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Well… sh*t. UK and Ireland added to US travel ban

One has to step back and just take stock of the global situation. I haven't been publishing blow-by-blow accounts of coronavirus because quite frankly it drains me to even think about it now.

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A few days ago I published that the US is banning travel for non-US citizens and green card holders from the Schengen Area. At that point in time the UK and Ireland were excluded due to them being outside the Schengen Area.

Well commencing midnight Eastern Daylight Time on 17th March 2020 (or 04:00hr in GMT) the UK and Ireland will also be added to the list. The current ban ‘expires' 11th April 2020 although that feels like it won't happen. I fully expect the restricted travel to be prolonged.

To even fly from geographical Europe to US, assuming you have permission to fly, then you would need to land at one of these 13 airports:

  • Boston-Logan International Airport (BOS), Massachusetts
  • Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), Illinois
  • Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), Texas
  • Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW), Michigan
  • Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL), Hawaii
  • Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), Georgia
  • John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), New York
  • Los Angeles International Airport, (LAX), California
  • Miami International Airport (MIA), Florida
  • Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), New Jersey
  • San Francisco International Airport (SFO), California
  • Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), Washington
  • Washington-Dulles International Airport (IAD), Virginia

You can safely assume that all flights to other US cities will be cancelled for the foreseeable future.

If you have a British Airways booking you can change/cancel your ticket without a fee although if your later fare prices higher then you would need to pay a fare difference. Make sure you use the ba.com/helpme function (my article explaining it here). Obviously this will be an incredibly difficult time for the airline financially, and no doubt they will have to be dealing with loads of frustrated customers.

3 Comments

  1. I looked at my details for Barcelona to Miami and it said cancelled.

    Then I looked at my details for New York to London and isn’t cancelled.

    That is Norwegian Air.

  2. I think we also need to look into the situation that if if gets worse over here, other countries will start restricting travel from their country over here.

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