Flight booked to new zealand - going to be 30 weeks pregnant!!

To be frank at the moment you basically have a late period at this stage I’d wait and check that you actually stay pregnant as a lot of pregnancies don’t stick and until you know for definite - past 20 weeks or so - then you might cancel your flights and lose a load of money for nothing

This, OP.

Congratulations and fingers crossed for a straightforward pregnancy.

Though it might be good to get a view on the medical view of a flight at that stage of pregnancy at your 12 week scan, including the stage of pregnancy on your return date. Are you going for two weeks?

Absolutely this.

We Were scheduled to go to Melbourne 6 years ago, 3 weeks before we were due to fly I gave birth - a cryptic pregnancy, I had no idea I was going to have a baby.

I was told by my insurance company that nothing pregnancy related would be covered, despite the unusual situation. Etihad also couldn’t/werent able to help. Fought for weeks as I believed (as did my doctor) that my situation fit into one of their categories of things that were covered, but that company didn’t agree.

A very expensive problem, £2000 we really could have done with.

I am highly doubtful travel insurance would pay out for pregnancy anyway as it's something you have control over.

Can you sell your flight for a slight loss to one of the other wedding guests? Change of name will probably be relatively inexpensive compared to losing the whole amount

As soon as you book a holiday book travel insurance at the same time!
Anything can happen as soon as the holiday is booked!

It’s not “dishonest” it’s insurance fraud.

If you have already been seen at a clinic it will be on file.

Travel insurance rarely covers pregnancy as its something that you got yourself into. Def won't cover if taken out after pregnant. Lying will get you a fraud conviction if you get caught. Pled with rhe airline is your main hope

No as you will not be covered for pre-existing conditions which pregnancy obviously is

You've got to be mad with uterus didelphys. Don't even think about it.

That said though, without being negative (I have the condition too), I'm sure you know that your risk of miscarriage is higher anyway.

I would wait til 12 weeks then attempt cancellation, medical certification to cancel, and then delaying the flight, in that order.

If you paid for flights on a credit card you might already have insurance through that? We have pretty good travel insurance through our credit card.

Insurance companies often try very hard to get out of medical claims - your pregnancy is on your medical records and they will want your consent to access your medical records as standard procedure for looking into any claim. They will find out easily that you knew you were pregnant before taking out insurance.

As for "fitness to fly certificates" you have said this is a complicated pregnancy so I would be surprised if your GP would be comfortable providing one even if they do provide them in some cases, which as others said many GPs don't. So that would be something you might have to source privately - maybe from an obstetrician or an aviation medicine specialist, not sure. Even if a provider does these certificates they won't do it if they don't think you're genuinely fit to fly, it's not just a matter of paying for one and automatically getting it. The fee would be for the assessment not just the certificate and you can't dictate the outcome of the assessment if that makes sense.

DOI - I do work in health care though not currently in the UK. I do have some experience of people trying to make insurance claims or wanting me to declare them fit to fly when their medical condition is not in my area of expertise.

No as you’d have to declare all pre-existing conditions.

Not true in my experience - travel insurance will usually cover you for flights already booked, unless they feel there has been an unreasonable delay in buying insurance.

However travel insurance isn't the answer in this case - and fraud is a serious crime. You need to explain your situation to the airline and hope they'll agree to give you a credit.

Travel insurance is effective from when the policy was taken out so you wouldn’t be covered for a flight booked prior to that date. The clauses in the policy would cover what constitutes a cancellation payout.

My NHS GP charges £20 for a Fit to Fly certificate but it's true not all NHS practices provide them.

It would likely have to be a private dr because you can’t use your regular GP service for this. OP losing money on flights is not their issue and someone who needs a much needed medical appointment for I’ll health should not lose the opportunity of an appointment because they didn’t book travel insurance when they booked your travel.

Our GPs will absolutely not do fit to fly (or not fit!) certificates.

all that aside, I flew to NZ in my early 20’s when not pregnant. I absolutely wouldn’t want to do it heavily pregnant at all!

The Dr’s note is irrelevant. You have no travel insurance (unless, as a pp said, you do actually have insurance that’s part of your bank account that you’ve forgotten about) so you don’t need to prove anything.

BA have pretty good terms (in comparison to the budget airlines) for changing your tickets to some time in the future, and to a different destination if you wish, depending on your booking class. You can find this out by going into your booking or contacting them by phone. You’re unlikely to get a refund.

You may or may not get away with taking out insurance now and then fraudulently claiming on it. I don’t think it’s worth the risk of being unable to get insurance in the future, or worse.

They asked which airline OP is flying with, when it literally says it in the 3rd line of the opening post

Don’t beat yourself up about it, we’ve all done things we’d do differently a second time. At least you’ve learned this lesson early on in life and will know next time to insure your trips immediately, including flights.

The advice to check if anyone in the party flying has a paid for bank account is good as often these come with travel insurance.

If not, your best advice is to call British Airways and explain the situation. You may not get a refund, they aren’t obliged to do it, but they may offer to give you credit to rebook with them another time.

The other option is to speak to the bride and see if anyone else is looking for a flight. You might be able, for a fee, to change the names on the booking and sell the flights directly to them.

Having had a premature birth, I wouldn’t recommend it. I flew at 26 weeks, back from hospital in London, I had no choice. It was only an hour but it was stressful knowing I could spontaneously bleed then go into labour at any point.

Travel insurance should be purchased to moment you book flights etc.

If you get insurance now and then try and cancel and claim they will ask to see your medical history and see that you knew it was high risk pregnancy before taking out their insurance.

Yes, there’s no point in trying to claim retrospective insurance if it’s medically documented that you already knew you were pregnant when you took out the policy.

I think all you can do is beg the airline to take pity on you. Maybe they’ll compromise on vouchers for future flights, or changing the date (presumably if your friends are getting married in NZ, then they live there, and you may want to visit them in the future, especially if you can’t go to their wedding). And next time - as I’m sure you’ve gathered - take out insurance the second you commit any money to a holiday.