I planned to go to a meeting in the Portland, Oregon, area in April. When I first made the plans in mid-January, the Coronavirus epidemic hadn’t yet spread in China. The first death in Wohan was reported January 11.
I began to wonder about the wisdom of attending the meeting, as the disease spread to Seattle. I thought it would hit hardest in the west coast ports that did so much trade with Asia.
The meeting agenda was confirmed on February 23. That was the day Italy began reporting serious problems.
I made my reservations using an on-line website, but made sure I could cancel if necessary. I had to pay an extra $10 for the hotel room. Since, airlines don’t make refunds, I bought one of those cancellation insurance policies. I normally considered them to be a scam, but now there was some chance I would need it.
On March 8, the governor of Oregon declared a state of emergency. I got an email from the meeting organizers on March 9 providing information on alternatives being considered for on-line participation. Two days latter they sent me an email cancelling the meeting.
I immediately went online, and cancelled my airline, hotel, and car rental reservations. The website had a notice it was experiencing unusually high volumes of activity. The credit card statement I received a few days ago showed I got refunds for the hotels and car.
The same day I filed a claim for the airline fare. I haven’t heard anything yet. I’ve since read all these insurance companies have hidden clauses that relieve them of paying claims in times of an epidemic. Of course, they don’t mention that when they advertise their policies. Like I thought, such policies really are a scam. If all I lose from this crises is $41, I will have been lucky.
Please feel free to share your experiences in these perilous times.
No comments:
Post a Comment