Holidays 2020

wedrum · 17 Mar 2020 at 18:54

sneakysnail said:
dont think so. They've been flying out of italy until recently and continue to fly out of many other countrys. If you have a visa etc no symptoms on you're okay from the uk currently. From more heavily effected countrys you need a medical certificate and will have to isolate for 2 weeks. England will probably be that way in 10 days so and i'm prepared for that.

If I dont get out soon I'd be stuck here for months potentially so not fussed about 2 weeks in isolation. I'll just land 2 weeks earlier than i planned.

Hope it works out for you bud

geekman · 17 Mar 2020 at 19:10

iamtheoneneo said:
Yeh edreams lost their atol status a while back. You may have a chance of recovering some of it but doubtful.

It shouldn't matter how you book your flights by the way. They just need to be under atol protection...and I'm pretty sure that edreams were ranked one of the worst for buyer protection by which last year.

I know: the main reason I booked with them was because they offered a particular date / time that wasn't offered on the airline's own website. There were slightly different dates available direct with the airline which I could also have just about made work with my schedule, but they were almost 1k more. That's the risk you take with these things - I've booked all kinds of weird flight combinations through badly reviewed services in the past and got away with it so I guess it was always going to happen eventually.

TheVoice · 17 Mar 2020 at 19:15

Real shame, was hoping to do Ukraine/Pripyat/Chernobyl finally this year and Canada later in the year. The former might be doable at short notice if things improve later in the year but Canada is out the window.

ChrisD. · 17 Mar 2020 at 19:23

Does anyone know if BA don't give me a full refund for my flights next month, if Amex would get the money back for me? I don't want a voucher which they're currently offering as the mrs has been forced to take 8 weeks unpaid leave and I'd rather just have the money to invest elsewhere and book it when we feel like it.

Spuddy · 17 Mar 2020 at 21:37

Supposed to be going to Australia for 6 weeks on 2nd April backpacking although not looking likely at this rate.

Spent 3 hours 40 minutes tonight on hold to travel agent 'TravelUp' and still no answer, to get flights moved forward to tomorrow before they shut borders. It rings once and then goes dead silent, theres also about 20 different numbers littered across their documentation and website so it seems to be a lucky dip. Their social media is full of people moaning with the same issues, will never use these cowboys again to save a few quid.

Can anyone tell me, with the latest advice from the FCO - am I entitled to get a refund from my travel agent / airline? I'm flying with Emirates if it makes a difference..

Yas786 · 17 Mar 2020 at 22:40

Well Turkey are closing their borders for next 30 days and it includes the UK.

Me and missus not meant to be flying till end of May so hopefully things will improve otherwise it looks to be off. Will have to find out about refunds in our flights out. Booked with Turkish airlines and hotel is the Hilton. Got an email last week from Hilton saying if we need to cancel then not a problem. But not sure with Turkish airlines, missus booked the tickets and didn’t buy them direct I think.

Will have to see what happens now.

iamtheoneneo · 17 Mar 2020 at 22:58

ChrisD. said:
Does anyone know if BA don't give me a full refund for my flights next month, if Amex would get the money back for me? I don't want a voucher which they're currently offering as the mrs has been forced to take 8 weeks unpaid leave and I'd rather just have the money to invest elsewhere and book it when we feel like it.

Is your flight cancelled? If so you get a refund - zero issues there. They will try to tempt you into a rebook but legally you can take the money and run.
If they flight is still happening according to BA, out of some hope its all going to clear up + too appease shareholders. Then well you just wait a bit longer until they cancel it.

UTmaniac · 17 Mar 2020 at 23:25

Impending Center Parcs holiday postponed as all UK villages closing from this Friday.

ChrisD. · 18 Mar 2020 at 08:10

iamtheoneneo said:
Is your flight cancelled? If so you get a refund - zero issues there. They will try to tempt you into a rebook but legally you can take the money and run.
If they flight is still happening according to BA, out of some hope its all going to clear up + too appease shareholders. Then well you just wait a bit longer until they cancel it.

As far as I’m aware it’s still scheduled.

ci_newman · 18 Mar 2020 at 09:56

Air Malta have now officially suspended all flights, now starts the challenge of getting a refund..

https://www.airmalta.com/information/about/news-overview/news-detail/025-2020-en

Our Hotel in Malta has offered to put any balances on "hold" towards a future stay (they were booked as non-refundable). I'll be speaking to my travel insurers later to see what our options are

ChrisD. · 19 Mar 2020 at 10:12

BA have cancelled my flights to Dubai next month, which was expected. What's infuriating is that the only way for me to get a refund is to call them, but it's impossible to get through to anyone. All I can do online is get a voucher which I have no interest in. Time to call American Express? I paid for upgrades etc so it's about £1600 or so, hence I'm keen to have my money back rather than have them keep hold of it.

Derek W · 19 Mar 2020 at 20:31

Got email notification from Expedia that the hotel in Milan I'm supposed to be staying at has closed till April 4th so far. But the way Italy is at the moment I can't see them sorting themselves out by the end of April. Suspect I should get a refund for hotel and flights along with the football tickets I've already pre-ordered.

chroniclard · 19 Mar 2020 at 21:05

Hmm wife's boss has a villa in Portugal and everyone's cancelled, said we could have it free in August if its cleared up. I'm not optimistic.

Minusorange · 20 Mar 2020 at 17:57

In case anybody has insurance through Nationwide

If you opened your FlexPlus account on or after 18 March

Your travel insurance will not provide cover for any claim caused by the coronavirus pandemic because it is now a known event.

If you opened your account before 18 March
For trips booked on or after 18 March
Your travel insurance with your FlexPlus or FlexAccount will not cover you for trips booked on or after 18 March, now that the risks of coronavirus are known. This also applies to any new upgrades you may be purchasing for trips booked before 18 March 2020.

For trips booked before 18 March
If you booked a trip before the 18 March, cover is available for coronavirus related claims. This is because you could not have known of the risks when you booked.

Please see the frequently asked questions below for details on the cover provided.

https://www.nationwide.co.uk/suppor...information?et_cid=22717318&et_rid=2653814709

Surprised how late their cut off date is, seems very generous considering it was looking bad even in Feb

HumbleCoder · 20 Mar 2020 at 22:12

We have BA flights booked to Miami in October, at the moment I have a feeling we won't be going and we're Flexplus customers so hoping they'll cover it if we don't get to go.

Robzere31 · 21 Mar 2020 at 00:11

Next months trip to Iceland has been cancelled today, options of a refund or rebook available.
Probably take the refund & look to rebook next year.

Expecting the same outcome for June's trip to Lanzarote.

ChrisD. · 21 Mar 2020 at 09:22

Robzere31 said:
Next months trip to Iceland has been cancelled today, options of a refund or rebook available.
Probably take the refund & look to rebook next year.

Expecting the same outcome for June's trip to Lanzarote.

If it's BA you have to call to get a refund annoyingly. They should allow the option online to allow those customers who really need to speak to them to be able to get through.

Terminal_Boy · 21 Mar 2020 at 09:43

Robzere31 said:
Next months trip to Iceland has been cancelled today, options of a refund or rebook available.
Probably take the refund & look to rebook next year.

Expecting the same outcome for June's trip to Lanzarote.

To be fair, you want to visit Iceland when the Northern Lights are most active.

shardan · 21 Mar 2020 at 13:08

ChrisD. said:
BA have cancelled my flights to Dubai next month, which was expected. What's infuriating is that the only way for me to get a refund is to call them, but it's impossible to get through to anyone. All I can do online is get a voucher which I have no interest in. Time to call American Express? I paid for upgrades etc so it's about £1600 or so, hence I'm keen to have my money back rather than have them keep hold of it.

I found the following articles about BA deliberately blocking online cash refunds for Avios bookings and there is a Chrome workaround for that. It also states "If you ring British Airways, you WILL receive your cash refund."

Here are the links which maybe useful for some people:

https://www.headforpoints.com/2020/03/19/british-airways-refund-avios-booking/
https://www.headforpoints.com/2020/...line-avios-flight-refund-using-google-chrome/

wedrum · 21 Mar 2020 at 13:15

due to fly lanzarote 18th april, final balance needs to be paid on the 4th april.
holiday still going a head according to onthebeach.
no option for a refund yet.