Bali trip / possible volcano
 

hi folks, My family of 4 (toddler &infant) have an upcoming trip to Bali, Indonesia coming up in a couple weeks. i am want to hear from folks about what my choices are, as I am hearing all the news about the possible eruption of the volcano

we are flying jfk- del via emirates - saver fare & dps-jfk via emirates - flex plus fare ( upgraded to J with miles)
del-dps we are flying MH on a separate booking
I am thinking of going to another location for the vacation. i do have trip insurance by allianze

i have a few questions

Is it worth calling emirates now and changing the location of my return from bali to say like cebu,phillipines or another destination in the far east? has anybody done this ?

what if there is an eruption before i get to bali, how flexible is emirates to change my departure location to another location?

should i cancel my return as it is flexplus and do another booking?

thank you

Is it worth calling to change? If you are sure you won't fly from DPS, of course, as you're on a Flex Plus there won't be a change fee, but you will have to pay a fare difference if there is one (which there probably is, and in Flex Plus it might be significant as Flex Plus pricing tends to vary more by market than Flex in my experience). Emirates won't waive any fees unless an actual disruption occurs, however if there is a disruption typically they shouldn't have an issue changing your point of departure for the return without any fee.

One issue if you end up cancelling is how EK calculates the refund. If you cancel now (pre-eruption) they might argue that your ticket should be repriced as a one-way which will probably be higher than the Saver componen of JFK-DXB-DEL as you saw it when you originally booked the tickets, and in my experience EK won't confirm the refund amount until after you've made the request. Best case either way is probably to wait and see if there is in fact a disruption.

With several weeks to go and talk of a "possible" eruption I'd say just wait and see. Also check that your trip insurance covers disruption from volcanic eruption, IIRC it's listed as an exclusion/force majeur by some companies.

Also if you change your return from DPS you may (probably will) lose your upgrades to J, unless there is current availability for 3 (guessing 2 adults + toddler >2yrs + lap infant)

I'm flying into HKT and out of SIN in a couple of months. My fare is classed as a return as opposed to two separate flights. I think this is because I am flying from further East??

How does changing your departure airport help though? You would still have to fly out of DPS to get to the Philippines or anywhere else in that region?

As a useful example, from Emirates' travel insurance provider (AIG in South Africa):
Kind of hoping i don't need to use that in November..

Presumably OP would not go to DPS at all and also change their MH flight

I am rerouting upcoming travel away from DPS. It seems pretty likely an eruption will occur soon.

Correct.. that was the exaxct thought ....

Was in Bali during the last volcanic activity w/ Emirates (awaiting to fly home.) Prior to eruption (just ash clouds), they allowed us to change our departure date to as far out as we wanted at no fee. Fortunate enough we were able to add 4 additional days and were able to avoid all the previous canceled and delayed flights.

I think until it starts erupting, DPS will operate as normal. Even after the eruption happens, it would depend if the activity and any ash cloud will affect the air space around the airport.

I would imagine airlines and insurance companies would not start pro-actively approving rebookings and destination changes until then. The worse case scenario would be for you to be in Bali, have it erupt and then get grounded there with no flights out.

I'd give them a call to see what they say. You have nothing to lose at this point.

thanks all, so I did call . Emirates agent discussed with supervisor and said nothing can be done till air space is open. Once airport/airspace closes, they will address it then.

And yes worst case is , I get there and it erupts, and I am grounded, no worries .. I will take it as it comes ..

If DPS is closed down due to eruption or continuing ash cloud, there is the option of getting to East Java by ferry and onward to SUB, MLG, YOG to get to CGK but ensure you speak to EK if the worse scenario happens so that a re-route sorted for you by them. There is always plenty of public transport going from DPS to East Java but the road trip can be tedious and will be overloaded with others having to find alternatives also but, the option should be there.

Reading a news article yesterday, my understanding of it is that the government may well use some other airfields in East Java that are either not normally used for commercial flights or increase capacity although may only be suitable for turbo-prop aircraft which a lot of the domestic carriers use and should be viable routes to get to CGK.

I'm flying to East Java in December and keeping a close eye on developments as dependent on prevailing winds, SUB could be affected by any ash clouds that develop. Hopefully all will be okay by then.

S

I actually have a trip to Bali in two weeks time. I contacted the hotel (Sofitel Bali Nusa dua) to ask if I could postpone/cancel the trip should the volcano erupt and they replied saying it is possible.

HOWEVER, the hotel did say they will not allow any cancellation or amendments as on now as the situation is still safe and flights are operating as per normal. Thus, all I can do is wait and hope for the best. I believe the volcano will erupt within the next week but that's just my 2 cents worth.

FWIW, I had a non-refundable reservation for a few days on the 7th october at Novotel Nusa Dua and they already allowed me to push it out to use on my next planned transit in December. I am also have gut feeling we are +/- a week from seeing what's really going to happen.

Also, pretty neat website (text not in English)
https://magma.vsi.esdm.go.id/

Some could argue this is best case... There are worse places to be stuck in the world..

I have spent 3 weeks in both Bali/Gilis/Lombok (on Rinjani when it erupted last year) and also 3 weeks in the Philippines both are amazing places, cant go wrong with either..