Coronavirus Impact: US implements European travel ban, what about domestic travel restrictions?
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- As the U.S. moves to implement European travel restrictions, what about domestic travel? Today, reporters asked President Trump if it's possible to place travel restrictions to some the hardest-hit states like California or Washington -- and his answer was yes.
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"Are you considering travel restrictions within the United States, such as Washington state or to California?" a reporter asked President Trump on Thursday.
"We haven't discussed that yet," President Trump said." It is a possibility? Yes. If somebody gets a little bit out of control if an area gets too hot."
We asked travelers at SFO if they could see state-to-state travel restrictions come into play.
"It seems like it's only a matter of time, to be honest," Jasmine Walker said.
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Walker, from Richmond, rented a car in Las Vegas just in case she had trouble flying back home.
"I see some states are still unaffected so I imagine for them they're like, I prefer nobody come into this state and start an epidemic in our state," Walker said.
Will Buzin is a senior at Penn State and is flying back home from spring break with two of his friends. He's doubtful of state-to-state travel restrictions.
"I really don't think it's going to happen. I don't think it should," Buzin said.
Travel expert Josh Friedman, CEO of Luxury Travel, worked in San Francisco for over 40 years. He's now based out of Palm Springs and the majority of his clients are cruise ship bookings. He weighed in on what people should do if they booked or plan to book a trip out of the country.
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"I would be short to analyze what the options are for booking your travel versus canceling your travel and doing the smart thing. If you can move your booking a year out or six months out you can easily keep the insurance you already have so you don't have to buy it over again," Friedman said.
Friedman says right now cancellation policies are pretty liberal.
"Vendors want the business so I would definitely see what their cancellation time frame is, but a lot of vendors are letting you cancel up until 24 hours- 3 hours before when usually it's three months," Friedman said.
He also added Hawaii and Mexico are the best options for Californians if you really want to take a trip because of the short distances.
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