Volcano/Hotel concern...to cancel or not
 

I'm scheduled to fly LAX to Heathrow on May 5 on USAIR frequent flyer ticket, business class. I bought the $25 insurance offered, but I think it covers only the small amount I paid for the frequent flyer ticket. I'm staying with a friend in UK for the first four nights. Separately, I purchased RT Gatwick-Greece on Easyjet, non-refundable, no insurance, for the middle part of my trip. Flying Gatwick-Santorini, Mykonos-Gatwick.

Question arises if I have difficulty getting to England to catch my flight to Santorini. I gave a 40% deposit to my hotel on Santorini and have only until this coming Tuesday to cancel before cancellation policy requires I forfeit 50% of the reservation. Since the five nights total $1,500 US, that's a lot of money to be out if I can't get to Santorini due to flight cancellations. Alternatively, I can cancel my hotel reservation now and wait until I get to Santorini to look for a hotel. My other hotel reservations at Gatwick, Mykonos, and London have much more lenient cancellation policies, so I'm not concerned with them at the moment.

Another concern is if I get to Greece, but have trouble getting back to London. That's where I'm using USAIR frequent flyer points between London-LAX. At least I have four nights in London before flying home, so there is a little leeway there. Would hate missing my flight back to LAX as USAIR would have no responsibility if I miss the flight. On the positive side, if I get delayed in London at the end it's possible that I could get to the Chelsea Flower Show that I will be missing with my current itinerary...that's the lemons to lemonade approach I'm trying to take.

Since you folks always offer sound advice, I thought I'd throw this out there for suggestions. And thanks for letting me "talk aloud" and get my thoughts down on paper as I ponder this problem. Diane

Acording to the news today if you are part way through a return trip the airline has a responsibility to look after you - provide accommodation and food etc.

Problems arise when you have two single tickets - which is what most budget airlines sell. So check whether you have a return ticket or two single ones.

Personally I'd try not to think about the money but think iof it this way.

If you get to LAX and your flight is cancelled your airline will look after you.

Once you get to London you will know if you can get to Santorini. If you can't get there by flying you might be able to get there coach or train and ferry (ies).

If your flight is cancelled you are entitled to a refund or to rebook.

I'd also contact the hotel, these are unique circumstances. If you cannot get to Santorini then no one can go the other direction so the hotel may not loose out on a booking.

So if it was me I'd plan a backup of 48 hours on the road to Greece and then a ferry - yes you will miss a couple oif days at the hotel you have paid for but that is better than loosing it completely.

have a look at http://www.seat61.com/Greece.htm

sashh - what news did you see/hear that said this? Everything I have seen or heard states that on either outbound or return portion of a trip, the airline is not required to either house or feed passengers affected by irregular operations due to the volcanic cloud. As one stranded mid trip at the moment I have a great interest in this!

Seamus, here is the link from bbc.com on the travelers rights.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8621779.stm

Good luck!

Peace greenie

Thanks, greenie. I checked the description of EU Passenger rights at http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/125/DBC_Advice.pdf and it states <i>""Airlines are not obliged to pay compensation if they can prove that a cancellation is due to "extraordinary circumstances" which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken."</i> So I expect that no compensation will be available. Will be eager to hear from anyone who has had firsthand experience in this current situation.

The airlines don't have to provide anything according to CNN this morning. They also said they will finally be able to get a look at the volcano this morning and be able to tell how long this might last by ice melt or something. They said they would have a report by this afternoon.

Seamus - I was wondering if you made it home. Are you able to at least get out and do more touristing, or are you stuck at the airport?

We were due to fly to Frankfurt yesterday, but have been rescheduled for Monday, counting our good fortunes that at least we're in the comfort of our home.

Wishing you all the best.

Your basic rights are listed here on the BBC site:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8621779.stm

Flying a US carrier means you have other rights than those booked on a European carrier - as EU rules don't apply.

I wouldn't start worrying too much about travel on May 5th yet. Hopefully it will be all over by then. If not then things will be pretty dire in Europe and certainly in the UK as far as some food goes for instance.

Wow, the first question is do you think these cancellations
will last all the way until May 5th and beyond? If so, that will be 3 weeks with no flights.
If you are worried, IMO you should attempt to mitigate possible monetary damages.
If US Air won't fly you will be able to redposit your miles
or get another (later) flight.
If Easy jet doesn't fly you will get a refund.
If I was truly worried that they won't be flying in another 18 days, I would wait until Tuesday, and if I was still concerned, cancel my Santorini reservations. If you do fly get a place when you get to Santorini.

My "gut" feeling is that things will improve well before May 5th, but you have to go with what makes this journey less stressful for you.

Good luck, and hopefully, have a great trip.

Seamus's advice is PARTIALLY correct.

If you are in the EU the Airline has to assist you.

If you are in LAX, it's your problem. Different countries different rules. (Good Morning America just showed us some poor Scottish travelers complaining about being out of money... the airlines don't have to help due to "mother nature" being the cause) It appears that if you are a "through"passenger in the EU then the rules are somewhat different. So for example, AirFrance is putting up folks who were just "connecting" in Paris. That of course might not help the OP who is not really through passenger.


As for it "all being over" well... I was a big fan of that belief until I spent some time reading and... This could come and go for quite a while. They should know better today about the "status" of the eruption. So watch your media outlets.

If I were the OP, I would watch the situation VERY carefully for the next few days. I might also consider contacting the hotel and seeing if they are willing to consider "bending" due to this mess. They might be willing do that over losing a reservation at this late date.

opps..

Above should say sashh's advice. Not Seamus. Got confused! Sorry!

Thanks everyone. I'm thinking of canceling the Greece portion of my trip and taking a chance on England. If I'm stuck at LAX I can go home. If I'm stuck in London...well, there are worse places to be stuck. :-)

hi swisshiker - fortunately we were able to stay on in the apartment we had let, as the folks scheduled to arrive had to cancel their trip because of the air service disruptions.
It is a gorgeous day in London today, sunny and clear and The parks are full of people enjoying it. We shopped along Kensington High Street, had a delightful picnic lunch on the grass in Green Park and are off to the theatre this evening to see Enron - the Play. Talk about lemons to lemonade!

Do traveler's with trip insurance that covers "For Any Reason" get compensated for an act of nature?
I wonder. Does anyone know?

Frankly, I hope that I get stranded in Provence. We have decided that if there is another eruption while we are there and we can't leave, that we would just stay for the rest of our lives.

We once tried to claim political asylum after a week on St Maarten/Martin (the French side). They didn't take us seriously.

JustineA - You'd have to read all the fine print in the travel insurance documentation to see what is covered. There usually is an amount provided for unavoidable delays.

Justine -- Just looked at my (cancel for any reason) travel insurance through Travel Insured International. Says there is coverage for: "Weather which causes complete cessation of services of Your Common Carrier for at least 24 consecutive hours."

I have a feeling that some of these travel insurance companies are going to go broke with all these claims and then bk. Policies will then be worthless and we will be out of luck. Sounds harsh but I think it's reality.

I've booked a Rhine River cruise at the end of May. It sounds like a long way off but who knows. I've read that the last time this volcano erupted it spewed ash for 2 years. Yikes!!!

Mother nature is not co-operating with travelers!

Ah but is it weather causing the delays or that great insurance get out an Act of God?

I can't see that it is really the weather causing the delays, after all North-westerly winds are perfectly normal.

If it is still going on in May then as I said before things will be getting a bit grim food-wise. Europe and the UK are nowhere near self sufficient in food.

Even if it clears up before your flight, there are other of other reasons to cancel:

1. Airports will be a mess and schedules will be screwed up. Flying is unpleasant enough these days without this.

2. There is no way to know whether another eruption will occur in a few weeks, trapping me there.

3. The remaining ash will block sunlight and affect the weather. It will be much colder and overcast than normal.