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No more flights to Dubai – UAE & 2 other countries join red list
The UAE, Burundi and Rwanda all added to what is now known as the UK’s red list from 1pm today. This means people who have been in or transited through these countries will be denied entry, except British, Irish and third country nationals with residence rights who must self-isolate for ten days at home. When hotel quarantine is eventually introduced then countries on the red list will need to isolate in government-approved hotels.
This also means that no direct flights from these or other countries on the red list are allowed. Emirates, Etihad and BA are in the process of cancelling flights. The first date I can see any direct flights from the UK is 16 April 2021.
While I understand the need for being vigilant about new strains, I feel sorry for those who were booked to return to the UK via the UAE from non red countries as their flights will now be cancelled and they will have to be rerouted.
Here is the current list of countries on the red list:
- Angola
- Argentina
- Bolivia
- Botswana
- Brazil
- Burundi
- Cape Verde
- Chile
- Colombia
- Democratic Republic of Congo
- Ecuador
- Eswatini
- French Guiana
- Guyana
- Lesotho
- Malawi
- Mauritius
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Portugal (including Madeira and the Azores)
- Rwanda
- Seychelles
- South Africa
- Suriname
- Tanzania
- United Arab Emirates (UAE)
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
You can find the government website page here.
Qatar extend status – will BA do the same?
Airlines are now beginning to start another round of status extensions. Yesterday Qatar Airways Privilege Club announced that it will extend its members’ tier status in recognition that travel plans continue to be impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This initiative will extend members’ tier status until 31 December 2021 and applies to Silver, Gold and Platinum members whose tier is due to end this year and have not earned enough Qpoints to retain it. This also applies to those that did a status match.
This announcement follows news that Qatar Airways will offer all passengers unlimited date changes and free refunds for tickets issued before 30 April 2021 for travel completed by 31 December 2021. Privilege Club members can therefore benefit from flexible booking policies that will allow them to change their plans with ease if they need to.
Qatar Airways Chief Commercial Officer, Mr. Thierry Antinori, said: “At Qatar Airways we are doing everything in our power to be the airline you can rely on. Having flown continuously during the pandemic, we currently operate the largest network among airlines based in the Middle East thanks to the flexibility offered by our sustainable, wide body Boeing 787 and A350 aircrafts. We also offer the highest standards of safety on board and at Hamad International Airport – recently endorsed by our Skytrax 5-Star COVID-19 Airline Safety Rating Airport Safety Rating.
“Our Privilege Club members are very important to us and we want to continue to be there for them. We understand that some of our members may need more time to plan and book their upcoming travel. That is why we are announcing today our latest tier extension as one of the many steps that Privilege Club has taken over the last year to honour the loyalty of our valued members as we navigate these difficult times together.”
Will BA do the same?
The most frequently asked question I get at the moment is whether BA will do the same. I don’t have a crystal ball so I can’t give a definitive answer. However, I do know that they are looking at the issue. Given that Virgin have not announced anything, I can’t see BA rushing to either. Last time round they were pretty slow to announce anything and waited to see what their competitors do. I expect the same this time. BA will not rush to give away anything if they don’t have to. Those that missed out on the extension last time have virtually no chance of making status this year, so I think the least BA will do is to extend the offer to those members.
There are three other options for BA to chose from.
- A blanket extension for everyone – this will be the most popular with members but it comes with a risk that if travel restrictions lift early, that people won’t be driven to choose BA since they don’t need to worry about status. Conversely, some people may choose BA to enjoy their benefits.
- They could offer a reduction in the number of tier points needed. Currently, you get a 25% discount on the TPs needed. They could increase this to 50% or even 75% off to encourage people to start flying again when they are able.
- Or they could do as they did at the beginning of the crisis – announce extensions for people whose years expire in the next few months only.
At this point, I think any of those are possible. I don’t expect BA to announce anything immediately. Whatever happens, I am 100% confident they will offer some sort of concession, so if you are worrying about status, I would stop!
Police say they won’t stop people from boarding flights
After Priti Patel’s speech in the Commons on Wednesday, it sounded like the police would have the power to stop people from boarding flights if they were deemed to be travelling for non-essential reasons. You will also have to fill in a declaration before you travel for your reasons for travel.
While I expect people to obey the law and not fly except for a permitted reason, this was a step way, way too far for me. I am beginning to wonder if I have moved to a police state without realising it. Like the former USSR when you needed permission to leave the country. Preventing people from leaving the country does not feel like something we as the UK should be doing. There are many legal reasons why people could be travelling, but proving some of them would not be easy. For example, if a relative suddenly fell seriously ill? Who would want to spend the time working out how they would prove that while they rush against the clock to get there in time? Are the police going to start phoning foreign hospitals to confirm how ill the person’s relative is?
Another tricky example is those moving abroad temporarily. If I did not have an elderly mother to worry about, I would be typing this from somewhere sunny with less covid infections. If I moved abroad for 6 months it’s highly unlikely I would rent somewhere for 6 months without seeing it first and for Barbados for example you don’t need a visa for a stay under 6 months. So how would I prove it? (apart from the amount of luggage, but many people already assume I must be moving abroad when they see me at the airport with my overpacking problem!)
So I welcomed the statement from the chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC). Yesterday the NPCC chair Martin Hewitt said police will not automatically stop travellers in continuing their journeys, according to the Independent. If the traveller is found to be breaking the rules (or suspected to be) they could be issued a fine in the airport but the exact process has not been confirmed. They will not be stopped from boarding the plane by the police.
“Whether they are then barred from travelling is not a police issue, that’s a borders issue,” Mr Hewitt said.
4 comments
Having retained my Gold status – achieving the required 1500 tier points comfortably within the first 6 months of my 2019/20 collection year – I was one of the many who were denied the extension till 2022, yet have friends who were no where near renewing their status who have had it extended.
It’s such a strange policy, and no one has been able to give me a satisfactory explanation for it. Perhaps they’ve brought in someone from a utility company whose attitude is different to existing customers? ????
Same here, stuck on August 8th 21 expiry, when all around us have got to mid 22 exp. just cannot work out why… just hope we fall in for a years extension this time. Did seem to be an unfair policy. I was only 1 sh 5TPs.flight away, but just couldn’t travel due to my OH shielding. BA even assured me l didn’t need to take it that l would get my one year anyway,. They thought that was fine.
I really enjoy this site but I cannot disagree more that the police SHOULD be able to stop people from boarding flights without a valid reason. Why? Because people will literally lie about their sick grandma in order to get out of school, or work, or turn their project in late….or leave the country.
It is a sad reality of the times we are living – we have already seen many people have had to miss funerals for example due to COVID restrictions.
For me, the ‘sick relative’ fear has been around from the beginning of COVID anyway. As an Aussie living in the UK if my mum or dad or gran was on deaths door today I would still have to do my 14 days mandatory hotel quarantine on arriving in Australia. No ifs, no buts. It’s about the greater good, not my personal circumstances. That’s the result of a strict, hard lockdown from the beginning. Now look at Australia….in NSW ten consecutive days of not ONE community transmitted COVID case.
The rules IMHO should be tightened. I was disgusted watching an interview with an ‘influencer’ last week on TV. She went to Dubai during the lockdown so she could film her Personal Training sessions ‘with a nice backdrop’. She claimed it was ‘work’.
No…it’s bending the rules to benefit yourself.
My tier expiry date is 8/12 and it’s extended to 8/12/21. I thought I had until then to accumulate enough TPs and qualifying flights to retain status, but on 8/12/20 both were reset to zero. Is this correct? That would mean the necessary TPs and QFs will have to be accumulated within the 12 month period.
While there’s a discount for TPs required, the number of QFs required remains the same. When BA suspended flights to Kuala Lumpur (to be cancelled permanently soon) I had to fly with Qatar which gave me TPs but not QFs, thus jeopardizing my chance of maintaining status.
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