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IN A MAJOR step on Monday night, the Italian government announced that the entire country would effectively be put into lockdown as the country struggles to contain the Covid-19 outbreak.
The unprecedented move covers the entire country and its population of 60 million people.
In the space of a few weeks, there have been thousands of cases across Europe with 50 cases confirmed on the island of Ireland at the time of writing so far.
In a tweet yesterday morning, Tánaiste Simon Coveney said the Department of Foreign Affairs was upgrading travel advice to Irish citizens to recommend “against travel to the whole of Italy”.
And shortly before midday the Department upgraded its advisory for Italy to the highest possible level of warning. The ‘do not travel’ advisory puts Italy in the same category as countries like Afghanistan and Syria.
This new advice will affect travellers who had planned to travel to the country in the immediate future. It remaining unclear when the current restrictions will be lifted.
What happens to my flight to Italy, given the updated guidance?
Firstly this depends on whether or not the flight is cancelled.
Ryanair, for example, yesterday announced that all of its flights to and from Italy would be suspended from Friday evening onwards until early April.
It said: “Ryanair continues to comply fully with WHO and national government guidance and travel bans.
The situation is changing on a daily basis, and all passengers on flights affected by travel bans or cancellations, are receiving emails and are being offered flight transfers, full refunds or travel credits.
Aer Lingus has followed suit in cancelling all its flights to and from Italy until early April.
Cancelled flights
If your flight is cancelled, the airline must offer you a choice between the following:
If you choose the first option (re-routing as soon as possible) and are travelling home, your airline must provide you with care and assistance while you wait for the alternative flight. Care and assistance comprises:
Given that the Irish government has now advised against travel to the whole of Italy, that makes the situation clear cut according to Dermot Jewell from the Consumers’ Association of Ireland.
He told TheJournal.ie: “The official advice is not to travel there so the consumer is entitled to a refund or to reschedule the flight. That’s plain and simple.”
Will my travel insurance cover anything I’ve paid for already, such as the hotel?
As part of its travel advice, the Department of Foreign Affairs says it “strongly recommends” obtaining comprehensive travel insurance which would cover all overseas medical costs and also urges people to check any exclusions to the policy.
Jewell said that when it comes to getting reimbursed via your insurance – if you’re not able to go on a trip to Italy, for example – it very much depends on the terms and conditions of your policy.
“I think that’s a lesson being learned,” he said. “There’s people that don’t take insurance of any kind, or they take the minimum amount.”
While some booking websites offer free cancellations, Jewell said he could understand if some hotels were reluctant to offer refunds – in that, from the business-owner’s perspective, the hotel was remaining open for business even if getting to it was impossible for the customer.
On the situation with flights, Jewell said one sticking point that had emerged was an unwillingness from some airlines to waive the cost of amending a booking or getting a refund if you now wish to cancel your flight.
In a statement last week, the Irish Travel Agents Association said it was aware of a number of airlines offering free-of-charge changes, including British Airways, KLM, United Airlines, Emirates and Turkish Airlines.
Its CEO Pat Dawson said: “We really appreciate your assistance, and would call on our other partners to follow suit as we try to navigate our way through this issue.”
However, it is not the same for every airline. Irish boxing star Mick Conlan took to Twitter earlier today to say he had tried to cancel Aer Lingus flights to Rome but was told he’d only get a fraction of his money back.
In response, Aer Lingus said on Twitter: “Hi Michael, the normal fare rules will apply in this case but if there are any changes you will be contacted directly. We continue to monitor the situation.”
TheJournal.ie has contacted Aer Lingus for comment.
Jewell said it was “disappointing” that the change fee wasn’t being waived by some airlines given the seriousness of the situation.
“It would go a long way,” he said. “This is a difficult situation. And a very unusual one. I think it requires a different approach.”
I’ve a trip booked for a few weeks on the continent. Should I be worried? And should I avoid booking holidays for now?
At this stage, it is impossible to know what travel restrictions could be recommended as the number of cases increases in Europe and beyond.
Photos all across social media have been showing near-empty flights to affected regions, Italy in particular, in recent weeks. To retain their slots at popular airports, some have been forced to run nearly empty flights when it otherwise might not have.
The British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has already written to the European Commission asking for these rules to be changed, as running so-called “ghost flights” is “bad news for the environment, airlines and passengers”.
The EU has confirmed it will act “very rapidly” help airlines struggling from the new coronavirus outbreak by proposing a law to stop “ghost flights” to keep airport slots.
The advice for people is to avoid travel to Italy at present, while people are urged to exercise a high degree of caution when travelling to France and urged against non-essential travel to China (a ‘do not travel’ advisory is in place for the Hubei province).
In its own advice, the Irish Travel Agents Association says that if the government issues a warning to avoid non-essential travel, “then you should be eligible for refunds or re-bookings”.
It says: “In the first instance, contact your travel provider (i.e. airline or tour operator) who will advise you about your ability to reclaim costs for trips which have been cancelled or curtailed.
If you booked separate accommodation yourself (i.e. not through a travel agent or tour operator) then you will need to check the Terms and Conditions of your booking, or look to your travel insurance to recover money.
However, if you choose to cancel a holiday, you may be eligible for a refund but that isn’t guaranteed.
The Irish Travel Agents Association adds: “If there is no advice against travel to your destination, if you don’t want to go, you’re free to make that choice, but there’s no obligation on your holiday company to give you a refund.
Normal cancellation charges will apply. It is highly unlikely that you will be able to claim any cancellation charge on your insurance as there isn’t normally cover for disinclination to travel but you can check the terms of your policy.
When it comes to whether or not to follow through with a planned trip to other parts of Europe or to book one, Jewell said “that’s a personal decision”.
“Right now, people are considering cancelling or rescheduling,” he said.
I think a lot of people have taken that decision to not go ahead with the planned trip. One thing they’ll definitely need to look at is making sure they’ve the right insurance.
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Travel insurance is a joke, they will try every trick in the book to avoid paying out,
@Philip McLoughlin: yup
I have had flights from both Ryanair and Aer Lingus cancelled recently and both have been responsive and very forthcoming with information. Ryanair are easier to deal with through the app and offered both options to amend or refund without filling any forms. Amending was free even though the listed flight was more expensive on the app. When this flight was cancelled, I opted for a refund and had an email within an hour stating that a refund for the full amount had been made to my card. Aer Lingus need to learn a lesson here. The app does not link to their refunds form which can only be found on the web page and required some time to fill out. However, with the appropriate info, I had a case number emailed to me and 2 flights refunded within hours rather than days.
@Lee Brennan: don’t bother calling them though. You won’t get through and it’s pointless trying. If you leave the ‘contact us’ Aer lingus page up on a browser, the chat help will popup and allow you to speak to an adviser by typing your question. Initially it’s a bot asking for info but quickly I had a real person who answered what I needed.
@Lee Brennan: it’s worth noting that both airlines cancelled their flights unilaterally. I would avoid purchasing tickets to Italy while the DFA travel advice is still in force as your insurance will probably be invalid if you have any. Friends there have indicated that police are actively challenging people out and about at all.
Unbelievable. Just read a story on RTÉ that Simon Harris says “we can expect more cases”. Wonder how he figured that out so fast. The. He says sporting events can go ahead as well as concerts as long as the mandatory signage is in place . Italy’s epidemic started cos some guy was waiting in an emergency waiting room for 3 days waiting to be seen. Just like here. Ireland are only lucky it wasn’t us who had the Italian epidemic. Sheer luck.
@Quentin Tarantino:
1) Wash your hands
2) don’t touch your face
3) stop watching RTE…
@Chaos Ape: I agree with all 3 points, however I Also think we should be cancelling sporting events. Our health system may manage a few cases here and there but not a sudden influx of dozens or hundreds. And as for mandatory signage, well that’s at useful as the signs to stay off the grass in Stephens green.
@Quentin Tarantino: Enough of them traveling back from cheltenham that will bring it no doubt
If you are going to catch CV you might as well do it sooner rather than later because access to treatment should you need it, will be harder to get later. That’s why they haven’t cancelled all events and have kept schools etc open. They want people to get it in a slower more controlled way.
@old england is dead: by not cancelling events, you can pretty much guarantee that you have a sudden influx of cases. Cancel events and close schools and the rate might be slower.
@sue: You are not wrong but that might be too slow & most probably will only drag it on for much longer. They need to keep 2/3 of the economy open for business just to pay some of the bills.
@old england is dead: what if you catch it a second time?
@Frank Jones: good point
And Aer Lingus are running an ad now to say don’t worry we won’t charge you change fees yadda yadda… would you trust them when you see response such as that.. eh no!
The key word here is “ Changes”
had flights booked with Ryan air months ago to fly to Rome this Friday. Obviously I’m not going. But Ryan air are only refunding me my return journey. This is bizarre.
I’m hardly going to fly there and be stranded. Trying to get through to them is a joke even on there chat line. Any one any advice?!
I dont get Aer Lingus offering a refund that is a fraction of the cost. Surely there is something missing here and and they have to offer 100% refund?
@dublindamo: Not being smart, but why do you think that Aer Lingus should suffer 100% of the loss of something that is not their fault? Do you have travel insurance?
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