Narrow Seat

My brother had never traveled to Europe before and was not sophisticated or knowledgeable about airline rules. He joined a family reunion and has already left the group who had been staying at an AIRBNB. He was at an airport hotel in Vienna. The rest of the family has already left Europe. Before the trip, we begged him to get travel insurance but rejected it out of hand because he thought it was a waste of money.

Now he is sitting in his hotel room next to the Vienna Austria Airport all by himself sick as a dog with COVID. He is scheduled to fly home from Vienna via Amsterdam to Minnesota on Wednesday. After learning about his situation, I asked him to call the airline to see if he could postpone the trip for 3-4 days so he does not have to fly very sick with COVID risking the health of the people he is sitting next to. He did not want to do that and instead was trying to research it online. The Internet has not provided any straight answers.

He has no frequent flyer accounts, no Delta Status, Flew using a basic economy fare and used a no-frills credit card to buy his airline ticket that has no travel insurance perks. Again, he has no travel insurance.

He did go to a doctor in Vienna Austria who wrote a note about his COVID illness.

Have you ever been overseas with COVID-19, or other illnesses, scheduled to fly home in the next 24 hours but too sick to fly without airline status or insurance? What will Delta Airlines say?

lindros2

Ethically? Don't fly. He could literally kill someone. Not hyperbole.

And there is liability, but if you clearly read every sign, basically the OTHER people take the risk that they could catch COVID.

The rules from the global emergency (2022 and prior) put legal onus on the people WITH COVID, but now it's basically gone.

Again, morals and ethics would cause me to stay in the hotel.

ATOBTTR

He needs to call or message DL - that's the only way to get a definitive answer. Anything else will be anecdotal and will likely be at a time of constant policy changing. Last year (May 2022) I was stuck overseas when I tested positive for COVID the day before flying home (when you still needed a negative test to be able to fly home) and had to change my flight. I was on UA and I was hit with a fare difference. Fortunately it was for work travel so they had to cover the difference. Conversely, I had a domestic trip on DL that I was due to take shortly after returning to the US that I then missed to being stuck overseas quarantining. One way was in cash which I canceled and received an e-credit. The other was booked with miles which were refunded when I canceled the trip.

lindros2

I'd probably have someone else call.
If he calls - already on a trip - it could be seen as a risk. and/or could be noted on his reservation.

Aliquot

huh?

Ragnarok

There is no fine print that you need to be sophisticated or knowledgeable about at this point.

COVID is not new anymore. You and your family begged him to obtain travel insurance. The airline�s pop-up warned him on the limitation of Basic Economy when he choose it. The Check Out process upsell/recommends buying coverage.

Your brother made multiple decisions to forgo all protections and take on the risk. He owns the outcome at this point.

IIRC there is an option to pay $99 to cancel a Basic Economy Ticket on Delta for eCredit. Afterwards he can buy a new flight ticket to return home whenever he feels fit to travel. Wish him a fast recovery.

xliioper

For long haul international, the cancel fee for BE tickets is actually $199. But definitely still worth contacting DL to see if they will allow free change given circumstances. There is a "Message Us" chat link at the bottom of following page -- https://www.delta.com/us/en/need-hel...ComplaintsForm

mridley2

Is he truly too sick to travel? or is that hyperbole??

IF IF IF he can fly safely and $$ concerns are an issue which seems like they are. He should KN95 mask up and wear that mask 100% of the time: no exceptions. And take his flights as scheduled. Everyone takes a risk with COVID in public these days and we all know how to protect ourselves from severe illness if we so choose.

btw, why did he test for covid? Just because he felt sick? Or was there some requirement that enforced his testing?

Narrow Seat

As of last night, he had a 102-degree fever and felt just terrible. Yes, it is possible he could make the flight but is it fair to the people sitting around him? Would a KN95 Mask really protect the two travelers (strangers) who are sitting next to him? He is in the middle seat. (If his ticket ends up worthless it will be at least $1000 for the one way ticket home. Plus a minimum of $100 a night sitting at at a budget hotel in Vienna waiting to get better.

roberto99

In his condition, flying could spread covid to many more PAX than the 2 sitting next to him.

He should NOT fly in that condition!

I feel for him. My first case of covid was torture for 3 weeks. That was before vaccines were available.

xooz

He should not fly, but should consider a) getting a PCR test and b) getting an online doctor appointment and get a prescription for Paxlovid. I did this using Mobidoctor, but there are likely others.

omaralt

flying in a middle seat in economy on a trans-atlantic flight is torture... doing it while sick as a dog with a 102 fever is insane.. he needs to call delta ASAP and change his ticket. you, being the responsible, caring, loving brother, may have to offer and help him pay the fare difference

flyingfkb

He went to the doctor as written on the first post. Probably he got tested there. In general if you have 102F fever and feel very sick you should not travel and stay in bed. Flying puts the body on some stress (lower air pressure and lower humidity). So flying in such a state is not a good idea.

dtremit

Agree with everything you said re: the ethical and moral stance � I would just add that in the OP's brother's situation, I would not want to roll the dice and assume that my layperson's interpretation of Austrian and Dutch COVID restrictions was correct.

And even outside of liability � it would not surprise me if either VIE or AMS still has some automated thermal screening of passengers to check for fevers, even if not prominently advertised. Getting denied boarding on a connecting flight would be an order of magnitude more obnoxious than just staying put for a few days in the first place.

Jeff767

Would you want to be seated next to him for 10 hours? Keep in mind that flying can increase covid symptoms. One of the covid issues is keeping the blood O2 levels up. Being at 8000 feet cabin altitude compounds that issue.