brentford77

… just declared a state of emergency. So far Home Office travel guidance hasn’t been updated so I don’t know whether they are going to advise against all but essential travel. My quandary is that I am due to leave home with my family in an hour to fly there on an Avios ticket with BA from Gatwick as far as Doha and QR onwards.

i’ve spent an hour trying to get through to the gold guestlist helpline this morning with no luck whatsoever to find out whether in these exceptional circumstances they would allow me to cancel, retain my Avios & vouchers and rebook on another flight in the next 2 to 3 days to a destination that has space availability albeit I would probably have to use a gold guest list space release to get seats on anything right now. Does anyone have any insight on a situation like this?

Mwenenzi

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...es-2022-04-01/

marconess

Until the FCO changes it's advice, I think they would only offer you the FTV. I can't imagine them just letting you swap destinations.

corporate-wage-slave

You can claim the FTV online up to a few hours before departure, you don't need to call in for htat. This FTV will end up as a refund after a week or so.

If you have firmly decided not to go, then your best bet is to find an alternative location and see if you can get an Avios routing for it without needing a joker, but that's always a fallback. If you have linked in your Avios account to Qatar's Privilege Club, you may find it easier searching for alternatives.

davidcamp6

The FO are usually 24-48 hours behind the times when it comes to their published advice ( I receive updates in regards to Israel and Judea and Samaria).

orbitmic

I must say that I really would not go right now regardless of FCO advice and prospect of refund. Your safety and comfort have to come first and before and above all else.

Scifience

Regardless of BA policies / FCO advice, I'd not travel to Sri Lanka right now unless it's a critical work trip (and your company is prepared to support appropriately).
The situation is getting worse, and in the last few hours the government just blocked internet connectivity, in addition to declaring a curfew.

brentford77

Well, I am 5 days into my trip and we are all having a wonderful time. Tourism is still in a post Covid low meaning that everything is much more relaxed. People we have interacted with have all been so happy that we have chosen to come. Most tourism takes place away from Colombo which seems to be the centre of whatever issues there are. We have seen a couple of protests where the policing has been taking place in a friendly spirit.

we each have our own attitudes to risk but I tend to concur with John Simpson’s view that times like this are paradoxically the best times to visit a country as a tourist.

First time in Sri Lanka and loving every minute…