UK and Ireland added to the United States travel ban

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• Dan says:

  15 Mar15 March 11:58

  Just out: UK advises against ‘all but essential’ travel to US
  The Foreign Office has advised against “all but essential travel” to the US after president Trump introduced a travel ban on the UK over the coronavirus pandemic.

  • Anna says:

    15 Mar15 March 13:02

    That seems a bit pointless as they’re not letting us in anyway and there doesn’t seem to be any sign of a reciprocal travel ban for US citizens!

    • Graeme says:

      15 Mar15 March 13:22

      Far from pointless, I think this could be a relief for some people depending on the situation regarding holiday insurance.

      In the event of countries not accepting UK visitors holiday insurance pay-outs seem uncertain from a number of providers according to MSE. If, however, the FCO advise against all but essential travel then you may be referred back to your travel agent to explore options. The travel agent I have booked through will offer a refund, reschedule or change of destination in this situation. I have this in writing.

      So the FCO announcement could be pivotal allowing those unable to travel to booked destinations some redress through their agent. This may not apply across the board with all agents and if your insurance policy covers these circumstances then you also have that option.

      • Anna says:

        15 Mar15 March 14:04

        Granted re the insurance!

• Beano says:

  15 Mar15 March 12:23

  I’m meant to be flying to Vegas on Tuesday. Its after the ban starts and Vegas isn’t one of the thirteen airports US passengers are allowed to travel to so by my reckoning, no way BA can do anything but cancel the flight.

  However so far all I’ve got from BA is a text telling me IF I want to change my flight I can have a voucher. The app is still trying to get me to pay extra to book seats etc.

  Is this the disgraceful attempt to milk as much of passengers as they possibly can that it appears to be, or simply incompetence?

  • Dittorock says:

    15 Mar15 March 12:45

    Seemingly I’d like to give the benefit of doubt considering it’s such a rapid changing situation, but you’re not alone, AA is behaving equally the same, in fact arguably looking at it’s policy it’s slightly worse with travel having to commence by end of the year, although it’s January 2021 for some areas, but Italy is specifically called out for allowing refunds.
    Hopefully with travel insurance and the new FCO guidance we can all get some leverage and use EC261 or USDOT wherever we need to.

    Frankly I hope the airlines can make it, more importantly the employee’s! The approach some airlines are taking is just not clear/concise enough. Hopefully they are communicating and supporting their employee’s better than they are to the customers.

    In it together though, hoping decent humanity prevails overall….

  • Jimmy the builder says:

    15 Mar15 March 16:17

    We had a similar problem in that our Miami flight on Tuesday must also be cancelled (Miami not a screening airport) but the problem is that BA haven’t cancelled the flight yet so there is no refund policy in place.

  • Beano says:

    15 Mar15 March 18:52

    Update: Flight now cancelled. But I noticed that the initial communication (12:15 today) stated it was still planned to operate!! Well done BA!

• JRC says:

  15 Mar15 March 13:20

  Spain has just imploded. The “pussycat” is well and truly out of the bag.

  • ChrisBCN says:

    15 Mar15 March 13:29

    We imploded days ago 😂

• meta says:

  15 Mar15 March 15:21

  I’ve now emailed Singapore Airlines to see if they can put me on a flight so I can only transit Changi. Waiting continues…

  • meta says:

    15 Mar15 March 15:22

    This was meant to go into other thread.

• R says:

  15 Mar15 March 16:15

  Has anyone been in this position before;
  If BA cancel an Avios 2-4-1 redemption flight, but I’ve since downgraded the card since, do I still get the voucher back?

  • Jimmy the builder says:

    15 Mar15 March 16:19

    Yep you should get it back, albeit with the same expiry date as before

  • Jimmy the builder says:

    15 Mar15 March 16:20

    PS that said, if it is a redemption flight and it is more than 24 hours away, then you might consider cancelling it now and getting the points and voucher back, and you should be able to get all the cash back as well except for the £35pp admin fee

    • R says:

      15 Mar15 March 16:25

      Ta 🙂

      It’s still 4 months away – I’m perhaps being overly optimistic, but I’m hoping by then things may have calmed down.

    • Paul says:

      15 Mar15 March 18:11

      “There are no change fees but you must pay any fare difference”

      This is perhaps the most outrageous aspect of BAs policy and I hope it bites them severely in the months ahead.

      My ticket is an Avios booking for 3rd April so I will wait till they cancel to get all the fees and taxes back. I began my claim with Amex for internal US flights and events that were booked

      For others however with bookings they made in sales and promotions the idea that they cannot get their money back and even be expected to pay more is scandalous. If BA want a bail out then they need to treat the taxpayers who will fund it with decency. I can just about accept no refund and rebooking but to charge more, after having hiked fares, is simply not right

• Andrew says:

  15 Mar15 March 17:46

  Gulf Times reporting that QR are suspending all flights for 2 weeks from Wednesday.

  • Paul says:

    15 Mar15 March 20:43

    Seems like a very sensible approach frankly. So much easier to manage expectations.

• sk736 says:

  15 Mar15 March 18:31

  I presume airline crew are exempt from the ban. Otherwise, how could BA or VS operate any flights at all to the USA?

• Nicola Walton says:

  15 Mar15 March 18:42

  Now the FO has advised against travel to the US, to get a refund do we go via the airline or can we ask the card we booked on for a refund? Our outward flight is on. 9 April with Virgin and booked on Virgin credit card.

  • Mark says:

    15 Mar15 March 19:05

    The FCO advice only potentially helps from an insurance claim perspective. Your best course of action is to wait from Virgin to cancel the flight (which is likely). In the meantime check your insurance in case you have to make a claim.

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