Worried about booking flights

023456789

I am hoping to be able to fly to the USA for Christmas. It would be flight only, possible car rental booking. No hotel or anything like that. With covid-19 when would you recommend potentially booking the flights and also what protection would i have if covid forces the cancellation of the trip. Please bear in mind I do not have a credit card and will not be able to get a card until the end of the year. I can if needed get travel insurance prior to booking.

TELLIT01

It will be virtually impossible to get travel insurance which provides any cover for Covid19 related issues.  If the flight was cancelled by the airline you would be entitled to a full refund as the law currently stands.  If you chose do cancel any refund would be in accordance with the airlines T&C for that ticket.  You will often find that the cheapest tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable.

soolin

023456789 said:

I am hoping to be able to fly to the USA for Christmas. It would be flight only, possible car rental booking. No hotel or anything like that. With covid-19 when would you recommend potentially booking the flights and also what protection would i have if covid forces the cancellation of the trip. Please bear in mind I do not have a credit card and will not be able to get a card until the end of the year. I can if needed get travel insurance prior to booking.

To answer the point in bold - you need insurance as soon as you book regardless of pandemics and current issues. Even ignoring the current issues anything could happen between booking your flights and travelling and if you needed to cancel due to 'allowed' medical reasons, or such like you would need insurance in place.

Neil49

Aside of the flight issue you need to consider the implications of hiring a car without having a credit card for the hire company to hold funds to cover possible damage and other associated costs. If you offer a debit card you will find that a large chunk of your credit balance will be earmarked by the hire company and not released for you to spend until well after the car has been returned. 

cubegame

Considering the likelihood of not being able to get health insurance the USA would be the last place in the world I would go to right now.

sheramber

 I would wait until there was no travel ban and the current required quarantine restrictions both in USA and UK are lifted
 

stueyhants

Also, please book direct with the airline. If the flights are cancelled it will be so much easier dealing direct rather than via a 3rd part agent.

stephenadarglas

There will have to be flights around the world sometime soon otherwise many of these companies will fold.  Sometime in August perhaps?  

023456789

Neil49 said:

Aside of the flight issue you need to consider the implications of hiring a car without having a credit card for the hire company to hold funds to cover possible damage and other associated costs. If you offer a debit card you will find that a large chunk of your credit balance will be earmarked by the hire company and not released for you to spend until well after the car has been returned. 

To respond to your point, I am fully aware of car hire issues and for any trip to the USA with our circumstances it's a luxary that we can drop if funds do not allow.

Also a little tip I learned many years ago with USA travel is if you are renting a car always pay up front in GBP prior to travel as this is always cheaper and often contains basic insurance. If you decide to rent while in the USA you end up finding that they don't offer any basic insurance for a rental. This is because most US credit cards offer car insurance rental as a basic perk.

023456789

Thanks for all your responses, I think I will hold out at least another month or 2 before booking.

jonesMUFCforever

It's a Catch 22 isn't it?
You don't want to book now because your flight might not take place - flights will not take place until there is sufficient demand to make them pay.
Personally I won't travel abroad this year - next year I don't think I would book many months in advance but wait until a few weeks before travel.