Let me give a glimpse of our ride over the past month. My wife and I have decent jobs in the Netherlands. Our immediate families live in Indonesia. Yes, you guessed right, it is a family-themed roller-coaster with a cross-border setting.

We belong to a large group of people on our beloved planet who are attached to two countries simultaneously. In the autumn, the COVID-19 caseload in the Netherlands and Indonesia were both favorable. Indonesia’s mandatory quarantine had been reduced to three days, giving a glimmer of hope that it would soon be lifted entirely.

We saw a window of opportunity that was so encouraging, we decided to book a flight to visit our immediate families and most importantly, our frail and elderly parents whom we have not been able to attend to for almost three years now. We did consider buying a business class ticket to allow for physical distancing on a 14-hour flight.

Some airlines indeed offered a tempting bargain for a tantalizing business class suite. But in the end, wisdom prevailed. All passengers breathed the same air circulating in the aircraft. Also, the price difference from economy class was still significant. So we opted for the lowest possible price, just at the end of the low season. Still, I meticulously chose an airline with a cabin configuration that would allow the two of us to sit separately from other passengers, at an extra cost.

When searching for tickets, to my pleasant surprise, all airlines allowed free rescheduling, even for the cheapest ones. Maybe this was due to an International Air Transport Association regulation, but it seemed a gesture on the part of the airline that lent a sense of solidarity during these trying times. Apart from the flight, I had to do some homework to comprehend the elaborate travel rules, advisories and procedures. All indicators pointed that all systems were a go.

And then Omicron emerged just two weeks before our departure. Hysteria on a global scale followed. In Indonesia, the mandatory quarantine trend was reversed and set to a challenging 10 days. It took us significant time to assess all options for dealing with the new situation. We could postpone our flight to a future date, but it felt so random to do this. The psychological burden might be unbearable. So we ultimately decided to keep our plans intact and started searching for a hotel room. We took the window of opportunity and we were determined to hold on to it.

Considering the possible mental load of 10 days in confinement, we decided to look for a large room. Apparently, only five-star hotels offer large standard rooms, priced at around Rp 30 million (US$2,092) for a nine-night quarantine package. We went through the list of quarantine hotels conveniently provided by the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI). Apart from the room size and price, we considered the cancellation and refund policies a serious matter, because proof of a negative PCR test taken within 48 hours before departure was a condition for boarding flights in Amsterdam. No insurance company wanted to cover such a risk.

Unfortunately, most hotels do not clearly state their policies on the PHRI website. Only three hotels seemed willing to take their share of the responsibility, to be considerate in fighting the pandemic together with society. They had conveniently connected the reservation, advance payment and full refund policy to the PCR test result. Unfortunately, these hotels were all fully booked.

The other hotels I contacted, when pressed for a response to what if my PCR were positive, showed an unethical “advance payment, take it or leave it” attitude regarding reservations and “up to the hotel management” regarding refunds. One hotel was so bold as to invite me to negotiate with the hotel management for a refund in the case of a positive PCR test. Another offered to reschedule my stay instead of refunding it. I have never felt less desire to stay for 10 days at any hotel in Jakarta.

This is another proof that the commercial sector is prone to opportunism to the neglect of social responsibility. Apparently, some hotels don’t have the slightest understanding that the mandatory quarantine is also supporting the hospitality industry in a way by moderating the negative impacts of the pandemic. In return, they should at least commit to social responsibility. The mandatory quarantine is a government policy, not a gift from Santa Claus.

The government should issue guidelines to ensure that the industry holds the good spirit of its policy in high regard. Thousands of people arrive daily in Jakarta during this period. They don’t deserve such a bad business practice. Along with the COVID-19 measures, consumers grabbing their well-deserved opportunity must be protected against profiteering by hotels.

After all, I still feel that I am blessed by God to be able to afford a comfortable five-star hotel in Jakarta with pleasant service from polite hotel staff, as well as have the time to write this op-ed to address a moral hazard stemming from a government policy.

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The writer is an Indonesian scholar based in Leiden, the Netherlands.