The fast-spreading coronavirus is forcing travellers to reconsider their trips. As of Wednesday, the virus has sickened more than 94,000 people and 3,200 have died. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends avoiding all nonessential travel to China, Iran, South Korea and Italy, and says older adults or those with chronic medical conditions should postpone travel to Japan.

In response to this new reality, some airlines and hotels are adjusting their usual cancellation fees. And more people are beefing up their travel insurance coverage. Here’s what you need to know:

AIRLINES & TOUR OPERATORS:
The situation is fluid and flight cancellations and policies differ, so travellers should check airlines’ websites for updated information.

Most major airlines have suspended flights to mainland China through the end of April. Some have also suspended flights to Hong Kong, while others are flying there but on reduced schedules. Airlines have also reduced or suspended some flights to Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul and northern Italy. Some have suspended service to Italy.

Airlines will refund money for cancelled flights, waive change fees for one-time itinerary changes or let customers use the value of the ticket toward future travel. But watch the fine print: If travellers switch to a flight this summer, for example, they could be charged the difference in the fare between their old flight and the new flight.

To ease travellers’ minds, some airlines – including British Airways, Delta, United, JetBlue and American – are waiving future change fees for tickets bought in the next two weeks.

Air Canada: Because of the novel coronavirus, we understand that you may want to make alternate travel arrangements. For this reason, Air Canada has implemented a goodwill policy that applies to flights to, from or via certain countries including China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Italy. For other destinations our normal fare rules, including change policies, apply.

If you are scheduled to travel soon to areas where the goodwill policy applies, you can retrieve your booking and change your flight free of charge, subject to availability in the cabin you originally purchased.

WestJet: WestJet has implemented a flexible change policy – all new flight bookings made between March 3, 2020 and March 17, 2020 for travel through June 24, 2020 will be allowed a one-time change fee waiver. The one-time change fee waiver is available for any itinerary change made more than 14 days from departure. Note: For changes within 14 days of travel, standard change fee rules apply. Difference in fares will apply.

Air Transat: In order to offer travellers more flexibility, Transat offers them the possibility of changing their travel dates, destination or hotel at no charge. This policy applies to new bookings for flights on all routes offered by Air Transat and for South packages made between March 4 and March 31, 2020 for travel between now and October 31, 2020.

Travellers can change their bookings up to 24 hours before departure. Note that travel must be completed within 12 months of the original travel date and that if the price for the new booking is higher, customers must pay the difference. The policy excludes group bookings. Cancellation requests are subject to the terms and conditions.

Goway: Effective immediately for all new bookings, all travel deposits made to Goway from 3-31 March 2020 will be transferable to another Goway destination or travel date. Deposits never expire.

Goway is providing a more flexible cancellation fee structure. For new bookings deposited from 3-31 March 2020, in the event of a cancellation for a non-insured reason, Goway will offer 25% of the cancellation fees as a future travel credit, which will be provided up until 5 days prior to departure, and is valid for one year from date of issue for travel to the same destination.

Goway also offers an insurance policy that covers 75% of cancellation fees, regardless of reason for cancellation, as long as travellers cancel at least two days before scheduled departure. (This cancellation benefit is not valid to residents of New York.)

Sunwing is introducing a more flexible approach for changes to new bookings made in the next two weeks in light of the COVID-19 outbreak. The company noted that operations across their destinations in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and the US have currently not been impacted by the virus and are continuing as normal.

Sunwing acknowledged that customers may be reluctant to finalize plans and make a financial commitment due to the evolving set of circumstances and hopes the changes which have been introduced can help customers book their travel with confidence.

• For new bookings made between March 4th and March 19th, 2020 Sunwing will waive any administration fees associated with the first change.
• This applies to all new bookings with a departure date from now up to and including June 24th, 2020.
• Any change must be requested at least 14 days prior to travel or normal conditions will apply.
• Regular conditions will apply should the change made result in a lower or higher price.
• Cancellation fees still apply.
• These flexible booking arrangements apply to all Sunwing bookings including flight and hotel only reservations together with both cruise and vacation packages.

Sunwing is also encouraging customers to purchase their Worry Free Cancellation Waiver for additional reassurance, which starts from just $50 per person. This plan provides 100% cancellation coverage up until just three hours before departure for any reason whatsoever along with the option to make a change to the booking within 14 days of departure with no penalty.

CRUISE SHIPS:
Cruise lines have been moving Asia-based ships to other destinations such as Australia and Alaska and are turning away potential travellers who have recently travelled in Iran, South Korea, China, Hong Kong and Macau, according to the Cruise Lines International Association, a trade group. Some cruise lines, including Norwegian and Royal Caribbean, are also denying boarding to passengers who travelled through northern Italy.

Cancellation policies vary. Royal Caribbean says US guests on cruises in Asia departing before March 23 can rebook their trips to a later date with no penalty. Guests who can’t board because they have travelled in certain regions will get refunds.

Norwegian Cruise Lines is letting guests transfer a reservation to another cruise up to 60 days prior to departure for cruises sailing on or before June 30. It usually requires changes 120 days before departure. Those who decide not to sail can transfer the reservation to someone else up to 45 days before departure.

HOTELS:
Big hotel chains are waiving cancellation fees for guests who had planned to travel to or from affected areas.

Marriott, which has temporarily closed 90 of its 375 hotels in China is waiving cancellation fees through March 15 for hotels in China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and Italy. Guests travelling from those countries can also cancel without a fee.

Hilton has closed 150 hotels in China due to the virus. It is waiving cancellation fees for China, South Korea and Saudi Arabia through March 31 and Italy through March 8.

Hyatt has waived cancellation fees through March 31 for hotels and guests in China, South Korea, Japan and Italy.

HOME SHARING:
Airbnb is letting travellers going to and from China cancel their reservations without a penalty through April 1.

Fees will also be waived for guests travelling to or from South Korea through March 9. The company says it will also waive cancellation fees in other locations if government or health authorities restrict access to cities, if flights are cancelled or if guests are diagnosed with COVID-19 or suspect they could be ill.

TRAVEL INSURANCE:
More people who are sticking to their travel plans are paying extra for the right to get reimbursed after cancelling a trip for any reason. InsureMyTrip said there has been a 60% spike in “cancel for any reason” riders since late January, shortly before the World Health Organization called the outbreak a global health emergency. Any-reason policies usually reimburse buyers for 50% to 75% of the non-refundable cost of their trip. They generally must be purchased at the same time the buyer pays for the trip, or soon after.