BA - Travel Insurance Valid During Strike?
 

The good news is we're going on a last-minute safari. The bad news is that I unwisely booked the LHR-NBO portion of our trip on BA (because I got a good deal on Premium Economy). The travel insurance company says that because the labor dispute is a "known event," we will not be covered if we can't get to NBO and we miss all or part of our safari. Now that there is an injunction against the strike, does anyone know of a travel insurance company that would cover additional expenses caused by cancellations or delays?

it really is company by company, but usually once a strike is called even w/ an injunction it will be difficult to find coverage.

Why not book a refundable ticket on another airline, just in case there is a strike? That would insure you get to do the rest of your trip regardless of whether BA is flying or not.

Hmm...that's an interesting idea. Virgin is the only one other airline that flies the same route - I wonder if BA would honor a prebooked ticket if there were a strike.

The union appealed the injunction and has won. The possibility of a strike is back ON.

Thanks for the update. I notice that BA allows you to reroute in the event of a strike...Has anyone here successfully accomplished that?

The strike dates have been announced:

* 5 days starting 24 May,
* 5 days starting 30 May, and,
* 5 days starting 5 June

BA cabin crews confirm strike dates

I was on hold for 1.5 today with no luck. BA canceled one of four flight (the most important one!)of our itinerary, and I am at the point of canceling the whole trip... very disappointing...

That's awful, Matroskin. Their recording says you can "rebook, reroute or refund." Are there issues with rebooking/rerouting?

For travel insurance try "insureMyTrip" website, they do comparison shopping for you

I always use them online and spoke to them in person this time - They are the ones who said that nobody is covering for Volcanic Ash or the BA Strike.

Update
I was able to change our tickets for the earlier flight with connection; we would have to wake up extremely early. That was the only way to do without re-arranging hotels ect.

On the bright side, the same agent changed our returning flight from London to the airport closest to our hometown (I do not have to drive 1.5 but only 35 min.!) originally I decided against it because of the price difference $250 a ticket.

Keep in mind for those of you who still need to change your tickets -- I was on hold for more that an hour. Be patient! Put the phone on speaker and clean your bathroom (that's what I did!)

Did they put you on another airline?

They put me on Lufthansa for the segment Prague-London (with connection in Frankfurt). That was the only morning flight.

We wanted to spend whole day in London (re-visit the city where we lived for 3 years and see some friends) and fly back to the US the day after. My DD1 has a full day schedule and made people stay in town for her ROYAL visit!