Questions related to travel insurance and trip cancellation due to Covid quarantine on entering EU.

I can only reply to your second question about dealing with booking.com and the hotel directly with a nonrefundable reservation. I had one for a hotel in Paris in May, and I had to cancel it due to the subsequent tour being cancelled. I reached out directly to the hotel and was able to get a credit for the amount of the room that is good for 12 months. I still cancelled it on Booking.com, but I've got the confirmation email from the hotel about the credit to be applied to a future stay. So I will hopefully get to use it in 2021. You might be able to get the hotel to give you 18 months to use it. Good luck!

With respect to nonrefundable discounted hotel reservations, you will not get a refund if you cancel. If the hotel cancels (i.e. is closed during your booked dates), booking.com should issue a refund because the hotel is not providing the agreed upon service.

The travel insurance claim is nuanced. You do have the benefit of purchasing the insurance before March 11 when the WHO declared the pandemic. After March 11 the pandemic was no longer "unforseen".

https://www.travelguard.com/travel-news/coronavirus-advisory
As Travel Guard advises, you will need to read and understand the fine print of your policy.

If you need to cancel your travel plans, please consult the Unforeseen
events portion of your insurance policy to see a list of reasons for
Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption that may be covered, along
with General Exclusions from coverage. You are encouraged to file a
claim if one of the covered reasons could possibly apply to your
situation as you may be eligible to be reimbursed for your unused,
non-refundable, pre-paid trip costs if you need to cancel your trip.
Please be specific about why you cancelled, as coverage depends on
the exact reason for cancellation.

I would go on this trip despite Covid, except the EU is requiring Americans to quarantine for 14 days upon entry.

This ⬆️ is entirely wrong.

The EU is not admitting Americans for leisure travel.

Plumeria--
Am trying what you suggest.

Edgar--
I read that before posting. What I want to know is if anyone has had success getting a claim paid through Travelguard on this basis.

Kim--
Do you have a source saying no entry under any circumstances?

USA Today: https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/news/2020/07/16/eu-extends-travel-ban-americans-amid-spike-us-coronavirus-cases/5450198002/

EU document: https://ec.europa.eu/info/live-work-travel-eu/health/coronavirus-response/travel-and-transportation-during-coronavirus-pandemic/travel-and-eu-during-pandemic_en

I'm sure there's a more-recent EU document, but I haven't been able to locate it.

We had a trip planned for Iceland for next month. Almost all of our lodging was booked through Booking.com . All but one we were able to cancel 30 days out with no issues. The one was nonrefundable, nonchargeable. We are rebooking for next summer hoping that things will have settled down by then. Anyway, when I went to Booking.com to cancel the reservation, I figured I would cancel it and then ask the hotel for a voucher. When I went to cancel the reservation, a popup appeared and it said something to the effect of this is nonrefundable, but send a message to the hotel and ask for a refund due to Covid as some hotels are doing that. So I did. I did not hear anything for a few days, so contacted the hotel directly. They were wonderful! I told them I would like to rebook for next summer. They refunded the money and then asked if I would book directly with them as it costs them less, so I did. We are a group of 5 traveling, so we needed 2 rooms, which was expensive, so I really appreciated the hotel working with me!

Of course there is not a document saying “no entry under any circumstances.” Let me repeat what I said above: the EU is currently not admitting Americans for leisure travel. I understood your trip to be for leisure travel. If that is incorrect, you can disregard.

There are certain exceptions that would allow an American to enter the EU — but they are few and far between, see below.

Acraven has correctly posted the current EU page that notes that residents of SOME countries may begin entering the EU for leisure travel:

https://ec.europa.eu/info/live-work-travel-eu/health/coronavirus-response/travel-and-transportation-during-coronavirus-pandemic/travel-and-eu-during-pandemic_en#exemptions-from-travel-restrictions

Here is the list of countries from that page whose residents can enter (you might note who is NOT on the list):

Based on the criteria and conditions set out in the Recommendation, as from 1 July Member States should start lifting the travel restrictions at the external borders for residents of the following third countries:

Algeria
Australia
Canada
Georgia
Japan
Montenegro
Morocco
New Zealand
Rwanda
Serbia
South Korea
Thailand
Tunisia
Uruguay
China, subject to confirmation of reciprocity
Residents of Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican should be considered as EU residents for the purpose of this recommendation.

For countries not on that list (including the United States), here is what the page says further down:

For all other third countries not on this list, Member States and Schengen Associated countries are temporarily suspending all non-essential travel from those third countries to the EU+ area, meaning that only certain categories of travellers could be authorised entry. The “EU+ area” includes 30 countries: 26 out of the 27 EU Member States as well as the four Schengen Associated States: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Ireland does not currently apply the travel restriction.

Who are the “only certain categories of travellers” who could be authorized entry ?

Here's the text, again from the EU page:

The following categories of persons are exempt from the temporary travel restriction to the EU+ area from the third countries which are not on the list agreed by the Member States:

(a) Union citizens within the meaning of Article 20(1) TFEU and third-country nationals who, under agreements between the Union and its Member States, on the one hand, and those third countries, on the other hand, enjoy rights of free movement equivalent to those of Union citizens, as well as their respective family members.

(b) third-country nationals who are long-term residents under the Long-term Residence Directive or deriving their right to reside from other EU Directives or national law or who hold national long-term visas, as well as their respective family members.

The temporary travel restrictions should also not apply to people with an essential function or need, including

healthcare professionals, health researchers, and elderly care professionals
frontier workers
seasonal workers in agriculture
transport personnel
Diplomats, staff of international organisations and people invited by international organisations whose physical presence is required for the well-functioning of these organisations, military personnel and humanitarian aid workers and civil protection personnel in the exercise of their functions;
passengers in transit
passengers travelling for imperative family reasons
seafarers
persons in need of international protection or for other humanitarian reasons;
third-country nationals travelling for the purpose of study;
highly qualified third-country workers if their employment is necessary from an economic perspective and the work cannot be postponed or performed abroad.

If you fit one of those categories that allows you an exemption to enter, you will check the corresponding box on this form (attestation) that is required to enter France (in fact you'll have to provide it to your airline when you are checking in, as they will want to determine whether you meet the criteria for entry — they're on the hook for returning you to the States if the French refuse you entry upon arrival).

https://www.interieur.gouv.fr/Actualites/L-actu-du-Ministere/Attestation-de-deplacement-et-de-voyage

The form is available in English, it's listed under
“Attestation de déplacement dérogatoire vers la France métropolitaine depuis les pays tiers et déclaration sur l'honneur“

Of course, the EU has said it will review the Covid stats from all the countries every two weeks to see if they want to allow more countries' citizens to enter, so it's at least theoretically possible that the situation might have changed for Americans by September.

So in the end Paypal refunded my money.

Also, British Airways cancelled my flight to Europe.

I called BA this morning, actually got through (3rd try), asked for a cash refund, and was told I would get one in about 21 days. They said they would e-mail me to confirm it was coming. 4 hours later, haven't received the confirmatory e-mail. I give their customer service about a D.

I contacted 4 additional hotels, all in Spain, all of whom I had reserved through booking.com pursuant to an ostensibly non-refundable reservation. 1 refunded my money without any issue, two said they wouldn't refund my money, but would let me use the money I had paid to make a new reservation in the next year, and one (despite three separate e-mails), hasn't responded. (Hostal Oliva, Rick Steves recommended, in Barcelona). (If anyone has any experience with them, I would love to hear about it).

Pending hearing back from that hotel, am thinking of rescheduling the exact same trip for the same time (but one day earlier) in 2021. Do people think the Covid situation will in fact permit travel by then? I am thinking that with the widespread reports that vaccines are in fact being developed, that it shouldn't be an issue?

Finally, there is the trip insurance issue. I purchased a Gold policy through Travelguard for $684.00. It insured against trip interruption costs due to an unforseen event, the latter term being defined to include "quarantine." I know Travelguard, like other travel insurers, is taking the position that Covid losses aren't covered, but that strikes me as inconsistent with their coverage of "quarantine." I also know several lawsuits, including at least one class action lawsuit being pursued in the Central District of California, are challenging the insurer's denials on precisely the same basis.

In my case, assuming all three hotels at issue allow me to reschedule, and I do reschedule, I won't have any loss to claim in any event. So, I am thinking of asking Travleguard to either refund my premium (which I hear they are doing), or to change the policy so it covers my rescheduled trip.

I would not assume May 2021 is safe on the basis of what I've read about vaccines. There may be a decent vaccine by then, but you may not be able to get both the initial dose and the (probably-needed) booster shot before May. Or Spain may not yet be willing to admit Americans that soon, even if they've been vaccinated.

It will be interesting to see how the travel-insurance lawsuits play out. I would interpret "quarantine" to mean coverage if you are quarantined due to unforeseen events and therefore unable to return home on schedule, thus incurring extra hotel and/or flight expenses. To me that is different from "I don't want to go because I know I will have to quarantine at my destination". In that situation the quarantine would not be unforeseen if you chose to proceed. Personally, I think trying to get a refund or a credit that can be applied to a future trip is a good idea. But I'm neither a lawyer nor an insurance adjuster, so my advice is pretty much worthless on this point.

Ac--

I am rescheduling for September 2021, not May.

Also, I disagree with your analysis of the insurance issue. Ambiguities in insurance policies are construed against the insurer which drafted the policy.

As acraven notes, May 2021 travel assuming vaccination availability may be too optimistic. The US is having difficulty testing with timely results and PPE is not abundant. How will the US produce and distribute enough delivery systems (i.e. needles) prior to May 2021. The COVID-19 is no longer an unforeseen event and insurable event so traveler beware.

Ambiguity is in the eye of the beholder.

Sorry I was confuse about you dates. I think September is a lot more comfortable than May, but nothing is certain. I'm hoping to travel to Europe next May myself, but I'm not even going to make refundable hotel reservations until the vaccine situation is resolved.

It will be interesting to see how the travel-insurance lawsuits play
out. I would interpret "quarantine" to mean coverage if you are
quarantined due to unforeseen events and therefore unable to return
home on schedule, thus incurring extra hotel and/or flight expenses.
To me that is different from "I don't want to go because I know I will
have to quarantine at my destination". In that situation the
quarantine would not be unforeseen if you chose to proceed.

I bought my travel insurance back in October 2019 before COVID 19 was even known. At that time, the pandemic was unforeseen (at least to me). I put in a claim for non-refundable travel losses and was denied. I appealed the denial of my insurance claim and I argued the original poster's exact reasoning: that because of the quarantine requirement imposed after I bought the travel insurance but before I began my trip, I was prevented from entering the UK, and that quarantine included "exclusion" from an area as well as seclusion, thus I was "quarantined" from entering the UK, and could not complete the trip, and had suffered losses from non-refundable hotel costs.
It took months for the insurance company to reply. They denied my claim and my appeal. I argued the ambiguity of the word "quarantine" but they responded that quarantine to them is when you are already traveling and are forced to stay put in an area.

So I wouldn't rely on you statement that ambuguites are resolved in the insured's favor. It didn't work out in my favor.

FYI, the insurance company was John Hancock and I had the Bronze Plan.