maclover

Dear CX experts
I know these are though times to travel, especially to HKG.

Still my wife (unvaccinated HK citizen) needs to go back home.
She was booked with a J AsiaMiles award on the MXP-HKG flight.
Pilling the reservation still shows a confirmed ticket, but the flight is not up for sale anymore.

I guess in a matter of hours/days she will be receiving a notification from CX

As she can’t transit through any group A country, the only feasible option would be through
FRA/MUC with LH/CX
HEL with AY
DOH with QR

my questions is: how flexible would CX be?
is for example they propose their own flight through LHR/AMS/CDG my wife would not be able to fly.

and what’s your advice?
should we call CX as soon as possible or wait for cancellation email to arrive.

thanks

brunos

Not sure that CX will be helpful on such AM ticket.
Your best hope is via FRA where CX seems to fly a once-weekly. They have an agreement with LH, but not sure that it would work with an AM ticket.

Of course, you know that current B countries could be classified as A with short notice.
The low number of cases in Italy is surprising with the summer holiday. Cases in Germany are increasing rapidly.

I assume that your wife will have spent 22 days in Italy and I would not try to cheat. I got a friend who did a washout in a B coluntry (not in Italy) with a British passport and was asked for proof of stay in a B country.

maclover

Hey BrunoS,
my wife is living in Italy (with me) by 7 years now and not leaving the country since March 2020.

as CX didn’t notify any cancellation yet, what’s your advice?
should I proactively call or wait for them before doing anything?

the day my wife was supposed to leave has only options with 15+ hours layover in FRA
Thats why I was thinking QR, being part of OW

Or could CX be that bad and simply say that this is my wife issue, refund miles and end of the story?

VE105

How can someone prove that he hasn't left Cat B country in the past 21 days? Hotel reservation?
I guess many HKers staying in Europe would use FRA as a loophole to reduce quarantine period so it makes sense for gov't to be skeptical. Just not sure how it gonna check those FRA pax though.

maclover

Yea. I was thinking the same.
Think of Switzerland (group A) where people living in Canton of Ticino are already closer to MXP than ZRH

my wife really wants to deliver our daughter in HK otherwise she wouldn’t get HK citizenship and that might be a problem in the future.
I fully support that, along with the fact that she would have her mom support.

but HK crazy policies are really making the planning very difficult as things change overnight

EMIC

maclover - I wish you luck in getting your wife back yo HK prior to giving birth.

If I was in your position, I would be calling anyone and everyone at CX, explaining position, the timings you require, and to get a contact who you can turn to in an emergency if needed.

Not sure of the exact rules on pregnant fliers, but all airlines have different requirements for medical letters certifying fit to fly, and also cut off dates after which they will not allow such passengers to fly.

Time does not sound to be on your side, so please just be proactive in constantly contacting the airlines.

Good luck.

maclover

Thanks for sharing your thoughts EMIC.

Wife was supposed to fly on week 29 when just her doctor certificate is needed.
initially we planned for her to fly earlier but at the end she much preferred a non-stop flight, that unfortunately will get soon cancelled.

I’m just wondering if waiting for CX approach would give us mire chances in getting a better re-routing.
now we are one month away supposed flight: the later CX will advice her of changes, the more likely will they try to accommodate her?

brunos

It cannot be week 29. That is past.
If you meant week 39, that is very soon.

In any case, call CX. There is no Italy flights scheduled in September. Maybe with the change in country rankings, they might start one, but that is very doubtful.
Try to get them to change the award ticket to one of the OK route. Be very flexible with the date. If it were me, I would try to leave ASAP to preempt any change in country group.
But do your research before calling. Check if there are any award available on the routes that are OK. Be ready to leave in the next few days.
Plan B will be to buy a revenue ticket. But hurry before any change in HK entry rules.
Sad that your wife did not get vaccinated, that makes it quite difficult.

maclover

I was responding to the medical question 😂
She was supposed to fly on week 29 of pregnancy, when CX accepts her with a just a doctor certificate.

and, yes, she still has a confirmed ticket to fly on week 39 of the year. Just that flight had been zeroed out then it will soon be cancelled.

we already have a plan B, just if CX could move her to QR that day everything would be way easier for us as she has to perform still few checks here and her chosen quarantine hotel (where she has a reservation already) is fully booked in other dates.

I called CX and they said ticket is confirmed 🙄
At this point I wait an “official” cancellation email

as for vaccine, gynecologist at the beginning of pregnancy said to wait and see as there was not enough medical history on vaccine with pregnant women and wife was telling me that in HK pregnant woman don’t get vaccinated too.
she then decided to wait until breast feeding is over

sbs2716g

CX might not be able to move an award ticket to QR. unless you are able to find award availability on QR on that date via Asia miles website. Usually they can open up award space on their own metal. Don’t think CX is going to pay QR cash to buy a revenue ticket if there is no award availability.

So best you check for partner award availability first.

HarbourGent

As other threads in this board attest, CX has shifted its schedules frequently during the pandemic while QR has had a pretty consistent record of flying its scheduled flights. For peace of mind, if I was in your position I'd be temped to buy a QR ticket (one way runs around 500 euros in economy in coming weeks). Relying on the prospect of CX sorting you out here will raise your stress levels. If they do, great, and maybe you can change the QR ticket, and if they don't, then you have more peace of mind. Good luck.

maclover

AsiaMiles isn’t showing any award availability from September 22nd to October 4th, nor on its own metal, nor on partner airlines.

does that mean they will simply wash theirs hands of it?

if they are at least willing to open up an award seat on FRA-HKG on October 3rd, will they provide the LH leg to get to FRA?

Anyway, I’m already working on plan B as nothing will be done from CX until flight gets officially cancelled (now it’s just zeroed out with ticket still confirmed) I don’t think it suddenly got sold-out as every flight on the MXP-HKG route is now not on sale until Oct 31st.

maclover

BTW, it seems there’s an almost daily “secret” CX flight on the FRA-HKG route: CX2288

It’s not bookable on CX.com, nor it shows on the flights status or timetable.

Maybe they are “consolidating” all European stranded passengers there
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/cx2288

brunos

It's likely to be a cargo-only flight. But some might know better.

maclover

I thought so too, but given that the timing mimic the pax flight and it is always operated by 35x, I crossed my fingers hoping it was a “rescue” flight where pax across Europe are consolidated to.

I thought converting to cargo mode one of the many 77W would have had more sense.
but I guess it’s just my wishful thinking