What many tourists and travelers are experiencing since the COVID-19 measures were implemented is simply dramatic. Stuck abroad, sometimes without accommodation, without the means to afford an early return flight on one of the too few flights where seats are counted anyway: the situation is critical for many of them. And I’m not even talking about the French living abroad and trying to join the mother country in desperation.
A dramatic situation that calls for exceptional means
To the great evils the great remedies because one speaks about not less than 130 000 French blocked abroad at the time the borders started to close and the flights to become rarefied. To date, 30,000 of them have still not returned, which shows, despite everything, that by one means or another nearly 90,000 would have found their way home. When you know that a twin-aisle aircraft contains between 300 and 400 people on average, a number of flights have been organized in a short time.
So of course, and understandably so, this does not change anything for those who are still stuck at the end of the world or a few hundred miles away. But we’re going to talk about it a little bit further down.
Exceptional means because it is not “just” about flying a plane. While the fleets are for the most part grounded and the borders, as has been said, are closed, this requires a number of things.
First of all, the intervention of the public authorities and in particular of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to have the right to derogate from the closing of the borders and to fly and especially land a plane. Concretely speaking, if the Moroccan, Tunisian or American government does not want a French crew to land at the risk of bringing back the virus, then the French tourists will stay on site or return with another airline.
Cooperation between states and between airlines. How can France recover its nationals in a country not served by Air France? This is where cooperation comes into play, with each airline focusing on its best routes and collaborating with others on destinations where it does not go or can no longer afford to go.
It also depends on the goodwill of the airlines which (for those who play the game) will have to charge the ticket largely below the price that the passenger should have paid.
I would like to remind you that in normal circumstances, prices are not decided by the airline or by humans but by computers according to a large number of criteria including demand versus supply (yield management). In order to offer exceptional fares in view of the situation, it is a whole bunch of systems that need to be disconnected, or even “hacked” so that they behave differently. It is not enough to just “unplug the artificial intelligence” as some people like to make believe. Besides, we are closer to the rules engine than to the artificial intelligence, but that’s another subject.
In this regard, we remember the torrents of insults poured out on social networks against Air France the day after the Fukushima earthquake because of prices that were soaring while at the same time everyone was working to circumvent the system, which is not done in a snap of the fingers but requires long hours. I recall that while some were working on the pricing system, others were managing the crisis live by responding to customers on social media and were subjected to vindictiveness and insults of a violence that left its mark on some. But we all know that human stupidity has no limits and we will talk about it later.
In short, it went rather well, despite a few unavoidable problems, at least on the side of our national airline, which bears the brunt of the effort. In addition, flights have been set up that are not marketed in the traditional circuits but are managed “locally” in order to avoid the pricing being subject to market rules.
By the way, who pays for the repatriations?
But we understand the distress of those who remain stranded abroad and ask France to repatriate them. Or, if no flight is scheduled, to charter a plane to pick them up.
So let’s be clear: France organizes repatriations but does not finance them and therefore will never charter an aircraft! This is as true for France as for any other country. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the local embassies are doing their best with the local authorities to ensure that a plane is allowed to pick up those who are stranded abroad. Then an airline has to be willing to go there, to have the equipment and the staff, and to make the financial sacrifices to go there.
The only case where a state would finance the repatriation of its nationals would certainly be in times of war and there it would not be Air France that would pick them up but a military transport (and there I can already hear people screaming about the discomfort and the lack of TV in a troop transport!)
So, if everything goes well, the passenger has booked on an airline capable of ensuring the return flight, the flight may be postponed, modified, the frequency may decrease but he will eventually return. If he left with an airline that can’t bring him back, then it’s up to him to pay for another flight while waiting for his departure carrier to reimburse him, or not. Not necessarily pleasant but when we travel we assume all the risks: there are normal clauses linked to the ticket, there are insurances that we subscribe or not, there are insurances linked to the credit cards….
When you travel without completely covering yourself, you assume. When you think that something will never happen and you don’t insure yourself against the risk, you are right and you save until it does. On the other hand the day it happens you assume! That’s what being responsible is all about.
So yes, those who had flexible tickets and/or good insurance escaped better and faster than others. But you can’t have it both ways and expect a miracle to happen when you’ve taken a discount ticket and no insurance!!! You will be taken care of, but when your turn comes!
Which insurances to get reimbursed?
Having said that, let’s be honest and admit that few insurances cover cases such as COVID-19. Example of insurance linked to credit cards.
For example, a Visa Premier covers involuntary cancellations up to 5000 euros in the following cases:
- death of a relative (1st degree) ;
- covered illness or accident: the necessary steps for cancellation must be taken within 72 hours of the first observation of the event;
- economic redundancy proceedings initiated against the holder between the date of purchase of the ticket and departure ;
- serious material damage affecting the holder’s real estate or business premises if it occurs no more than 10 days before the departure date.
And for a Gold Mastercard :
- Health accident;
- Death;
- Granted an internship or job;
- Property damage;
- Economic redundancy;
- A deletion or change by the employer of leave dates;
- A professional transfer, a move or an expatriation.
In both cases your COVID-19 flight cancellation is not covered.
Let’s take a look at American Express then. Well, as always at Amex, it is more professional and clearer, and a special Coronavirus notice has even been published.
It could not be more clearly stated:
The Travel Cancellation Insurance has been improved and it is expected
that the insurer will offer compensation in the following 4 situations:
- Your flight has been cancelled due to COVID-19.
- The authorities of the destination country have imposed restrictions (e.g. : quarantine or
entry ban for foreign nationals) and the trip was
booked before the restrictions were put in place. - Your home country recommends avoiding non-essential travel and the trip was
was booked prior to the release of the recommendations. - You have become ill or have been quarantined due to
COVID-19 and therefore you cannot travel
However, it is limited to Platinum and Centurion cardholders! (Note that we are not sure if the same level of coverage applies with an Air France Amex, as Amex gives more benefits to its non-cobranded cardholders).
While we’re on the subject of good news, Amex Travel (American Express’ travel agency) is reimbursing all cancelled flights…even if the airline doesn’t. We experienced this just the day before yesterday.
Well, it’s complicated, it’s painful for a lot of people, but considering the magnitude of the task, it’s progressing well and is well managed, even if, when you’re still stuck, it’s a good feeling to know that 90,000 have already returned. But soon everything will only be a bad memory for all.
And there are those who take people for fools
We were touched by the distress of many passengers still stranded abroad and their calls for help. But we were also shocked by the irresponsible attitude of some of them.
How unconscious do you have to be to go on vacation in the middle of March when we saw the borders closing one after the other, when the “soft” confinement was triggered in France on the 14th, when it became harder on the 17th, when it was recommended to avoid travelling. It’s fine for those who left at the beginning of the month, but after that it’s pure unconsciousness.
How can one be stuck in Spain for a week on the 21st and consider oneself a victim except for being a victim of one’s own stupidity!
Jean-Marie and Nathalie left their city of Besançon last week for a vacation in the sun. A stay they would have preferred to cancel because of the epidemic, but it was impossible to get a refund from their tour operator.” Really? I had flights that week and the next they were either cancelled or rescheduled. Since the beginning of March, most of the airlines allow to postpone or cancel flights without any fees. And would they have been maintained that I would not have left. Health first, reimbursement second.
Even if the tour operator refused to reimburse at the time, there comes a time when you have to ask yourself one question: am I willing to put my life and my family’s life on the line for a week in Spain? This is the only arbitration that counts!
“We no longer have a restaurant, we can no longer wash ourselves. It is a situation unworthy of France” said the same Jean-Marie. On the other hand, you are in Spain and not in France and France can’t do much about it.
“No right to the pool, no right to the Jacuzzi, no right to all the fun you can have in a hotel”. Oh my dear Jean-Marie, there are many people who were disappointed by the state of the hotels in Thailand when they arrived 10 days after the Tsunami. It’s a bit like vacationing in Berlin in 1945, not easy to enjoy the hotel pool. In short, it feels like he is on the verge of suing the tour operator for lack of service without even thinking about the context.
And what about those who have left for the other side of the world and demand that Air France repatriate them as quickly and cheaply as possible, even though they left on a competitor airline and most often knowing that flights were likely to be cancelled and borders closed?
Let’s stop joking. We can be surprised, amused, sometimes irritated by the immaturity of tourists who “do not know how to travel”. But that’s in normal times. Today it is anything but amusing because this amateurism, this “I don’t care-ism” has consequences on others.
We talk to them about human lives, they think in terms of vacations
Happy for them that Air France (and others like Qatar Airways) are doing their best to bring back a maximum of people.
I’m glad that while they could use their right of withdrawal, a large number of crew members volunteer to go and pick up for people at the end of the world.
I am glad that the airlines accept to operate these flights which are not only hardly profitable but even risk to make them lose money when they already have other worries.
Happy that all these people went to pick up people who left in calm weather and on whom the storm fell in the middle of their stay because they deserve it.
But from there to put oneself in danger to go and pick up unconscious people who have left on vacation despite all the warnings simply because nothing could prevent them from taking their sacrosanct vacation, to go and pick up people who on top of that have sometimes left with a competing airline, we say no! Since the beginning of the crisis we have been impressed by the engagement of the airlines, by the devotion and risk-taking of the crew, but it’s like when mountain rescuers go to recover unwary tourists who have gone on an expedition despite all the warnings: there are unconscious clowns who do not deserve that others risk their life for them.
So I hope that all the French people stranded abroad will be reunited with their loved ones and families. But if some of them could stay on the spot or come back last, we wouldn’t feel sad for them.
Photo : upset tourist by Olena Yakobchuk via Shuttertock
