbursed at no cost, ” says Bartlomé.
I purchased the flight and accommodation separately
The traveler who has taken a train or plane ticket, or even booked a hotel, all alone, will be dependent on the commercial policy of each professional. If the contract cannot be modified, canceled or reimbursed "without heavy penalties, as is unfortunately more and more the case" , underlines the head of the legal service at UFC-Que Choisir, "let me go in China or in an area where there is a spread of the virus does not make it possible to obtain cancellation free of charge ” .
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The traveler can try to negotiate with the hotelier, who can agree to postpone their nights or "refuse and invoice all or part of what has been paid, as penalties" .
As for the cancellation insurance and the credit cards which include it, "you have to check the contracts, but most of the time we will find exclusions of cover in the event of natural phenomena, civil war, demonstrations and pandemics" , indicates M Bartlomé. "Most will not cover these assumptions."
My company suspends air routes
Air France has suspended its flights to Beijing, Shanghai and Wuhan since January 30, and expects a gradual resumption from March 29, with a return to normal from April 13. Its passengers were therefore able to cancel or postpone their flights at no cost.
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Even when they maintain their connections to risk areas, most companies offer postponements or cancellations at no cost. Regarding Italy, Air France has announced that it will maintain all of its usual flight programs but offers these commercial measures for trips to northern cities (Milan, Venice and Bologna).
I am in an affected region and I want to return
"If you have not contracted the disease, you will not be supported or repatriated," says Olivier Moustacakis, co-founder of the online comparator Assurland.com. "On the other hand, if you are sick, repatriation insurance can obviously take care of repatriation, since you have contracted the disease."
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Taking repatriation travel insurance, which is “not expensive” , can be “ frankly essential if you are going to countries where medical costs are prohibitive, such as the United States and Japan,” underlines Mr. Moustacakis.
