BALI volcano ash and cancellation of flights discussion

[tinkybelle]

Seems that Bali could become a problem in the future for cancellation of flights
I am currently Bali and am seeing lots of people stuck here that should have gone home so i checked my policies for T and cs
The Amex platinum charge insurance seems that it may pay out $700 or $1400

Section (C) Travel Inconvenience Cover
Cover
Supplementary Card Members are not entitled to cover under this section.
Cover is provided under this section for the following benefits, subject to all
terms, conditions and limitations set out in this document. The maximum We
will pay out under each subsection below where more than one person claims
for expenses on the same American Express Platinum Card Account is $1,400
per event.
1. Delayed flight departure, flight cancellation, or denied aircraft boarding
If during a Trip, departure of Your Scheduled Flight is delayed for four (4) hours
or more, cancelled, or You are denied boarding of the aircraft due to overbooking,

and no alternative transportation is made available to You within four (4) hours

of the scheduled departure time of such flight, We will reimburse You for hotel

accommodation and restaurant meals or refreshments up to $700.


have not been able to find disclaimer on that policy


but on my 1800 insurance
and on friends coverer policy
Below is the wording of our policy




​

11. Any claim arising from extraordinary natural

phenomena such as floods, earthquakes, tsunamis,

landslides, volcanic eruptions, atypical cyclonic

storms, falling objects from space and aerolites, and

in general any extraordinary atmospheric,

meteorological, seismic or geological phenomenon.






Friends Covermore Policy


11. Any claim arising from extraordinary natural

phenomena such as floods, earthquakes, tsunamis,

landslides, volcanic eruptions, atypical cyclonic

storms, falling objects from space and aerolites, and

in general any extraordinary atmospheric,

meteorological, seismic or geological phenomenon.

​

has anyone actualy got insurance in volcano ash circumstances?




​

 

[Wayne Herring]

Similar exclusion on my CBA complimentary travel insurance, should have checked that before I booked my flights.

I checked the PDS for Travel Insurance Direct, who I usually use if I'm paying for insurance, and I couldn't find a similar clause. Too late now for this event of course. Will just have to cross my fingers it clears up the next couple of weeks before I go.

 

[Wayne Herring]

Sorry correction to what I just posted. Just read my policy again and it does cover cancellations due to natural disasters including volcanic eruptions. Lucky I used this policy instead of my Amex one in this instance.

 

[tinkybelle]

Anyone else even not going to bali that has checked their policies I think its important for everyone to know which cover disasters and which don't.

 

[tinkybelle]

3 Virgin aircraft were sent to Bali today empty and flights scheduled back to MEL,BNE,per.
all cancelled ,
I decided to get ff ticket to sin and sydney
this could go on for some time and with only 8 biz seats who knows when a seat will be avail.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Learned AFFers - I was at a dinner late Thu night after my return from PVG - the topic of our upcoming flt to DPS was raised as was volcanic ash subject - one dude proferred the theory that GA can vary their flt path due to their ability to fly through Indonesion restricted military air space whereas VA / J* cannot - any truth to this does anybody know? Pilots?

 

[Simo]

I haven't heard that but there has to be some elements of truth. I also heard Aust Aviation law says an Aust based plane can not fly in air with volcanic ash at a certain amount

 

[ksthommo]

Could be back on again, Mount Agung is playing up.
Were due to fly CNS/DPS and onwards 2 weeks today.

Bali on alert amid fears volcano will erupt

 

[Pushka]

Could be back on again, Mount Agung is playing up.
Were due to fly CNS/DPS and onwards 2 weeks today.

Bali on alert amid fears volcano will erupt

It’s a different volcano. Might not be an issue for planes just locals.

 

[theblank]

It’s a different volcano. Might not be an issue for planes just locals.

If there is an ash cloud it will be an issue for planes. Apparently its a level 3 warning now. I am not expert but I read that they have enough expertise to raise it to level 4 before it erupts.

I also read a comment by a Travel Insurer CEO, that until it erupts, its not an "event", so still plenty of time to get or update Travel Insurance and be covered by travel delays caused by an eruption.

This is impacting me, I am transiting through bali next month on VA. I am a little nervous.

 

[Pushka]

If there is an ash cloud it will be an issue for planes. Apparently its a level 3 warning now. I am not expert but I read that they have enough expertise to raise it to level 4 before it erupts.

I also read a comment by a Travel Insurer CEO, that until it erupts, its not an "event", so still plenty of time to get or update Travel Insurance and be covered by travel delays caused by an eruption.

This is impacting me, I am transiting through bali next month on VA. I am a little nervous.

We are off there in early Nov and friends are there now. The issue with ash cloud is where it sits in relation to flight paths. Last time the only flights grounded were Aussie ones and I think that was because they didn’t want to spend the $ to change their paths. SQ for instance didn’t stop. Just my theory. Our get out of jail plan is to hop on a plane to Sin. But we aren’t worried yet.

 

[theblank]

SQ for instance didn’t stop. Just my theory. Our get out of jail plan is to hop on a plane to Sin. But we aren’t worried yet.

Thats my plan also, I already booked a rewards flight on SQ for 48 hours later, because it will cost me nothing if i dont use it (by deferring it), and under my AMEX insurance I can cancel the trip with if delay exceeds 24 hours.

 

[theblank]

Its hard to google search for latest updates for this Volcano, so many articles are appearing daily that are rehashes of days old announcments, giving the impression its getting worse. One article yesterday said the Alert level was increased as a result of the earthquake off Surabaya but I suspect thats wrong, and is still only Level 3.

Here is one Official site for weekly reports.
Global Volcanism Program | Agung

Latest report as of the 19th

Increased seismicity at Agung, as well as the severity of past eruptions, prompted PVMBG to raise the Alert Level to 2 (on a scale of 1-4). The report noted that volcanic earthquakes (VA) began to be recorded on 10 August and shallow volcanic earthquakes (VB) began to be recorded on 24 August. Local tectonic earthquakes were also recorded and began to increase consistently on 26 August. PVMBG warned the public to stay at least 3 km away from the crater. On 13 September a climber observed a sulfatara plume rising from the bottom of the crater as high as 50 m above the crater rim. During 14-18 September four earthquakes centered around Agung were felt. On 18 September PVMBG reported that the number of VA and VB events continued to increase; the Alert Level was increased to 3. The exclusion zone was increased to 6 km, with an additional expansion to 7.5 km in the N, SE, and SSW directions. Elevations above 950 m were also restricted.

Daily updates are available here (if you can read Indonesian - but its kind of easy to pick up the important bits)
Kebencanaan Geologi

A live Volcano map here - click on the Volcano to see latest update in Indonesian and English
MAGMA Indonesia


Anyone know of any other official sites for Volcano warnings in English?. At this stage the Volcanic Ash advisory in Darwin is not relevant.

 

[Pushka]

Its hard to google search for latest updates for this Volcano, so many articles are appearing daily that are rehashes of days old announcments, giving the impression its getting worse. One article yesterday said the Alert level was increased as a result of the earthquake off Surabaya but I suspect thats wrong, and is still only Level 3.

Here is one Official site for weekly reports.
Global Volcanism Program | Agung

Latest report as of the 19th


Daily updates are available here (if you can read Indonesian - but its kind of easy to pick up the important bits)
Kebencanaan Geologi

A live Volcano map here - click on the Volcano to see latest update in Indonesian and English
MAGMA Indonesia


Anyone know of any other official sites for Volcano warnings in English?. At this stage the Volcanic Ash advisory in Darwin is not relevant.

Given school holidays are imminent I’d expect if there were issues we’d be hearing about them in local media. Maybe check out Jetstar website.

 

[theblank]

Upgraded to Level 4 about one hour ago 20:30 Indonesian time, and exclusion zone expanded to 12km
according to my friend from Ubud who just messaged me.

no English news site has picked this up yet, but this is in indonesian
Gunung Agung Status Awas, Warga Diimbau Jaga Jarak Radius 12 Km

 

[dajop]

Heading there for a workshop, along with my team from across Asia, on Sunday night. Will see how it evolves.

 

[Pushka]

Upgraded to Level 4 about one hour ago 20:30 Indonesian time, and exclusion zone expanded to 12km
according to my friend from Ubud who just messaged me.

no English news site has picked this up yet, but this is in indonesian
Gunung Agung Status Awas, Warga Diimbau Jaga Jarak Radius 12 Km

Yes - all news sites have now picked it up. Erupted last in 1963 killing 1000 people. Travel not impacted yet.

 

[ksthommo]

Virgin Australia now have a Travel Alert

Travel Alerts
Virgin Australia is closely monitoring activity at Mt Agung in Bali. At present, flights are operating as normal and there are no changes to departure times.

As a precautionary measure, some of our Bali bound flights will be making fuel stops in Darwin. This ensures that if an eruption occurs while the aircraft is en route, we will be able to get guests back to their originating port safely and quickly.

We encourage guests booked via travel agents or third parties to ensure Virgin Australia has your mobile number, should we need to contact you in the event of any changes. We recommend that all guests consider purchasing travel insurance before they travel. Please continue to check the flight status page flightstatus.virginaustralia.com for the most up to date information.

 

[Pushka]

Seriously - Virgin should know better that purchasing travel insurance with a now-known issue is worthless for that coverage.

 

[theblank]

Seriously - Virgin should know better that purchasing travel insurance with a now-known issue is worthless for that coverage.

Its not clear when the Insurers are declaring it a 'known event', because two media comments by the same guy contradict. initially he said its not an event until it erupts, but now he said its an event before its erupted.

on our about the 18th
No Cookies | The Advertiser

Mr Sylvester said Travel Insurance Direct had already received calls from travellers asking if it was too late to take out insurance before their trip to Bali. “Here’s the beauty of it: no, it’s not,” he said. “The thing hasn’t erupted yet. There is no ash cloud. This is not in insurance terms ‘an event’ — not yet anyway. “So yes you can buy travel insurance today and be covered if it goes off tomorrow, or next week.”

but then a couple of days later. maybe the 20th, this is after it was escalated to Level 3 (its now level 4)
Bali volcano: Should I cancel my trip?

“If you don’t already have travel insurance, it is too late to get it because the volcano is a known event. But if you booked your trip and you took out travel insurance straight away, you are protected for it. There is a cut off date that travel insurers enforce,” Mr Sylvester told news.com.au.