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Concern re our upcoming trip in early May - what happens if jet fuel really does run out in the EU ?

Tillyseattle

Hi all. My husband and I are scheduled for a month (2 consecutive trips) in England in early May. Given all the issues going on, how might Tauck handle it if there are fuel issues getting home ? Do they allow us to get there, and hope for the best ? I know Tauck is prepared for most things, but I don’t want to have to be worrying incessantly the entire trip. Any insights are appreciated. I plan on contacting Tauck closer to the date, but still…I’m very unsure. Thank you !

Comments

MikeHenderson

About 20% of the world's consumption of oil goes through the Strait of Hormuz. And a lot of that 20% went to China and other parts of Asia. People are smart and a bunch of them are working on how to keep planes flying even if the Strait stays blocked. At worst, perhaps a few flights will be cancelled to save fuel, because the cost of fuel will go up.

I don't see any wholesale cancelling of flights into or out of Europe from the US.

[I'm leaving for a trip in the Mediterranean soon and I'm not worried that I won't get there, or get home.]

Tillyseattle

Thanks Mike, that sounds reassuring.

British

I have a different view. Flights are likely to be cancelled because fewer people will risk travel or cannot afford the higher prices. This will be separate from any fuel shortages. We are currently in the middle of making plans to visit London before joining a river cruise in France later in the year. We are concerned about the availability of a flight to Bordeaux from London.
Frankly, even though I would call myself a travel junky, we are getting tired of the complications of getting to our destination and may scale back soon. Getting too stressful.

MikeHenderson

Seems to me that a lot of people would have to cancel their travel plans before the airlines would cancel a flight. Most tourist purchase their tickets long in advance and the tickets are usually non-refundable - so they're stuck. Additionally, they won't be affected by price increases because they already have their tickets.

Business people keep traveling - life goes on and business still has to be done. It's possible that the flights may not fly full, but I even wonder about that.

[I think the world can go on with $100/barrel oil. It'd have to get close to $200/barrel to really shut things down. The current administration is very sensitive to the stock market and will likely do a deal that does not meet all of their expectations, rather than see a stock market crash and inflation run up to 10%. Especially with the midterms coming up. ]

BKMD

MikeHenderson
Seems to me that a lot of people would have to cancel their travel plans before the airlines would cancel a flight.

I disagree, Mike. Airlines cancel flights all the time with no explanation. It happened to me a few months back when Air France cancelled their Saturday nonstops between DEN and CDG. It wouldn't be a stretch for them to analyze the most profitable flights and cancel those which fall below that line. This is an industry that's never been big on customer service and goodwill..

Patrice

I agree with British - complications getting to one's destination are increasing. BKMD is correct... Air France cancelled my direct flight a couple years ago from ORD to CDG. AF cancelled its weekly direct Wednesday flight. AF wanted to put me on a flight a day earlier at no extra cost. I had originally planned to arrive just 1 day early for my Gift of Time before the Tauck tour began. My options were to pay for an additional night at the Paris Intercontinental, or some other hotel, or find other flight arrangements for my original planned arrival date in Paris. I ended up going on the original date but with a connection through JFK with escalators not working and having to exit the building to change terminals, walking through a construction zone over a gravel walkway. And more recently (February) American changed my flight connection airport and the departure and arrival times, with a decrease in the connection time at the newly assigned connection airport. I spend a lot of time weighing all my options for air travel before selecting what is best for my needs... a senior solo traveler. Very annoying and causes anxiety

MikeHenderson

Airlines do occasionally cancel flights and the examples given were cancelled before the Iran war. I think the question Tillyseattle was asking is whether there will be cancellations because of a shortage of jet fuel. I doubt if there will be many cancellations for that reason, or because there will not be enough passengers to fill a flight.

British

It doesn’t matter why the flights are canceled. We’ve had canceled flights recently. We also have a $10,000 flight between us that was non refundable to sort out.
Tauck travelers are a privileged group of people who are not representative of the European vacationing general public. Gas prices and fear cause people to rethink their budget and plans

Folsomdoc

Well Mike….. https://apple.news/At6321V-_QOitHgXp5bvycQ

Kathy M

We are scheduled to fly to Europe on June 2 and home on June 16 utilizing Lufthansa and its partners. While nothing has happened yet to our flights, I am seeing some changes. Lufthansa generally has two round trips between Frankfurt and Boston. As of today, through June 9 they have decreased it to one. I'm expecting that our flight on June 16 will be changed. The good news is that they will probably make the change before we leave for the trip and can have discussions regarding what the flights will be.

the moores

Last year KLM cancelled our flight to Europe with only about a 26 hour notice. So, I'm a bit concerned about our upcoming Tauck trip. In case we get only to our first stop in Europe and not our final destination I decided to find an alternative. What a nightmare it would be by train - a full day - more than 11 hours - plus changes/stops at various train stations. We've decided not to get tickets to the opera in case we don't get there in time. In any case, neither Tauck nor I will know much until things out of our control are resolved.

British

A first world problem, but yes, we are concerned about our upcoming trip in early June as we take three flights through Europe to get to the start of our tour. It’s not with Tauck, so we don’t have cancel for any reason insurance this time. I hate losing money. I also understand the fear of being stuck in another country as that happened to us when Covid began and we were stranded in a third world country, then evacuated to Kuala Lumpur to the only hotel still open, a seedy place and not allowed to leave our room. Our tour company worked their magic and after a couple of days we got a message to be ready. A driver picked us up in darkness, breaking the curfew, drove us about an hour to the airport where we boarded a flight to Boston airport which was deserted. We walked a long way to another terminal to get a flight to Philly. I swear there were only about six people on the flight .
I guess the people stranded in the Arabian countries had a similar experience when the war began.
The advice for myself for my upcoming trip is to take two weeks extra medication for my blood pressure meds and my thyroid meds since I don’t have one, that would be my main concern.

SandyFeet

I share these concerns. We are scheduled to travel independently as a couple, and if I am going to get stuck in Europe then either Dublin or London would be fine with me. I like British’s idea of packing extra meds. My blood pressure has not been normal for ten years now,

SandyFeet

Lufthansa just cancelled 20,000 flights as you may have read this morning. Are we winning yet?

Goddess

City Line flights - their short haul subsidiary, mostly, is what I read.

British

My husband is talking canceling our trips, that is what causes even more cancellations

Goddess

The 20,000 cancellations, which include flights previously operated by CityLine, will impact hubs in Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich, Vienna, Brussels and Rome and “reduce the number of unprofitable short-haul flights.”

British

According to my hubby we are flying Finair going on our trip and onwards from there. Don’t know which way we are flying back, my hubby books the flights. Time for more cancellations as days go by for all of us. Just be glad we are not in a country being bombed..Maude we are next.

AlanS

We aren't going to Europe until Sept, but I check our flights every so often because our usual carrier isn't always good about notifying us about changes. I will check more frequently as we get closer.

BKMD

I just heard on CNN that United is raising fares 20% and the CEO said they will NOT lower them when fuel prices come down as long as demand for seats remain.

SandyFeet

It may come to pass that flying to western Europe from the East Coast will cost as much as flying to southern Africa so I can only imagine the sticker shock.

SandyFeet

Sorry for over posting. Last one promise. I spent the month of January 1971 in Italy studying art history with my college professor and about 15 other students. I had worked all summer as a waitress to pay for this adventure. My hand was shaking as I wrote the check because I had never written a check that large. The check covered my round trip flight and room and board for a month. It was a grand total of $650.00. On our flight home the prof gave us each a small refund because there was still money left in the group kitty. The good ol days…

SGF

A friend just returned from Lisbon last evening and said the Arrivals area (passport control) at JFK was empty. Kind of eerie...

the moores

I remember those days, Sandy - Frommer's "Europe on Five Dollars a Day" and having the train station find you a room in a hotel or home in a new town.

A few days ago KLM announced they were cancelling 160 flights within Europe. Yesterday I received our personal documents for our riverboat cruise. Today I spoke with a rep. She said that because our trip is less than 60 days, we would lose 50% if we cancelled. That would be a rather pricey loss for us of over $14,000 plus the loss of our trip insurance. And, I'm not sure if that would be returned to us or applied as a credit.

I realize this is rather trivial compared to what our cruel president is doing to third world countries who need fertilizer, etc to grow their crops. But, while hubby if thinking we should cancel and that it can only get worse, I'm hoping for some sort of miracle in the 58 days before our tour.

SandyFeet

Good luck to the moores. I do hope you get you bon voyage!

Hin11

It appears Lufthansa is going to hold on to their long haul flights, which works for us between LAX and Frankfurt in September for the Blue Danube cruise we're booked on. But, they're canceling a lot of short haul flight which may impact our Frankfurt to Budapest and Prague to Frankfurt flights. We buy our tickets well in advance and always pay the "insurance" of fully refundable. I thought vacations were for relaxing, lol.

Travel9

We too are worried about flight cancellations. We are flying back from Paris to Boston on Delta in May. I’ve been checking the flights, and seem they are still flying out, but things can change in a minute. We’ve been looking forward to this trip, but may cancel as we don’t want to get stranded. It’s all a crapshoot. Do we…don’t we…do we..don’t we🤷🏻‍♀️

Tillyseattle

Travel9- you are so right…do we or don’t we ? My husband is determined to go, but I dread if there’s any hangups, it’s totally out of our control. It’s nice to hear there are plenty of people with my concerns, it’s not just me. 🙏🙏🤞🤞for all of us traveling folks.

rhonelover

We are flying to Zurich on Swiss Air on May 20 and from there will try to transfer to Budapest to begin our river trip. I am concerned about the cancellation of the inter Europe flights. Does Tauck play any role in helping us get to our cruise if our inter Europe flight is cancelled?

AlanS

rhonelover
8:30PM
We are flying to Zurich on Swiss Air on May 20 and from there will try to transfer to Budapest to begin our river trip. I am concerned about the cancellation of the inter Europe flights. Does Tauck play any role in helping us get to our cruise if our inter Europe flight is cancelled?

If you booked your flights through Tauck or if Tauck cancels the trip once it has started. Other than that, you will have to make your own arrangements, but cost should be reimbursed if you have their insurance which covers "trip interruption." (it is administered by Aon and underwritten by United States Fire Insurance Company) but it is best to read the policy details.

"If you miss flights to a Tauck trip, you are responsible for rebooking, as Tauck assumes no liability for flight changes, delays, or missed connections. If you purchased Tauck Travel Protection, you may be reimbursed for prepaid tour costs, meals, and lodging, but without it, you will likely incur high, out-of-pocket, last-minute expenses"