Nonrefundable plane tix to UK in Aug?

[Anonymous]

I'm considering flying to London with my 3 kids + spouse in Aug. on Iberia (which I've never flown but it says it's operated by British airlines). The price difference between nonrefundable and refundable flight tickets is more than $300 per ticket. So for a family of 5 that really adds up.
We rarely book tickets that aren't refundable. So I'm wondering how crazy of an idea this is to not get refundable flights. But the dates are clear and it's been rare that we haven't been able to travel when planned.

[Anonymous]

If you buy travel insurance...that will be okay.

I buy travel insurance more now because AirBnBs become "no refund" close to trip dates. And because of Covid and traveling with elderly people.

The premium would probably be around $300 for a Europe trip. So you still might save $900+.

[Anonymous]

Call me crazy but Americans will be persona
non grata internationally this summer. I would not book non refundable tickets.

[Anonymous]

Good tip about travel insurance! Anyone used a reliable vendor you'd recommend? Never used it before.

[Anonymous]

I’ve never booked a refundable plane ticket in my life. I do put all my travel on a card with travel insurance but assuming you want to book faster than that, just get insurance. I think we used Allianz before we got our travel card but didn’t need to make a claim.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Call me crazy but Americans will be persona
non grata internationally this summer. I would not book non refundable tickets.

I won’t call you crazy, but I will call you stupid.

[Anonymous]

How much is it if you book directly with BA? Iberia is one of the worst run airlines in Europe so even though you aren't flying them, the ticket will be through them if there are any issues or you need to make changes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good tip about travel insurance! Anyone used a reliable vendor you'd recommend? Never used it before.

Read this article on the Rick Steves website. I consider it reliable. This is how I shopped for a policy to cover about $6K or so of unrefundable reservations to France plus medical evac coverage.

https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/trip-planning/travel-insurance

I think I used Allianz at least twice. I also shopped on Squaremouth and InsureMyTrip as shown in the article.

Add up all the non-refundable costs you want to insure. Don't insure things you can cancel with 24 hrs notice unless it's the first hotel night of your trip.

Do check your existing credit cards to see if they have insurance policies. I've always ignored those benefits because card issuers change, card benefits change, and I don't have enough life in me to monitor that stuff. I have ordinary cash back cards, not the ones the point collectors love. If you have a better card, you may have better benefits but will have to read the fine print.

[Anonymous]

Thanks so much, everyone!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How much is it if you book directly with BA? Iberia is one of the worst run airlines in Europe so even though you aren't flying them, the ticket will be through them if there are any issues or you need to make changes.

Agreed, I picked some dates in August and looks like booming through BA directly is about $20 more per person than booking through Iberia (for the same flights on BA planes). I'd book directly with BA. Also yeah it's very cheap for nonstop to London in the summer! $640/person for basic economy, $800 for regular economy.. Demand definitely dropping.

[Anonymous]

Don't fly iberia, they are terrible.

1. Iberia charged me for a seat assignment next to my toddler child. Iberia assigned us seats in different parts of the airplane and wouldn't put us together for free even when I called and explained the issue.

2. Iberia doesn't cool the cabin for take-off/landing in summer, so the cabin gets super hot. Do you know why it's good to have a cool cabin? Cool air prevents airsickness. My kid barfed all over me on takeoff and landing due to the heat. At least I'd paid an extra 100 dollars for seats next to each other so I could catch most of their barf.

Iberia: an awful, awful airline. Avoid.

[Anonymous]

Ok then! You convinced me - I'll pay $100 more to book it through BA if it is that much better than Iberia although it's the same plane.
Also, looks like the main diff between basic econ and reg econ is that we aren't guaranteed to sit together and can't check a bag for basic. I'm wondering if we can book one of the seats as a regular economy to get those benefits.

[Anonymous]

I rarely book a fully refundable ticket but I will book the changeable fare with no cost. That has worked out well for our family when we have had medical emergencies etc. Typically we have to use the tickets within a year - and if the fare is higher you have to pay the difference - but its been easy to change and re-use. However I do try to stick to airlines that I could use the flights too other places in case we decide not to go back to our original destination to provide the most flexibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok then! You convinced me - I'll pay $100 more to book it through BA if it is that much better than Iberia although it's the same plane.
Also, looks like the main diff between basic econ and reg econ is that we aren't guaranteed to sit together and can't check a bag for basic. I'm wondering if we can book one of the seats as a regular economy to get those benefits.

No you would only get one checked bag if you only book one person in reg econ.

[Anonymous]

Can you consider Delta or another US carrier? If you have to cancel, you will get credit. If you cancel Iberia, nada.