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Spain, Croatia and Co.
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What travel advisories mean for vacationers
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At the Palma de Mallorca airport: From Friday (August 14) a travel warning from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been in force for almost all of Spain, including the Balearic Islands.
Photo: dpa-tmn / Clara Margais
Sedan First Spain and Croatia, now also Vienna and parts of the Netherlands – again there are travel advisories for popular vacation areas. What do tourists and returnees need to know now? An overview of three different scenarios.
The growing number of new corona infections in popular holiday regions has consequences: The Federal Foreign Office has now also issued travel advisories for the Austrian capital Vienna and the Netherlands. What does this mean for travelers? Three scenarios at a glance:
Scenario 1: I’m on site
– Vacation packages already there, they will be returned to Germany at the expense of your tour operator. That means: when in doubt, you must leave earlier. “Combined tourists should also use the return flight organized by the organizer,” warns Sabine Fischer-Volk, a lawyer at the Karimi law firm in Berlin. “Otherwise, you will have to pay for the return trip yourself later.”
– Individual travelers already on the site, they must organize a return trip themselves and on their own. However, you are not required to leave; a travel warning is not a travel ban. That means you can also take your reserved return flight. However, you should check to see if this is still being offered as planned. It could be that the airlines cut connections.
Important: Anyone returning from an affected region is considered a returnee from a risk area, with obligations corresponding to a corona test and home quarantine until a negative result is available.
Scenario 2: I wanted to go soon
– Vacation packages that would like to start their trip in the next few days, now they have bad cards: the travel warning is binding on German tour operators. Companies often cancel their trips as soon as there is a warning. In this case, the guests get their initial payments back. Tourists who are about to start their trip can now also cancel their travel contract for free.
– Individual travelers who wanted to start their trip soon, you should contact your airline if necessary. If the airline cancels the flight, they must refund the money. However, if the flight goes as planned, no money will be given if the passenger lets the flight expire. Currently, many airlines adapt to the change of reservation. So it is possible to postpone the flight for free.
Scenario 3: I want to leave in a few weeks
– Vacation Packages They Have Booked For Fall Break, now you must be patient. It is not clear how long the travel warning will apply, the situation of the crown can change quickly.
Those who have booked for the fall vacation can’t cancel their free ride tomorrow, Fischer-Volk says. Because there are still a few weeks until the holidays. “Here I have to wait and see how the situation develops,” explains the travel law expert. Anyone who cancels immediately now faces cancellation fees. “The best thing to do is to observe the situation at the travel destination four weeks before the start of the trip.” So a trip feasibility forecast is more reliable.
And: “Anyone who belongs to a risk group can ask the organizer to change their reservation to a later date,” says Fischer-Volk. This also applies to vacationers who already know for sure that they don’t want to go to the Balearic Islands in autumn either. The main organizers are currently adapting to the booking change options.
– Tour Packages Reserving Now Despite Travel Warning, you run a certain risk. “If you book now despite the travel warning because you assume it won’t be bad again in the fall, you can’t cancel later without charge because you’ve accepted the risk,” explains Fischer-Volk. A free and timely new reservation would be an option.
By the way: tourists cannot use trip cancellation insurance in case of travel warning. According to the Insured Association (BdV), these notices are not insured.
