Thailand has instituted a ban all non-citizens arriving in Thailand from March 25 through April 30, 2020 and the authorities have now extended this restriction until at least May 31, 2020.
Even before this rule the country already tightened entry requirements requiring arriving passengers to have a medical certificate that they are not infected withCOVID-19 and proof that they have a travel insurance with a minimum of $100,000 in coverage.
For a better overview we decided to create a comprehensive list for all airlines, hotels and car rental companies that are offering an elite status extension policy to their member during the COVID-19 period and beyond.
This list serves as addition to our regular articles and will be updated as the situation progresses and further announcements of companies taking such a step are publicly available.
Hong Kong has just announced that they will extend their restrictions placed on entry and airport transit first put in place on March 25th until further notice.
Under these border control measures Non-Hong Kong residents will be denied entry into Hong Kong and passengers are no longer permitted to transit through Hong Kong International Airport.
On Friday the Government of Thailand and CAAT Aviation Authority have decided to ban international flights to Thailand until midnight today but this has just been extended until at least April 18th 2020.
The initial ban followed an incident at BKK Airport after over a hundred arriving Thai passengers first refused their quarantine orders after which some simply ran away and others were eventually let go to their homes.
Travelers in Thailand who are seeking to extend their tourist visa have to seek out their local immigration office and the Bangkok Immigration Division 1 was so overwhelmed during this last week that they now outsourced the processing to an off site building.
Yesterday I wrote about Indonesia granting all travelers an automatic extension for free but those familiar with Thailand already imagined that this is unlikely to happen there.
As many tourists in Indonesia (especially Bali) scrambled of whether to return home or try and extend their stay amid the Covid19 crisis the Indonesian Immigration Department has published a blanket policy.
Indonesia for a few years now has a visa exempt policy that usually (unlike a real visa/visa on arrival) can’t be extended, however the authorities have now come up with an emergency policy,
Farnborough International Airshow is one of the largest aerospace trade shows in the world. On their 2018 edition, this biannual gathering brought 80,000 visitors in, with 1,500+ exhibitors and a staggering 196 billion US dollars in deals closed during the show.
This year’s edition promised to be a record-breaking one in terms of visitors and deals, but the organizers have decided to cancel the event due to the current COVID-19 emergency.
In an unprecedented step of emergency measures Nevada’s Governor has announced that effective March 17th all nonessential businesses in Nevada are to be closed, resulting in Las Vegas’ first ever shut down.
This includes Hotel-Casinos that will be closed for a minimum of 30 days, as well as their buffets and restaurants until further notice.
Like many other countries, Thailand has just announced today that a 14 day mandatory closure of entertainment venues such as bars, cinemas, highly frequented places as well as schools.
Public services will be partially scaled back but remain available for locals to keep daily life as normal and basic requirements such as transportation and supermarkets as accessible as possible.
The United States Customs & Border Protection has published a warning message on their website that the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) has been voided for various travelers.
ESTA holders should check if the status of their application and if they possibly need to re-apply before their next trip to the U.S.A. commences.
The government of Canada has just announced through the Prime Minister that all cruise ship traffic will be suspended until at least July 1, 2020 at which point a further evaluation of the situation will occur.
This effectively cancels half of Canada’s annual cruise ship season which typically sees several million passengers per year.
Many countries have put travel restrictions in place in recent weeks and this often causes misunderstandings about who is actually allowed to enter a certain country.
A common misconception is that the Coronavirus-based travel restrictions are actually affecting anyone with a certain nationality which isn’t the case, it’s rather based on your travel history during the recent weeks.
It’s the end of an era for travelers at LAX as industry veteran SuperShuttle has informed franchisees they will shut down their Los Angeles operations effective January 1, 2020.
The last rides will be on December 31, 2019 after which passengers have to seek out alternate arrangements and if already prepaid seek refunds rather sooner than later.
It’s Thanksgiving Week again, one of the busiest travel periods in the United States that comes with both stressful situations but also good shopping opportunities in the travel sector.
Many hotels, airlines and their loyalty programs will have deals in the coming days so after having a nice turkey dinner in the circle of your family maybe you should look out what they have in store this year.
