I was due to fly back to Shanghai on February 01 at 3 pm, but those plans have been axed for now. I thought (and still think) this coronavirus situation is overblown and mostly mass hysteria, but I’ve now delayed my flight due to two reasons.
Reason 1. After a series of emails about “do not travel to Wuhan + avoid unnecessary travel to the rest of China”, the American embassy’s almost-daily email has now changed its tune to DO NOT TRAVEL TO CHINA. This is something more than mass hysteria, because if shit really does hit the fan … I was warned and did not take their advice, and would be on my own.
Jan 28 email:
Jan 31 email:
Reason 2. My company has now changed the work start date to mid-February. Flying back now would mean sitting in my Shanghai apartment for two weeks, counting down the days.
I phoned Malaysia Airlines and the customer service agent said that the fee would be waived once, just once. No changing to open jaw, just the same itinerary on a different day. I picked February 13 — a few days before my start date at work (for now). The start date may change, and honestly, I am fully expecting it to. Later, I found out that I had the option to cancel for a full refund but was not told this on the phone. Fuckers.