Disruption caused by industrial action and strikes

Updated: 25 March 2011

Information on airline industrial action or strikes

If you’ve booked your flights and holiday through a travel agent you should contact your travel agent first to discuss your options. Usually you will need to wait until the dates of the industrial action have been announced.

If you have a flight booked directly with the airline, their website should provide up-to-date information on their position.

Refunds will only be available from the airline if flights are actually cancelled or if your original booking conditions allow.

The airline may offer flights on another carrier or seats on alternative flights that are not affected.

Your LV= travel insurance

We'll try to do our utmost for any travel insurance customer whose holiday plans are affected by industrial action. Although cancellation of a holiday because of industrial action is not covered under the policy, as long as the booking was made and the travel policy was set up before the dates of the industrial action were announced, we will do the following: 

• We'll pay flight refund costs where flights are cancelled as a result of the industrial action if, for any reason, these are not covered by the airline.
• We'll pay for the unused costs of your journey that can’t be recovered if your flight is delayed more than 24 hours and you decide to abandon your journey before you leave the UK. You must have checked in on time for this to apply.
• We'll refund the cost of any single trip travel insurance policy if you are no longer travelling. Alternatively we will amend the trip dates if you choose to rearrange your trip. You must contact us to amend the policy before the trip start date shown on your travel insurance schedule.

If you booked your holiday as a package through a tour operator you should be able to get a refund from them. If you booked elements of your holiday separately, the cancelled flight should be refunded by the airline but you may not be able to get the money back for other parts of your trip, for example the accommodation. As soon as you know you might have to reschedule or cancel your trip you should contact the provider of each element of your trip to see what alternative arrangements can be made. If the provider won't give you your money back and they're not under a legal obligation to do this, you can make a claim on your policy. We'll need to see evidence that you’re not going to get your money back, like a letter from the provider.

For customers who booked flights with the airline after the industrial action was announced or who took out insurance after that date, there will be no cover for anything that occurs as a result of the industrial action.

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