You've been looking forward to that trip to visit your West Coast friends ever since you booked the flight last fall.
But that was before anyone even knew of COVID-19's existence. As the virus has spread, so has your trepidation. And now there's a cluster of confirmed cases near your destination.
So you're thinking of cancelling your flight. But if you do, can you recover the money you spent on your ticket? After all, we're talking a deadly health menace that didn't exist when you booked the flight.
Because COVID-19 was unforeseen when you purchased the ticket, does that give you a reason to get a refund?
Unless you have insurance (and probably not even then), you might be out of luck. Just being nervous about traveling is not a valid reason for getting a reimbursement.
But as air travel has declined sharply due to coronavirus spread this year, airlines are responding by loosening their usual restrictions. Many airlines, for instance, are waiving the fee for changed travel plans — a typical change fee is $200 or more — if you do it by a specified date.
As of March 10, for example, most carriers were waiving change fees for all tickets purchased by March 31 for rebooked travel. The time limit for rebooking and the rebooked travel dates vary.
Airlines are also waiving change fees for previously purchased tickets for flights to specific global hotspots. American Airlines, for instance, is waiving change fees for all flights to Italy scheduled through April 24. The flights must be rebooked by that date for travel within one year.
Several airlines are offering full refunds, even for refundable tickets, for unflown flights to the Chinese cities Wuhan, Beijing, Chengdu, and Shanghai, as well as to Hong Kong.
People who invest in travel insurance when they fly may be disappointed to learn that epidemics or pandemics are not covered. But if you have travel plans and haven't booked any flights yet, there is one type of insurance policy that might provide peace of mind: a Cancel for Any Reason (CFAR) policy.
CFARs can be pricey, costing about 50% more than standard travel insurance, but you can cancel up to 48 hours of your departure time and be reimbursed 50 to 75 percent of the trip cost. Restrictions do apply.
I have a family member who really wants to get revenge on me and I'm kinda scared because he knows the law and I don't. He used to be a lawyer before he went to jail and lost his license. He said that he might start spreading lies about me to people I'm very close to and he's vowed that wherever I try to go to school in the fall or try to get employment at he would write letters/e-mails to them trying to spread false rumors about me to disrupt my life.
He said that he can make up a contract with his girlfriend for a ridiculous amount of money, like $100 million for a shirt, and then have her sue him so she can get a judgment against him and that would mean no other creditor (which could be me if he goes ahead and defames me like he says) could ever get any money from him since he'll never be able to pay the 1st creditor in line (his girlfriend) back. Could that really make him "creditor-proof" to the point where he can defame me all he wants and never face any consequences because it's a civil, not criminal, crime?
First of all is there any way I could get a court to void a ridiculous contract like that if he agreed that he owed the debt to his girlfriend and secondly, is it really true that only the first creditor can get any money back and not me if I were to be the second in line? I'd appreciate any help in answering my question, thank you.
if you own a small business and the landlord want to sell the building what can you do? lease is about to expire