To ask WWYD - flight home cancelled

@Twoshoesnewshoes

Sorry to hear that, how awful. You aren't having much luck are you 🙁
It's a nightmare!

Oh No!! So sorry @Twoshoesnewshoes

That is good news that you are able to claim back your expenses.

My daughters travel insurers said today ...... Our travel team have advised that, at this stage, they’re unable to confirm cover while they await further guidance regarding the recent events. But the team won’t be able to give a final decision until your claim has been submitted and all documentation has been uploaded and reviewed.

Sorry to hear about your son :(

Does he have travel insurance? Although according to Martin Lewis, claims look unlikely ......

What travel insurance will – and won't – cover
Many travel insurance policies have wide exclusions relating to war, conflict or insurrection, according to the British Insurance Brokers' Association (BIBA) – meaning claims relating to delays and cancellations are unlikely to succeed.
Similarly, additional costs incurred while you're stuck abroad (such as food or accommodation) are unlikely to be covered by standard travel insurance policies, according to BIBA. The same is also true if you've decided not to travel.
However, you may still be covered for medical emergencies unrelated to the conflict, such as falling ill or having an accident, for example. Five major insurers – ABTA Travel Insurance, Admiral, AllClear, Allianz Partners and Staysure – told us they would extend single-trip policies to cover these scenarios for those stranded abroad.
However, the best thing to do is contact your travel insurer directly to see how it can help, as industry body the Association of British Insurers (ABI) told us "approaches can vary".

My daughter arrived home at 11pm last night (Monday) after starting off from Kuala Lumpur at 5am Sunday morning UK time. They had a stop over in China.

Kuala Lumpur > Qingdao Jiaodong International Airport > Heathrow.

This was with Qingdao Airlines and Beijing Capital Airlines.

Not a dicky bird off Etihad. She should have been home last Tuesday.

That's good news OP. We are still in limbo. My son is due home from Thailand on an Emirates via Dubai on the 16th. I don't think it will fly because even though there are Bangkok to Dubai flights going, his particular one hasn't gone since it happened. He's a young 19 and travelling home alone. I don't want him to be stuck so we have bought him an alternative flight via Hong Kong for 5 days later. Just waiting for him to get the cancellation through from Emirates. I know he could request it himself now but he is holding on to hope and not wanting to do it.
It's interesting about your accommodation costs being covered. I dont think that will be the case with Emirates so I am expecting to be out of pocket. His good Emirates flight cost him 500. My alternative has a 9 hour layover and cost 800, so already down

Starting on Friday, Etihad Airways is restarting a “limited flight schedule” from its hub in Abu Dhabi. The carrier has operated some flights in recent days, but its latest announcement suggests it is moving toward more regular operations.

Etihad said that previously booked passengers as well as new customers will be able to travel on the flights, assuming “all safety criteria are met”. It listed more than 70 destinations it planned to fly to between 6 and 19 March.

Qatar Airways's scheduled flight operations remain temporarily suspended due to the closure of Qatari airspace.

https://www.euronews.com/travel/2026/03/06/middle-east-flights-emirates-aiming-to-be-back-at-100-capacity-in-coming-days

https://english.alarabiya.net/News/gulf/2026/03/06/emirates-airline-says-expects-to-return-to-100pct-flight-capacity-if-airspaces-reopen
Emirates airline says expects to return to 100pct flight capacity if airspaces reopen

Emirates airline expects a return to 100 percent of its network within the coming days, subject to airspace availability and the fulfillment of all operational requirements, an airline spokesperson said on Friday

Airline Employee Here. This is what my airline (not BA but a carrier that operates via the middle east) asking people to do.

1. Register with the FCO away from home scheme - airlines use this as well as their own records. It also lets the embassy know that you are stranded so that they can offer support.
2. If you booked direct with BA - contact them and ask for advice - their customer service teams will have the most up to date information as to what they are advising people to do and what they are doing to help. If not contact the company you booked with - they will most likely tell you to contact the airline but they also have a responsibility to help.
3. Your insurance won't cover you as you have discovered however most airlines are advising people to keep receipts for reasonable expenditure so you may get some reimbursement - but check with the company you booked with first to see what they are offering.
4. Do all of the above before booking flights as you may end up worse off - don't forget everyone will be trying to do the same thing - sometimes it is best not to panic but stop, breathe and weigh up your options - what might seem an expedient option in the first instance may end up a costly mistake. You could get stranded somewhere else as flights will be overbooked with people trying to get home and prices will be inflated. Airlines will most likely not give priority to people who have come from elsewhere when they would have been better staying put. Don't forget also that airlines will have crew and other staff stranded in some destinations that they will also need to get home to keep the airline running - so they might be prioritised over paying customers which will make the situation even more dynamic.
5. Contact your work and explain what you have done to let them know you are making best efforts to get home, most (decent) companies will understand - if you have a laptop or tablet and can work remotely - offer to do so. Not ideal but still (not possible in every case I know but it shows willing).
6. If you don't have kids and it's easy to get to the airport, sometimes it can be worth popping there at the due flight time every day to see if you can get on standby - believe it or not even in these situations people don't show up for flights so you never know. It can be a faff but worth a try on some occasions.

Sorry should have said that’s only if BA reroute you, if you take the refund and take the flight you’ve booked I don’t think you can claim the extra costs back.

You can claim the extra hotel and food costs back from BA if the flight is cancelled. You can also ask BA to arrange a hotel for you if needed (we were put in a Marriott so much nicer than we would have paid for ourselves) but you won’t be able to choose your location so depending on how long the delay is it might be nicer to choose your own and be able move around.

Off subject but I’m sure insurers have changed things since 9/11. Happy to be corrected if I’m wrong as I was in my late teens at the time so I wasn’t in charge of organising the travel insurance!

We were in Florida at the time of the attacks and our insurance paid our entire additional stay and some expenses. We were in a very expensive hotel - even back then it was around £600 ish per night. They did try to move us to a budget hotel at the end of our planned stay - we had been due to leave 2 days after the attacks - but I do recall my parents refused to move. We were there for around 10 days extra until airspace opened back up and flights had caught up. I remember we were on ‘standby’ each morning waiting to hear if we had a flight back yet. Whilst it was very subdued and we were just at the hotel, we just made the most of it.

We stayed near Galle last Easter. It’s lovely - how lucky you get some more time in Sri Lanka (every cloud…)
Stay safe.

I am currently in India. We are trying to get home. The flights seem to be full. We were originally with Qatar airlines.
One couple went home yesterday with a flight to Kenya, Kenya to Paris and Paris to London.

the flight from Oman failed last night due to technical difficulties.

OP, I’m on a Sri Lanka travel fb group. Some people are getting out via flights to India. You need some sort of e-visa but you can apply online and be approved in 24 hours. Then there are flights to the U.K. I think and also some people getting flights to mainland Europe and then flights/eurostar from there. Good luck.

We’re currently in the same boat but traveling on business so broker has said business insurance will pay.
My tip is use Trip.com for booking the new flights. Skyscanner, Expedia and Kiwi were no good. Kept offering flights on ME carriers or non-ME flights disappeared as soon as we tried to book. We got a flight home from HK day after we were originally due to travel on China Eastern Airways via Shanghai. Try the Chinese airlines. You still have loads of time so flights shouldn’t be too expensive. Qatar Airlines are refunding us in full and it was easy to manage the refund through the Qatar website. I didn’t cancel until the new flights had been booked.
Having said that, they are looking at safe corridors for flights through the ME. It’s reportedly costing Dubai Airport $1m a minute while the airport is closed. Friends who are stranded in Dubai and due to fly on Monday are being repatriated from Dubai today on a commercial flight. Good luck and enjoy Sri Lanka.

Insurance is a con