Iceland, Eyjafjallajökull and Holiday Planning.
As some may know, we currently have a holiday to Iceland booked for later this year. We planned it before this latest demonstration of the striking and munificent power of nature.
We thought that it would be wise to cancel our bookings but we soon ran into a problem with the tickets for the flights to/from Iceland. Notably that we can't. We could if we'd paid for insurance and one of us had died or if we'd paid for insurance and one (or more) of us was dismembered in a manner that meant a doctor would be willing to certify that travel was inadvisable.
But not simply because the chances of actually getting to the advertised location are seeming increasingly slim.
Now I could accept a deadline for cancelling air travel with, presumably, a decreasing scale of repayment depending on how close to departure you are. This would give the airline (under normal conditions) plenty of time to flog the tickets to someone else. Besides, they'd be charging more for the tickets anyway. What's the problem with doing things like that?
So now we have to sit and wait. Maybe the eruption will end, maybe Katla will go nova and mask the skies of northern Europe; thus depriving us all of sunshine for a few months. But at least, if the flight is cancelled, we will have the option of a full refund. Even if we have to go all the way to London and back for no reason. And pay for a days stay at two hotels.
But it's ok - we can go somewhere else instead. I'll just send the invoices directly to the airline.
Are there any 'fairer' airlines out there? None of the ones to Iceland allow refunds unless the company cancels the flight.
Hopefully this will be much ado about nothing.