You are not going to believe this. A few weeks ago a Hong Kong woman paid a
group of con men $15,000 for pills to cure the millennium bug. She
apparently thought it was a physical ailment. This is just an other example
showing that in the past year we've all become a bunch of Chicken Littles,
wringing our hands, wondering if the sky's going to fall come the Year
2000. We've been hearing about it almost nonstop. There's a chance
computers may go haywire when their processors read the year 2000 as the
year 1900, resulting in a global meltdown. Because of all this news
coverage, calls from concerned travelers have been steadily trickling into
the Savvy offices wondering if it's a good time to be jotting about the
globe. Don in Corvallis, Oregon is one of those Y2K callers. He and his
wife plan to be in Italy for the New Year. He says he's not worried about
any problems, but his wife has a list of potential disasters.
Maybe Don's wife might feel better about the trip if she took out some Y2K
insurance. Bob Chambers is vice president of sales and marketing for CSA
Travel Protection, the only company offering such insurance. He told me
what the policy will cover if Y2K causes you some problems.
So, let's say by January 1 you've already arrived at your millennial
destination -- a resort or hotel you picked out to ring in the New Year.
You might want to know if your hotel on Barbados is Y2K compliant. To find
out what you should expect at a hotel or resort I called Denise McConaghy,
the Y2K project manager for the 34 Fairmont Hotels and Resorts around the
world. I asked her if the company has found any potential Y2K problems with
the hotels.
Fortunately, other hotel chains are prepared in much the same way for the
new millennium. But just in case, you may want to give your destination a
call and ask them a few savvy Y2K questions.
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Savvy Resources for Y2K Travel:
- The U.S. State Department has a list of Y2K travel briefings at travel.state.gov/y2kca.html
- You can find out more about CSA Travel Insurance by going to their web
site at www.cgu-insurance.net
- More info is available on a new British Web service, operated by the
British Foreign Office. It's at www.fco.gov.uk
- CNET has a wealth of information on Y2K. You can get to their page by
typing www.y2k.com
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