Travel question of the day: Simon Calder on Zika virus in Florida
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Your support makes all the difference.Q Following the Zika outbreak in Florida, I’ve heard that some airlines are offering refunds to pregnant women booked on flights to Miami, not other cities in the state. Is that reasonable?
Name withheld
A The first thing to make clear is that I can see no legal obligation on airlines to make any concessions about Zika. While holiday firms must respect the view of the Foreign Office, and allow cancellations/changes in line with the official advice, airlines have no such liability. Having said that, all the big airlines flying from the UK to Florida have said they will allow concessions – it all depends how many.
Miami is the only location for an outbreak at present. Public Health England says: “Active Zika virus transmission is taking place within a one-square mile area in Miami-Dade County, up-to-date details can be seen on the Florida Health website. Pregnant women are advised to postpone non-essential travel to this affected area within Miami-Dade until after pregnancy.”
Airlines are allowing postponements/changed destinations, and Virgin Atlantic is providing cash refunds. Should that courtesy apply equally to passengers heading for airports such as Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and Tampa? Well, here’s the Public Health England advice: “Pregnant women should consider postponing non-essential travel to the rest of Florida until after the pregnancy.”
Any woman who is pregnant should take medical advice before going to Florida, and it may well be that the GP says that it would be best to avoid the risk altogether. At that point, I think it is incumbent on airlines to offer at least the chance to switch destination, if not a full refund.
Every day, our travel correspondent, Simon Calder, tackles a reader’s question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder
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