Travel warning? Risk area? Holidaymakers must be aware of this

adminonNovember 23, 2021February 19, 2022Leave a Comment

More and more countries want to boost tourism again and open their borders to visitors
Also the travel warning of the Foreign Office is no longer valid for many countries
Many would now like to book a vacation – but there are many questions in the room
Can you enter countries for which the travel warning remains in effect? Simply cancel the booked vacation? Who pays for medical or repatriation costs if you fall ill with the coronavirus while on vacation??

The Summer is there and many people are drawn to vacation in the distance. After due to the Corona crisis many vacations canceled this year, some countries are now reopening to tourists. Some of the travel warnings ied by the German Foreign Office (AA) because of the Corona pandemic Travel warnings have been lifted again, others could follow at the end of August.

Nevertheless, uncertainty remains among many travel enthusiasts: For when should one now Vacation book? And with which vacation destination? Important questions and answers at a glance.

Booking a vacation: Can I enter countries with travel warnings?

On 15. June, the AA has lifted the travel warnings for most European countries. For more than 160 countries worldwide, however, the warnings were ied until 31. August 2020 extended. For these countries: A travel warning is a recommendation of the Foreign Office – but it is "not a travel ban", as Julia Rehberg from the consumer advice center Hamburg clarifies. "If I still want to travel to the country, I can do this."

Possible for individual travelers who book all the components of such a trip themselves, such as flights and accommodations. package vacations offer tour operators for countries with Travel warning on the other hand mostly not at. Who wants to know what is currently valid for his vacation country, can read it on the page of the Foreign Office. There are also entry requirements of the respective planned travel country listed, including information on pending tests or even quarantine regulations.

Travel warning? Risk area? Holidaymakers must be aware of this

Vacation booked in countries with travel warning: Who takes over the cancellation costs?

There are Effects on a travel cancellation or health insurance abroad. The latter can then refuse to pay for medical expenses in the destination country. And refunds for voluntary cancellations are limited.

As a general rule, "If I book when there is a travel warning, I have accepted it," explains the travel law expert Sabine Fischer-Volk From the law firm Karimi in Berlin. If one does not want to travel then nevertheless any longer, one cannot cancel with reference to the travel warning with the organizer free of charge.

Currently, the German Foreign Office wants to continue its travel warnings for many countries until 31 December. August hold. What applies thereafter can be determined in view of the worldwide dynamic situation It is not possible to predict the consequences of having already booked a trip to Thailand or South Africa in October, for example.

"However, according to case law, it is sufficient to have a 25 percent probability that the vacation destination will be closed due to Corona can not be traveled even after August 2020 to cancel the trip without cancellation fees," says Fischer-Volk.

Despite travel warning: can I dare to make a booking?

Holidaymakers can now book for October, for example, in the hope that then no Travel warning more for their chosen vacation country exists. If the travel warning continues to apply shortly before departure or if the planned trip would be significantly affected by various restrictions, the chances are good, according to the experts, to be able to cancel without cancellation costs.

Who wants to be safe, Fischer-Volk advises, however, to book in this special vacation year 2020 best only travel offers, with which up to the start of the journey or shortly before it expressly a cost-free right of withdrawal exists. Many companies also give a Return guarantee. "Some tour operators handle it this way: if you book now, you can cancel free of charge up to two weeks beforehand," confirms consumer advocate Rehberg.

What happens when a travel warning is ied again?

For German tour operators a travel warning is binding. They cancel package tours as soon as the Foreign Office ies a travel warning for a country. Vacationers can then, however, for their part free of charge the Travel contract announce. "If package tour guests are already on vacation in such an area, they will then also be brought back at the expense of the organizer," explains Torsten Schafer of the German Travel Association (DRV).

"Individual travelers, on the other hand, must make their own arrangements for a return trip if the worst comes to the worst and also pay for it themselves". Such travelers also protects a possibly concluded Travel cancellation insurance The Bund der Versicherten (BdV) says that travel warnings are generally not covered by insurance.

Vacationing in countries without travel warnings: Can I book?

If there is no travel warning for the planned vacation country, tour operators usually offer a return trip guarantee Package tours there. Those who book them or booked them a long time ago, but later no longer want to take the trip due to growing concerns, may have to pay cancellation fees. There is only a right to withdraw from a trip free of charge to the organizer if the trip is significantly impaired due to extraordinary circumstances.

This can include serious itinerary changes or if booked attractions are flown out of the program. Here it depends on the individual case. Even travelers with cancellation insurance have bad cards with voluntary Cancellations.

Because the insurance pays cancellation costs only if insured persons themselves unexpectedly become ill or are prevented by events such as the death of relatives, unemployment or short-time work, explains the consumer center Hamburg. None of those offered on the market Travel resignation tariffs According to information from the Federation of the Insured, the insurance company bears the cancellation costs if vacationers cancel a travel contract again purely out of fear.

Vacation country classified as risk area: What does it mean for me?

In addition to the list of travel warnings ied by the German Foreign Office, there is also a second list of so-called risk areas. It lists regions in the world where there is either an increased risk of contracting the Corona virus to be infected, or where case numbers are low but there is too little testing capacity or, say, inadequate pandemic containment measures. The list, which is reviewed weekly by the relevant ministries, also includes some popular vacation destinations.

For the U.S., a breakdown into states was made. The classification as a risk area and a travel warning are not automatically linked to each other. "Changes in the classification as a risk area do not immediately mean that a travel warning is ied or lifted for certain countries," explains a Foreign Office spokesman. Thus, for your own safety before the trip is also worth a look at the List of risk areas.

Anyone returning to Germany from one of the countries or areas mentioned there must expect to be sent into quarantine. On the website of the Federal Ministry of the Interior The German Federal Ministry of Health states that a 14-day quarantine obligation applies to "persons who enter the Federal Republic of Germany from a risk area"." Ultimately, however, this is again a decision of the respective federal state.

Sick with corona virus abroad: Who bears the costs??

Actually there are insurances for this, which take over medical costs or pay for a return transport. But: if there is a travel warning for the country in question at the start of the trip, the rates of these private Health insurance abroad usually excludes coverage of treatment costs, as the Bund der Versicherten explains.

If there is no travel warning, it is worthwhile to take a look at the respective contract. If pandemics are excluded, then there is no insurance coverage in the event of a Covid 19 disease. At least a "medically necessary return transport" to the home country is often insured, according to the BdV. If you have taken out a better tariff, you may also be covered for a return transport that is not necessary, but at least "medically advisable".

It may be worthwhile for people with statutory health insurance to be insured with the Health Insurance To inquire. This can also cover treatment costs abroad: The Bund der Versicherten (Association of the Insured) says that partial benefits could be paid if necessary – at least in other EU countries.

Actually, it's supposed to be about content: When the AfD from Saturday to their Federal Party Conference The party wants to finally fill a gap in its program and give itself a profile in terms of pensions and social policy. But it's not debates about precautionary models that are most preoccupying the AfD at the moment.

The year was dominated by headlines about the bitter dispute over Andreas Kalbitz's membership and scenes like the one recently in the Bundestag, when Youtubers invited as guests by the AfD parliamentary group harassed members of parliament from other parties. And then there is always the Federal Office for the Protection of Interception , Where soon a decision on a Observation of the party could fall.

AfD: The Verfangsschutzer will look closely at Kalkar

At the Verfangsschutzern in Cologne one will follow straight this party conference attentively. For almost two years, the agency has been intensively engaged with the AfD. Already since January 2019, it is considered "Test case" – but only "internally. Read about it: Esken: Verfangsschutz should monitor AfD more closely

The latest disruptive actions in the Bundestag during the vote on the Infection Protection Act , but also the re-election of right-wingers Bjorn Hocke as co-leader of the Thuringian state association, the Cologne authority is likely to have confirmed in its analysis that the Right-wing populists radicalize.

The "wing" has dissolved – a feint?

Hocke was for a long time at the head of the "wing" with his about 7.000 members. The organization was classified by the Verfangsschutz as "a secured right-wing extremist effort against the free democratic basic order" and has since disbanded. But Verfangsschutz president Thomas Haldenwang thinks it's a feint.

Afd: will the verfangsschutz observe the party??

Because: the supporters of the former right-wing nationalist "wing" are not gone. Rather, according to the assessment of the Verfangsschutz, they are fighting for more influence in the AfD. With success? A party conference is like an open stage there.

Initially, a check only means that an organization is being targeted by the Verfangsschutz. It is based on anti-interception content scanned. But this process must be open-ended. That is why Haldenwang is not allowed to publicly refer to the party as a test case, according to a ruling by the Cologne Administrative Court. Because that would already be a stigmatization.

An "examination" can also end with an "acquittal"

An "examination" includes the possibility that the party does not have any Danger for the free democratic basic order represents. A party cannot remain on the test bench forever. Haldenwang once said that it would take no longer than two years to get a result. The court has long been under time prere – according to this logic, a decision can be expected by the end of January 2021 at the latest.

In the case of a suspicious case – the next higher level – there are already well-founded indications and the office has more means at its disposal to gain knowledge about a grouping. Now begins a systematic gathering of information at the federal and state levels. The AfD youth organization JA is such a suspicious case.

The "wing" – from suspicion to observation case

If the suspicion is confirmed, then an organization – like the "wing" – is classified as a right-wing extremist effort against the free democratic basic order, henceforth observed and mentioned in the annual Verfangsschutz report.

In Cologne, they can then completely unpack the instrument case and use all intelligence means: The intelligence service can intercept the party's communications, V-men infiltrate sources in the inner circles of the organization.

A decision against the AfD in an election year could be a deterrent

It is hardly to be expected that the "examination" will end harmlessly. The Verfangsschutz's employer, the Ministry of the Interior, stays out of it to maintain neutrality. But in view of the radicalization of the party, it is said in ministry circles that "they are just begging for it" – for a stricter classification by the Verfangsschutz (the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution).

The timing is unfavorable for the AfD: a decision just in the middle of the year election year 2021 . This could scare off potential voters and especially those supporters who are employed in the public sector and from whom one may particularly expect loyalty to the cause.

Was Kalbitz's fall a signal from party leadership to Cologne?

In the party one looks therefore with concern to the coming decision of the Verfangsschutz. The maneuver of Party leader Jorg Meuthen , the "wing" leader and Ex-Brandenburg state leader Andreas Kalbitz The decision to revoke membership in the spring could be interpreted as an attempted signal to Cologne: Look here, we are doing something against the most radical of the party. Read in addition: AfD: Kalbitz successor is "proven right-wing extremist"

But in parts of the party, resentment over Kalbitz's expulsion is smoldering – and this weekend it could take hold. Thus is found in the 155-page Application book for the party conference also a motion calling for the "divisive behavior" of the party leader in the Causa Kalbitz to disapprove expressly. The "crash in voter favor" – the AfD has not been able to get above 11 percent in polls for months – is directly related to this.

"I am very much in favor of debating the actions of Jorg Meuthen in the current year at the weekend," says the Deputy party chairman Stephan Brandner this editorial. Meuthen's ideas and behavior in 2020 have "so far been anything but conducive" to the party as such and its unity. He advises him to "refrain from such things in the future," Brandner said. Doesn't sound like reconciliation.

They were considered the lesbian showcase couple in Germany – now it's over. The TV presenter Anne Will and the communication scientist Miriam Meckel have separated. A statement to this effect by both women has been made available to the dpa news agency.

"We have separated," says the present letter from Will (53) and Meckel (52). "Further we will not explain on this and ask to respect our privacy."

Anne Will and Miriam Meckel: Separation after several years of relationship

Signed the sentences with both names: Anne Will and Miriam Meckel. The ARD talk show host and the publisher of the magazine "Ada" had been considered a prominent lesbian couple for years.

In 2007 they made the connection known. Three years ago, Will and Meckel said yes to a registered civil partnership.

Their Coming out per photo in the "Bild am Sonntag" Meckel later explained in the "Spiegel": "We simply wanted to be able to go to a public event and sit at the same table. And for that we had to put up with this photo being taken once." Wills variant on it in the "star": "We simply had no more desire on the cramp: I go before, Miriam comes after."

Will and Meckel said yes to each other before marriage for all

The hype was big. "Yes, we are a couple," was the striking sentence. Since there were only a few lesbians known to the general public until then – including Maren Kroymann, Hella von Sinnen, Cornelia Scheel and Ulrike Folkerts – many in the scene were happy about it. During the Christopher Street Day parade in Berlin, the slogan "Anne Will – me too" promptly appeared.

The official step followed in 2016. "Yes, we got married", it was now said. Even before marriage for all, which has only been possible in Germany for two years, Will and Meckel said yes to a registered civil partnership. For the ceremony, Will wore a simple white sheath dress, combined with a bridal bouquet of red, pastel and cream roses. Meckel came in a striped, sleeveless dress in pink and white. To celebrate there were helium balloons in the shape of two women.

Will and Meckel kept their private life largely under wraps. Only little was known about it. When Meckel came to terms with her burnout in the book "Letter to My Life," she revealed little about life with her partner.

Still in June appearance in prominent round

Joint appearances were sometimes more frequent, then again not for a long time. Separation rumors circulating in the meantime were denied. When both appeared in public, their outfits always seemed to match: both in black, both in suits, both off-the-shoulder, both with plunging necklines, both in the same color combination or – at carnival – both in masquerade costume.

Meckel sometimes met the flurry of flashbulbs and media hype surrounding the celebrity couple in her own way: She turned her counterparts into objects and photographed the photographers herself.

Another big separation had also caused a stir recently: Thomas Gottschalk separated from his wife Thea after decades.