Work-Shy

When are BA scheduling a 3 class 777? I have flights in December and January but have been tipped to expect the A380 not to operate in January...

thijsseh

Comair is currently under 'business rescue', which is some form of bankruptcy protection. So they don't operate at all. I have no information when they will resume (or even if they will, although I would suspect they will).

On the subject of 'equivalent domestic flights': I had my LHR/CPT flight (for tonight actually) cancelled. After a lot of to and fro-ing I am now on the JNB flight but as there is no 'partner airline' they refused to accommodate me on Safair. This is of course in contravention of the EC regulation, but they (2 separate agents) simply refused even to listen to my argument. Of course I could have continued to fight this and would undoubtedly have won, but I did not have the time and energy to carry on. So I have now bought 2 JNB/CPT one ways for Ł125 in total which is ok in the bigger scheme of things. But the episode does not endear BA much to me.

surryson

They can’t put you on Safair. They should have put you on Airlink.

FlyerGill

South Africa has now opened up for travel but:

The FCDO advises against all but essential travel to:
the whole of South Africa based on the current assessment of COVID-19 risks.

I'm assuming that this means my AMEX plat travel insurance wouldn't be valid. Is there any way of buying medical insurance for a 2 - 3 week holiday?

thijsseh

Maybe they should have. But they were extremely unhelpful: 'we can get you to JNB, but then you are on your own as there is no partner airline flying that route'. Two different agents. CW Avios booking.

cauchy

I think it would be reasonable to file a downgrade claim too, as really BA should have rebooked you onto Airlink business class. I estimate it'd be worth roughly 9% of the miles and fuel surcharge (JNB-CPT sector length divided by LHR-JNB+JNB-CPT, then I think 75% refund). I'd price the miles at whatever BA sells them for, looks like Ł175 for 10k miles.

So in case you were to reconsider a complaint / CEDR, I reckon it's more like Ł300 to Ł350 they owe you.

Swanhunter

My outbound on the 23 Dec is a 3 class. 😮

heb999

Have you tried Battleface Insurance? They can cover you for places not on the Foreign Office 'safe' list.

FlyerGill

Had a brief look but seems that they only cover for under 60s. I'm 61

bluemoon68

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/coro...insurance.html

Colossus

Thanks for the reply - I did see about the business rescue, however I did also read something about resuming flights (albeit limited) from December.

Sorry to hear about your flights being affected. Did they give you much notice about the cancellation?

Steve_ZA

According to this FAQ Comair (both Kulula and BA) will resume flights from the 1st December, however their services from Lanseria remain suspended. SLOW lounges will also reopen.

Taking to the Skies Again

Yanshuf

Wonderful news from Steve_ZA. As it so happens, there is another change/cancellation on my Qatar Air flights for next Feb's trip to South Africa. This happened 2 weeks ago and I have avoided calling in to fix it just in case Comair restarts operations. Now, just need to wait for an official annoucement and then discretely enquire with Qatar if they have reestablished their codeshare agreement with Comair again.

thijsseh

I was aware of the cancellation about a week (I think) before the flight. It would appear that not all of BA's systems were aware of it at the time as I got an email telling me about my 'upcoming flight to CPT' long after I had changed it to a JNB flight. If I had not been a bit of an airline nerd (mrs t's words, not mine...), I think it wold have been about 72 hours before the flight when I 'officially' knew (by means of an email).

WingsAroundtheWorld

I think a trip to SA in Dec / Jan is just what is called for.
Need to figure out best catering arrangement - eat in the Lounge and just drink the mini-Champers onboard?
Shame they moved Cape Town to T5 not T3...