CharlesWindsorClive1964

Am I missing something here?

I have flights booked 7-10 May to Oslo that are currently still scheduled. I paid in the region of £120.
If I look at the same times/dates, it's £71.

If I request a voucher (~£120) for the original booking, can't I just rebook now with cash? I'll then effectively have £50 extra in the form of a voucher I'll likely use. If the flight is cancelled I can get a cash refund (£71), and if the situation is bleak in May but the flight is still scheduled, I can request another voucher (£71) to use at a later date.

Just wanting to understand what I'm missing here. It seems too simple to basically get a free £50, even if it's in voucher form...

alex67500

Having spent a lot of time in France, I can tell you that if you don't impose those fines, then people will simply ignore them. There's a definite lack of trust and or respect for authority ingrained in people's minds. I expect it to be the same in most places around the Med...

From the article: "Under the new law police can issue £60 on-the-spot fines to anyone leaving their home without reasonable excuse if they refuse a request to go home."
The bit I bolded is a sign of a state not gone OTT. In France you'd get a fine straight away, none of this "please go home" business. Now there are bad apples everywhere, as we know from our travels, and the police force aren't exempt. But comparing the two, I can tell you they're a lot more friendly, efficient and reasonable in the UK!

Misco60

Sweden's experiment - which essentially consists of ignoring the virus and carrying on as usual - is failing very badly: the country has now had 240 deaths from COVID-19, higher than any of its Scandinavian neighbours, and the number of deaths is growing rapidly. I have huge admiration for all the Scandinavian nations, but in this case I really don't know what they were thinking. Thankfully, but belatedly, Sweden is now starting to impose the kind of controls we are seeing elsewhere.

argonath

Nah no sympathy current guidance is to do the best to encourage and convince people that non-essential travel is not on...however if those attempts fail then your getting fined. The message has to get home somehow and for some people it will take someone they know to get Covid-19 before they do what is required.

argonath

We are but to use a glasgow saying "somepeople can't be telt"..

BAeuro

So I just wanted to gauge the general consensus on here. After this is all over, the industry will be very different and much smaller but what will happen with fares?

Will we see amazing fares and Avios deals to entice everyone back, or higher prices to cover the downturn?

Dambus

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-52130021

Tough times for a huge number of staff.

trmbn65

Need some suggestions here. I booked a flight using BA Avios on a flight operated by AA in February for my brother for spring break last month. Because of the changing conditions on the pandemic, we didn't know he was moving out (and driving home) until <24 hours before departure. As a result, BA would only refund the $5.60 instead of the 9,000 Avios. I write to BA asking for a one-time exception because of the pandemic, but they declined. Is this worth pursuing any further once this all is over?

Misco60

I think it might be a bit of a stretch, blaming the pandemic for the fact that your brother didn't tell you that he wouldn't be taking the flight you had booked for him.

I really don't see any case for pursuing this.

binman

not sure where you live but where I am there are way too many people out and about. I would suggest Italy type restrictions are required and soon

Flying Yazata

I wish to highlight that you're mistaken. Schools haven't closed and daycare is available for toddlers like before. The changes Sweden is implementing aren't as drastic as what you've seen in Spain and Italy. The logic of Sweden is that the national epidemic isn't possible to stop, but merely slow it down. They're trying to balance between the economic and social costs of substantial restrictions and containing the virus. I'm certain there's a plausible reasoning behind their decisions. Only time will give data that can be compared. So far their rate of infections hasn't been beyond what can be seen elsewhere.

Misco60

And I, in turn, wish to highlight that I didn't make any of those claims. I merely said that Sweden is starting to implement the kind of controls seen elsewhere, such as limiting the number of people that can gather in one place and asking its citizens to (voluntarily) observe social distancing. This, to me, seems to be a tacit admission that its previous policy wasn't entirely successful. It will be genuinely interesting to find out whether the eventual infection rate differs significantly from that in countries that are in complete lockdown

Flying Yazata

Well, social distancing has been the official recommendation already in Sweden. The elderly should avoid public space etc. However going all the way to mandatory self-isolation hasn't happen.

N1AK

I'd be careful about directly contrasting different countries approaches. Italy and Spain have been hit far harder so far than the UK. Italy has had 6x the deaths per capita of the UK so far and although we could debate endlessly potential reasons for that it isn't entirely unreasonable for them to have responded more heavily in those circumstances. The UK generally has relatively soft touch policing compared to the European average, so it's not surprising that in a crisis it would remain comparatively gentle; it is something I appreciate as a citizen generally. The US comparison may be a little early given where they are in an outbreak, the US has become scarily draconian when responding to local crises in the past; it wouldn't shock me to see the national guard on the streets, restrictions of inter-state travel, and considerable arrests relating to coronavirus as this worsens which would make the "police state" response of Spain seem extremely gentle by comparison.

ahmetdouas

I think it is related somewhat to healthcare capacity, the worst the healthcare of a country, the stronger the lockdown. That's why countries struggling the most do not have the highest capacity for healthcare. Good healthcare doesn't mean good doctors necessarily, it means capacity to deal with problems.

Also mentality plays a role, I think the Swedish approach is because they are using logic more than hysteria.

And yes ref the UK thing, that's why we do not have national ID's. A stronger lockdown will be almost impossible to enforce, there really isn't a large amount of police.

​​​​​​Again, the US is very decentralised as it is a Federal System with the States having a lot of individual power and many states more affected than the rest. US is only social distancing, not a lockdown, you can still leave your house for as long as you want, just most places are closed and no large gatherings. I am amazed McDonalds and most take out places have closed in the UK even though they can legally operate takeout only.