India essentially closing its borders for a month
Mar 12, 2020, 8:31 am
#46
Join Date: Feb 2012
Programs: ex BD(LG),HH(D),SPG(P)/(LG), BA(G)
Posts: 215
Mar 12, 2020, 8:54 am
#47
Join Date: Jul 2018
Programs: Aadvantage platinum; IHG Spire
Posts: 546
My UK travel insurance covers it - they classify it as a Natural Disaster!
Mar 12, 2020, 9:53 am
#50
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: LGW.
Programs: Cunard WorldClub-Gold,Silverseas Venetian society,Alitalia Mille miglia,SPG,Fairmont,IHG.
Posts: 733
My planned trip to Chennai and Bangkok is now FUBAR-ed. MAA definitely off, Just trying to decide whether to risk BKK and possibly being stuck there..
Mar 12, 2020, 10:58 am
#51
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: TPA/ABZ
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold. GGL/CCR.
Posts: 13,248
I should have clarified. My eVisa would have worked because I would have arrived a few hours before the visa cancellations took effect. In the end I decided to cancel the trip completely and am now headed home.
Mar 12, 2020, 1:46 pm
#52
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,774
Update 3 for India
- allows rebooking until 1 August, no penalty but fare differences will be charged where applicable
- changes to stopover or changes to destinations not allowed (unlike USA)
- Refund, no, but the same USA provision, allowing the value of the booking to be retained for a future booking within 12 months. This has to be redeemed (not necessarily travelled) within 12 month of the original booking.
The above is for flights still operating, which may be tricky to arrange anyway. I would expect cancellations.
- allows rebooking until 1 August, no penalty but fare differences will be charged where applicable
- changes to stopover or changes to destinations not allowed (unlike USA)
- Refund, no, but the same USA provision, allowing the value of the booking to be retained for a future booking within 12 months. This has to be redeemed (not necessarily travelled) within 12 month of the original booking.
The above is for flights still operating, which may be tricky to arrange anyway. I would expect cancellations.
Mar 12, 2020, 2:50 pm
#53
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 7,236
Update 3 for India
- allows rebooking until 1 August, no penalty but fare differences will be charged where applicable
- changes to stopover or changes to destinations not allowed (unlike USA)
- Refund, no, but the same USA provision, allowing the value of the booking to be retained for a future booking within 12 months. This has to be redeemed (not necessarily travelled) within 12 month of the original booking.
The above is for flights still operating, which may be tricky to arrange anyway. I would expect cancellations.
- allows rebooking until 1 August, no penalty but fare differences will be charged where applicable
- changes to stopover or changes to destinations not allowed (unlike USA)
- Refund, no, but the same USA provision, allowing the value of the booking to be retained for a future booking within 12 months. This has to be redeemed (not necessarily travelled) within 12 month of the original booking.
The above is for flights still operating, which may be tricky to arrange anyway. I would expect cancellations.
Mar 12, 2020, 2:52 pm
#54
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,774
Mar 12, 2020, 3:00 pm
#55
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 7,236
Mar 12, 2020, 4:46 pm
#56
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 7,236
Called BA's US number. Got rebooked to late May, for free, with relatively little hassle. Interestingly enough they didn't say that I could've rebooked up until August, but that the outbound had to be at least before 31/5. May is good for me anyway - hopefully - so not an issue.
Mar 13, 2020, 4:24 am
#57
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: PMI
Programs: BA,LH,CX,EK SPG,IC mainly and a few others
Posts: 1,862
I have a BA holiday booking to India for Easter, I have not called BA Holidays because it is in early April - people with more pressing needs can sort out their problems. Do the same rules apply to BA holiday bookings as well or do they operate on a different basis?
Mar 13, 2020, 5:15 am
#58
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,774
Generally they follow the same updates, but you have greater consumer protection in that the holiday has to be fit for purpose. So if the place went into mandatory quarantine you are in a stronger place than someone with a conventional booking, for example BA Holidays has to offer an alternative. This is assuming you have met the requirements of "The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018", which should be in the documentation received from BA.
Mar 13, 2020, 8:05 am
#59
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: TPA/ABZ
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold. GGL/CCR.
Posts: 13,248
Just to follow up on this. I spoke with the GGL team who advised that the duty manager did make good on her full refund offer (that she scribbled on a piece of paper). It has now been actioned. Very fortunate outcome.
Mar 13, 2020, 8:10 am
#60
Join Date: Aug 2017
Posts: 1,392
COVID-19 isn't going away in a month, so delaying a month isn't advisable.