Coronavirus Update
As of 4/29/20 at 9am EST
A Message from Alan & Harriet Lewis
“The relevant question is not simply what shall we do tomorrow, but rather what shall we do today to get ready for tomorrow.”
- Peter Drucker, author and educator
First and foremost, Harriet and I wanted to let you—our travelers—know that we’re thinking about you and hope you are doing well. We’re living through a difficult time and we hope that you are safe and staying healthy.
We’ve been doing our part and social distancing at our home in Kensington, New Hampshire. With so much time for introspection, we’re trying our best to stay positive and to reflect on the things in our lives that we can control—and we hope you are finding your own peace during these uncertain days as well.
We have felt our share of worry and anxiety about what the future holds—not just for ourselves, but for all of us. The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented crisis which has impacted every aspect of daily life worldwide. We’ve had to change our normal routines, are unable to be with those we care about the most, and are forced to put many of the things we love so dearly on hold—including our travel plans. Virtually every country in the world has prohibited leisure travel or closed its borders, preventing us from being able to provide our travelers with the travel experiences they have planned for this spring, and possibly, longer.
As the Chairman and Vice Chairman of O.A.T. for more than 30 years, we have weathered many storms. We’ve been through 9/11, SARS, and the Ebola outbreak alongside the rest of the travel industry—but this crisis has felt different. We’ve been challenged in ways we have never been before, both mentally and financially. But that hasn’t caused us to lose sight of who we are as a company and how to best serve our travelers—who are and always will be our top priority.
You—our travelers—have been the lifeblood of this company for decades. You have stood by us through every crisis we’ve faced. And you’ve helped us come out stronger. Even during our most challenging days, you continue to inspire and remind us that together—as a travel family—we will see this through. We have received messages from so many of you, which gives us hope that we’ll overcome this current storm. What we’ve heard loud and clear is that our travelers still want to explore the world. In fact, more than 50,000 of you still plan to travel with us—10,000 of whom are solo travelers. And more than 5,000 travelers with postponed trips have moved their impacted departures to 2021.
But we also understand that many of you are hesitant to make travel plans right now—and we want you to know that with our NEW Risk-Free Booking Policy, we guarantee you have the flexibility to make changes based on your individual needs and circumstances—no matter what the reason. If you transfer to another departure date by 12/31/20, whether you already have an existing reservation or book a new one, we will waive any change fees for 2020 and 2021 reservations.
As a company, we’ve made many difficult decisions since the beginning of this crisis—including the decision to postpone ALL of our main trips through the end of June 2020. We’ve also cancelled all departures of our itineraries that operate in China, Hong Kong, Korea, and Mongolia through the end of 2021. We have done this for the safety of our travelers, our Trip Experience Leaders, and our regional staff.
In an effort to ensure that our travelers will be able to enjoy their planned trips, we have rebooked affected reservations for future departure dates in 2021 and implemented generous policies providing additional savings and allowing travelers to change their travel dates to suit their individual needs.
We take our responsibility to our travelers very seriously. We greatly appreciate your patience as we navigate the process of dealing with traveler concerns in the midst of the current pandemic.
Although we may not be able to get out there and travel the world just now, it doesn’t mean we can’t imagine the wonderful experiences that are to come again. For that reason, we will continue sharing information and inspiration about destinations around the world.
We hope you continue dreaming about the day when we can freely explore this big, beautiful world again. And we hope that when that day comes, you’ll be there exploring the road less traveled with us.
Peace & love,
Alan & Harriet Lewis
Chairman & Vice Chairman
Overseas Adventure Travel
We understand travelers’ concerns surrounding the coronavirus and potential impact to travel plans. Your safety, as always, is our #1 priority. We are working with our global network of 36 regional offices to monitor impact in the destinations we visit. As the situation can change from day-to-day, we will keep this page updated with our latest information.
NEW Risk-Free Booking Policy | Reaching Our Call Center | Impacted Departures | Rebooking Postponed 2020 Departures | FAQ
NEW Risk-Free Booking Policy: Reserve with Confidence
If we’ve learned anything about our travelers, it’s that their passion for travel cannot be diminished—even during times of uncertainty. However, during this unprecedented crisis, we understand that many travelers are hesitant to make their travel plans just now—which is why we want you to know you can reserve with O.A.T. with confidence. In fact, we guarantee you have the flexibility to make changes to your plans—no matter what the reason.
With our NEW Risk-Free Booking Policy, we will waive any change fees for 2020 and 2021 reservations—whether you already have an existing reservation or book a new one—if you transfer to another departure date for any reason by 12/31/20.
We hope this new policy helps you begin to move forward with the travel plans you may have been dreaming of making. Whenever you’re ready to take your next step, we’re here to help.
Reaching Our Call Center
Our call center is experiencing extremely high call volume. We apologize for this inconvenience as you try to reach us and we appreciate your patience.
Impacted Departures
• Departures postponed through June 2020
We are postponing departures of ALL of our base trips through the end of June 2020. We are in the process of rebooking all affected travelers.
• Interrupted March 2020 trips
We are currently evaluating the impact to each trip that was cut short due to the impact of the coronavirus. We ask for your patience as we work through this. Once we have successfully reviewed all impacted travelers, we will send a follow up letter to provide a final update. We expect this will take at least a month to complete, but may take longer given the number of travelers impacted. We greatly appreciate your patience and flexibility.
• Select Asia trips cancelled through 2021
We have cancelled all departures of itineraries that operate in Hong Kong, Korea, and Mongolia in 2020 and 2021:
- Imperial China, Tibet & the Yangtze River
- China & the Yangtze River
- South Korea & Japan: Temples, Shrines & Seaside Treasures
- Mongolia & the Gobi Desert
- Stopovers in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing
Rebooking Postponed 2020 Departures
- We are rebooking affected 2020 travelers to the closest available departure date in 2021.
- All rebooked travelers will receive a $500 per person credit, and can save a full 10% off their trip cost with our Good Buy Plan.
- If a traveler wishes to move to a different departure date, they may do so under our NEW Risk-Free Booking Policy through 12/31/20, and we will waive any change fees.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How does O.A.T. determine when to stop operating or cancel trips?
A: Our top priority is always the safety of our travelers. We are in constant communication with our staff in our regional offices around the world, along with the U.S. State Department, and we are closely monitoring the Coronavirus situation. Based on the information we have received, we have made the decision to postpone ALL departures of our base trips through the end of June 2020. And all of our China, Hong Kong, Korea, and Mongolia trips, optional extensions, and Stopovers have been cancelled in 2020 and 2021.
Q: What happens if my trip has been postponed?
A: We are rebooking affected 2020 travelers to the closest available departure date in 2021. All rebooked travelers will receive a $500 per person credit, and the opportunity to save a full 10% off their trip cost with our Good Buy Plan. If a traveler wishes to move to a different departure date, they may do so under our NEW Risk-Free Booking Policy through 12/31/20, and we will waive any change fees.
Q: I would like to postpone my trip. Will I have to pay to change departure dates?
A: No you will not be penalized for changing your departure date through 12/31/20.
Q: If I move my trip to a later departure date, will my Frequent Traveler Credits apply to my new booking?
A: For departure dates through June 2020, if you choose to move to a later departure date, we will honor the full value of Frequent Traveler Credits applied to your original reservation on any departure through the end of 2022.