Airlines have lowered fares to encourage people to travel in the face of the coronavirus and now some US carriers are introducing a blanket waiver for hefty change fees.
American Airlines is the latest US carrier to waive all change fees on tickets bought in the coming weeks in a bid to shore up softening demand from nervous travelers.
JetBlue started the trend on February 27 when it offered to suspend change and cancellation fees for all new flight bookings made from that date to March 11 covering travel up to June 1.
READ: US upgrades coronavirus travel warnings to Italy, South Korea, Iran.
The change applies to all fares, including Blue Basic, which generally doesn’t allow changes.
“While authorities have not issued any travel restrictions to the locations we fly, we want to give our customers some peace of mind that we are ready to support them should the situation change,” said JetBlue chief executive Joanna Geraghty.
“Given our mission is to inspire humanity, we felt this suspension was an important way to live up to our crewmember and customer expectations during this uncertain time.
“We are committed to the health and safety of both our crewmembers and customers, and we are working directly with health and security officials as well as industry leaders for updates and best practices.”
Alaska Airlines followed with a “peace of mind waiver”.
“Don’t worry about booking your ticket,’’ it said. “A waiver is currently in place for new tickets booked February 27-March 12, for travel through June 1, 2020.”
In a terse statement, American said it would waive change fees up to 14 days before travel for customers who buy tickets between March 1 and March 16.
The deal is available for any of American’s public fares but there was no mention of a travel date limit.
The volatility of the coronavirus outbreak and the responses by authorities have spooked some passengers, particularly those in Asia.
Notwithstanding the fear of catching the virus, the probability of which is low on an aircraft, passengers are worried about the financial risks of traveling during the outbreak.
READ: Air travel still seen as safe as coronavirus fears spread.
Most insurance companies are now considering COVID-19 a “known event”, so people who buy tickets and insurance today are unlikely to be covered for medical or cancellation expenses due to the virus.
The cut-off date at which insurers designated the coronavirus as a known event was generally in late January but some passengers face an additional complication in that not all policies covered epidemics or pandemics before these dates.
The advice of experts is that people who bought insurance before late January but have yet to travel should check their policies to see what was included.
Australian Consumer group Choice also urged those unable to get coverage for the coronavirus for later bookings should still buy insurance to cover them for other events.
