Flight Booking/Covid restrictions

brucethefish

Hi

We are looking at booking flights to New York for next September, all hotels etc will be done through Booking.com so we can cancel if any restrictions are in place

Is there anything we can do to protect against us being/placing the US on the red list, or is it now at your own risk?  We are looking at travelling with Virgin Atlantic

Caz3121

If booking flight only with Virgin (for flights after 30th April 22) a good travel insurance policy
Have you looked to see if the hotels are available with Virgin Holidays as a package would give you more protection?

MATTR5

Virgin Atlantic are only offering their flexible policy for departures up to Apr 2022 so that won't help
Virgin could fly if the USA went on the Red list but if the FCO changed their advice against travel to the USA then they'd very likely cancel the flights 
To be honest, if it just went Red but FCO didn't advise against travel (that can happen) they'd likely offer you a free amend but if you book right now there is no Guarantee of that 
Some fare classes give you more flexibility but they tend to be more expensive 
I agree with caz3121 re checking the Virgin Holidays packages - you can also do a much lower deposit that way so could even risk walking away at Deposit stage if unsure 
Not many Travel Insurance companies will cover you if it goes Red as they only go on FCO advice but definitely worth investigating

brucethefish

Hi

We are travelling around (Niagara falls etc) so wouldnt be looking at just staying in NY

Think travel insurance is something to look at, cheers

TELLIT01

brucethefish said:

Hi

We are travelling around (Niagara falls etc) so wouldnt be looking at just staying in NY

Think travel insurance is something to look at, cheers

Irrespective of Covid, travel insurance is something you definitely need in place from the date of booking.  Don't leave it until the date of travel or any problems, such as illness which prevents travel, will not be protected.  Travelling to the USA without comprehensive cover is a high risk strategy.