ROLL CALL!!! 2023 Chase Season

[ItIsGee]

so, with a possibilty of chasing gong ahead, who will we be expecting to meet up Stateside?

 

Exciting times!

[Nick L]

 

Edited January 13, 2022 by Nick L

[Andrew R]

Hi, I'm booked on Tour 1 so am hoping it goes ahead this year! I haven't managed to get insurance yet since Dogtag suspended sales around October. Has anybody managed to get around this? If not, they sounded semi-confident they'll be back online by May when I rang up the call centre.

[Luke Best]

I'm on Tour 4 but haven't booked flights or (attempted to) contact DogTag yet. 

[Nick L]

If anyone can solve the insurance conundrum please do post here, I will be back chasing next year so useful to know! 

[Bristawl Si]

Try one of the specialist brokers in London. In Sept 2020 the FOreign Office advised against travel to certain Euro countries, so most travel insurance wont cover. I found a specialist broker in London called CampbellIrvine co.

Alternatively, try Battleface insurance - they cover all adventure sports, so might cover storm chasing.

Good luck

Edited January 28, 2022 by Bristle Si

[Paul]

There are some US based companies offering storm chasing insurance who appear to allow British Citizens to get policies for trips to the USA. I've not fully looked into it, so advise checking the fine print before getting a policy, but here are 3:

https://www.insubuy.com/storm-chasing-travel-insurance/#

https://www.squaremouth.com/adventure-sports-travel-insurance (storm chasing is listed under 'land')

https://www.trawickinternational.com/travel-insurance-plans/adventure-travel-plans (storm chasing is listed under 'extreme sports')

 

[Andrew R]

Both Battleface and Campbell Irvine were able to give quotes for storm chasing to me. Battleface at around £140 but not great cover for COVID cancellations, and Campbell Irvine for around £200 including COVID cover. Not that its relevant to most of us, but the Campbell Irvine cover was only for organised tours, so not for anybody thinking of going storm chasing solo.

[MikeUpjohn]

Tour 3 this year all being well! Happy to wear a mask for 10 hours if it means getting stateside for some severe weather!! Arriving a couple of days early at end of May to see if some good (bad) weather is nearby!!

[Jezza]

T3 for me as well. I'll be getting out there on the Friday before and hiring a car to drive round Kansas for a bit before meeting up with the group in Denver. Seriously looking forward to getting back out to the US! 

[ItIsGee]

On 19/02/2022 at 23:19, mikeofmacc said:

Tour 3 this year all being well! Happy to wear a mask for 10 hours if it means getting stateside for some severe weather!! Arriving a couple of days early at end of May to see if some good (bad) weather is nearby!!

Ace, ill be there!

 

On 24/02/2022 at 19:17, Jezza said:

T3 for me as well. I'll be getting out there on the Friday before and hiring a car to drive round Kansas for a bit before meeting up with the group in Denver. Seriously looking forward to getting back out to the US! 

Kansas is further away than you think from Denver! great road to drive on though especially if you get a bonus storm chase in!

[Jezza]

29 minutes ago, ItIsGee said:

Kansas is further away than you think from Denver! great road to drive on though especially if you get a bonus storm chase in!

As I've found out! I'll be heading out to about Hays, KS if I follow the route map I've planned and then driving back on the I70 on Sunday afternoon ready for the Monday start / changeover day.

[ItIsGee]

On 04/03/2022 at 08:37, Jezza said:

As I've found out! I'll be heading out to about Hays, KS if I follow the route map I've planned and then driving back on the I70 on Sunday afternoon ready for the Monday start / changeover day.

sweet!!!

be sure to be ing touch with the team as changeover day coujld be a bonus chase if its close enough and all guest are together! alwaus good for an extra day of storms!

ill be driving lead car on T2 & T3, happy to keep in touch if the situation changes etc!

 

boom!!

[Paul Sherman]

Not long now, In fact I fly out 4 weeks tomorrow for a couple of weeks of practise chases etc before the Tours start (well it has been 3 years) 

Cant wait to meet everyone out there old and new faces for the best road trip on Planet Earth thrown in with Spinning water vapour and incredible food along the way.

To say I am excited about this year is an understatement. See Yall in May!

[Lancastrian]

Looking forward to returning for 2022 Tour 5 - flights booked  but I'm still hanging back for insurance- has anyone had any more luck with insurance or are folk hanging back hoping DogTag restart in May?

[Nick L]

On 31/03/2022 at 12:04, Lancastrian said:

Looking forward to returning for 2022 Tour 5 - flights booked  but I'm still hanging back for insurance- has anyone had any more luck with insurance or are folk hanging back hoping DogTag restart in May?

From what I've gathered, DogTag will not be offering insurance again.

[MikeUpjohn]

Yeah, I messaged them and not heard back either.

[Nick L]

It looks like that, sadly, the US is going to be one of the only western countries insisting on continuing the pointless pre-departure test. For those staying in a hotel on the perimeter road north of the airport the night before, there is a testing tent (Collinson's) which offer rapid tests. I think that'll be my choice.

[Dan Martin]

On 17/02/2022 at 16:03, Andrew R said:

Both Battleface and Campbell Irvine were able to give quotes for storm chasing to me. Battleface at around £140 but not great cover for COVID cancellations, and Campbell Irvine for around £200 including COVID cover. Not that its relevant to most of us, but the Campbell Irvine cover was only for organised tours, so not for anybody thinking of going storm chasing solo.

Was that a custom quote as they don't seem to mention it in their t's&c's?

[Andrew R]

18 minutes ago, Dan Martin said:

Was that a custom quote as they don't seem to mention it in their t's&c's?

Yeah, I had to ring them up.

[Lancastrian]

On 03/04/2022 at 07:08, Nick L said:

From what I've gathered, DogTag will not be offering insurance again.

Thanks Nick - I'll explore the other options - have you got fixed up with insurance yet?

[Lancastrian]

13 hours ago, Nick L said:

It looks like that, sadly, the US is going to be one of the only western countries insisting on continuing the pointless pre-departure test. For those staying in a hotel on the perimeter road north of the airport the night before, there is a testing tent (Collinson's) which offer rapid tests. I think that'll be my choice.

Does that mean airlines will require a day before Covid test in the US before allowing a return flight to the UK? - I'd assumed it was only needed to fly out from the UK to the US

[Nick L]

3 hours ago, Lancastrian said:

Thanks Nick - I'll explore the other options - have you got fixed up with insurance yet?

I'm not chasing this year, but I am going to Vegas on 1st May so I'm interested in the entry requirements haha! I'll likely be back of next year so I'm keen to hear how people manage on the insurance side of things. 

3 hours ago, Lancastrian said:

Does that mean airlines will require a day before Covid test in the US before allowing a return flight to the UK? - I'd assumed it was only needed to fly out from the UK to the US

Oh no that's correct. It's only needed before you fly to the US. I would honestly prefer it to be that other way round though

[Luke Best]

I got storm-chasing insurance quotes today from Campbell Irvine and Battleface. Unfortunately neither cover cancellations due to a change in government guidance on Covid, although Campbell Irvine will pay if you have to cancel due to a positive Covid test. 

Is anybody thinking of waiting much longer before booking their flight, in case there's a drop in price? (I'm Tour 4).

[Paul]

I don't think any insurer would cover you in the (highly unlikely at this stage) event of government travel restrictions. 

At that point, because it would essentially mean the flights and tours were cancelled, you'd be due credits/refunds direct.

In terms of flights, I've not seen much movement of late. Just beware the risk of them jumping up if / when seats get filled nearer the time though.