(OT?) Insurance for potential flight cancellation
 

Hello,

In March, I'll be going to Tel Aviv for a conference. The company will pay for my flight (in Economy) as long as I have cancellation insurance - if I need to cancel for whatever reason. (I suspect they are worried about the political situation there).

This might be a naive question: but how do I get insurance for one BA flight like this?

Would my BA Amex card insure that? Is there an insurance product I should be looking for?

surely you just buy a fully flexible ticket, that you can cancel for a full refund?

This is not a direct answer, but if I was in this situation I would get a fully refundable plane ticket and a hotel reservation with no cancellation charges. In a way you can think of the additional cost of the reservations as a premium for the right to cancel without notice.

Surely the company should also pay for the insurance?

If the fully refundable ticket/hotel does not work (it'll be more expensive) and you do get the insurance yourself, definitely read the small print, as some personal insurance might not cover you when flying on company business.

I doubt many policies will cover you deciding you don't fancy going if the situation is unsettled. If the FCO issue advice not to travel (at some level, e.g. for non-urgent business), I believe BA have in the past offered free cancellation but I'm not sure if this is a blanket policy.

If you want the open choice, you need a flexible ticket.

Some insurance policies only cover you for political unrest etc if there is govt advice not to travel to the region. Deciding you don't want to go is not necessarily enough.

If a flexible ticket is a lot more than the non-flexy, then the company should just book the cheap ticket and take the risk that they might need to write that money off.

The problem here is that every ticket with ElAl comes with a rather more comprehensive cancellation policy, apparently.

So, looks like that'll be booked for me, rather than BA. Ho hum.

Incidentally... why do ElAl flights appear in my BA Executive Club bookings area on the website?

If the company (the company you work for?) is paying for the ticket, then they should pay for cancellation insurance (or they should stump up for a fully refundable ticket as mentioned passim).