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Airlines, cruises offer refunds to Zika areas

Airlines, cruises offer refunds to Zika areas
Posted at 12:36 PM, Apr 22, 2016
and last updated 2016-04-22 12:51:30-04

You bought round-trip tickets to South America, but you're thinking twice about traveling because of the Zika virus. 

You don't want to cancel, fearing the penalties that you may encounter. However, you may be in luck. There are some travel agencies that are allowing would-be travelers to cancel their plans to areas affected by the outbreak. 

For instance, Jet Blue is refunding tickets to people concerned about the virus. American and United are offering similar options, but only to women who are attempting to get pregnant or are already expecting. For American Airlines, you need a doctor's note, and the refunds are limited to 11 countries.

Cruise lines including Carnival, Disney, Princess and Norwegian are allowing pregnant women to cancel travel or change travel plans to another area that is not Zika-proned. The policy does not include plans for women are trying to get pregnant.  

Travelers should check with their hotel and airline traveler to see what their policies are and if they are willing to bend the rules on cancelation fees.