Heimdall

Just about every long haul flight I’ve taken has been followed by a cold or some other mild illness. In January, after a return flight from South Africa but before Covid-19 was well known, I had a spell for about two weeks of severe tiredness and a small rise in temperature. I’ve never been tested for antibodies, so have no way of knowing if it was a mild case of coronavirus.

Heimdall

Hmm ... I put the apostrophe in the word I’ve which I used twice in post #21, but somehow it disappeared. I wonder if it will disappear again in this post?

Heimdall

No, it didn’t disappear this time. I actually used the back button on my iPad to check that I had included the apostrophe, and I did both times. Another Fodor’s Forum mystery.

Melnq8

Lufthansa had all my details

mendota98

Lufthansa also canceled my flight on June 2 with no notice. I have contacted them several times for a partial refund as the new, rebooked flight made two stops and in economy class. No response from Lufthansa.

SusanP

Lufthansa also had my details.

Lois2

It is happening to many people that their flight is cancelled or changed and no notification from airline. It has nothing to do with the contact information they have. Just the way it is these days...my experience is with DL but have read this is happening with all carriers. Have to monitor your reservations and if you see something unusual online call...mine had been cancelled and I requested the full refund and had it back in three days. Don't just wait for them to call!!

julie_sanchez

I will better advise you to stay in Canada this year and postpone your trip especially to Italy as the country is still very affected by the virus and if you get infected in the plane or once arrived, you won't be able to enjoy your stay...

MyriamC

Same with KLM. I learned from a travel board on Facebook that my flight was cancelled. Not a word from KLM. Still waiting to get my refund (takes upto 90 days).

menachem

Planes may be safe, or not, but airports aren't. Especially given what we now are starting to know about the role of aerosols in transmission.

Lois2

Think about it...they don't want to call you...it almost always results in a full refund. Better to wait....this is a case in point for what I mentioned earlier....watch your bookings....mine was a major schedule change which means REFUND and it was about 2 months in advance of travel.

Heimdall

The Texas Medical Association has just created a chart showing the risk of exposure to Covid-19 from various activities. The chart shows risk on a scale of 1-10, with travelling on a plane rated “7”. The chart has been published in various media, the below link from a Houston television station:
https://abc13.com/coronavirus-covid-...i-get/6300447/

HappyTrvlr

I would not fly to another country now. And I only will fly domestically if I wear a N95 mask as protection. I gently flew across the USA and it was not a good experience.

bilboburgler

Well I'm not traveling within Europe at the moment, if I do it will be an overnight ferry to the Continent and not a plane.

In terms of masks I'm going to bore you all but
1) Most masks protect those around you from your aerosols. You get little protection from those type of masks
2) There are top of the range masks that will protect you, they need to be firmly tightened onto the face which will leave marks or bruising. If I had to fly I would wear this type

A friend just had to fly into Aberdeen from the Isles for an operation and wore type 2, not a pretty sight but relatively safe.

balthy

That is simply untrue, it has everything to do with your contact information AND agreeing to being contacted. If you are not being contacted, I would suggest you call the airline for any upcoming bookings and make sure they have your correct contact details and that you've given permission to them to use it to contact you with sched changes etc.

Monitoring your reservation is not always helpful as the sched changes made in the host system are not always reflected in your online booking. Example: I kept monitoring my upcoming flights to Italy and thinking all is well as there were no sched changes or cancellation but then I received an email to say there were sched changes but it was not reflected in the online booking. The changes only appeared after I contacted the airline and rebooked the itinerary, when the original ticket was reissued only then were the changes became visible online.

Melnq8

I'd agreed for Lufthansa to contact me, they had my details, yet they didn't bother. My flights just disappeared, without a peep from them.

And this was on four separate flights, two different trips, months apart.

They might do so when life is normal, but life has been anything but normal.

kleeblatt

If you booked through a travel agency, did they keep you up to date on the status of your flights and the possibility of refunds? I had booked a trip for 15 people through a local travel agency and I've been given word that all fights should be refunded by the end of September.

socaltraveler

American Airlines did not contact us about our cancelled flights to Rome. It was, of course, still a few months away when I read something about their cancelled summer flights to most of Europe. So we checked our locators and found, yes, no flights. We got in touch with them, they issued a full refund.

Leely2

I called Lufthansa this morning. I was originally scheduled to fly to Bari via Frankfurt next weekend and to return from Rome three weeks later. I'm an American, so I couldn't (and wouldn't) travel anyway. Got an email about a schedule change a couple weeks ago, and when I hit "view my booking" nothing appeared. Turns out the flight from Frankfurt to Bari had been canceled and the flight from Frankfurt to SFO at the end of the trip also canceled.

I would have been okay with a voucher given the turmoil the airline industry is in, but I would have wanted it to be usable through the end of 2021 (optimist). Instead they said I was eligible for a full refund. So, okay. We shall see when it arrives. If it arrives.

I hope the travel industry--among many other industries--is able to weather this terrible storm. So many people are suffering: from the virus, economic hardship, food insecurity, stress and depression. The list goes on and on. My planned vacation matters little. Still, I felt sad when it was officially canceled.

bilboburgler

Of course they could stop belching fossil fuel co2 into the atmosphere by developing some proper modern planes.