Keyser

unless you have a national interest exception from the usa government, entry via the schengen/uk area is not allowed for non-american citizens/residents....

ft4lyf

Unfortunately that seems correct with respect to getting to CMB/MLE.
ME3 seem to be the favorites on FT , especially MLE.

ft4lyf

Also, Turkey announced partial lockdown (just a couple hours ago) ...so, perhaps avoid TK??

bubu-SNA

Amusing you mention avoiding Turkey...Turkish airways arbitrarily unbooked my confirmed and ticketed reservation (through UA) a few days ago. No equipment or schedule changed...they literally cancelled their segments of the ticket without so much as a notification and so I find myself in this mess to find an alternate route into MLE without paying ME3’s significantly above norm fares.

ft4lyf

that sucks!

PiperAtGatesofDawn

What USA allows or doesn't allow is moot because Indian bubble rules don't allow travel to USA through third countries in the ME or EU.

oliver2002

LH and WK also do MLE and are available via UA awards, the only problem is transit in FRA/ZRH because the timings don't align and you have to spend 10+ in the transit zone/hotel.

Keyser

not really....the indian government is making exceptions in certain cases for travel through the eu & middle east....i got one myself & know others who have too....they are also turning a blind eye to those who are booking travel with a day or so layovers....but no matter what permission they give, unless you have a national interest exception from the usa government, you can't enter via the uk/schengen area....

Keyser

my brother, his wife & kids have a booking on cx from jfk-del via hkg towards the end of june....this is a redemption booking that they made in early 2020, after which their flights got cancelled & instead of asking for the miles back he changed their travel date to june 2021....

now cx flights from hkg - india remain suspended till 30th april....i'm pretty confident this ban will be extended & is unlikely to come to an end by the end of june....

my question is, does anyone have any experience what cx would do in this situation????would they simply cancel the tickets or would they be willing to put the passengers on another one world flight that is operating to india, like ba for example????

have no experience with cx so thought i would ask here before getting in touch with them....

xobile

I think we all know those 'rules' are ignored, certainly through the ME, as I've had plenty of DP regarding the same (and if not straight transit, you can just book a one day stay in Dubai and be in full compliance with the UAE Bubble). Or Keyser did a few months ago, an Indian national can go through Europe if they have a national interest exemption, which admittedly is a very very small percentage of the population.

galaticos

are these CX miles? Unfortunately until Govt announces ban till end of June, these tickets are valid so any change will attract any change fees.. if these are CX miles, they can change to any OW carrier.. few options below

1) ask to book on QR (Lower co-pay compared to BA) - we know QR is honoring bookings made before ban is extended and flying pax per earlier reports from xobile
2) india has formed bubble with Sri Lanka - assuming flights start under that, can route JFK-HKG-CMB-DEL? With CMB-DEL on UL..

PiperAtGatesofDawn

I think all this really confuses OP.

OP had a simple question of whether transit was allowed or not. And the simple answer is that it's not allowed. And that's exactly what I told him - It's not allowed by rules, however people have tried getting around it with varying degrees of success some of which they've documented here. If OP is interested about how he/she can get around it... they can read the thread and ask further questions.

Till then Keyser's level 0 access to the secret bunker under the White House or how one does a day stop or splits PNRs or what not is really going way ahead of OP.

PiperAtGatesofDawn

You should ask this on the CX forum... I'm sure there will be plenty of people with similar experiences there.

Keyser

yes, cx miles....they are happy to wait till june to see what the government does but with the way things are going there is a fair change regular operation will not resume at that point....

thanks....both options seem doable....i'll give them a call to see if they are willing to change to either option....

Keyser

that is what i was going to do next....just wanted to check here first to see if anyone had any experience with cx lately....