British Airways cancelling flights to Northern Italy due to coronavirus

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Yesterday we ran a long article summarising the latest British Airways and Virgin Atlantic travel policies on coronavirus.

It was partly out of date before it went live, as the Italian Government published a law on Saturday night to place a quarter of the country under quarantine.

As of Sunday evening, British Airways has cancelled for Monday:

all flights to Venice

10/11 flights to Milan

the one flight to Bergamo

This is the new BA guidance for anyone with tickets to Italy. I ran this in a separate article yesterday but wanted to repeat it here for the benefit of our email readers.

That said, if all flights are now cancelled, the guidance doesn’t make much difference!

Here are the rules:

Rules apply to anyone travelling to Milan, Venice, Turin, Bergamo, Bologna, Verona

If you are booked for travel until 4th April, you can rebook for free for dates up to 31st May

You can also request a diversion to Zurich or Geneva

Here is the new bit added during Sunday:

Anyone with tickets to Milan, Venice or Bergamo for travel by 4th April can now request a full refund

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There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

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Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

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Category

British Airways and Avios

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

Marcw says:

9 Mar9 March 08:51

Anyone travelling to Vietnam, you NOW need t visa.
- Marcw says:
  
  9 Mar9 March 08:56
  
  In the making, not approved yet: https://ampe.vnexpress.net/news/news/vietnam-mulls-health-declaration-for-all-vietnamese-citizens-4066180.html?
  - BJ says:
    
    9 Mar9 March 09:20
    
    Thanks Marc, we havr plan to go there in June. Have to love this bit in the article you linked…
    “…people to join hands and unite to fight the epidemic, the proposal said.”
    - marcw says:
      
      9 Mar9 March 10:59
      
      It’s even approved, http://news.chinhphu.vn/Home/Govt-temporarily-suspends-unilateral-visa-exemption-for-8-countries-due-to-COVID19-outbreak/20203/39094.vgp
      - marcw says:
        
        9 Mar9 March 10:59
        
        It’s been*
    - Peter K says:
      
      9 Mar9 March 11:11
      
      😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣
Harpo says:

9 Mar9 March 08:56

Just checked my statement, concerned I’d overlooked this. My wife is supp on the WE and has been using it as her main card since Christmas. I’m relieved to report Jan and Feb earned 2 HSBC points/£.
NickAnon says:

9 Mar9 March 08:58

OT but regarding cancelled Virgin flight:
Virgin have cancelled the LHR to HKG flight on 22nd May, and put us on the flight the following day. No reason given in the email, just a flight time change – of 24 hours!
Booked with points and have a connection that will now be missed, what are my rights?
- Rob says:
  
  9 Mar9 March 09:01
  
  No rights re the connection but you can have a full refund for your Virgin flight. Makes more sense to go a day earlier though.
- Louise says:
  
  9 Mar9 March 09:51
  
  We had a virgin miles flight to vegas cancelled and put on a flight 24 hours later, I complained and they put me on a delta connecting flight the day i had booked for. I think they have to book you on another airline, Harry advised me at the time!
- Lady London says:
  
  9 Mar9 March 19:04
  
  Remember if a change is made to even just one leg this may give you the right to cancel the whole thing for full refund or reschedule the whole thing.
Andrew says:

9 Mar9 March 09:02

Bits:-

Amex, spend £100 at JLP opticians get £20 back.

(JLP Opticians is a white label brand of Luxxotica who also run David Clulow Opticians)
- Peter K says:
  
  9 Mar9 March 11:12
  
  *Luxottica
BJ says:

9 Mar9 March 09:05

OT: Curve gone out of business??
- Heathrow Flyer says:
  
  9 Mar9 March 09:26
  
  Where did you see this?
- j says:
  
  9 Mar9 March 09:28
  
  Evidence? Or just pointless scaremongering?
  - BJ says:
    
    9 Mar9 March 09:45
    
    Just a question, sorry if you found it scary 🙂
- Young L says:
  
  9 Mar9 March 09:36
  
  Their website has gone offline.
  - Heathrow Flyer says:
    
    9 Mar9 March 09:38
    
    Still working for me.
    - Rob says:
      
      9 Mar9 March 09:40
      
      Was totally fine for me when that comment went up. And, since it isn’t a transactional website, there would be no requirement to pull it immediately even if the company went down.
  - Anna says:
    
    9 Mar9 March 09:38
    
    Interestingly I was allowed to go over the £700 Curve/IHG limit this weekend so there may be some sort of glitch somewhere (need to keep an eye on IHG again for interest charges).
    - Joseph Heenan says:
      
      9 Mar9 March 10:15
      
      The £700 weekly limit seems to be working as usual this morning. (I’ve paid down my creation balance just in case though…)
    - WS says:
      
      9 Mar9 March 10:30
      
      O/T but any data points on HSBC premier credit card (non-WE) and revo top ups via curve? my HSBC statement and online banking don’t seem to show whether there are cash adv fees or interest charges so am not sure if those are treated as purchases
      - Craig says:
        
        9 Mar9 March 17:56
        
        i have had no problems on the non-WE premier credit card. tiny interest amount at the end of the month but no problem. i think it is treated as a cash advance but without the fee. pay it down every month and won’t cause you any issues
- BJ says:
  
  9 Mar9 March 09:50
  
  Thanks all, just need a quick confirmation it was still working ok for others.
  - Anna says:
    
    9 Mar9 March 10:24
    
    Having said that, i’ve Just had a Curve transaction declined which then went through via Revolut, so who knows?
    - Colin MacKinnon says:
      
      9 Mar9 March 11:09
      
      Didn’t work at McDonalds a few minutes ago
  - BlueHorizonuk says:
    
    9 Mar9 March 11:08
    
    Next time though maybe just ask ‘is Curve working for you’ instead of have they gone bust…..lol
    - BJ says:
      
      9 Mar9 March 11:42
      
      The thought crossed my mind but this way looks like it prompted more discussion and feedback so…
- Graeme says:
  
  9 Mar9 March 11:51
  
  They’ve just responded to a message I sent within about half an hour, so the staff are still there!
  
  I have the option of changing from a Business Curve Legacy Black card to a Personal one. Curve say there’s no difference between the two – does anyone know of any?
Aston100 says:

9 Mar9 March 09:21

So if your destination country bans people from your own country due to h&s fears, but your own government has not issued any travel advisories and your airline is still flying there, is this grounds for s75 or is it a travel insurance claim?
- Rob says:
  
  9 Mar9 March 09:41
  
  Very much depends on the wording of your travel insurance – certainly not a S75 issue. You could be left high and dry. However, very unlikely flights would continue under this scenario so only an issue if you are flying from a 3rd country (eg flying to Israel from somewhere else which is still allowed, but your UK passport will get you thrown out).
Qwertyknowsbest says:

9 Mar9 March 09:29

Just used my Curve. Source?
- BJ says:
  
  9 Mar9 March 09:43
  
  Thanks, that’s what I was wondering. I’ve had a cash withdrawal, payment, new card verification, snd a support message all fail this morning. Perhaps they’ve pulled the plug on me.
  - Axel says:
    
    9 Mar9 March 09:50
    
    You need to upgrade your app, this happened to me last week. I saw that the app had self blocked from using internet
    - BJ says:
      
      9 Mar9 March 10:09
      
      Thanks Axel, I’ll do that.
  - Lady London says:
    
    9 Mar9 March 17:35
    
    Did you do a first chip & pin transaction?
    - BJ says:
      
      9 Mar9 March 19:29
      
      Nope, got that nugget later in the comments from the real deal, but thanks 🙂
Robin N says:

9 Mar9 March 09:33

O/T – The Bahrain GP will now be held behind closed doors. I am able to cancel the f1 tickets and hotels for our trip however not sure how to go about cancelling the flights. Been calling BA but the call centers are so busy that I don’t even get to a hold queue.

Anyone in the same situation? If no, any tips if this will be covered under travel insurance. Don’t think BA will help as there is advice against travel to Bahrain
- Anna says:
  
  9 Mar9 March 09:37
  
  Are the flights cash/Avios? If cash you may struggle to cancel unless FO have said avoid Bahrain.
- Mr(s) Entitled says:
  
  9 Mar9 March 09:41
  
  If it was booked as a package you might have a fighting chance, booked separately you have to hope you bought a belt and braces policy. You will need to read the T&C’s of your insurance. There is no definitive answer because policies vary.
- David the 1st says:
  
  9 Mar9 March 09:57
  
  If you paid for the tickets on a credit card, could you claim the wasted travel costs as consequential losses under S-75?
  - Shoestring says:
    
    9 Mar9 March 11:18
    
    not if the flight goes ahead
    - David the 1st says:
      
      9 Mar9 March 14:50
      
      I was thinking of the race tickets on card. If the trip is not necessary, then surely the hotel and flights are consequential loss?
      - Shoestring says:
        
        9 Mar9 March 19:31
        
        I don’t buy it – but always worth a try
- PJJ says:
  
  9 Mar9 March 10:09
  
  Indian Wells Tennis tournament starting this week has been cancelled