Maldives pickle. Unsure on what to do?
 

Hi Guys I hope that you can give me some guidance on what to do, if anything.
So I booked LAX-LHR-CDG-MLE in full biz award on Jan 1st. Now all flights are operating with the exception of CDG-MLE. It has been cancelled for the past 8 months and that makes me super nervous. If AF cancels that flight, there are no other ST airlines that fly to MLE. Currently flights are being operated by TK, UL, QR, FZ, EY, MA, and EK.
AF has a codeshare agreement with EY but sadly the ticket is on DL stock and I dont think that may be an option.
So it looks like the honeymoon is in big danger now. :( Unsure on what to do if that happens(and its very likely now)

Did you call and try to see if they would put you on another airline? (And have your preferences for alternate routings before you call) There is certainly precedent for that when DL cancels their own metal to a destination or day-of-travel IRROPs.

I have just once this morning. They will only rebook on partners no exceptions(although I have no status and that was the first agent that i spoke to, so unsure how flex they can be). And its not their metal sadly. None of the segments on the tickets are on DL. Its VS, AF, AF :(

If you want to go on your honeymoon 1/1/21, I would buy a ticket on another airline as soon as possible. You are not getting to MLE on Skyteam.

It looks like Aeroflot still has service within Skyteam.

Has SU been making any award space (especially in business class) available to DL? I think the answer is no.

If there were IROPs on the travel day, AF would be expected to book the OP on some other carrier, the first available seat in the ticketed class of service and provide hotel and meals if the OP must stay overnight at CDG waiting for an alternate flight.

Also, if AF cancels the flight less than fourteen days before its scheduled departure, EC261 regulations would apply and *I think* AF would be obligated to rebook the OP onto another carrier in the same cabin class, but these rules might have been suspended due to COVID-19. There's also a debate on the meaning of "or" in EC261 (where the alternative is a full refund) regarding whether it's the choice of the customer or the airline.

DL might be willing to delete the CDG-MLE and vv segments without asking for more miles, and the OP could purchase separate tickets between CDG and MLE. Alternatively, DL might be willing to change the ticket to some other SkyTeam destination (especially if partner award space is available) for which the MLE flights would be shorter or cheaper such as perhaps IST. It would be easier if the destination is served by DL operated flights as DL can open award space on its own flights, providing that there are seats for sale, so that award inventory isn't an issue.

If OP buys a separate ticket for the final leg to/from MLE, be sure to allow lots of time for the anti- or self- "connection" as you're not protected if something goes wrong and many foreign carriers have fare rules saying (even for paid business class tickets) that if you miss the first segment, all remaining value ticket value is lost (no credit, no rebooking, no standby, etc.).

I suspect OP is already within the big penalty for cancellation period for island resort hotel reservations. Hence rescheduling/postponing/changing the trip would be an expensive thing to do, although there's a slight chance that some hotels might be willing to be more flexible and permit a credit for a later stay. Watch out also for missing the first night of the reservation as this can result in loss of the no show penalty (typically the rack rate in money if the hotel was booked with points) plus loss of the remaining reservation if the guest(s) show up one day late, although you should be able to contact the hotel in advance to tell them that you will arrive before the checkout time and have them hold the room for you (with of course no refund for "missing" the first night of the stay).

Thank you so much. I also have an award with aa dca ord doh mle but the last leg is in economy. That's what prompted me to book the vs and af award since it's all in Business. I'd rather spend the entire time in biz vs some of it in economy. If af cancels I'll go back to my qr flights but I'd rather see if they could confirm me on another carrier and all in biz.

Can you get the award ticket destination changed to Colombo (CMB) on Skyteam? Then just buy a ticket on SriLankan from CMB to MLE. The frequencies vary depending on the day, but the flight is only a little over an hour.

that is an interesting idea. ow on MU is $170pp. I will look into that as well. Ty. Never been to cmb but feedback says that its a small airport and connecting from one flight to the next should be easy enough even with rechecking luggage

where are you seeing CDG-MLE is not operating? Google flights still shows this flight as active...

as it has been for the past 8 months: https://flightaware.com/live/flight/AFR222
High chance they will cancel it again. I looked at loads, they are wide open. I am guessing they are reconfirming their paid pax into AY since they partner with them.

by the way no ST airline operates any flights to CMB. Its all Star or gulf airliners

If you consider this option, you'd need to make sure you could actually do it before booking it. I don't know the set-up in CMB but it could be problematic if you have to "cross the border" to claim and recheck luggage and check-in for the MU hop to MLE. I also don't know what the latest is, but one website noted that as Sri Lank was lifting travel restrictions, it had a minimum stay (5 days), which could impact you. I'm not sure if that minimum stay still applies. And if you cannot enter Sri Lanka, even though you hold a ticket onward and you do not really plan to "stay" at Sri Lank, you may be denied boarding in the US because as far as the airline flying you from the US to CMB is concerned, your ticket from the US is to CMB and the airline must then verify you meet the requirements to enter Sri Lanka.

i dont even think i will consider it, since there are no ST carriers going to cmb.

hmmm, maybe I stand corrected that this is a good idea. Who knows what restrictions they will have on 01 JAN. https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/world.php


Published 11.12.2020
1. Flights to Sri Lanka are suspended until 31 December 2020.
- This does not apply to humanitarian and repatriation flights.
2. Passengers must have a printed medical certificate with a negative Coronavirus (COVID-19) PCR test result. The test must have been taken at most 96 hours before departure from the first embarkation point. The certificate must be in English.
- This does not apply to nationals and dual nationals of Sri Lanka.
3. Nationals and dual nationals of Sri Lanka must have a printed medical certificate with a negative Coronavirus (COVID-19) PCR test result of a test taken at most 96 hours before departure from the first embarkation point or a result of a rapid antigen test taken at most 48 hours before departure from the first embarkation point. The certificate must be in English.
4. Passengers and airline crew are subject to a Coronavirus (COVID-19) PCR test and quarantine upon arrival.
- This does not apply to airline crew who do not disembark the aircraft.
5. A completed "Health Declaration Form" must be presented upon arrival. The form can be obtained at https://www.caa.lk/en/special-notices-for-covid-19 or upon arrival at the Immigration counters.

Yes, CMB is kind of a rinky-dink affair. I had separate tickets, MLE-CMB one way, and then CMB-DOH. Both were on SriLankan (UL). UL does have an airside transit desk. 2nd time through, I was inbound from DOH and returning back to DOH but it was all operated by QR. I inquired at the UL airside transit desk if they could check me in for a QR-operated flight, and they did. I watched them literally pull the UL card-stock out of the boarding pass printer, insert a roll of QR BP card stock, did a bunch of clicking, and voila, QR boarding passes.

Sri Lanka did have e-visas (ETA), but there is a free transit VISA option for up to 2 days. Still have to apply for that in advance I think. hmmm.

what a year! good luck on your honeymoon!