Ok, I am convinced! I am becoming fed up with BA and all their flight cancellations and the covid-related complications of adding a Heathrow transit to our flight back to the USA.

This would be a booking from Milan to JFK, and the Emirates.com booking page says it would be subject to the Terms and Conditions of the Italy website, including those relating to consumer protection. Does this make a difference in the cancellation/refund policy? I am under the impression that the EU rules are actually more protective towards consumers than US law.