COVID-19 Airline and Hotel Responses

Needless to say, the COVID-19 Airline and Hotel Responses are still very fluid and evolving. But, my inbox is flooded with emails from hundreds of airlines, major hotel chains, and hotel booking sites regarding cancelled travel plans. Here’s what you need to know.

Again, like my post on NYC’s Tourist Attraction closures, this post is intended to be a round-up resource for you, so you don’t have to hunt down dozens of web sites on your own. I’ll keep it updated, and post the date and time at the bottom of the post.

Airline Responses and Policies

Alaska Airlines
Saver Fares booked between 2/27 and 3/31/2020 for travel through February 28, 2021, allow cancellation for a full refund. Nonrefundable First Class or Main Fares booked between 2/27 and 3/31/2020 for travel through 2/28/2021, are allowed a one time change with no fee or cancellation for a full refund.

American Airlines
Non-Refundable Fare tickets purchased by 3/31/2020 for travel through 1/30/2021, allow a one-time change with no fee before your original departure date.

British Airways
No change fee applies to new bookings on any route made from 3/3 to 3/31/2020.

Delta Airlines
No change fees for all tickets purchased between 3/1 to 3/31/2020 for travel through 2/25/2021.

jetBlue
No change or cancellation fees for all new flight bookings made between 2/27 and 3/31/2020 for travel through 9/8/2020.

United
When you book a flight between 3/3 and 3/31/2020, you can change it for free over the next 12 months.

Southwest Airlines

Hotel Responses and Policies

Hotels.com

If you have only booked lodging via Hotels.com we will ensure you will have the option to cancel and be refunded. If you have booked air travel or a travel package, we are working with our airline partners to understand how their cancellation policies will work.

Hilton Hotels

Government Restrictions. In regions affected by government-issued travel restrictions, we will continue to waive change fees or offer full refunds. Please click here for the latest information on our travel waivers.
Existing Reservations. All reservations – even those described as “non-cancellable” (“Advanced Purchase”) – that are scheduled for arrival before April 30, 2020, can be changed or cancelled at no charge up to 24 hours before your scheduled arrival.
New Reservations. Any reservation you make – even those described as “non-cancellable” (“Advanced Purchase”) – that are booked between today and April 30, 2020, for any future arrival date, can be changed or cancelled at no charge up to 24 hours before your scheduled arrival.

Air B&B

Eligible reservations can be canceled without charges, including:

Guests who are traveling to or from severely impacted areas (for a list of areas impacted and covered by this policy, click here)
Hosts who are hosting in or welcoming guests from severely impacted areas (for a list of areas impacted and covered by this policy, see below)
Anyone who can’t complete their trip due to official travel restrictions, medical or disease control duties, flight or ground transportation cancellation initiated by the provider due to COVID-19, or suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19

Hyatt

Any guest who booked a nonrefundable, prepaid rate on or before March 8 will get 10,000 World of Hyatt points if they choose to cancel their trip. The offer is good for travel through the end of June and only for bookings made directly through Hyatt.

Existing reservations for upcoming travel between March 14 and April 30, 2020: All existing reservations made before March 13, 2020 that are for arrivals between March 14 and April 30, 2020 can be changed or cancelled at no charge up to 24 hours before your scheduled arrival. This includes Advance Purchase Rate reservations.

New reservations for any future travel: Any reservation you make between March 13, 2020, and April 30, 2020 – for any future arrival date – can be changed or cancelled at no charge up to 24 hours before your scheduled arrival. This includes Advance Purchase Rate reservations.

Existing Advance Purchase Rate non-refundable reservations for travel through June 2020: As announced earlier, special exceptions are in place for all Advance Purchase Rate non-refundable reservations made directly with Hyatt on or before March 8, 2020 for arrivals before June 30, 2020. Guests holding these fully prepaid reservations who have decided not to travel may still opt, at least 24 hours before their stay, to receive 10,000 World of Hyatt Bonus Points compensation in lieu of both their stay and the offer above (if eligible). World of Hyatt points may be used toward future travel at any of our 900+ hotels across 17 brands globally.

Marriott

Marriott is waiving individual cancellation fees for hotel stays through March 31, 2020 for guests traveling to or from the following locations:

Asia Pacific: Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, French Polynesia, Maldives, India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, New Caledonia, Samoa

Europe: Italy

Wyndham

Guests traveling to or from Greater China, South Korea or Italy with direct bookings for stays in any of the Wyndham hotels through March 31, 2020 will have their cancellation or change penalties waived.
Guests who are prohibited from traveling to their booked hotel under applicable law will have their cancellation or change penalties waived on direct bookings.
Globally, for existing direct bookings, all of our properties are required to accommodate non-cancellable rate reservation changes if the request is received at least 48 hours prior to arrival and the same number of room nights or more are booked for a future stay.
We are also extending current Wyndham Rewards member status for all Gold, Platinum and Diamond members from our Greater China and Southeast Asia Pacific Rim regions through the end of 2021.

IHG

IHS is waiving cancellation fees for existing and new bookings at all IHG hotels globally for stays between March 9, 2020 and April 30, 2020.

This is in addition to existing cancellation policy measures we have in place, summarized below.

For any stay prior to March 9, 2020, existing measures mean that you will be able to change or cancel a valid booking reservation without financial penalty, if you are traveling to or from:

Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR and the Taiwan region for any stay between January 23, 2020 and March 9, 2020.
Italy and South Korea for any stay between February 28, 2020 and March 9, 2020.

For bookings made through a travel agent or online booking platform (e.g. Booking.com, Expedia) please contact them directly – we have advised these companies of our cancellation policy and you should refer to their terms and conditions.

Radisson

Radisson Hotel Group is constantly updating our global cancellation policy to reflect the most recent developments related to the COVID-19.

Our most recent policy allows free cancellations related to inbound and outbound individual and group bookings for China, South Korea, Japan, Iran and Italy until April 30, 2020. It also allows free cancellations resulting from governmental travel and/or meetings restrictions for the duration of the respective measurement. This includes the 1-month travel suspension from the 26 Schengen countries* to the United States as well as the 1-month visa suspension for India (both valid as of March 13, 2020).

In China, the following hotels remain closed:

– Radisson Blu Resort Wetland Park Wuxi
– Radisson Hangzhou Qianjiang
– Radisson Blu Forest Manor Shanghai Hongqiao

In Italy, the following hotels are temporarily closed until April 3, 2020:

– Radisson Blu Hotel Milan
– Radisson Blu Resort Terme di Galzignano
– Radisson Collection Palazzo Montemartini (Rome)

If you need to adjust or cancel a reservation, please contact the hotel directly, use the online form or contact your travel agent if you booked through an external service partner.

*The 26 Schengen countries are: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

The Post was last updated on 3.13.20 at 1:30pm Central Time.

COVID-19 Airline and Hotel Responses