Travellers nervous as Omicron cases surge, but pushing ahead with plans

Some travellers heading out of Canada say they’re worried about surging COVID-19 cases, but are forging ahead with their plans despite the federal government warning against non-essential international travel.

Sanjay Mahar says he is heading to India from Toronto to see his family for the first time in years, having booked the trip a few months ago when case counts were low and vaccination rates high.

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On Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged Canadians to avoid international travel as the Omicron variant of COVID-19 has caused cases to spike in recent days.

Mahar says he was upset at the advisory and says it was so last-minute for him that he decided to go see his family anyway, especially his father whose health is poor.

He briefly looked into cancelling his trip but said it was unclear if he’d be able to get any of his money back.

“This is not a good time to travel,” said Gabor Lukacs, the president of Air Passenger Rights. “The advisory is telling people to consider cancelling their travel, to consider not travelling. It does create a hardship to the public because airlines do continue operating flights and so you wonder how you can get back your money.”

Lukacs says if you are thinking about cancelling your non-refundable flight, you might want to hold out a bit longer. If the airline cancels first, you might be entitled to a refund.

“Even if the airline cancels your flight or makes changes to your itinerary, that may be grounds for a full refund.”

Despite the advisories, travellers CityNews spoke with are tired of restrictions.

“I think people just need to go on and live their life. It’s not going to change; the virus is here to stay, and we need to adapt and adjust and deal with it.”

Still, the advice from the federal government stands. If you don’t have to travel internationally, don’t go.

– With files from Jasmine Vickaryous