Since the outbreak of the corona pandemic, the Federal Foreign Office has reassessed the infection situation in individual countries and regions at regular intervals. If the incidence was over 50, the regions were classified as risk areas. Before “unnecessary, tourist trips” were then usually “discouraged”.
On July 1st, the European Union is introducing the digital health certificate within its member states, within the economic community and in Switzerland.
The Federal Foreign Office then only advises “special caution” when traveling to risk areas. Travel warnings should continue to exist. Specifically for high-risk areas and for virus mutation areas.
What does the elimination of travel warnings mean for risk areas?
Until now, travel insurance companies did not have to pay compensation in the event of a travel warning, as tourist vacations were generally discouraged. Because, however, only “special caution” is required, insurance companies now also have to pay if holidaymakers abroad fall ill with Corona or are stranded there due to a quarantine protection measure.
However, travel experts emphasize that many insurers have now adjusted their general terms and conditions and exclude the corona crisis from their policies altogether.
Can I still cancel free of charge?
In principle, the right to a free cancellation does not apply if there is no longer a travel warning. Travelers are only entitled to free cancellation if “exceptional circumstances” mean that a booked trip cannot take place.
A travel warning is one such circumstance. If it is missing, it is difficult to get his money.
In general, travelers in this case always have the option to withdraw from the travel contract without giving reasons, but then they would also have to deduct fees. Airlines, for example, generally only transfer the airport fees that have not been paid. “In this case, consumers are obliged to pay the tour operator appropriate compensation,” explains Roosbeh Karimi, lawyer and founder of the Start-ups GetRight in conversation with FOCUS Online.
Travel warnings remain in place for high risk areas – what does that mean?
Travel warnings remain in place for high-risk areas (with an incidence of 200 or more). The same applies to virus mutation areas. Despite the high vaccination rate, new variants of the Sars-CoV-2 pathogen are spreading in these countries. The most recent example is the delta variant.
According to the Federal Foreign Office, a total of 13 countries are now virus mutation areas. Including Botswana, Brazil, Eswatini, Great Britain, India, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Nepal, Zambia and South Africa. According to the Foreign Office, “unnecessary, tourist trips” are still not advised in these countries. This also enables a complete cancellation of the vacation trip. However, the free cancellation apparently only applies if the trip was booked when there was no travel warning at all for the holiday destination.
Anyone traveling back from virus mutation areas must go into quarantine in Germany for 14 days after arrival – regardless of whether the traveler is unvaccinated, vaccinated or recovered.
Should I take out travel cancellation insurance?
Karimi advises lawyer to take out travel cancellation insurance. “There are two types of cancellation insurance. There are annual policies that cover a certain amount per year and individual policies that are booked for a specific trip, ”says the expert. However, those affected should carefully check whether the contracts are “pandemic-compatible” before they are signed. Those who have old contracts should “update” the annual tariffs accordingly in order to be able to make use of pandemic protection.
Holidaymakers should ask themselves when a travel cancellation or travel interruption insurance will apply and whether the individual clauses also cover fellow travelers. For example, many travel cancellation insurances would not work if travelers were staying in the holiday destination for a longer period of time. “There are many differences between the policies and the insurers that every traveler has to check individually,” says Karimi.