Coronavirus- travel in/via China in May- UPDATE

GinMare006

EDIT UPDATE: For anyone who is in a similar situation- We contacted the company we had booked our flights through and the airline directly. No response at all from the airline (China Southern) but their website suggested we could claim a refund for any flights booked to fly before mid-June. The travel company initially refused our request for a refund but now have allowed us to cancel and will refund cost of flights, though not the booking charge etc. It feels like this was the right action for us to take.

Original question: My partner and I booked flights for a holiday in May taking us to China (Guangzhou/Shenzhen for 5 days) and then flying to New Zealand for 12 days. Our return flight also takes us through Guangzhou, but is 'just' a transfer in the airport. 

The flights were booked in Dec 2019, and we are now concerned as to what we should do. Flight restrictions and travel warnings have been issued but do not run until May as yet. Our travel insurance technically only would apply if the travel ban advice continues into May. Meanwhile, however, we need to plan to have visas for China if we are going to travel there.

Are we best to contact the airline and try to amend the flight booking, and if so, should we try not to fly through China at all? Should we continue our visa applications for China? We are concerned that by flying through China, we may end up quarantined/ not able to enter New Zealand.

anonymous12124

I put myself in your shoes and the simple answer is, as much as I would hate to miss out on part of my holiday or be hurt in the pocket. I would hate being quarantined even more. So I would do everything in my power to avoid that even if it meant missing out on part of my holiday or being stung big time in the pocket. We're in Feb, you still have almost 3 full months to decide what to do. I suspect we may have a working vaccination by then, but I wouldn't risk it and therefore I would start to think about the possibility of going directly to NZ and not stopping over in China.

WorkHealth

I would certainly be investigating all possibilities and costs involved then consider your options.