updated March 13, 2020
With the new Europe travel ban in place, many travelers are (reasonably) concerned about their flights and travel plans. The most important thing to know is that you do not need to panic! If your flight is not within 48 hours, please wait to contact us so we can prioritize urgent requests.
The travel ban does not apply to US citizens and legal permanent residents, so right now you will be able to get home even after the ban begins.
The ban prevents travel for foreign nationals (aka non-citizens) from traveling from Europe (the Schengen region as well as UK & Ireland). We will work with you to get you where you need to go.
When does the Europe travel ban go into effect?
The travel ban on flights from Europe to the US will go into effect beginning the evening of March 13 at midnight. The ban from the UK and Ireland to the US will go into effective on Monday night at midnight.
I’m currently in Europe and have to move my flight up, what do I do?
We can help you with that! Please DM us on Facebook or Twitter with the following information and we will take care of your messages in order of priority regarding flight dates. We understand that many of you would like to get home as quickly as possible and are working hard to make sure that can happen.
If you would like to get home immediately and your original flight home isn’t within the next few days, you can always have the option to book a new flight home and deal with options from your old flight later. Right now, most flights that do have change/cancellation options are either for a partial refund or for future travel credit. We can take care of that for you as long as your flight is more than a few hours away.
I don’t have a flight booked and need to get home, what do I do?
Easy: book a flight asap! We know that things are crazy right now, but if you do need to get home quickly, the best thing to do is book a flight and worry about the details later. We have discount flights to Europe for you on our website and our Europe prices are actually pretty cheap.
I have a flight to Europe coming up, should I still go?
That is up to you, but we don’t recommend traveling to anywhere with a CDC travel advisory against travel there. We recommend checking out the CDC advisories, carefully considering the travel restrictions and judging whether or not now is a good time for visiting your destination. If you have the option to postpone your trip to sometime in May or beyond, that is probably a good option to look into. If your flight coming up is not until May or in the summer, hang tight and wait to see what the situation is when your trip is a bit closer.
I have a flight to Europe coming up but I feel like I should cancel it. How can I do that?
The next steps for you depends on when your flight is. Find the appropriate time frame for you below and follow the directions. We’re getting an unprecedented amount of calls and messages right now, but we are working to help everyone as quickly and efficiently as possible.
My flight is in the next few days:
- DM us on Facebook or Twitter with the following information. We are currently monitoring for these urgent requests and helping as quickly as we can. Send us:
– your StudentUniverse reservation number
– your full name and date of birth
– the original flight date
– the airline
– your email address
-if you are ok with canceling for future credit let us know
My flight is next week:
- DM us on Facebook or Twitter or email help@studentuniverse.com with the following information and hang tight. We will get to you asap and help you. Send us:
- your StudentUniverse reservation number
- your full name and date of birth
- the original flight date
- the airline
- your email address
- if you are ok with canceling for future credit let us know
My flight is not until after March 30:
- Hang tight! Please wait to message us until at least March 25th. We know that it feels very urgent to get things changed, but we will have the same (if not better) change and refund policies then as now. In addition, since we are so backlogged, we are focusing on the most urgent requests first, so we won’t be able to help you right away. We do apologize but we promise we will help as soon as possible.
Am I affected by the Europe travel ban?
The Europe travel ban does not currently apply to US citizens or legal permanent residents of the US. This means if you have a US passport, are a US citizen or otherwise are a legal permanent resident, you will be allowed back into the US from Europe even after this Friday.
The Europe travel ban applies to any foreign nationals, which includes European citizens and most non-US citizens. The ban prevents travel for foreign nationals (aka non-citizens) from traveling from Europe (the Schengen region as well as UK & Ireland). For more information on who the travel ban affects, please see the official notice on the EU travel ban.
I heard I have to enter the country at certain airports, what does that mean for me?
There’s still some things about the EU travel ban that haven’t been announced yet, such as exactly how the ban will be enforced. So far, American Airlines has said that all passengers on flights from Europe to the US will be asked if they visited an European country in the Schengen area within the past 14 days. If yes, you must be on a flight heading into an approved airport in the US. The approved airports so far are:
- Atlanta: Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)
- Dallas-Fort Worth: Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)
- Detroit: Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW)
- Newark, New Jersey: Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
- Honolulu: Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL)
- New York City: John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
- Los Angeles: Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
- Chicago: Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD)
- Seattle: Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
- San Francisco: San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
- Washington, D.C.: Washington-Dulles International Airport (IAD)
American Airlines has already released a policy that they will reroute anyone who needs to come back and is not already traveling into one of these airports. Other airlines have yet to issue airline-wide policies, but we will help as much as possible in terms of getting you where you need to go.
Will I get a refund on my flights to Europe due to the travel ban?
Currently, most airlines are not offering special refunds, but they are offering free changes. You can also cancel your flight with us for free and receive a travel credit to be used at a later time. *PLEASE NOTE* this does not apply to every airline, and each airline’s policies about credits, refunds and changes is different. If your ticket was eligible for a refund normally, we can help process that cancellation for you. Normal cancellation fees may apply in this case. Please check your airline policy and/or contact us directly for help with changes.
I’m currently on the phone with you guys and it’s a super long wait. What do I do?
DM us on Facebook or Twitter and hang up so you’re not just sitting on hold for hours. You can also leave a callback number if you want to (but keep in mind it will be about 24-48 hours in most cases for a call back). For urgent requests, Facebook or Twitter is the way to go, but please note we are helping a ton of people so we still may need a little time to get to you. The more info you give us in your first message, the faster we can help.
