Hong Kong, health insurance and driving to Dorset

Q We have a flight and hotel booked for mid-September to Hong Kong. We have paid a deposit and the final payment is now imminent. We would really like to visit Hong Kong, but the thought of being confined to a hotel for a fortnight does not appeal. If we cancel now what are our rights?

Diane S

A If you cancel now, bluntly, you have no rights. With no Foreign Office warning against visiting Hong Kong, you will lose your deposit. And, given it is only a month before departure, I fear you may even be pursued for additional payment. First, let me say what I would do in your position. I have been lucky enough to visit Hong Kong several times, including around the time of the Tiananmen Square tragedy 30 years ago. At all times I have found the city-state welcoming, energetic and safe.

While the dramas being played out on the world’s screens are deeply disturbing, I reckon that even now there will be thousands of tourists enjoying the spectacular architecture, enriching culture and superb cuisine of Hong Kong. So even if the present uncertainties continue, could you be confined to a hotel for a fortnight? I very much doubt it.

Were the conflict between protesters and the authorities to intensify, then you may well find yourself in a position where the decision is taken for you. If the Foreign Office fears British lives are at risk, it will warn against travel to Hong Kong. At that point, your trip will be cancelled and you will get your money back.

So, the best policy is simply wait and see, and trust the professionals’ judgment. You will be provided with either a safe and enjoyable Hong Kong holiday or a full refund. There is a possible “third way”: the travel firm may offer a diversion to elsewhere in Asia. Singapore, Bangkok or Tokyo would prove a very different, but also rewarding, experience.

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Q Thank you for the Hong Kong travel updates. I am going there next month on a ticket issued by Lufthansa: Heathrow-Frankfurt-Hong Kong-Singapore-Munich-Heathrow. All of the legs are on Lufthansa apart from the Hong Kong-Singapore flight, which is all part of the same ticket but on Singapore Airlines. If I get caught in Hong Kong as a result of the protests, is Lufthansa obliged to provide a hotel, etc?

Nick P

A Hong Kong’s international airport has been in severe disarray for days. After demonstrators brought about its closure on Monday, more than 500 departures were cancelled and 103,000 passengers had their journeys disrupted, according to the aviation and travel data analytics expert Cirium.

“There is potential for further flight disruptions at short notice,” is the understated view of Cathay Pacific, the Hong Kong airline. Everything was expected to start returning to normal yesterday, but then departures were halted once again.

Assuming you are still happy to go ahead with your trip, then of course you will be following events. Were your outbound flight to Hong Kong cancelled as a result of unrest, then European air passengers’ rights rules would apply and Lufthansa would need to offer you the option of a full refund or, if it happened in transit, a hotel in Frankfurt until you were able to leave.

But the one part of your trip with no protection is from Hong Kong to Singapore. The carrier is a non-European airline operating from a non-EU airport. So there is no obligation under passengers’ rights rules to provide a duty of care. It may be as the situation develops that you are less inclined to travel. Therefore it may be relevant to look at airlines’ cancellation/change policies.

While Cathay Pacific has allowed affected travellers to claim refunds as well as postponements, other airlines have been less flexible. For example British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have allowed travellers on imminent departures to shift to dates later in August. But no carrier that I know of is yet offering flexibility to passengers who no longer wish to visit Hong Kong. While flights continue (albeit sporadically) there is no legal obligation for them to do so. But in the very unfortunate event that the violence intensifies, it is entirely possible that airlines will introduce the option to switch to another destination.

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Q I am currently being treated for cancer but I would like to visit my sister in Tasmania. I would like an annual travel insurance policy that would cover me for other trips, but I’m finding the insurance costs to be as much as the travel costs. Is there an insurance policy I can take out that is economically priced?

Name and address supplied

A To answer your question bluntly: the cost of an annual insurance policy for someone undergoing cancer treatment will typically run into many hundreds, possibly thousands, of pounds. Insurers know from experience that the chance of expensive claims are relatively high. Fortunately, you can instead opt to take advantage of reciprocal health agreements that the UK has – including with Australia. In the unfortunate case that you need medical care, you can expect the same treatment from the Australian health service as you get from the NHS, at no or negligible cost.

Furthermore, in the past 18 months the one big problem for British travellers who choose to “self-insure” for Australia has been solved: the issue of stopovers in locations that do not have reciprocal healthcare agreements. Thanks to the new nonstop Qantas flight from London Heathrow to Perth, you can fly seamlessly from one benign health-service environment to another, in about 17 hours. Once in Australia, you can fly to Tasmania – though that will probably require a connection in Melbourne.

For the rest of your trips the EU is looking promising, at least until 31 October. The European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) provides NHS-equivalent care across the European Union, again at no or very low cost. No one knows what will happen to the EHIC after Brexit, so perhaps you can do some serious travelling to Europe in the next 11 weeks.

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Q We are travelling to Dorset from Leeds, Yorkshire, with our seven-year-old granddaughter. It’s a long journey travelling there and back. We will be having a holiday there in a Haven caravan park.

Can you suggest some stopovers for a day or two days to break the journey?

Tess S

A The distance as the crow flies from Leeds to Weymouth, where three out of the four Haven caravan parks in Dorset are located, is just 223 miles – the overall direction is south-southwest. But by road, you can expect to add at least a quarter more – and if you want to use motorways for most of the distance then it is considerably further.

All the more reason, then, for a stop along the way.

According to the AA Route Planner, the optimum route is 291 miles and begins heading straight down the M1 from Leeds to junction 15A, just outside Northampton. That covers 129 miles, barely two hours with a good run.

Take the A43, a short stretch of the M40 and then the A34, and within 165 miles – perhaps three hours – you are at Oxford.

The “city of dreaming spires” strikes me as an excellent place to stay either for the night, or equally just for a few hours. If you are choosing the latter, then use one of the park and rides: Seacourt is the handiest, and helps you avoid some of the most draconian access/parking rules in Britain.

The tourist office in the heart of the city can help with ideas for children: Oxford has some spectacular parks, as well as great family walking tours, including one devoted to Harry Potter locations – though your granddaughter may not be ready for that just yet.

For some indulgence, try the George & Danver ice-cream parlour at 94 St Aldate’s.

For the remaining 126 miles take the A34 – almost motorway standard for most of its length – then after a brief skirmish on the M3 and M27, you are on the A31. This cuts just north of the main part of the New Forest, so if time permits you could branch off to Lyndhurst, the town at the centre of the national park.

After Bournemouth, you take the A35, which isn’t a great road and is often busy, and finally the A354 into Weymouth – and the proper start to your holiday.

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