Waived Award Flight Cancellation Due to US/Iran Threats?
Jan 5, 2020, 4:56 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2015
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Posts: 29
Waived Award Flight Cancellation Due to US/Iran Threats?
Will Alaska waive the cancellation fee for an award flight on Emirates using Alaska miles to Dubai in light of the current crisis? I hate to cancel but the crisis seems to be getting worse. . I’m leaving in a couple weeks.
Jan 5, 2020, 5:17 pm
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: SEA, but up and down the coast a lot
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Posts: 20,391
Why not just call and ask? There’s no published waivers for EK flights, so it’s certainly your decision to cancel, not something that’s force majeure like a weather waiver.
Jan 5, 2020, 7:12 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2015
Programs: Hyatt Diamond, Hilton Diamond, SPG Gold, Marriot Silver
Posts: 29
Good point. They are not waiving any change fees as of now per the chat convo. Any chance Chase Sapphire travel protections will cover the fee? It’s not a ton of money but I’ve already changed it once.
Jan 6, 2020, 4:13 am
#5
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Location: BOS/ORH
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There are no travel warnings for the UAE so insurance is going to be useless
Jan 6, 2020, 6:26 am
#7
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
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Posts: 50,262
Unlikely that you get this change fee covered any more than if you were traveling to Germany. This isn't the place for political predictions, it's simply a matter of whether there are travel warnings and then travel waivers established by the operating carrier of the flight in question.
Jan 6, 2020, 11:52 am
#8
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 254
I can't think of any other major city in the USA that is as safe as Dubai.
Jan 7, 2020, 8:16 am
#10
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Manhattan Beach, California
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Posts: 6,367
You have little chance without any of the airlines publishing a travel waiver. I was just in Central Asia last week and the only discussion I heard among the airlines there was some potential rerouting to avoid Iranian airspace for certain flights. My AUH-JFK flights have always gone up north over Iran and the turned west, not sure if your DXB flight would route over Iran or not, but since it is a nonUS carrier I doubt they would even need to adjust their routing, even if flying to the US.
Jan 7, 2020, 12:48 pm
#11
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Seattle, WA
Programs: Alaska Airlines
Posts: 659
Obviously you should do whatever you feel is appropriate and safe - but you should be quite safe in the UAE. The country is very open to westerners, not just the US I saw tons of Brits on holiday there, and a conflict with Iran over politics (not a religious war) isn't going to change that. The only risk would be if unsanctioned factions & terrorist organizations decide its a good time to strike western targets in any country - which honestly they can do any day of the week regardless of our status with Iran.
So - exercise the usual precautions. And yeah, they'd probably route planes away from active war zones - but that's about it.
So - exercise the usual precautions. And yeah, they'd probably route planes away from active war zones - but that's about it.