Monday, March 16, 2020

A wedding with coronavirus?

A wedding with more than 100 attending?

We had a wedding planned for June om the UK. We had guests from all over the world.

They were from the USA, the UK, the Middle East, Israel, Singapore. All ages, including the elderly and those with health issues.



We were watching the situation in the UK, the USA, Israel and Singapore.



And airlines such as Ryanair and Singapore Airlines.



Flag of Cyprus.

We had planned a trip taking in Cyprus and the UK.

 Then we wanted to bring it forward to March. Then American and other countries started putting in more restriction on travel, and quarantine on arrival.

The venue allowed us to make a reservation for September.

The big cost is the catering.

What are the problems? Guests cannot travel. No flights.

Quarantine
Guests could be put into quarantine on arrival in your country.
Guests travelling from overseas may be put into quarantine when they return home.

Cancellation Charges
If the government bans big meetings, maybe you can cancel the event and recover from insurance the catering cost. But if you cancel or bring your wedding forward, you may not be able to claim on insurance. Check the terms.

Checking
Call the caterers and insurance company to find out.

Travel Bans
On the other hand, the longer you leave it, the greater the risk that your family will be unable to travel.

Will there be flights? Road blocks? Travel restrictions.

Health Risks
Or they won't want to risk getting ill. Or you won't want to risk infecting all your elderly relatives. Or being to blame if even one person falls ill.


Singapore flag.

Singapore Airlines Queues
In Singapore there were huge queues (line ups) of people wanting to cancel flights, change flights, leave, not leave, bring journeys forward to get out whilst they could still get into other countries.

Singapore Airlines was asking people to not go to their offices unless their flights were in the next 72 hours, so they could reduce waiting times and make a priority those with immediate travel needs.

We looked at the insurance websites. Some insurances say you cannot get a refund unless you have a medical reason, supported by a certificate from a doctor . If you are over 70 with an underlying medical condition and over 70s are told not to travel, you may be able to get a doctor's certificate saying it is not safe for you to risk travelling. It is wroth phoning your insurance company and your doctor to find out.

Useful Websites
Ryanair
Singapore airlines
Singapore government health information updated daily

About the author
travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite post.




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