DavidCP

xxdboixx, I am in a similar situation. I have a flight with Aeromexico in a month through ICN. Although their SkyTeam partner Delta has instituted waivers, AM has not yet made any statements regarding Korea. I am also concerned that I would get flagged and not be able to return to the US. I will wait a day or 2 to give AM time to address the increased US threat level and call to see if I can get a waiver.

MSPeconomist

If AM isn't willing to do a waiver, you could wait and see whether DL cancels your flight.

Carol202

What are my rights if Delta can't fly me home from Manila because their flight connects at Incheon?
.
Manila is a mess because so many of the airlines route their flights through Incheon, Teipei or Hong Kong - all routes now closed off to the US.

I think the only options Delta is leaving me is to cancel my flight completely and try to find another way home, or pay $800 to fly to Japan and catch a flight from there, or do nothing and hope Incheon is reopened or that Delta somehow picks up another route out of Manila.

If we purchase our own tickets to Japan so Delta can fly us home, do we have any valid claim for reimbursement?

Finalcall

(1) If the flight(s) is still operating but you aren't allowed to get on the plane because of a government restriction (visa, coronavirus or whatever), then Delta isn't obligated to reroute you home - you can either reschedule or cancel and apply for refund (if your ticket conditions allows it).

(2) If Delta stopped operating the flight(s), then they have to either reroute you somehow, rebook you on another carrier or cancel your ticket and refund you in full.

The first case carries the standard fees (unless Delta instituted a fee waiver); in the latter case it's all on them.

Cathay Pacific is still operating flights from MNL to HKG and HKG to SFO (and also HKG to JFK). EVA and China Airlines are still operating flights from MNL to TPE and TPE to the US. Lots of options, for now.

? Incheon hasn't closed. If it does, then answer (2) above.

MSPeconomist

ICN is open and while KE cut back its schedule to certain Asian destinations, I haven't seen any reports that DL flights to/from ICN aren't going as usual.

OTOH, if you must reroute using SkyTeam, the other obvious TPAC partner beside KE would be MU and IIRC all flights between mainland China and the USA are suspended. China Air through Taiwan would be another possibility as Taiwan doesn't seem to be having severe problems with COVID-19.

BTW, did you buy the ticket directly from DL, from a TA or OLTA, or from a consolidator specializing in bulk tickets?

Also, I suspect that some LCC/ULCC carriers fly between Manila and Tokyo, so it's hard to believe that you can't do better than a $800 ticket.

Carol202

I called Delta again and got a pushed up to someone higher. I learned that Delta is only cancelling Minneapolis flights so far. When flying into one of the airports with increased health screenings, the flights are still going. So we are leaving our flights the same for now.

​​​​​​As for Cathay Pacific, Philippines has banned incoming flights from Hong Kong and so they cancelled outbound flights because of the crews. I have 2 friends that were supposed to take that route, and they've been fully refunded.

LTN Phobia

South Korea has now been put in the Reconsider Travel category by the US Department of State.

https://travel.state.gov/content/tra...-advisory.html

Perhaps people should reconsider their travel to South Korea, and also, look very carefully at their travel insurance policy to see what is covered and what isn't.

Other considerations are of course the possible impact on their subsequent travel should you choose to travel there, e.g. quarantine measures, possible entry ban etc. that may be imposed by various countries in your itinerary.

Carol202

This was posted on Delta’s news hub. I am supposed to return from Manila to US via Incheon on 3 April. I don’t have a good feeling...”The airline’s new service from Incheon to Manila, previously scheduled to begin March 29, will now start on May 1. Full schedule details will be available on delta.com beginning Feb. 29.”

lin821

Flying Delta, you probably should check out this COVIS-19 master thread in Delta Forum and join the discussion there:

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delt...navirus-q.html

Carol202

Yay. This time Delta rerouted us on their partner, Philippine Airway. We now fly from Manila to Haneda to Atlanta. I hope this is the last change, but a lot could happen in a month.

DavidCP

Since the US DOS level 3 announcement AM is now issuing waivers:

Due to the health concerns from Coronavirus in South Korea, if you’re flying with Aeromexico or on a codeshare flight to Seoul, South Korea we would like to inform you of the following travel waiver

No charge for change of date or rate difference, as long as the same origin-destination and paid cabin are respected
Ticket issue charge will be waived
The route change is allowed without charge. In case there is any difference in the fare between the original ticket and the new ticket, this difference must be paid at the time of making the change
If the passenger decides not to use the service, the ticket has a valid year from the date of issue.
Please note that we are not responsible for covering any additional costs incurred by passengers affected by this situation (ground transportation, accommodations, food, and phone calls, among others).

Effective dates: from February 24, until April 30, 2020*
Ticket issuing allowed until: May 31, 2020.
The rescheduled trip must begin before May 31, 2020.**
** If the rescheduled trip occurs after the permitted travel period and the change is made on the allowed dates *, fees will be waived for changes, however, a difference in fare may apply.

MSPeconomist

That's not a DL partner, although DL does interline with them (just like DL does with all major nonLCC airlines around the world).

Carol202

Odd. The person I talked to said they were a partner airline, but I remember looking before and didn't see where DL and PAL were partners. Anyway, I have a flight home for now - until things change again. Here is the full announcement from DL with the portion affecting South Korea highlighted in red:

Delta reduces flight schedule to South Korea following coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

Staff Writer

Feb 26, 2020 10:00amDelta is temporarily reducing the number of weekly flights it operates between the U.S. and Seoul-Incheon (ICN), South Korea, due to global health concerns related to coronavirus (COVID-19).

From Feb. 29 through April 30, the carrier will suspend service between Minneapolis/St. Paul and ICN, with the last flight departing MSP for ICN on Feb. 28 and departing ICN for MSP on Feb. 29. Delta will also reduce to five times weekly its services between ICN and Atlanta, Detroit and Seattle through April 30. The airline’s new service from Incheon to Manila, previously scheduled to begin March 29, will now start on May 1. Full schedule details will be available on delta.com beginning Feb. 29.

The health and safety of customers and employees is Delta's top priority and the airline has put in place a number of processes and mitigation strategies to respond to the growing concern. Delta remains in constant contact with the foremost communicable disease experts at the CDC, WHO and local health officials to respond to the coronavirus as well as ensure training, policies, procedures and cabin cleaning and disinfection measures meet and exceed guidelines.

For customers whose itineraries are affected by the schedule changes, Delta teams are working to help them adjust their travel plans, using partners where appropriate.

Customers with affected travel plans can go to the My Trips section of delta.com to help them understand their options, including:

• Reaccommodation on other Delta flights
• Reaccommodation to flights after April 30
• Reaccommodation on partner airlines
• Requesting a refund
• Contacting Delta to discuss additional options.

Delta continues to offer a change fee waiver for customers who wish to adjust their travel plans for flights between the U.S. and South Korea, China and Italy.

Related Topics:

• coronavirus
• Seoul-Incheon

mikesaidyes

Minneapolis is cancelled because it is not one of the designated airports of entry. According to Korean Air website's posting of entry restrictions:

U.S. nationals or permanent residents traveling from China can enter the U.S. through just eleven airports listed below.
Los Angeles(LAX), New York/John F. Kennedy(JFK), New York/Newark Liberty(EWR), San Francisco(SFO), Chicago/O`Hare(ORD), Seattle(SEA), Atlanta(ATL), Honolulu(HNL), Washington/Dulles(IAD), Dallas/Fort Worth(DFW), Detroit(DTW)

MSPeconomist

However, AFAIK the DL HND-MSP daily nonstop is still operating and would seem to be likely also to have passengers coming from mainland China, although perhaps they are less likely to be traveling on single tickets/PNRs. The cancellation some time ago of DL's PVG and PEK flights has forced those customers to connect somewhere in Asia and using the ICN hub with partner KE connections would be the natural choice.

I've taken the MSP-ICN flight and it wasn't obvious to me that overwhelming numbers of passengers were going to/from mainland China. DL is also a close partner of MU, which generally has much lower TPAC fares than DL or KE, including for business class, so I would have guessed that much of the SkyTeam TPAC traffic to/from mainland China has been using these MU flights if not DL rather than doing the ICN connections and the ICN-MSP nonstop, although IMO DL or a DL/KE combination would be a better experience than using MU but YMMV.

I've also heard that the DL MNL flight has been suspended/cancelled because of entry restrictions.

ADDED: Maybe DL decided to keep only one MSP nonstop TPAC service at the moment (refusing to board those who have been in mainland China recently) and slot allocation concerns at HND forced DL to drop the ICN flight.