BONDY

I can't comment on your travel insurance but mine for sure says if I travel against FCDO advice then it won't be valid. I have been to Israel a couple of times since 7th October and am going again this Sunday. My girlfriend lives there so I consider it is important for me to go. I buy a visitor's health insurance policy, which includes repatriation on the basis that most of what I would have travel insurance for when in country is for health issues. I use a company called Yeddim who I have found to be very responsive and answer in English

Link is https://www.yedidim-health.co.il/tourists in case it helps. I am sure there are other providers

BONDY

bluemoon68

Depends on whether the purpose of your trip is covered by the insurer's definition of essential eg to visit an elderly close relative may be accepted.

corporate-wage-slave

What has been happening here is that while there is a semi-permanent determination to run some sort of service to TLV, and indeed extra flights later in the year to get to 2 services a day, the LCA stop is an expedient which will be dispensed with as soon as it is safe. Some of us think this may be some time away, but at least negociations of a sort are happening. What BA is doing, in stages, is inserting the LCA stop - with the consequent effect on the timetable - just a few weeks ahead. At the time you booked it would have shown to you as non-stop and I'm sure you were very much aware that was unlikely. By the way timings worked, the schedule was replanned shortly after your booking. It is less than a 2 hour change and more than 2 weeks notice were given to you. So in theory no right to cancellation (but they may well do so if asked), no compensation, and right to care such as meals and hotels will be open to doubt. The exception to the latter would be if you have a through booking via LHR where MCT is now broken, which in turn results in more than 4 / 5 hours of difference, then the refund is an absolute right, and right to a hotel may come into play on the affected sector.

testycal

Regarding insurance, the fine print and terms and conditions govern BUT even then (and as a legally trained person who deals with policies and coverage issues), the language is so obtuse giving advice is very difficult. Try and have the carrier confirm coverage in writing or not..likely they will not commit but worth a try.

testycal

this...DFW flight arrived at 630 am and TLV flight was to leave at 8 am. Now changed. to TLV departing same time DFW flight arrives. My booking made on BA.com with AA flights to LHR.

I knew of the LCA stopover clearly but without more, assumed it was worked into the schedule shown when I purchased ie 8 am departure and 315 pm arrival ..flight time is max 5 hours meaning 8 am + 5 hours - 2 hour time change (if correct) takes me to 1 pm which made sense to me includes the stopover in LCA...something is not quite correct with how BA is presenting travel time

wrong wrong...2 hours ahead so 330...my mistake.

corporate-wage-slave

You can have a rebook then, proceed carefully and think it through, you now have a flexible ticket from YVR to TLV, but as soon as you rebook you tie yourself down again. You probably do get some right to care, depending on the details.

testycal

I always wonder about this...for example I actually fly and miss a flight that is clear that duty care applies (possibly compensation) but if I agree to a rebooking will BA deny duty care? I agree to a rebooking but having read EC261 reasonably carefully it seems to be clear I have to be accommodated on a rebooking plus whatever duty of are that necessitates. I would happily take Thistle at T5 to make my way to my 630 am flight or whatever it is. Sadly, might be able to grab a bite at T5B and run to gate to catch the flight if I was lucky and no chance of breakfast unless I run across the street from Thistle to feast on MacDonalds I suppose.

testycal

Will report back as to how this goes tomorrow...not looking forward to 5.5 hours with no service other than BOB in a one aisle plan. Hopefully this is temporary. Of note, no food and less comfort and same increase. Water and Biscoff I guess it is and a few gummy bears smuggled out of the lounge.

makin'miles

Unless someone is following BA service patterns very closely - including those who post here - its not entirely obvious to me that a passenger booking a flight from North America to TLV via LHR would necessarily assume that the timetable would change to account for a stop in LCA. All the more as El Al and a number of European carriers are operating Europe-TLV flights non-stop.

It seems that the more honest thing for BA to do here would be to bake the LCA stop into the timetable for months ahead and, if the situation allows it, cut it out - making connections easier, rather than more difficult. As it stands now, BA is selling non-overnight connections, collecting revenue, and then adjusting the timetable a few weeks out, which provides passengers with not great options at the point prices may have gone up.

testycal

It was not terrible and because I have status I essentially flew "business class" because the middle seat was left empty without the fancier meal...and yes I did receive a meal with actually was enough..I posted in economy long haul a few photographs. However, 5 hours plus is not a 350 or 777 experience without entertainment systems or twin aisles...however it transported me safely. Not ideal

worldiswide

We booked an AA BA award for July for this flight. and will need to overnight at LHR. Arrive at 10:10 pm in T3.

We prefer Hilton but given the timing of the morning flight am open to best alternative. Is there a hilton suggestionz?

What is the best choice of this group for overnight to use the least amount of time in am to get to flight. How early do we need to arrive for checkin?
is it a busy time at lhr at 500 am?

What carryon will fit on the flight? If the case is too big or weighs too much is there a gate check process. The case would definitely fit on any US domestic flight.

on the return we are BA to BA connection so all T5.

recommendation for overnight?

Thanks

mikebg

Depends on how much you want to spend. The Thistle is cheap, quite adequate IMHO for just a short overnight, and gets you to the terminal in 10 minutes (5 mins walk from hotel to the Pod, and 5 mins in the Pod itself). The terminal tends to be very quiet at 5:00, but quickly picks up, so I would aim to get there just before 5:00. I think that if you are using the bag drop instead of the full checkin desks that it opens at 4:45, but I may be mistaken. You need to allow �8 above the room rate to pay for the pod. I would pay when you arrive, in order to expedite things in the morning. I did it last week, and it was fine. The Sofitel is right next to the terminal, is a far better hotel, but also much more expensive.

BTW what class are you flying in?

worldiswide

Thanks for the quick and thorough reply especially about timing. What's a pod? And am I paying the hotel the 8 pounds on arrival? And what do i take to get from T3 to T5? Will it be open at 1030 or 11 at night. Although it doesn't seem like it from my questions we are pretty familiar with LHR. I just dont want to waste time with the short night.

We are flying in business. We should be able to checkin for the BA flight before we leave the states in the am. We ..2 of us.. will each have a backpack and regular size carryon that will not have been checked on the AA Flight.
We have seats assigned already. And it's a single ticket for both..or the three flights I should say.

aks120

Can I suggest that you do a bit of searching on the site, and in particular use the Dashboard. A lot of your questions have been answered in other threads and I don't want to have to delete a load of posts for being off topic.

Many thanks for your cooperation.

aks120
Moderator: BAEC Forum

worldiswide

Np.. thanks for directing me to the right place.