[JDB]

@Read2go – Expedia is essentially right that you will need to wait until flights are actually cancelled or become refundable for you to cancel your package trip – that may not be for another week or so. At this stage, your wish to cancel would be considered a disinclination to travel rather than the unavoidable/exceptional circumstances you wish to rely on.

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@giboning – it’s odd they both cut off. Did they load them with enough credit? It’s very cheap but you still need to pay.

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Lady London wrote:

I’d fly in day before.

Assuming the person concerned is the interviewee, yes, it would be bonkers not to.

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@Brunodog72 – well done her for getting what sounds like a pretty good solution while most will remain stranded. It certainly pays to know what to ask for, be flexible and accept there’s not going to be a perfect answer. Now just to enjoy some extra time in KL.

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@DorsetFlyer – being ATOL protected makes no difference unless your airline goes bust. The fact that you are on a package helps because in addition to your 261 rights, BAH has a duty to get you home. I don’t think they will do anything preemptively, but if your flights do end up being cancelled you should get in touch with BAH as quickly as possible and they would usually be very helpful in getting this resolved for you and make it easier than for those who need to contact QR directly.

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@redlilly – I think that’s about it although I would add that it’s probably going to be very difficult to contact QR so you should make a note of the dates/times you tried and how long you waited unsuccessfully. Also, none of the rights you cite kick in until the flight is cancelled but at that point it’s going to get increasingly hard to find seats on alternative carriers or QR when flights resume but it will be harder to claim from QR if you reroute yourself before any cancellation so unfortunately there are difficult choices to be made and insurance isn’t really going to help. The refund and rebook option shouldn’t be entirely discarded. I hope you do get a suitable alternative booked without too much hassle.

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Credit cards just aren’t as big a thing in France as they are in the UK. They still use cash and cheques very widely. Most places accept VI/MC because the French do use Carte Bleue/Bancaire a debit card variant very widely. Also, unlike in the UK, Amex does appear to charge merchants higher fees.

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tazzy wrote:

I am currently in Dubai and due to fly home on Tuesday morning with BA. Not expecting the flight to go. I am guessing airlines nor insurance (Amex business platinum) will cover accommodation costs. Any suggestions where (safest area) we should maybe book and how long for come Tuesday ? We are currently on the palm

The Amex Plat travel inconvenience cover is probably insufficient for even one night in Dubai but BA is responsible for your food and accommodation if the flight is cancelled although obviously not from now but after the time of the cancelled flight. BA should offer alternatives in MMB but it’s going to be both fluid and increasingly difficult as more and more people get stranded so you may need to be rather nifty at the same time as not making any rash decisions.

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giboning wrote:

Morning everyone. I’m hoping to get some advice for my brother: he was supposed to fly yesterday from Singapore to Bucharest on QR via Doha, but first leg was diverted to Muscat.
He only has a data esim and struggles to get in touch with QR CS as live chat was disabled. QR flight status was re-scheduled earlier for tomorrow morning, but no updates for the second leg. Anyway, he is not keen in flying via Doha currently.
I never flew QR, so can you advise a line to contact them? Live chat? QR booked them on a hotel for 1 night, so now they are waiting for an update for both hotels and flights.
Thank you

If he only has data, he can download an app such as Viber or Yolla to try and call QR maybe on the local number in Oman and see if they will agree to reroute him via another gateway. If not, he either needs to wait or make and pay for his own arrangements and try to claim the cost from QR or insurance who he should contact as well to explain that he is effectively stranded mid journey and see if they might cover getting him to Bucharest.

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Paul wrote:

The scale of the disruption is incomprehensible given that DXB AUH and DOH are closed. Qatar have posted on C that next update is Monday 9am. Their staff are seeking shelter

Duty of care applies ex UK and EU but not compensation. If rebooking yourself do not cancel QR tickets or take refund as no duty of care then applies.

It’s Right to Care, not duty of care which is a different concept and that won’t apply if you are at home waiting to be rerouted. The issue of taking refunds isn’t as simple as dangerously stated above – if a passenger’s flight is cancelled and they don’t get in touch with QR to make alternative arrangements or otherwise communicate, the airline is entitled to refund you and have no responsibility for any additional costs incurred – 4.2 Interpretative Guidelines.

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@Smudgerman – I think I would have accepted the change fee and claimed it back from QR afterwards. They can’t cope, so you are probably going to need to manage the rebooking yourselves and sort the cost out afterwards either with QR or your insurers who you should contact to ascertain their position. But yes, BA manages these issues better than the ME airlines but unfortunately is hopeless in the air.

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@Sandra-B – I think they have rebooked you the following day rather than on one of the two earlier EZE-MAD flights as those are both full. In those circumstances, it’s possible that BA will agree to put you on their flight to London and then on to Madrid, but Edinburgh would be outside the distance rebooking guidelines and if you have checked luggage, BA wouldn’t normally short check them to London only.

For what is worth, if you only have data you could use the Viber or Yolla apps to call now that Skype has gone.

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NorthernLass wrote:

That’s a big fail for SeatSpy then.

Ah, I was thinking of the extra avios seats for gold members, I’ve seen a message to that effect pop up a couple of times when searching for certain routes.

I don’t understand how or why, but SeatSpy is a constant fail with either phantom availability or missing real availability. It’s far from alone in this space now and some clever people can set this up for specific situations anyway so such fails don’t matter.

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@strickers – I admire your positivity, but I fear your view of ME3 IRROPS handling is a little rose tinted. I’m not sure about Etihad, but Qatar isn’t so good and Emirates is terrible in this regard and it’s anyway an airline whose marketing hype far exceeds reality. Its conduct during the floods noted by @SSS was diabolical and hearing from a few affected passengers they aren’t coping very well now.

To be fair, with dozens of A380 flights cancelled and passengers, crew and aircraft out of position for 24hrs+ it is a very complex situation to resolve and for passengers simply transiting in Dubai to/from Asia Pacific destinations there just aren’t enough seats on direct flights avoiding the ME to accommodate many passengers, plus Emirates isn’t very friendly with most airlines so they won’t be getting a lot of help.

It will take a while to resolve even if the war stops tomorrow, it’s going to be very difficult to contact airlines and many MMB solutions will often be days away so those in the fortunate position of being able to pay now and claim later may be better off making their own arrangements and contacting their insurers who will probably also put out notices quite soon.

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BadOmens wrote:

JDB wrote:

It’s not a Hilton issue. This is an independent hotel that happens to be bookable via Hilton. It appears they will provide you with the accommodation and any inclusions you booked, but not a known to be extra expensive extra. That’s all you have contracted.

I think your wrong here. It seems to fall squarely under no hidden mandatory fees in DMCCA Part 4 Chapter 1.

1)It’s not a mandatory fee; you are at liberty to arrange your own private transfers to/from the hotel from the airport or another resort. 2) Do you have an English law contract to enforce the above section you claim applies?

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BadOmens wrote:

JDB wrote:

In any event, if you can afford two weeks in the Maldives, this is like ordinary people buying a pizza so shouldn’t engender quite such a fuss.

Honestly don’t see how that has to do with anything. If Hilton’s lamping on costs after the fact, then I’d have thought this forum might have found that of interest.

It’s not a Hilton issue. This is an independent hotel that happens to be bookable via Hilton. It appears they will provide you with the accommodation and any inclusions you booked, but not a known to be extra expensive extra. That’s all you have contracted.

Readers and posters here know very well that something that isn’t guaranteed or agreed in writing is worth zippo. ‘Subject to availability’ is worthless but as for assuming something is included, that’s way below. I understand why you might be peeved but perhaps that’s more because it’s guest error rather than any “lamping”.

More importantly, I think it ought to be capable of resolution if approached constructively so I hope you will be able to report back with a positive outcome.

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truthbetold wrote:

Every time was photo and fingerprints and the jobsworthy man in uniform didnt care that I was already registered. Yes I have had to queue both ways last week at Milan quite separate from the manned passport desks. Innsbruck was efficient in late January at the manned booths but why was it necessary after I had done the first set at Warsaw at the entry manned passport booth in Dec. Seems the 3 countries aren’t linked yet. Annoying I now need a new passport so probably have to do all over again!

The fact you have already registered doesn’t mean you don’t need to provide fingerprints on each future trip… and for the time being, for UK passport holders, get a stamp.

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Claire wrote:

Thank you everyone, I got the regulation the wrong way round! They are covered under my Amex platinum insurance so have £300 each for accommodation and £150 each for refreshments. They will get back to emirates asap to figure out how they will get them home. Looking at emirates website they will rebook and rebook on another airline if it is necessary, so I guess the key is for them to be proactive and take whatever they can that suits their needs. Thank you all for the advice, really appreciated!

Unfortunately Amex Plat is absolutely terrible in these circumstances with such a tiny level of cover. Maybe they have another one as well?

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BadOmens wrote:

Firstly, of course I’ll bring this up with the hotel when the time comes. Probably at bill time, cuz I’m holding out hope I’ll get a diamond upgrade from OWB to OWB with pool (even though no one on tripadvisor got it). I will stress my point calmly and politely.

But some of your comments here feel like they fly in the face of UK consumer protection laws. I mean @Jdb is saying that any fee not mentioned explicitly can be altered by them on whim. But everything I’ve ever seen says it’s the reverse, they must explicitly tell you.

This is a total misunderstanding of the situation and UK consumer rights. You have been promised nothing by the hotel but have assumed something. As has been noted by many posters, airport transfers are not standardly included and it’s very rash or even entitled to assume they are or that something that pertained previously still does. They certainly don’t need explicitly to state transfers are at an additional cost; it’s just obvious. So too are many additional services. Ask nicely and you may be fine. In any event, if you can afford two weeks in the Maldives, this is like ordinary people buying a pizza so shouldn’t engender quite such a fuss.

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Claire wrote:

Hello everyone, I have a family member with her 10 year old daughter currently stranded in Sydney. They have just been deplaned from the 21:10 emirates flight to Dubai with ongoing connection to LHR. Emirates have given them travel vouchers but they have been told to sort out their own accommodation at midnight. I have told them to go back to Sydney and book anywhere they can for the night, keep the receipts and pay on Amex (they are on my platinum insurance) I have told them about their re routing rights and the duty of care that emirates has for them. No option to rebook in the app but I have told them to fight for rerouting via US ( ESTAs are currently being applied for) is there anything I have missed? Anything else I should advise or that I’ve got wrong? I know lots of people are stuck and I am so thankful that they didn’t end up taking off. Much better to be stuck in Australia than Dubai at the moment! Thank you so much in advance, feel so helpless trying to help them from the UK!

Flying with Emirates, a third country airline, from Australia, a third country I’m afraid your family member has no EC261 rerouting or duty of care rights. Australia has very poor aviation consumer rights. It’s likely to be a matter of what can be agreed with Emirates who are a victim of this as much as passengers and whatever your family member’s travel insurance will offer – they should be contacted prontissimo or bear the costs in the hope they will ultimately be covered.

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@BadOmens – I’m afraid that whatever it said on the website then is not relevant nor binding as the hotel is fully entitled to changed the general terms whenever it wishes. What matters is the individual contract you have and from your own comments, free transfers weren’t agreed. There’s nothing to “prove”; something the hotel offered yesterday doesn’t mean it will continue to be offered in perpetuity. One just can’t assume these things.

The previous policy helps but as it apparently no longer applies, it’s now up to you to negotiate that. In the same way a hotel can shut a restaurant, not offer previously offered free experiences or amenities etc. if something specifically matters to you, you need to address that at the outset.

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chungcyk wrote:

Some urgent Amex Plat insurance advice please – flights to India is cancelled due to what’s happening in the Middle East, and probably better if we cancel and abandon trip. Will the insurance pay for all the unrefundable costs? I know some policies state “war” etc as not covered but I can’t see it on the documentation! Thanks!

Obviously you need to clarify this with Europ Assistance, but I would expect them to cover you and I think they will be pressed by regulators to do so. This won’t apply to those who have trips in the coming days/weeks who haven’t actually been affected but are now disinclined to travel which isn’t insurable although as FCDO advice changes that too needs to be considered.

Any insurer will expect you to mitigate your losses, so you should first obtain refunds for everything you can and one should hope that airlines and hotels etc. will be generous in the circumstances.

[JDB]

@BadOmens – as above, I cannot see how you could assume that, based on the text cited, transfers are included. There is no evidence whatsoever that they are and the newer rubric is entirely irrelevant to your situation.

Anything not in the original confirmation or subsequent communications isn’t agreed/confirmed. This is something that needed to be addressed up front but since it wasn’t, it’s now down to your skills of diplomacy and negotiation and one for the hotel, not Hilton or SLH.

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@ed8890 – this is fine, but it’s worth noting (although it’s largely irrelevant at T-355) that if there are three people on a booking, none of the seats can come out of the BAPP extra CW availability pool although the issue can be got around by splitting a booking if already made.

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BadOmens wrote:

Not sure why everyone is asking how I intended to go to the island. I obviously intended to use their boat transfer, Which had always been included. This is about them changing it to being a paid transfer after the fact.

From your comment above, the hotel hasn’t changed anything. While it wasn’t mentioned in your original confirmation, most hotels don’t include free transfers and the absence of any mention shouldn’t give rise to any assumption that they are. If they were previously included that also can’t be assumed to be a permanent arrangement. The fact this is clarified in a more recent email does nothing to support the idea that it was included originally. Obviously, these things are always best clarified at the time of booking rather than just before arrival, particularly if the non contractual policy might change. As a generality, lots of hotels are cutting back on costly services.

Your response at 10.29 sounds rather confrontational to a very valid comment, but if you are going to raise the issue with the hotel, being charming is far more likely to elicit a positive response.