#PINNED: COVID-19 travel guide

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This is an update on: Coronavirus travel guide

The number of new COVID-19 cases in the Philippines is increasing daily even with the government placing stricter measures of social distancing. Calls for mass testing abound in social media. Meanwhile, the president successfully urged Congress to grant him emergency powers that will supposedly help him curb the spread of the virus.

With people forced to stay at home, travel plans have obviously taken a backseat.

So here’s how you can make the most of your “travels” this season—be it a cancelled trip, an upcoming one, or simply moving about day-to-day in this crisis.

Familiarize yourself with the enhanced community quarantine rules in your barangay, municipality, or city

Local government units (LGUs) in Luzon have doubled-down on quarantine measures since the announcement of March 16. Among the stricter measures are:

• Mass transportation is suspended.
• Residents shall stay at home and shall only go out to buy necessities.
• Only one member of the household can go out for a supplies run. Some LGUs have even issued a “quarantine pass” to ensure that only one member does go out.
• Private companies are asked to shut down and allow people to work from home. Only establishments that sell food and medicines are allowed to operate.

The goal is to lessen the people on the road. Luzon residents have no choice but to cancel travel plans because, understandably, travelling for a holiday is not a need right now.

For those living in Visayas and Mindanao, LGUs have the discretion to impose their own rules since the national government has not yet mandated a nationwide quarantine. This means flights in airports here are not suspended and borders between towns aren’t as strict as they are in Luzon.

That being said, always travel with caution—which also means look out for others, not just yourself.

Some airlines have already waived their fees

In a bid to help their passengers around the globe, some airlines have already lifted their fees for rebooking or cancellation. If you have a flight, check what the rules of your airline are.

So far, here are some airlines that offer considerations:

• Philippine Airlines waives rebooking fees for flights between March 15 to April 30, 2020
• Cebu Pacific extends their free rebooking and refund via travel fund up to June 30, 2020
• AirAsia opens the option to convert the fare to a credit account which can be used in the next 365 days
• Jetstar Asia suspends their operations and offers their passengers a full refund via credit voucher
• Scoot Airlines launches a self-service refund process in their website for bookings made on or before March 15, and for flights up to May 31, 2020.

More specific instructions are available on your airline’s website, so always check with them for any changes in your scheduled flights.

When all of this is over, travel locally

The travel industry has taken a large hit globally due to the COVID-19 crisis. It is no exaggeration to say that nobody knows when it will end—but when it does, local tourism needs the public’s help more than ever.

Gideon Peña said it best in this Facebook post which has garnered more than 11k reactions and has been shared 25k times as of writing:

So support the local manang and manong. Check-in at local hotels. Travel to Philippine destinations. Visit local museums. Eat local cuisines. It’s the perfect excuse to go to Batanes, to El Nido, and to hidden paradises around the Metro.

Whether you’re a constant traveller or a newbie to all things travel, it could really be frustrating to have to cancel your plans. For now, though, think of it as a way to help you travel more in the future. The sooner the virus is contained, the sooner you can get back out there and explore the world.

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Princess Daquigan is a writer, poet, and digital strategist who aims to tell stories that serve the Filipino youth. She helps brands and the causes she believes in to reach the right people through creative, data-driven strategies. She keeps (most) of her poems on her blog, hoping for a book deal.