Will August strikes disrupt our honeymoon in Italy?
Simon Calder talks travel insurance, cold feet during the heatwave and Gatwick strikes
Q My wife and I are due to fly from Gatwick to Italy for our honeymoon on 3 August and return on 7 August. As you have been reporting, that is when 950 staff at Gatwick are expected to be on strike. Should we move our flight home to 9 August? That would mean having to pay an additional two nights at our villa, but more annoyingly we would have to pay to change flights, for which easyJet currently wants £140. Or should we leave it, and let easyJet cancel the flight home? Then we get a refund but would still need to rebook the flights home and still need to pay the additional ticket cost. What would be the best option?
FMC
A Congratulations on your marriage, and for dodging both the bulk easyJet cancellations and the ground handlers’ strike on your outbound flight. And thank you for the opportunity to spell out the reason why you can relax, knowing that in the event of any disruption coming home, it is easyJet’s problem to solve – at the airline’s expense, not yours. European air passengers’ rights rules are strongly on the side of the traveller (which is why airlines tend to loathe them).
As mentioned here yesterday, members of the Unite union who work for four ground handling companies at Gatwick airport are planning to strike over two key weekends: 28 July to 1 August and 4 August to 8 August. I think the walkouts are likely to be called off. But if they are not, then you can potentially look forward to an extended honeymoon at easyJet’s expense.
I infer from your preparedness to switch to a later inbound flight that you do not have a pressing need to return. That puts you in the comfortable position of being able to defer your return journey for a couple of days should your easyJet flight be cancelled. If and when you get the cancellation notification, you will be invited to rebook free of charge on a later departure; assuming you can get an easyJet flight two days later than originally planned, you can then request hotel accommodation from the airline. If easyJet is able to provide it, this will typically mean you are in a budget hotel fairly near the airport rather than a luxury villa, If easyJet does not supply the room, then you can argue you simply extended your existing stay and claim the extra. During any extension to your journey, easyJet must also pay for your meals; save itemised receipts.
Finally, bear in mind all of this is hypothetical and the likelihood, in my opinion, is that you will travel home as booked. Enjoy the honeymoon.
Q My husband and I are planning a long holiday of up to six months next year and have been looking for travel insurance that provides longer than 31 days in the year. So far no success. Do you know of any company that does this please?
Jill T
A Some travellers may be reading your question and fondly imagining that an annual travel insurance policy will do nicely. But the standard maximum length of trip covered by a one-year policy is 31 days. The general assumption among insurers is that most policyholders will take several trips during the course of a year, but nothing too long. The cap is put in place to limit risk exposure. One specialist travel insurer, Columbus Direct, offers a trip-limit choice of 31, 45 or 60 days, with higher premiums for the longer limits. But the presumption is that people in your happy position will be taking out long-term travel insurance.
The trouble is: a six-month policy may prove extremely expensive. I have sought a typical quote for a couple aged under 65 with no pre-existing medical conditions, and the premium shocked me: over £3,000 for the two of you. That is approaching £10 per person per day, compared with roughly £1 daily that I pay for my annual policy – during which I am typically away for a total of 90 days.
You can save by excluding North America, where medical costs push up premiums. Conversely you may have pre-existing conditions that will increase the cost of cover. If you happen to be 65 or over, then you should contact a specialist such as Good To Go or Staysure. But before you do, consider two other options.
The first: get an annual policy with a maximum trip length of 60 days and return briefly to the UK twice during your trip to reset the clock. If you are relatively close that should prove a good investment. Secondly, you may be going to destinations with reciprocal health agreements: these include the European Union, Australia and New Zealand. You might rationally decide to “self-insure” against risks such as cancellation cover, loss and theft, with medical treatment assured on the same basis as local people in those countries.
Finally, I must advise you that if you are including Europe’s Schengen Area in your plans, you will be limited to a stay of 90 days in your six-month trip.
Q We were in Naples and the nearby islands this time last year and enjoyed it so much that we decided to return and are due to fly on Friday. However, the reports of extreme heat in southern Italy are making us very anxious. My wife has a heart condition that could be aggravated by high temperatures. Also, we simply worry it won’t be any fun staying indoors for much of the day. Isn’t there a law that says you can get your money back if the holiday isn’t as promised?
Name supplied
A The extremely high temperatures in the Mediterranean region are alarming in all respects. In the case of your imminent trip, though, there is little flexibility that I can see. I have contacted the big holiday companies and airlines to ask if they might offer any flexibility to people in your position. The general response was “no”, followed by: “What did you expect?” Soaring temperatures in holiday hotspots are nothing new at this time of year, they argue, and some British holidaymakers happily travel to Dubai and Egypt’s Red Sea coast in July, where temperatures above 40C are the norm.
Were you on a cultural tour and you knew some of the sights were going to be closed during your visit because of the heat, you could mount an argument along the “holiday not as promised” lines. Under the package travel regulations, you can cancel for a refund “if unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances occur at the place of destination or its immediate vicinity which significantly affect the performance of the package or the carriage of passengers to the destination”. Assuming you have booked simply a flight and hotel combination, it is difficult to see how that might apply to you: the airlines say their flights are going normally; hotels are open, so the package can be performed as booked. Two options that might help: assuming you have a travel insurance policy in which your wife’s pre-existing medical condition is declared, you may possibly have grounds to claim for a cancellation – though ask the insurer before you do anything hasty.
If that does not work those same package travel regulations may help you pass on the trip to a friend or family member. A proper flight-plus accommodation package can be transferred to someone else for a nominal fee of around £50 per person.
Email your question to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder
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