Return strategy and timing

[Badger]

I am an American currently stateside and am waiting to return to Fudan (I have been at Fudan for 2 years, this is my last semester). I want to go back so bad, but the chinese government scholarship isn't letting anyone return to China without consequences of taking your scholarship away until they let you know you can return. I do not know when this will be. Very frustrating.

 

 

[889]

Thailand is going to start requiring travellers to show a US$100,000 insurance policy against the virus. I think it's possible this sort of requirement may spread to other countries, and present a special obstacle to older travellers, who often can't get insurance at reasonable cost, if they can get it at all.

[abcdefg]

1 hour ago, 889 said:

Thailand is going to start requiring travellers to show a US$100,000 insurance policy against the virus. I think it's possible this sort of requirement may spread to other countries, and present a special obstacle to older travellers, who often can't get insurance at reasonable cost, if they can get it at all.

 

Yes, I've been watching that. It's not at all unreasonable, but it would definitely pose a problem for me. 

[abcdefg]

15 hours ago, Badger said:

I am an American currently stateside and am waiting to return to Fudan (I have been at Fudan for 2 years, this is my last semester). I want to go back so bad, but the chinese government scholarship isn't letting anyone return to China without consequences of taking your scholarship away until they let you know you can return.

 

That must be frustrating! 

 

International travel right now and in the immediate future is complicated by so many restrictions. I just finished reading this piece about a guy flying into Shanghai who was obliged to go into quarantine (not self-quarantine) because someone else on his flight had tested positive for the virus.  
 

Quote

 

 

I’m teaching online when the phone rings. Again. It’s the same number I’d missed three calls from yesterday. Ten minutes later, when I’ve signed off from my class, the phone starts ringing again.

I answer and know I’m in trouble when they use my full passport name. "This is the Shanghai CDC. A passenger on your recent flight has been diagnosed with coronavirus. Are you at home? We’ve already spoken to your neighborhood committee."

The officer on the phone is busy but helpful and answers all my many questions. No, I can’t complete the quarantine at home because I was within three rows of the infected passenger.

 

 

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/zeKIWanQ4nFYaEKvgHOc7g 

[abcdefg]

Saw this earlier today. Might be relevant for overseas students wondering about the timing of their return to class. 

 

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-05/13/c_139053804.htm 

Quote

 

Beijing to reopen universities from June 6

Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-13 17:45:26|Editor: huaxia

 

BEIJING, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Beijing will reopen universities from June 6, according to the Beijing Municipal Education Commission on Wednesday.

Graduating students of colleges and universities can return, on a voluntary basis, to campuses where anti-virus measures have been soundly implemented, according to the commission. 

 

I've booked a flight for the first part of July. It's a ticket which can be changed without penalty. Will follow the situation closely to see whether or not it is actually a feasible date. Would prefer to wait until a long quarantine on arrival is not required.

[Zeppa]

Sorry to hear that. But how well you have used those years! 

[abcdefg]

The last leg of my July flight (the part from HKIA to KMG) was just cancelled. Received this e-mail from the airline. 

 

 

 

Spoke last night with my Kunming landlord. My rent ran out in the middle of April. I have agreed to pay the charges, even for the time I was not there. They are good people and will hold my apartment a little longer, but cannot hold it indefinitely. 

 

 

[mungouk]

According to SCMP, it seems the plan to allow transit to the mainland from HKIA from June 1st was scrapped at the last minute:

 

Coronavirus: transit through Hong Kong airport to and from mainland China not allowed in first phase of opening up

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3086825/coronavirus-transit-through-hong-kong-airport-and

[abcdefg]

Yes, I agree. Looks like that's what happened.

 

https://www.chinese-forums.com/forums/topic/60036-what-will-international-travel-and-trade-look-like-post-covid/?tab=comments#comment-468502

[xinoxanu]

1 hour ago, abcdefg said:

The last leg of my July flight (the part from HKIA to KMG) was just cancelled

 

Are you getting your money back or being rescheduled? What happens with the first leg of your journey, will you be forced to fly out either way?

[abcdefg]

Cathay Pacific has offered to reschedule me. I have not inquired about a refund. (Just found out about the cancellation this morning.) 

 

I don't yet know about the first part of the trip, from DFW to HKG via EWR. That ticket was issued by American Airlines. They and Cathay Pacific are codeshare partners. 

[Guest realmayo]

I can't tell you how much I'd love to take the G312 train from Hong Kong to Kunming, departing midday arriving 8pm. But probably not everyone's idea of a good time.

[abcdefg]

Hmm. I had not even thought about taking the train. That is worth exploring. Thanks for the idea. 

 

Maybe I can arrange to get smuggled across the border by one of the Snakehead gangs and pay off my debt by washing dishes 5 years in a busy back-street 家常菜 restaurant, selling opium on the side. 

[889]

" . .  can't tell you how much I'd love to take the G312 train from Hong Kong to Kunming, departing midday arriving 8pm."

 

Just a reminder that entry to Hong Kong is barred to non-residents for the time being, and even if you can enter you're subject to a 14-day home quarantine. Shenzhen also imposes a 14-day quarantine on arrivals from Hong Kong at the moment.

 

Who knows the situation in July, but the Hong Kong Government seems to have no schedule whatever for returning to normal. I wouldn't plan a return till mid-October, and even that could be optimistic.

 

 

[Flickserve]

HK yesterday had two new cases and some more pending confirmation. 
 

It is all very uncertain 

[abcdefg]

11 hours ago, Flickserve said:

It is all very uncertain 

 

The one thing that seems abundantly clear is that I won't be back in Kunming as early as hoped. Last night the airline cancelled the rest of my ticket (DFW to HKG.) 

Quote   Special update CX 899 Departing on Wed, 08 Jul 2020 Scheduled departure: 01:45 Scheduled arrival: 05:05 Booking reference: xxxxxxxx Due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and subsequent changes to our network, your flight will be cancelled…We’re sorry for this unexpected change. We offer many ways to alter your booking.

[889]

That's interesting, because Cathay made a big deal a few weeks ago about how they were going to start ramping their schedule back up starting late June. It looks like everything is now on ice.

[abcdefg]

26 minutes ago, 889 said:

That's interesting, because Cathay made a big deal a few weeks ago about how they were going to start ramping their schedule back up starting late June. It looks like everything is now on ice.

 

Yes, it looks like it. I just got off the phone with an American Airlines reservations agent. I had bought the ticket through them with frequent flier miles. They cancelled the whole trip for me and refunded the miles back into my account with no penalty. 

 

What I have read elsewhere is that Cathay did originally plan to open more routes, but had a last minute change of plans. Will return in a minute and post a link. Here's the link. (I found this information verified in the Hong Kong airport's own website and in the TIMATIC database so I think it is solid.) 

 

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3086825/coronavirus-transit-through-hong-kong-airport-and 

[889]

Beijing was not happy about the way Cathay reacted to last year's protests in Hong Kong, and there are some grounds for suspecting that it's now punishing the airline in various ways. Which of course reduces its value and makes it a cheaper takeover by a Mainland carrier.

 

EDIT: Hong Kong today announced that the ban on non-resident arrivals from overseas as well as the 14-day quarantine on residents arriving from overseas would continue until September 18. At least. That decision must certainly have drawn some long faces at Cathay, not to mention at other airlines and at hotels in the territory. "Getting back to normal" is not a priority at all for the Government.

[xinoxanu]

No flying in, no flying out for the time being: Trump Administration to Block Chinese Airlines From Flying to the U.S.

 

Since we were talking about reciprocity on the other thread, the US seems/plans to be acting on it. The claims are ridiculous, if you ask me, considering that banning incoming flights "stem from a March 26 decision by China’s aviation regulators"... right when the whole world was going into lockdown. 

 

@abcdefg hope this beef doesn't affect you in the long-term. Do keep us updated!