Business Platinum Card from American Express
130,000 MR points
Coronavirus: Travelling in the Time of COVID‑19
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Business Platinum Card from American Express
- Earn 90,000 MR points upon spending $15,000 in the first three months
- Plus, earn 40,000 MR points upon making a purchase in months 14–17 as a cardholder
- And, earn 1.25x MR points on all purchases
- Also, receive a $200 annual travel credit
- Transfer MR points to Aeroplan and other frequent flyer programs for premium flights
- Unlimited airport lounge access for you and one guest at Priority Pass, Plaza Premium, Centurion, and other lounges
- Credits and rebates for business expenses throughout the year with Amex Offers
- Bonus MR points for referring family and friends
- Qualify for the card as a sole proprietor
- Annual fee: $799
26 Comments
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Just booked a last-minute flight via Aeroplan to Nicaragua for tomorrow (would rather wait this out on a beach). Paid the fees with my Amex Platinum but based on their insurance website, I can’t tell if the standard 15 days of insurance will be covered? Or if I just can’t extend the insurance? If the 15 days doesn’t apply, does anyone know of any travel insurance companies that are still selling coverage?
Ricky
The president said no to flights from 26 European countries to the USA and now he has added the UK plus Ireland.
My route was London-Barcelona-Miami-Antigua-Tobago-Port of Spain-Miami train to New York-London.
The flights in the Caribbean are with Avios points using British Airways and American Airlines.
(Ricky, also wanted to add to my comment below – I already forked out CDN 300+ in taxes for the "old-school" Mini RTW, alongside my precious 90K points)
Ricky, thanks for an informative article. I booked a Mini-RTW trip right before the big policy change at the end of August 2019. The trip is an amazing adventure from Vancouver to Perth, including stop-overs in Seoul and Bali, and layovers in Taiwan and Singapore each way. Two issues were plaguing me (1) I was short 50K points to upgrade to business class, which I have now and was planning on having them honour that old booking (as per your blogs) and re-book as many segments as possible in business, now that I have the 50K points, and (2) my partner wants to join me on the trip and has no miles, so that was proving to be a challenge and I was thinking of just cancelling the trip all together and getting my miles back (with some hefty Aeroplan penalties, I am sure)
My question: With this COVID pandemic, how do you recommend I cancel the trip all together to come out unscathed interms of penalties, etc. as much as possible? I am happy to let go of the old Mini-RTW dream at this point. It would be easier to book a less exciting trip with points, sometime in the future, that can include my partner too. Thoughts?
Henry, AP is not charging any fees online to cancel right now. Go to manage my booking and click on cancel and follow the prompts (no cc info will be asked). After the process, if you get a note that says it will go to manual processing (you won’t get an email), then call AP to cancel. With the current volume, no guarantee they will process it before your first flight departs. You will get all your taxes back but it will take a while since they are extremely backlogged, but the points will be reinstated immediately.
Sorry I should clarify, if you cancel online and get the note about it being submitted for manual processing, there is no guarantee it will be processed in 10 business days as noted. If you call AP, the agent will process the cancellation while you are on the phone.
Based on the current situation, you should be able to get a full refund of the 90k miles + taxes. Try doing it online, as the Aeroplan website is now programmed to allow free refunds; if that doesn’t work, you’d have to reach the contact centre and have them process the refund.
We are in the process of cancelling our 100 day trip to Europe. I’ve run into a couple of issues with events that I had booked, in France, not allowing a refund. I think the situation may change there and in Spain in the next couple of days. I am not overly concerned about contacting the virus, although I am in a higher risk category, but I am concerned about the spread. I think we all need to stay in place right now, limit our social engagements and wait this thing out.
Spain’s numbers are about to blow right up, and France doesn’t look too far behind. I agree with you – we’d all be better off if we hung tight for a few weeks and let it all play out.
There’s a few places in Asia that I’d have no problem traveling to. One of those places is Taiwan. It’s one of the few countries that has had a really LOW cases/population ratio. Surprising considering a lot of people there have strong business ties with China. And if you do get sick they apparently have one of the world’s best medical systems. They’ve done an admirable job of containing the spread (being an island helps). They do have the advantage of acting independently from the WHO though, so some are saying ironically being blocked from entry into the WHO is a blessing in disguise.
One concern I would have is simply that traveling long-haul on an airplane with a bunch of people from all over the world is the most challenging part!
Definitely worth the points to fly in J right now!
The problem with N95 masks (as you can see in the picture) is that to be efficient they have to be fit tested (so they fit!). Surgical marks are next to useless unless you are ill and coughing – and then they can be used to cut down the risk of spreading the virus to others. If you look at the picture you will see someone wearing a mask with big spaces around it – so a huge reduction in efficacy right there. The other issue is that people touch their faces multiple times per hour – thus non-healthcare providers who are not used to wearing Personal Protective Equipment – will usually cross contaminate themselves in minutes. Gloves have the same issue. Basically for non-symptomatic people, neither of these products may make any difference – and may be counterproductive in that they give you a false sense of security. Wash you hands, wash your hands, wash your hands and keep away from groups of people (social distancing). And remember that although 80% of people who get the virus have only mild symptoms – not all the people in intensive care or who have died are elderly or immune-suppressed. If everyone is cautious – it helps us all.
Kudos to both Westjet and to Air Canada for the full credits they provided when I cancelled flights for my immune suppressed husband and my elderly sister in law.
Hi Ricky,
I was supposed to go to Israel as well, but ended up canceling for the below reasons:
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-israeli-with-coronavirus-in-severe-condition-israel-may-quarantine-some-u-s-arrivals-1.8638322
FYI!
My Aeroplan Mini-RTW is looking like it’ll need some tweaking too!
Thanks for the informative article. I’m going to France in September for the month – holding my breath at this point.
Wife and I are leaving Friday to New Zealand, Australia and Fiji for 5 weeks. Departing YVR. My biggest fear is someplace running out of toilet paper. Looking forward to some of the cleanest planes, trains and automobiles. Bigger chance of contracting it in Vancouver right now. Full steam ahead!
I’d be comfortable with those places at the moment as well, although I’d still be prepared to make changes on short notice, especially given how quickly a virus could overwhelm island populations.
Hi Ricky..
So here’s my dilemma.
I booked my first and only two stop mini-RTW just before the deadline last year, for travel in just over 4 weeks from now.
With the current situation, I am considering cancelling, as much as it pains me to do so, for the reasons you cite above.
Move the entire trip back until next year doesn’t sound like such a bad idea.
There are two problems with this, though:
1. Aeroplan rules. If I cancel, I won’t be able to book the same itinerary since Aeroplan changed their stopover policy. And my understanding is all travel needs to be complete within 1 year of the original booking date, so my ability to change my booking is limited (and the virus situation may not be better in July/August..).
Is there any way out of this?
In an ideal world, Aeroplan would let me move my itinerary to next year with no penalty, and allow me to keep the two stopovers. And Marriott would extend the deadlines on these certificates.
Any idea whether this is achievable?
Yeah, that’s a tough situation. I don’t see Aeroplan being too generous on the two-stopover thing, but it’s always worth escalating to a supervisor to see what they say. Meanwhile, I do feel that Marriott would be pretty likely to extend those certificates for you.
Hey Ricky,
Insightful article as usual! I’m not changing my travel plans (yet) and am scheduled to go to South America later this week. However, my biggest concern at the moment is what it’s going to be like traveling while Asian – just concerned about the racism directed towards Asians everywhere. It seems like every day I’m seeing a new video or news article about someone being attacked or harassed somewhere. What are your thoughts?
Unfortunately, ignorance is the biggest virus and will be around long after COVID-19 is gone. I’d recommend staying alert, making sure you’ve thought about when to protect yourself vs. stand up for yourself, and being prepared to act on that.
Thanks for the advice, though with Argentina imposing a 14-day quarantine on travelers from the US, I’ve had to cancel my trip.
Hey bud, I’m in South America on a mini-rtw at the moment, currently in Medellin (and I’m Asian). I have experienced a bit of racism. My Didi driver, for example, wrote a WhatsApp message in Spanish while driving that she was driving a chino and thinks I have coronavirus. That was the worst, other things are people being a bit cold, but nothing more.
99% of my interactions have been pleasant, so I wouldn’t sweat it too much.
Thanks for sharing that Martin!
To your point about how quickly things change, Israel just posted today that they’ll require everyone arriving to go into quarantine.
"All those coming to Israel from abroad will be placed in isolation," he said in a video address posted to Twitter.
Israeli Interior Minister Aryeh Deri said the measure would be effective immediately for all Israelis returning to the country.
It will apply to foreign citizens from Thursday, he added.
The move means that foreign arrivals will have to prove that they have adequate accommodation to be quarantined during their stay in the country."
Thanks for that well thought out article. I am scheduled to fly to France on points on April 12th and am holding my breath to see what happens in the next month. You made me re-think the impact of such a trip on my family when I get home e.g. my 93 year old Mother.
Hey Ricky! Just wanted to thank you for a nicely balanced piece … as usual! In my case we hadn’t booked much other than short Canada family visit trips so far this year, so fortunately haven’t run into the need to cancel or change plans as yet. But we have been deferring various trip ideas into the future so fall into the cautious camp.