Swine Flu Travel Information

However you heard Vice President Biden's advice on swine flu, many of you are justifiably concerned about any upcoming travel plans. The upside is that most airlines, cruise lines, and tour operators are offering at least some relief to travelers who want to delay their trips, but the downside is that the options may be fairly limited. And, at least so far, the relief is confined strictly to Mexican travel. Here's what I know as of the first of May.

Airlines

Most airlines are allowing travelers with tickets to Mexico to cancel and rebook for a future date without any exchange fee or fare hike. But your options are fairly limited:

• American's position is probably typical: If you have a ticket to travel to Mexico through May 31, and if that ticket was issued no later than April 24, you can reschedule the trip, between the same cities, for the full period the ticket is valid. If you want to travel to some other destination, you can re-ticket with no change fee, but you must pay any fare difference. If you want to cancel completely, you can get a refund—but if your ticket is nonrefundable, the refund will be in the form of a voucher for future travel, not cash.
• Among the other airlines, Continental pretty much follows the American pattern, as do Continental, Northwest, and United. Aeromexico's plan covers tickets purchased between April 24 and May 15 for travel through December 10. Alaska's current exemption applies for travel only through May 20.
• US Airways allows you to reschedule only 14 days on either side of your reservation—a policy that will probably change soon.

Cruise Lines

All the big cruise lines have rescheduled cruises to avoid Mexican ports for sailing as far in the future as June (for some lines). Voyages scheduled for ports on Mexico's Caribbean coast are being rescheduled to other Caribbean or Central American ports; cruises scheduled for Pacific ports are diverting as far away as Seattle and Victoria—certainly a far cry from Mexico's tropical ports.

Clearly, any serious deviation from the promised itinerary represents a failure to deliver what you supposedly bought. But, at least so far, the big lines have taken substantially different approaches to the problem of cancellations and refunds. According to the latest information I could find (last week), Carnival is waiving all cancellation fees and offering a full refund in the form of a credit toward a future cruise. Princess, on the other hand, so far isn't providing any compensation for itinerary changes. And other lines are somewhere in between those two extremes. If you're scheduled for a cruise that calls on any Mexican port any time this spring or summer, keep in close contact with your cruise line about changes and cancellation options.

Hotels and Tours

Hotels in general are allowing cancellations with no fee; if you've prepaid, most appear to be offering refunds in the form of vouchers or credit for future use rather than cash.

Travel Insurance

As of now, travel insurance companies have taken a very hard line toward cancellations. According to the last information I have, most of them will honor a cancellation claim only if you or another individual covered by your policy actually comes down with the flu. You can't collect if you just conclude that it's unsafe to go. In fact, many policies specifically exclude epidemics as a cause for cancellation. The only policies that would allow you to collect in that case are those that allow cancellation for any reason. These standards seem extremely harsh, but it's anyone's guess if the insurers will ease off in the future.

Travel Industry

So far, the travel industry's focus is narrowly directed toward Mexico. Suppliers remain inflexible about travel to other destinations. But keep in mind that the current situation is a moving target. If the flu outbreak continues or spreads, you can expect the airlines, cruise lines, hotels, and tour operators to adjust policies according to the latest developments. But the basic principles will likely remain the same.