"Safe" to Travel to China 2020??

Hi Lacey, I was on the Road Scholar trip for April 2. I say was, because I just transferred to another RS trip in another country. I do think Road Scholar will keep you well advised as to risks, although as of now China has stopped local tour companies from conducting trips and closed the forbidden city and the terra cotta warriors, which I wanted to see. I opted out because I was afraid my second choice trips would be booked up while waiting to see what develops in China. Today is the last day to transfer to another trip without penalty. Our China visas are good for ten years. Janet

Thank you for the update on the visas; I thought they were date specific. I don't want to pay for one IF the program is going to be cancelled anyways. Also I don't want to get the vaccinations required if I can't go to see the things I wanted to that are now closed. I really don't feel like this will all be over in 8 weeks before I am supposed to travel and think the responsible thing for Road Scholar to do would be to cancel the program now before I have to spend
hundreds more $$ on a visa and vaccinations that I won't be able to use and weren't necessary. This is not to mention the deposit and trip insurance I will also be out (have you read the insurance policy?), which is also hundreds of $$$. I have spoken with 2 different reps at RS and today I got an email from them saying that the..y are focused on the health and well being of their participants but their program is scheduled to go as planned. As a travel agency for elderly people I guess I assumed too much thinking they would cancel when the CDC says to avoid travel to China. I think they are not focused on my health and are entirely too focused on keeping my money and their bottom line. Lacey

My views are somewhat different, as I hope RS adopts a wait and see attitude as my trip is not until April (somewhat more than two months away) and a lot (good or bad) can happen in this time.

The Chinese Visa is good for ten years. If RS has to cancel the trips, China would still be a destination to visit for the future.

The vaccinations recommendations for China are the same for many other countries (subject to individual health care providers recommendations). In fact, for my upcoming trip to China, the vaccinations I had last year for another part of Asia eliminated any need for vaccinations this year. Thus, getting vaccinations now if you need them may facilitate travel elsewhere if China has to be cancelled. (Best to consult your own health care provider, but mine indicated I’m go to go to Thailand and a couple of other areas if China is cancelled.)

Bottom line is based upon current information, it seems the best approach is to Wait and See. I think RS (and most other travel providers) are taking the right approach. I have friends who were scheduled to travel to China on February 2 with another travel provider (not RS). Their travel provider today cancelled that trip, but has not yet cancelled other trips departing at the end of February or later.

I remain cautiously hopeful that things will be resolved quickly and that I will be seeing China in April.

We too remain cautiously optimistic. We still have two and a half months before our April 16 departure. I think one has to be prepared to be flexible these days, especially when traveling internationally. But China is a big place. Hopefully, we can still proceed, even if with a slightly changed itinerary.

Just got the phone call. Thank you RS for doing the right thing and cancelling all China programs for the first half of 2020 AND giving us a full refund. This pandemic is not going to be over soon, and is much worse than the flu AND has surpassed SARS. It finally took the WHO announcement and the airlines cancelling flights to China to make the decision but it is the best thing for an organization that promotes travel in older folks.

VERY happy to here this
I am scheduled for a trip to Sicily Italy in March . CDC has a level 2 warning and RS said there were no warnings. After I emailed the CDC website they acknowledged that. I hope they cancel. We are all over 55+ and very vulnerable. Please keep calling them with your concerns.

Lacey, I totally agree with you. They are sending cookie cutter emails to everyone that are all alike. Most RS travelers are over 55+ and are all vulnerable to getting sick/dying. Very angry the way RS is handling this. It will do them MORE harm that good. I expect to lose $6,000 plus air and ins when I cancel my trip to Italy at the end of March. I will cancel 2 more trips scheduled in the fall and go to another tour company that HAS canceled trips because of concern for their travelers. How can anyone enjoy a trip with what's going on.

Lacey, I totally agree with you. They are sending cookie cutter emails to everyone that are all alike. Most RS travelers are over 55+ and are all vulnerable to getting sick/dying. Very angry the way RS is handling this. It will do them MORE harm that good. I expect to lose $6,000 plus air and ins when I cancel my trip to Italy at the end of March. I will cancel 2 more trips scheduled in the fall and go to another tour company that HAS canceled trips because of concern for their travelers. How can anyone enjoy a trip with what's going on.