To ask WWYD - flight home cancelled

[Twoshoesnewshoes]

Posting for traffic - we are in Sri Lanka and due to fly home on Friday 13th with Qatar airlines, via Doha, to London Heathrow.
we booked through BA -
both BA and Qatar are saying that flights up to 8th March can get a refund.
we think we can fly to Singapore then direct to London- there are not many flights available, and it would cost around £1400 each (double our original flight).

WWYD - should we wait and see if airspace clears over Middle East?
or book another flight while they’re available and hope our original flight remains cancelled?
we can afford it but that will be savings cleared out.
please help
YABU - hold tight, air space may clear
YANBU - book another flight now!

On the rerouting point the issue is probably how long it takes. As I said above, in a similar situation, though probably less extreme, we were told it would be about 3 weeks to get us home. So if you need to get back for work, waiting it out for them to get you home could be risky.

China eastern via an overnight stop in Shanghai or indigo with a overnight in Mumbai coming out cheaper

Yes three weeks is ages! I’d already had to persuade work to let me take a three week holiday. I can probably do some work online - though no laptop.

@Overthemoun thank you I’ll look now

Can the hotel lend you one/is there a business facility. Though be careful about password security and viruses. HP used to do a really cheap mini laptop.

If hearing what the mad man Trump is saying I can’t see things getting better this week. As you rightly said your insurance won’t pay out as it’s technically a war. I think I’d take the hit and book alternative flights whilst you can, as I imagine flights will fill up quickly as everyone will be looking for alternative routes!

On gotogate.co.uk it’s coming in at 1215 for both tickets fully flex. Would arrive to Gatwick on Sunday morning first thing.

Unfortunately insurance won’t pay out as there’s a war in and all policies have an exclusion during times of war!

I’d wait for BA to cancel your flight then it’s down to them to sort you an alternative.

Also, i once had a flight cancelled and initially i was told they couldn't get me home for another 14 days and in the end it was just 24 hours later. Things tend to change often.

I’d book alternative flights but pay slightly more so they are fully refundable . Then if by some miracle all is back to normal and your original flights go you can cancel the alternative. If original flights do not go - you should get a refund anyway ( I think )

Trump has said til at least the end of March .. so although unpredictable I wouldn’t expect the airspace in the ME to open up before then.

BA will reroute the flight, you just need to wait.

Why are you worrying about what’s going on happen in 10 days time?
Sit back enjoy your holiday and deal with it nearer the time!

As a (fairly) positive recent refence point, back in autumn last year I was flying back from Seoul to Rome via Hong Kong on Cathay, when Hong Kong closed because of super typhoon whatever it was called. Cathay cancelled the flight out of HKG 2 days before they cancelled the inbound flight from Seoul. I was initially annoyed, but in no rush so just sat it out.

I was then rerouted direct to Rome on Korean Air (a first for me!), and actually got back about 4 hours earlier (despite a very similar departure time) than I would have done if I'd flown the original routing. It took a day or two for that to happen, but it seems entirely logical that the airline (Cathay in my case, but BA in the OPs) would work through the closest departures / cancellations first. So I am sure it'll all work out just fine :)

@BrendaSmall
im not particularly worried
however, if you read the news there are people in the Middle East who have had their flights cancelled and have had no update from the airlines.
flights in other routes are selling out fast or available at hugely inflated prices, or only business class seats left.
so I’m not worried but I am aware that there may be a long delay getting home if offered a reroute- see pp being offered flight in three weeks after the original flight.

@Tryingtokeepgoing thank you x

I would honestly just try to enjoy your holiday for a few days without looking at any news. I wouldn't clean out my savings when you don't yet know whether your original flight is running. I expect the situation to look very different in a week.

I would wait, surely BA are obliged to get you home at their cost not at yours. That is the whole purpose of booking a package, rather than flight only. If you were flight only I would be cancelling and looking at flight alternatives that avoids the Middle East.

Trump is talking about a four week offensive operation.

I may have been on one of the very last Monarch flights. We flew back from Crete and arrived at Gatwick very early in the morning. When we got indoors, my then BF put the radio on while I made a cuppa.

The first news bulletin we heard included the news that Monarch had gone bust and loads of people were stranded overseas, and we were very glad we hadn't gone for a fortnight.

Thank you, yes it is as both need to go back to work, especially her partner as he is self employed. Their dog is at the kennels too. Car parked at Heathrow, lots of things to sort out. You are fortunate to be able to talk to someone online, they haven't been able to do that either. A nightmare.

@ProfessorTeapot

Thank you I will tell them about that. Any help is appreciated.

This.

I would keep an eye on advice from Simon Calder.

Also, bear in mind that some flights you can see selling out quickly may be getting booked by Qatar/Emirates/Etihad to get their passengers home. Even for a single flight cancellation, airlines typically try to book alternative seats before informing passengers about the cancellation.

the airlines are all saying don’t contact them, they will contact you.

this is so flights & help can be given to people in the right order rather than ‘he who shouts the loudest’