Coronavirus & possible impact on OW Classic Reward bookings

[atomik]

Hello,
The situation with airlines suspending/cancelling flights has got me thinking about Plan B, C, ...

In July 2019 I booked a OneWorld Classic Reward itinerary through Qantas for 2, starting 21st April 2020.
For now, the main concern is our first two legs (PER-HKG-MLE).
CX has already suspended HKG-MLE flights till 28th March, so for now it's all good, but if they extend this - which is quite likely - what are my options?
Since this type of booking has specific rules and we're already going through DOH twice, when calling Qantas would they be able to remove this particular rule given the extraordinary circumstances beyond our control and, for example, route us through PER-SIN-CMB-MLE or even PER-DOH-MLE? Could Qantas even replace PER-HKG-MLE with PER-SIN (QF) and SIN-MLE (SQ) to meet their commitment to this Confirmed booking?

Keen to hear what options there may be, no doubt it'd help others in this situation

 

[offshore171]

Tahiti could be an alternative to MLE that is less likely to be interrupted by Coronavirus maybe?

You fly there one stop via NZ and it’s one of the most isolated places on earth. Receives very few visitors from the epicentre areas of the breakout.

 

[atomik]

Tahiti could be an alternative to MLE that is less likely to be interrupted by Coronavirus maybe?

You fly there one stop via NZ and it’s one of the most isolated places on earth. Receives very few visitors from the epicentre areas of the breakout.

Thanks, unfortunately the booking would need to be with OW carriers. Unless I'm missing something, looks like PER-AKL-PPT-HKG-CMB-MLE with Air NZ/Air Tahiti/CX/UL?

I just noticed that PER-HKG-BLR may be an option.
In this case (since I already have the maximum 16 segments for this type of booking) then perhaps I can request an open jaw there and separately book Air India BLR-MLE from there. That way we're not transiting another city a 2nd time.

Worst case, I'm worried about a possible cancellation with loss of points for the booking, plus the bookings made as a result of this confirmed booking.
We have travel insurance but obviously don't wish to go down that route

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

I’m a novice at these things, and I’m unsure if it’s a RTW ticket with direction restrictions.

The main options to me (apologies for not using airport codes) are:
1. Kuala Lumpur - but I don’t think Air Asia being a subsidiary of Malaysian Airlines will qualify for the Kuala Lumpur to Maldives leg
2. Colombo - but I’m not sure how transits count and your option to Colombo includes Kuala Lumpur using Sri Lankan airlines or Malaysian airlines
3. Doha - this might involve you dropping your later Doha stop, but uncertain how this affects later parts of your trip.
4. Kuala Lumpur and Colombo - but this would involve dropping a later stop.

 

[Mattg]

Another AFF member had a similar issue, discussed here: Question - OWA stop in China

 

[offshore171]

Thanks, unfortunately the booking would need to be with OW carriers. Unless I'm missing something, looks like PER-AKL-PPT-HKG-CMB-MLE with Air NZ/Air Tahiti/CX/UL?

When I said Tahiti might be a good alternative, I didn’t mean an alternative routing to MLE. That would be a truly bizarre routing.

I meant alternative destination instead of MLE. I understood your first post to read as you were wanting to visit the Maldives, is that right?

Tahiti offers similar (in my view nicer) experiences, especially Moorea and Bora Bora. In the current environment you can get there via much lower risk transit points (Auckland).

Qantas codeshares on Tahiti Nui, and you get a QF Flight Number (QF3815/3816). It's available as a QF Award.

 

[atomik]

When I said Tahiti might be a good alternative, I didn’t mean an alternative routing to MLE. That would be a truly bizarre routing.

I meant alternative destination instead of MLE. I understood your first post to read as you were wanting to visit the Maldives, is that right?

Tahiti offers similar (in my view nicer) experiences, especially Moorea and Bora Bora. In the current environment you can get there via much lower risk transit points (Auckland).

Qantas codeshares on Tahiti Nui, and you get a QF Flight Number (QF3815/3816). It's available as a QF Award.

Ah ok I misunderstood!
We did consider Tahiti though the OneWorld Classic Reward booking requires OneWorld carriers and while we could've done that with LATAM, they're now out of the alliance. We tried to add Tahiti Nui to the booking back in July and it wasn't permitted.
Besides, our first few segments go West: PER-HKG-MLE-CMB-DOH-CPT-DOH-AMS.. and then east from there.
Would definitely love to experience Tahiti though we've already made bookings last year for the Maldives, Sri Lanka and 2-weeks in South Africa.

 

[RichardMEL]

QF codeshare on TN. I wonder if they are valid as a QF/partner only (not OW) award?

ah yes it seems

You can now use Qantas Points to fly to Tahiti with Air Tahiti Nui - The High Life

Qantas has opened up access to reward seats with partner Air Tahiti Nui, enabling Qantas Frequent Flyers to travel to Papeete, Tahiti and beyond to Los Angeles, using their Qantas Points. Previously members were only able to earn Qantas Points on QF marketed / Air Tahiti Nui operated flights...

thehighlife.com.au

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

Would the following work?
Perth
Doha
Maldives
Colombo
Doha
Cape Town
London
Amsterdam ...

 

[atomik]

Would the following work?
Perth
Doha
Maldives
Colombo
Doha
Cape Town
London
Amsterdam ...

If Qantas agree to void the standard booking rules of the OW Classic Award, then yes that's one option.
We have AMS-LHR-KUL later in the itinerary, I'm guessing Cape Town is to Heathrow?
I don't care about LHR so if Qantas can put us on AMS-KUL then that'd be sweet.

Also considered PER-SIN-CMB-MLE (QF-UL-UL) but again Qantas would have to void that rule, as we're doing DOH twice so we can't go through another city twice.
I'll have to check if we can go JAL to Japan then to MLE, ideally without going through HKG thus the rest of the booking and rules are unaffected.

Long story short, Qantas already stuffed this booking in December and we had to request an invol reroute, it was a nightmare to fix and we worry if we'll find someone competent there to assist if CX or Maldives Govt extends the suspension

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

At least you have an option to present to Qantas.

The other issue that you might need to consider before asking for the changes are: Italy is having a big number of cases and London (yes it was Heathrow) has not placed a travel ban on Chinese tourist entering (based on the newswires that I noted).

To the best of my knowledge Japan Airlines does not fly to Maldives.

I thought about Singapore but I didn’t think Singapore airline and Silk Air were part of One World, and other options using Singapore and Maldives (eg Malaysian, Qatar, Jordan airlines) would just create too many stops/transits.

 

[atomik]

So on Friday CX updated their special ticketing advisory which now expands the timeframe of bookings eligible for re-routing, will give them a call to see what they advise now that our booking is in this updated timeframe. I know it's ultimately upto Qantas to reroute but perhaps Cathay can request directly to QF, just like QF did the other way around with the bungle they had to fix in December!

EDIT: CX has now advised me on the phone that HKG-MLE is suspended till at least 12 June 2020 and handballed to QF, despite the website not showing this suspension yet, waiting on the Qantas line

 

[atomik]

So after a 65m wait, Qantas CSR advised that nothing can be done till CX formally suspend the flight, then the system notifies Qantas and then, when we call again, there are exceptions that can be applied by Qantas to reroute without penalty. Otherwise we could reroute now but pay the QFF-pt fee for change and service fees. So for now we wait to see what CX does and more crucially, what the Maldives government does, as this situation has come about from their ban of Chinese airlines due to CoronaVirus. Will update if anything changes

 

[atomik]

Well, the bad news is in, plus with tightening government restrictions on travellers, event cancellations and risk of overzealous quarantining at any of 17 airports, this trip isn't feasible and regrettably I think we'll need to cancel, truly sucks as anyone who's managed to book a OW classic award would know, it's so damn difficult to get it right!
Will call Qantas to see what they say and what can be done.

 

[atomik]

Over 150mins on hold in the early hours WST, a voice wakes me up then as we discussed this cancellation, the prompts from the start of the call begin... Are you for real Qantas? Absolute disgrace.

Is there a better way to contact Qantas to confirm involuntary cancellation of booking to get refund?

 

[Must...Fly!]

Use the chat feature in the Qantas app. Might take a while to get replies but at least you don't have to sit on the phone.

 

[atomik]

Use the chat feature in the Qantas app. Might take a while to get replies but at least you don't have to sit on the phone.

Thanks, have used this before but cannot find it anywhere in the app, have they removed chat? Mongrels if they have..

Edit: let's see how useful the SMS support is.