New British Airways policy just issued for flights to Italy

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• Peter K says:

  8 Mar8 March 13:15

  How long before the rest of Italy follows I wonder.

  • Alex Sm says:

    9 Mar9 March 00:58

    How long before SWISS cancels our flights to Florence and Milan I wonder…

    • Alex Sm says:

      9 Mar9 March 10:59

      Here we are

      Latest update 09 March 2020, 08:05 CET

      Rebooking and refund

      Rebooking

      SWISS is introducing more flexible rebooking options with immediate effect. The new far-reaching waiver policy for rebooking applies to both existing and future bookings worldwide.

      SWISS will waive its rebooking fees for all newly booked flights worldwide with immediate effect and until March 31 and offer a one-off free rebooking. For existing bookings, the new waiver policy will apply worldwide to all flights booked by March 5 with a departure date up to April 30, 2020. Passengers will thus be able to rebook their flight ticket once to a new date up to December 31, 2020 without incurring any rebooking fee. To do so, please call our Service Centre.

      This new waiver policy applies regardless of the booking fare conditions. The departure and destination airports must be identical. If the original fare is no longer available, the corresponding difference must be paid. The rebooking must be made before the original travel date.

      With this new waiver policy, SWISS is responding to the wish of many customers to flexibilize their travel plans under the exceptional circumstances caused by the spread of the coronavirus.

      Refund

      For cancelled flights: If you have booked through swiss.com or a Service Centre and you don’t want to rebook your flight ticket, you can refund your ticket. To do so, please complete the refund form.

      If you booked through an (online) travel agency, please contact the travel agency.

• Jo says:

  8 Mar8 March 13:38

  This is really frustrating. They know very well that most people will be booked just a few day’s later for Easter! Why not put all through April?!?

  • SideshowBob says:

    8 Mar8 March 14:06

    Because they are not doing it because they care about you. They are merely following the Italian government’s quarantine policy which ends on 3rd April.

  • Paul says:

    8 Mar8 March 23:11

    Actually a lot of schools will be leaving on the 1/2/3rd and this is just perfect. The can now cancel and get refunds or insurance cover. The travel trade were forcing them to go and the insurers denying claims on basis that no FCO advice not to travel.

    This is good news. My advice would be to sit tight. This is a rapidly developing situation and much will change in next 2 weeks.

    My personal concern is for USA. My sense is that they don’t have any grip on this at all.

    • Alex Sm says:

      9 Mar9 March 00:59

      They are preoccupied with their Tuesdays which cannot be cancelled

    • Paul Pogba says:

      9 Mar9 March 07:31

      I agree, the USA in an almost uniquely poor situation: High levels of mobility between densely populated cities, patchy sick pay encouraging workers to turn up when sick, patchy healthcare, high levels of obesity increasing comorbidity risk and a population that is more likely to be armed and therefore dangerous if supply chains are disrupted all overseen by a president I wouldn’t want in command of a minor crisis let alone a major one.

• Ben Edwards says:

  8 Mar8 March 15:43

  Hi I’m flying to ICN at the end of April visiting busan about and seoul

  I’ve booked a non refundable ticket through an online company

  South Korea is the second biggest destination outside China affected by Covid 19 with over 6000 cases

  Why is that BA have no policy in place for rebooking for people travelling immediately and in a 4 week period as an example , it seems very bizarre

  Due to the situation I’m reluctant to travel there.

  Any advise would be appreciated

  my travel agent say if I wish to canx I will be refunded government taxes only however I would have to pay the agency a canx charge of £79.00 per person which pretty much wipes out the tax refund

  • Mr(s) Entitled says:

    8 Mar8 March 16:00

    BA are merely an airline. They will follow governmental advice on when to fly and when not. Until the FCO says don’t travel, BA will continue to fly there and it is not their fault if an individual decides not to board.

    I say this with 4 tickets to Venice 12/4. Let’s wait and see but let’s not blame BA for a situation they didn’t create.

  • AJA says:

    8 Mar8 March 16:48

    Ben, your problem is that you bought a non-refundable ticket. This leaves you with the option of travelling as originally booked or cancelling and getting back what the travel agent offered.

    BA is not allowing you to cancel because the FCO has not advised against travel to the areas of Korea where you have booked to travel.

    I would still travel but if you feel.that you really don’t want to travel you only have the option of cancelling and losing almost all your money.

    The situation may change in the meantime and the FCO might advise against all travel to Korea in which case BA would cancel your flight and you’d get a refund.

    Thats probably not what you want to hear.

  • The Savage Squirrel says:

    8 Mar8 March 18:53

    Well the travel advice could change at any time, so they only definite is … DON’T cancel. Let the situation play out as travel rules may change at any time and get you your refund – and you lose pretty much nothing by simply not turning up rather than cancelling.

  • Paul says:

    8 Mar8 March 23:15

    Sit tight! Do not cancel. If advice changes insurance kicks in.
    Korea seems to also have one of the best responses to this and end of April is a long way away in terms of this disease.
    If all else fails get your doctor to issue not fit to fly certificate just before travel. A heavy cold or chest infection should do the trick!

• Ian M says:

  8 Mar8 March 17:27

  I thought that no body was allowed to enter or leave Lombardy? Clearly that’s not true if flights are still operating?

  • Rob says:

    8 Mar8 March 17:52

    I think it is not fully signed in to law yet.

    • Geoff says:

      8 Mar8 March 21:03

      EI has this evening cancelled all flights to Italy

• Shoestring says:

  8 Mar8 March 19:13

  and let’s not forget that possibly irrational people prefer their panic to getting the calm messages:
  1. 1% morbidity/ mortality rate – and nearly all in 70+ older oeople who were going to die of something soon anyway
  2. ‘It is likely that many more cases were so mild that they were not identified as COVID-19. Estimates published by Read et al. (2020) suggest that only around 5% of cases in China have been diagnosed and recorded.’ – which makes mortality rate a helluva lot less than 1%

  • Shoestring says:

    8 Mar8 March 19:32

    time to get into the market?

    • Mac says:

      8 Mar8 March 19:50

      Elon, I knew it was you!

  • TM says:

    8 Mar8 March 19:36

    Is that you Donald?

    • Shoestring says:

      8 Mar8 March 19:39

      I am fed up with all the morons

      • KBuffett says:

        8 Mar8 March 19:51

        IG weekend futures showing a 3% drop for Dow Jones.

        • Shoestring says:

          8 Mar8 March 20:05

          by the time your ma or pa gets to 70+ – they will die sooner or later, something is going to carry them off

        • Shoestring says:

          8 Mar8 March 20:14

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=iDVuQi4gdtk&list=PLoJPa3l2xA1LNyqFQnYN3PJkTKSShVjgl&index=46

      • Spursdebs says:

        8 Mar8 March 20:11

        Time you parents get to 80 and have dementia that is robbing them of capacity every single day, a quick death from a virus might be preferable.

        • Shoestring says:

          8 Mar8 March 20:15

          I sympathise with you, you are doing a great job you shouldn’t have to be doing.

        • Spursdebs says:

          8 Mar8 March 20:20

          Thanks Shoestring, not going to lie it’s hard. But maybe that’s why I’m more pragmatic about this virus as I live with chronic illness all day, and I firmly believe that there’s too much medical intervention sometimes. I’m in the quality over quantity camp.

        • Shoestring says:

          8 Mar8 March 20:30

          Bloody hell Debs – you need a break.

          I want to die from too much alcohol rather than burden anybody else with looking after 80+ dementia guy

        • Shoestring says:

          8 Mar8 March 20:52

          As in: I totally agree with you, Debs, plus you are working too hard (ruining your life) for no real benefit to your parents.

        • Spursdebs says:

          8 Mar8 March 21:07

          I took on the responsibility got to see it through now.
          I wish I drank, I caught glandular fever 20 years ago destroyed my spleen and horror upon horror alcohol now taste of metal and makes me violently sick after half a glass!

        • Shoestring says:

          8 Mar8 March 21:19

          yeah well younger HFP users probably don’t realise you are probably wiping her ass for her! Same as when I did it for my little kids so I guess we should accustom ourselves to this type of thing but you are doing a sterling job

        • Alex Sm says:

          9 Mar9 March 01:02

          @Shoestring I was waiting for a pussy-word from you in all this discussion but you seem to have changed tack

      • Paul Pogba says:

        8 Mar8 March 21:25

        Have you considered the possibility that public health bodies, NGOs, and the wider public might be right to be concerned? I can see you in remake of 28 days later wandering around a desolate Lemon Quay shouting “hello!” as the sound echos off the Hall for Cornwall and insisting its “just the flu”.

        • Shoestring says:

          8 Mar8 March 21:37

          let’s see if I’m dead in 28 days’ time

          I think not

        • Shoestring says:

          8 Mar8 March 21:42

          Lemon Quay? are you a stalker lol?

        • Shoestring says:

          8 Mar8 March 21:46

          obvs you all want to live in Cornwall (like me) as it is the best bit of the UK to live in

          Truro is not too bad

          but I recommend Newquay, then up the North Coast if you have the money

  • SM says:

    8 Mar8 March 22:53

    The number of diagnosed cases is most likely an underestimate so would the number of deaths, some in China who may have died at home or in hospital but weren’t tested are probably not captured by this data. So the true mortality might very well be 3-4%.

  • Paul says:

    8 Mar8 March 23:17

    But 10% are ending up in ICU. This is a really serious matter and health services cannot cope with this level of intensive care. This is also a new virus and there is huge concern it might mutate. Governments are not doing this through choice. It a clear and present danger.

• Raymond Tatnell says:

  8 Mar8 March 19:26

  Hope Ryan Air follows the example.

  • Lady London says:

    9 Mar9 March 00:47

    Just checked Easyjet’s website and they are toughing it out.
    Plastered all over the top of it “no refunds”.

• Jcp says:

  8 Mar8 March 20:24

  I’m not an expert on this unlike some other people on here but for context, 17,000 people died per year, on average, over the last 5 years from seasonal flu.

• AlanTJ says:

  8 Mar8 March 20:27

  After hearing about the Lufthansa B/Class sale on Headforpoints, I booked a 2 tickets to Bangkok flying out of Milan via Frankfurt in early May. Nothing from Lufthansa yet about any cancellation but unless some sort of miracle happens I cannot see us making the trip.

  Does anyone know if our travel insurance (Nat west Black Card) is likely to cover the flight costs if Lufthansa try to tough it out

  • Anna says:

    8 Mar8 March 20:36

    I think it’s been said on here already that travel insurance will only pay out in FO changes their advice to say you shouldn’t travel to a particular region.

    • Jcp says:

      8 Mar8 March 20:48

      It would be good if the government advised against travel to an area of Italy which is in lockdown.

      • Shoestring says:

        8 Mar8 March 21:00

        you have to understand the strategy (contain)

        so Italy is ahead of us (UK) – but we’ll catch up in a couple weeks

        Coronavirus will hit most of us

        luckily it’s mild and most of us will shrug it off

        it’ll all be over in 9 weeks

        • Lady London says:

          9 Mar9 March 00:51

          I hope not. I am due back just about that time ut then have to head straight back out again. i can see this turning into a **u**er**c*.
          I do think this virus is more dangerous than you would think for some people, perhaps not just the elderly. We don’t even know if once infected, a person perhaps is infected for life at some level?

      • Mark says:

        8 Mar8 March 23:01

        They have changed the advice for the areas on lock-down against all but essential travel. Check the latest update on the FCO website. I think that’s only changed this evening.

  • Rob says:

    8 Mar8 March 21:29

    Unfortunately not, but a good chance LH cuts your flight given the number of aircraft they are talking of grounding.

    • Alex Sm says:

      9 Mar9 March 01:06

      They cancelled some of their SWISS flights to italy but ours are still shown as going! So unfair

  • Lady London says:

    9 Mar9 March 00:48

    Apparently Lufthansa has said it will now cancel up to 50% of its flights especially on A380’s. Which, of course, are probably particularly expensive to run if no one’s turning up.

    If I were you I would sit tight.

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