corporate-wage-slave

I agree with KARFA. I can understand the political pressure to "do something right now" but what happens 4 months down the line? This is most vivid with closing schools since after 3 weeks if there is no improvement all you can do is keep the schools closed for another 3 weeks - but it's a similar argument for aviation too. What causes covid-19 to spread? It's not aviation, it's not the tube, it's not football matches. It's meeting your family, meeting your friends, sleeping with someone, having sex with someone, sharing an office or meeting room with someone for more than a few minutes, going to or working at a medical facility. My guess that over 90% of infections are via those routes.

nictry

How funny, we are exactly the same, sitting by the pool on the north shore spending 90 mins on hold to BA to try and move our flights earlier, have decided not to stress, enjoy the sun and worry about it when we get to LAX (Saturday for us) if they cancel anything by then

littlefish

The tube was noticeably quieter Friday evening rush hour. As were suburban rail services I saw.
The science as to whether this virus transmits faster/easier in the tube compared to, say, a supermarket is mixed and inexact. I am wont to quickly wash hands after either, even short 15 minute trips/visits.

littlefish

Bingo! Thanks c-w-s (and KARFA), I have been thinking along those lines every since 'travel ban' dominoes upguaged in earnest last week.
Once this thing was a pandemic and is pretty much set in all major countries, then shutting the aviation door is too late and has minimal real impact. But of course economies and economic activity will get hammered.
Where I retain some optimism is the economic side will rebound back into play and become the political excuse to lift the travel bans before (many of) the in-country peaks occur.
There is a lot of science going on in the background on COVID-19. It necessarily had to start from a low base and gathering and interpreting (and sharing) the data is tough. However, as better evidence emerges then you'd expect scientific advice to mature and change.
My deepest concern, right now, is probably of the political classes worldwide being too weak to secure and follow the best advice.

Confus

Absolutely. Once one xenophobic tinpot leader started scapegoating foreigners and effectively shut the doors, everyone else ‘had’ to follow, just in case of the tiny chance it made any difference and not doing so later came back via their oppositions to bite them. Sadly in this context, sense and reason go out the window, even if it means costing their economies millions in borrowed debt for a generation to come.

LTN Phobia

Amidst all this, a couple days before the US imposed Schengen ban, I was on a flight and a lovely young gentleman was moved by the SCCM shortly before arrival into LHR to 1C next to me to enable him to do a fast getaway as he had a 60-min connection and he wasn't that familiar with T5, and he had a very special hand luggage - a transplant organ - to take to the US.

I talked to him to see if I could help him to Flight Connections, and it turns out he was a regular volunteer, donating his time to fly a transplant organ, in this case from Schengen zone to the US. His itinerary was a very tough one, which I wouldn't like to do in CW, let alone in Y. After I parted company with him at Flight Connections (I wasn't connecting), I was quite sad that I didn't get his name so I couldn't attempt to have my GUF applied somehow to upgrade his transatlantic seat...

Anyway, what I am coming to is that I'm so glad it was before the entry ban - otherwise, a life may not have been saved.

UAL250

He was advised to do so by a leading health expert, Dr. Fauci, to be fair...

kath00

They are talking cities with high cases, not entire states, for now. Which would include Seattle, SFO and SJC region, NYC, DC and some other metropolitan areas that have been very hard hit this week. They are unlikely to shut down flights from an entire state like CA. If it does come to that, I see flights being shut down through all of the US.

Also, someone above posted that things like flying, the tube, the metro, etc do not spread the virus... it's the hugging, kissing etc. Kind of true. But the more we travel, the larger of a geographic area that a virus cluster can extend within minutes or hours. Hence the containment zone in NY right now, enforced by the national guard. So the key is social distancing AND cutting down on travel. Which is what the US is doing now, essentially with a voluntary quarantine that we are all going through.

As for me, our family Spring Break SAN to LHR and back flight is going to be cancelled no doubt. DH says we are not flying anytime soon (as recommended by Dr Fauci) and we cannot reschedule the flight to another time within a year. So I am hoping we receive refunds without the insane penalty fees they were trying to enforce as of 2-3 days ago.

jmj9905

I have an upcoming trip to Africa on April 13th returning May 5. The routing is iad/lhr/jnb/wdh in bus/first. Return is cpt/jnb/lhr/iad in bus/first. Today it was announced that England was to be included in the ban to the Us. I have a couple of questions.
1. I think I am good on the first flights as they will be leaving the US. The questions is what if Ba cancels us/lhr flights?
2. Coming back on May 5 should be after the 30 day restrictions. If they are extended will we, as us citizens be allowed back in the us.
3. These are award tickets using aa miles. If I decide to cancel would I receive a refund for the $2,000.00mplus fees I paid/

I realize there is a lot of confusion and uncertainty about all this but I would appreciate any constructive feed back.

mfgr

i have a return DXB-LHR-PMI-IBZ ticket in mid May, and went online to check my booking and found this on the screen

No email from BA to say it had been cancelled either

jerry a. laska

1. I don't expect BA will cancel all US flights. But you will need to look to AA to rebook you if BA were to cancel before travel. If BA were to cancel your return while you are in Africa, BA should accommodate you (there are occasional(rare) reports of issues involving rebooking of award tickets issued by partners.
2. All of the travel restrictions imposed by the US to date (China, Schengen, UK-ROI, have not attempted to limit the ability of US citizens to return to the US. Indeed, some have questioned whether Homeland Security has the authority to restrict the return of US citizens; that doesn't mean that they couldn't require someone to spend a period of time in quarantine upon return. That said, I don't believe that Schengen/UK/ROI restrictions if continued, with regard to US citizens, would substantially change from what they are now.
3. You need to refer to the AA forum regarding cancellation of AA award bookings.

AA has just announced their long haul route cuts; there will be very limited opportunities to use AA to and from Europe. See:
http://news.aa.com/news/news-details...3/default.aspx

ubiest

This could a good time to consider alternate routings which would avoid the UK transit and the likelihood of a quarantine on arrival back into the US.

The best routing would be on QR, as it would be a one-stop on both outbound and return - IAD-DOH-WDH//CPT-DOH-IAD, and you’d be almost assured QSuites on IAD-DOH.

EY is also sensible, however, they only go as far as JNB, thus you would require an additional connection to WDH/CPT, as in your original routing.

And in true FT fashion, don’t forget good ol’ CX and take the scenic route > DCA-JFK-HKG-JNB-WDH // CPT-JNB-HKG-JFK-DCA

As you avoid BA and its fuel surcharge, you might end with a rather smaller cash component.

LTN Phobia

Australia is introducing a 14-day self-isolation requirements. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-...ralia/12057772

Further details to follow on Covid-19 Entry restrictions repository for BA Routes *INFO ONLY Noise-Free* when available.

botham

I have flights booked to the USA this week. Will they eventually show as cancelled in MMB? Currently they still show as active.

pkdi

Hi All,

Is there a similar statement from BA? Or is there a designated place to watch for this info? We are a family working in Hyderbad, India. Canada is now asking citizens to come home as commercial flights are limited and becoming more so.

With the closure of US to Europe our routing is very restricted. Expert Flyer is already showing drastically reduced availability on LHR - YYZ flights. I'm wanting to book something but for a week from now but trying to gauge if BA make close certain routes sooner.

As always--thanks in advance for the help.