With all the BA strike talk at the moment, if you’ve booked a flight and your airline goes on strike, what sort of comeback do you have?
If your flight is cancelled due to industrial action (aka a strike) EU regulations state that you should either be provided with an alternative flight to your destination or your plane ticket should be refunded in full within seven days of the cancellation.
If you have bought a flexible or refundable ticket, you can cancel the ticket ahead of the strike action and rebook your flight. If your plane ticket is non refundable, you should not cancel the ticket until strike action is fully confirmed as you will not receive a refund.
If you have booked your flights through a tour operator, the tour operator will be responsible for making alternative flight arrangements on your behalf, however they may also choose to issue you with a refund. If you are concerned, get in touch with your tour operator to discuss the options available to you.
If you are abroad when strike action happens, the airline should be responsible for providing travel arrangements for you, as well as overnight accommodation or transfers, if required. You should also be issued with vouchers to pay for expenses such as meals.
Travel insurance may or may not cover you if your airline strikes so read your terms and conditions of cover carefully. Some insurers will only pay out for cancellations which have been made at short notice – so if the strike has been publicised for a long period of time, you may not get any recompense from your insurer.
Also, travel insurance companies tend to only pay out if you are delayed for more than 12 hours. If you have been delayed for more than 12 hours, you may be required to get a letter from the airline confirming this before the travel insurance company will pay out.
Category: Insurance, Travel
Tags: Insurance, Personal Finance News, Travel
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