antonius66

Have two award tickets for lax icn and back in April that were booked last April (as soon as calendar opened). I had to cancel last April and rebooked for this year, but currently impossible to take the trip again. Technically I guess they are operating the flight, but I can't actually take the trip with forced quarantine for the entirety of the trip etc. No way around 3k miles penalty per person per ticket? I called to cancel and they told me tough luck.

Basically I have exactly enough miles for this ticket and if they charge my anything, I can't rebook (for a third attempt for next year) because I won't have the miles anymore and KE doesn't sell or allow transfers anymore. Absolutely insane they won't allow me to cancel without penalty considering for all practical purposes, it's impossible to take the flight.

SanDiego1K

I'm sorry. That has to be frustrating.

If they charge you the fee to cancel, do you have Marriott points? I just checked and you can still move Marriott points to Korean. 60K Marriott points gives 25K Korean points. You can move lesser amounts as you have no need for 25K but be aware that the ratio is less attractive.

Perhaps you can get a Korean credit card and get the signup bonus? The card is issued by US Bank. Check here for a list of current bonuses:

https://frequentmiler.com/best-credi...up-offers/#USB

antonius66

I do not have any Marriott and I guess in extremis I can get a credit card but man, wouldn't that be excessive. I suppose that would be my literal last resort. I am astonished they are not going to cancel without charge. I guess no one knows a way or avenue to contact someone to somehow get a minor bend to the policy? (some places often have better luck with twitter teams, calling other call centers, etc and I don't know KE well enough to know if there is such an avenue)

Often1

It's only mid-February. Whatever you do, don't cancel until just before the scheduled flight.

If your flight is cancelled or significantly changed, you will be due a full refund.

If you wait to cancel, you are no worse off for waiting.

mikesaidyes

This is the answer. They only update the schedule for cancelled/altered flight schedules about a month out now. Many flights only operate on certain days. So if there's a change - you get a "free refund" of all the miles and the taxes paid, too. This is what happened to my Europe award flight for last year in October - it was adjusted in September so that's when I cancelled it.

antonius66

Sounds good. That's what I am currently doing so I guess it's my best hope. Here's hoping.