Travel News | Travel Advice

Passengers and travellers should note that British Airways has finalised route changes and withdrawals for Summer 2009.

The following services will be withdrawn with effect from 29th March 2009.

Heathrow to Dhaka service will not operate during Summer and Winter 2009
Heathrow to Calcutta service will not operate during Summer and Winter 2009
Gatwick to Zurich service will not operate during Summer and Winter 2009
Gatwick to Geneva service will not operate during Summer 2009
(Where possible, Zurich and Geneva customers will be reaccommodated onto services from Heathrow)
BA7/ 8 to/from Tokyo service will not operate during Summer and Winter 2009

What to do if you are in possession of a ticket to the destinations above…

Rebook onto an available British Airways flight to the same destination prior to 29 March 2009. If the same booking class is not available, the next lowest class may be booked within the same cabin.  This will be at no additional cost to the customer.
or

Refund of the ticket purchased to the original form of payment.

Customers in possession of a ticket for whom the alternative flight is not suitable may:

Rebook onto an available British Airways flight to the same destination within a 3-day period before or after the scheduled departure time of the original flight.
Within the same cabin. This will be at no additional cost to the customer, and if required, the validity of the ticket may be extended.

or

Rebook onto a British Airways flight to the same destination at a later date in the same booking class and cabin.
The flight must be re-booked and travel must take place within the validity of the original ticket purchased. This will be at no additional cost to the customer.

or

Refund the ticket purchased to the original form of payment.
Customers in possession of a ticket who’s flight has been cancelled and no alternative has been booked may:
Rebook onto an available British Airways flight to the same destination within a 3-day period before or after the scheduled departure time of the original flight.
This will be at no additional cost to the customer, and if required, the validity of the ticket may be extended.
 
or

Rebook onto a British Airways flight to the same destination at a later date in the same booking class and cabin.
The flight must be re-booked and travel must take place within the validity of the original ticket purchased. This will be at no additional cost to the customer.

or

Refund the ticket purchased to the original form of payment.
If you are affected by these changes we advise that you contact your local British Airways office to re-book or seek a refund.

We all hate delays – long periods of time spend in airports, often made even more miserable if you are travelling with young children, are abroad or soon to be late for that all important meeting.

But, even worse than a delay is the all too common cancellation.

If you find your flight is over-booked or cancelled entirely less than 14 days prior to departure you are entitled to compensation, thanks to the European Denied Boarding Regulation.

Your entitlement depends on where you were flying to, the timings of any alternative flights offered and when the cancellation occurs.

An example is as follows:

Passenger A books a short haul flight and arrives at the airport in good time on the day of departure.

Passenger A is advised at check in that the flight is cancelled.

The airline offers no alternative flight leaving no more than 1 hour and arriving no more than 2 hours after the original flight.

Passenger A is entitled to €250 refund.

However, often airlines do their best to avoid paying this. If they can prove that the cancellation was caused by “extraordinary” circumstances they may not be forced to offer any compensation. This could include bad weather, industrial action or technical problems. However, they must not be reasons which occur typically from time to time on a specific aircraft.

If your flight is cancelled due to “extraordinary circumstances and you are seeking compensation it may be a judge who has to decide whether steps were taken by the airline to provide a replacement plane.

The question on the minds of many travellers thanks to events such as the collapse of several airlines and the ongoing talk of a global recession. What happens if my Holiday Airline goes Bust?

On Friday 21st September 2008 XL Leisure Group, Britain’s 3rd largest travel company announced it was going into administration, with a debt of £143 million.

What followed was the biggest peacetime evacuation in UK history, undertaken by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

It took over two weeks to complete and involved around 260 flights by 20 airlines, both British and foreign. XL passengers were stranded at resorts in the US, Caribbean, Egypt, Europe and Turkey and this meant the CAA faced a huge logistical operation.

The first job of the CAA was to compile a list of passengers who fell under the umbrella of the CAA administrated Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing scheme (ATOL) and were therefore entitled to travel home on its rescues flights for free.

It is then responsible for finding flights and aircraft to bring these passengers home.

Passengers not covered by the ATOL scheme are offered available seats on these flights, but are responsible for paying for meeting the costs involved.

What is ATOL?

The ATOL system started in the 1970’s following huge government pressure after the collapse of Court Line, which owned Clarkson Holidays.

That particular collapse left 35,000 people stranded abroad and 100,000 with forward bookings with no prospect of repatriation or redress.

The CAA has been managing the ATOL scheme for 30 years and it provides comprehensive protection to around 26 million people every year whilst travelling abroad.

All tour operators selling flights and holidays must hold a licence from the CAA and if the licence holder fails the CAA steps in to arrange transport home, or a refund for those who have not yet travelled.

Repatriation costs are met by the £1 donation via the Air Travel Trust fund, which is levied on each travel booking.

In the year to March ATOL helped 2000 customers of failed airlines complete their holidays and 21,000 received a refund of advance payments. During that period there were 25 failures and total expenditure cost £7.5 million.

Who is not covered?

In the latest collapse it was brought to many people’s attention that whilst some travellers were covered by the collapse some were not. Those not covered were in the main, flight only customers who hadn’t booked their flight as part of a package with a licensed tour operator.

With the rescue operation for XL now complete the CAA must turn its attention to the holders of 200,000 advance bookings. The CAA admits it will take several months to complete the refund stage of the operation.

These days we all travel more on our yearly vacations, some more than others while the really adventurous like to travel as far away from where they live as they can. Wherever it is you want to visit, there will be numerous sources of information online at special travel sites. Not only this but many people have given up going to a travel agent altogether (unless they are after a brochure) and make all their travel, car hire and accommodation arrangements online. Generally travel agents cannot compete, at least financially, with the wealth of sites that can offer amazing discounts.

There is obviously a great deal of trust required to use the internet this way as often the companies you deal with have never been anything else but an internet based business. However, companies like Teletext Holidays UK can offer some incredibly cheap airfares and discounted holidays. I much prefer to deal with someone I can see and touch, that‘s why I still use my travel agent and I also know they have a real office that I can visit. With a travel agent, I can change my mind about my plans several times, call and ask questions, and have someone to blame should my vacation not turn out to be what I was hoping for. The more maddening problem with travel sites arranged vacation is when there is a complaint about some aspect of it; this is the part that lets the whole system down as talking to a human being is not easy, and if you do actually manage to speak to someone, do have any idea where they are?

Even if you are lucky enough to talk to a person, how do you know they are telling you the truth about the situation? It is because of the number of things that can go wrong I still prefer to use my local travel agent even if it does take a little more time and there may be more to pay. One of my friends only ever uses the travel sites to book her vacations but she does like the last minute discounts that can be found which are much easier to find using the internet. She is good at this and saves hundreds of dollars of the proper price and has always had a good vacation.

I’m not one for last minute travel although I suppose I could be if my schedule was more flexible but my job requires me to ask for vacation months in advance. Other savings to be made using travel sites are the costs of other day trips or tours that are not part of the main vacation. Still after all is said and done I still the use the internet a great deal for my vacation research before I actually go along to see my travel agent as I will have most of the information I require before I see her. I know it may seem unkind after all the help that my travel agent has given me but I know that if I have problems that need correcting when I return, it is easy to go along and see her to have sorted out.

Whether it is a business trip, for pleasure or a student break, you should never travel abroad without comprehensive travel accident insurance. By taking out travel accident insurance cover you can guarantee that no matter what happens you will be covered even for problems with baggage, personal belongings, travel delays and emergency return flights. When you purchase your travel accident insurance, you’re likely to have several options regarding the amount of coverage, what specific health benefits, and a form of trip insurance (in the event your trip is cancelled or your luggage is lost, you’re covered).

It may be time consuming to search, compare and choose the best and cheap travel and medical insurance types and prices to suit your needs and budget but it is well worth it for your peace of mind. When carrying out your travel accident insurance research, remember that travel agents are there to sell you a holiday or travel deal and may not know much about travel and medical insurance policies so may not have the answers you need to make an informed decision. In your search, don’t forget online consumer and comparison websites that do all the research for you, so all you have to do is choose the best policy for your needs.

Often, a person’s health insurance may cover certain medical bills associated with foreign travel but a comprehensive travel accident insurance policy should cover all eventualities including air ambulance support and emergency cash where necessary. Travel accident insurance should, if the correct plan has been researched, cover every type of situation and not just those of an emergency medical nature such as delayed or cancelled flights and lost or stolen personal effects for instance. It is often the case where a travel accident insurance policy does not cover events such as baggage delays and only helps if they are lost or stolen, in the same way that emergency medical assistance should be available twenty four hours and not just at specific times. To ensure complete coverage is part of your travel medical insurance, it is a good idea to check whether overnight hospital benefits are included, usually 0 per night, whenever the trip is outside Canada or the USA.

When an insurance claim has to be lodged owing to an incident it is important to notify the company who has supplied your travel accident insurance as soon as you are able. When you return from your vacation, you will need to collect all your receipts, proof of ownership (where necessary) and any other relevant information collected from the Police or medical establishments and forward them all to the insurance company claims department to assist in an early settlement. Working with your insurance company is far preferable to working against them as they can be of great help in a crisis and it is nice to have that peace-of-mind that when you return you won’t have further problems to deal with because you failed to inform them of what was happening. Choosing your travel accident insurance may at first seem a trivial matter but you can guarantee if anything untoward is going to happen, it will happen when you are on vacation in another country and where you will need comprehensive cover the most.