Late holiday worried about flight cancellations, when are flights 'safe'?

smallblueplanet

Hi, we've decided to go on holiday afterall. We normally book a villa and flights separately but I am now worried that I might end up with a villa booked for a destination I cannot reach if flights were cancelled. Is there a period of days before departure after which a booked flight won't be cancelled? Thanks.

lisyloo

No. 
Why on earth don't you book a package?

Sandtree

No, they can be cancelled on the day after you've already checked in... though for something like Covid you'd hope they are thinking a little further ahead than that.

Either buy a package or book a villa that has a favourable cancellation policy. 

smallblueplanet

lisyloo said:

No. 
Why on earth don't you book a package?

Because the villa company we prefer no longer does package holidays, lots don't and are villa only bookings.

smallblueplanet

Sandtree said:

No, they can be cancelled on the day after you've already checked in... though for something like Covid you'd hope they are thinking a little further ahead than that.

Either buy a package or book a villa that has a favourable cancellation policy. 

Most villa cancellation policies that I have seen are time limited to well before a holiday starts.

J_B

As a 'villa owner' I've told our customers that as long as we have their deposit they should not pay the balance till the day before they depart.

TELLIT01

We generally book flights and accommodation separately, but if we were travelling this year would seriously consider a package despite it not being our preferred option.

We had 2 holidays cancelled last year, one was a package (travelling with other people) and we got a very fast full refund and the other had flights and accommodation booked separate.  We got the flight refunded but the deposit for the accommodation was not returned.  The accommodation was still operating but flights from the UK had been cancelled.  We got part back from the insurers but were still out of pocket.

onashoestring

The uncertainty of travelling during a pandemic means a flight cannot be 100% certain ( for example countries can and have changed  entry restrictions overnight or crew test positive for covid )
Even pre- pandemic there has always been the possibility that an unexpected event results in a flight being cancelled at the last minute ( technical fault with aircraft , volcanic ash ) - in this case you may be entitled to a refund from the airline for the flights but would not be due any refund from the villa , which is why a package holiday is recommended.