Dog250

Glad to hear they're flexible. I'll give them a call and hopefully sort something out.


​​​​​​Hearing news that Saudi Arabia will suspend all flights for 2 weeks from Sunday.

Thanks for the xp run info.

Flying Yazata

Originally they weren't flexible in Amman regarding the originating airport. Amadeus wasn't the issue, but that they lacked a policy permitting the required action. I assume after my case one month ago they empowered the call centre in Amman, as since then several persons in this thread have had immediate success. I personally changed to MXP, which took speaking with 4-5 different agents in Amman (thankfully the US number is toll-free), one visit to the JFK T1 ticketing desk (pure coincidence I was in town) and two calls to the US back office and one return call from Amman for the actual rebooking. But yeah, it's now working as it should. I'm pretty certain there's been some Arabic tough talk and exclamations behind the scenes.

NickB

With Denmark and Norway both closing their borders, this does not strike me as the smartest plan on the planet. Now is simply not a sensible time for MR runs within Europe.

IstKong

Absolutly. Patience is key here. Wait until we have some visibility.
I personally would not book now anything departing before July...

Dog250

Yes, will definitely be holding off on doing an XP run for now. I've just booked the Delta BUD - USA deal for July. So hopefully the chaos will have settled down by then and that the ticket will be honored...

In regards to the ATH - JED cancellation. Did anyone get a cancellation email? I haven't heard anything apart from the flight disappearing on the 'manage my booking' on the Saudi website. The return leg is still active, so I've got a one way flight from MNL to ATH. Don't exactly know how I'll get to Manila, mind.

sp333

Yep - cancellation texts just now, both EU and Asia legs

wijibintheair

This 2 days after Norway announces on the 12th March that all passengers from outside the Nordics will need to go into 14 days quarantine upon entering the country? Or...admittedly get shunted onto the return flight but would expatriation be regarded as XP earning?

Sorry not Saudi specific

jfkeze

I would hold off on an MR in the current climate.. you don't know where you could get stuck... I personally feel more comfortable with flights in the summer (after June 30) but that's my opinion and when I post deals I aim for late 2020 as things evolve quickly...

mattspod

KUL-JED flight rearranged to to day flight. New JED-ATHs flight to be confirmed departs earlier than arrival of KUL-JED.

Presumably I can just leave the booking in the [MODERATOR EDIT TOS 16] state and call in a few months? Even though 1/2 are running for now - so it's not quite as clear cut as "dont worry, dont call" fully cancelled.

Flying Yazata

Correct, unless there's some urgency for you due to other arrangements.

Polo_LRT

Hello folks,

Long time lurker of this forum i've decided to share my mitigated and complex experience with Saudia on this trip.Long (first) post, but it was a complicated journey and i think it can be of interest for some of you guys.

Original journey is : ATH-JED-CGK on the 07 of March
SV192 to JED 03:15 pm => 07:40 pm
SV818 to CGK 02:00 am => 03:30 pm

and back from Kuala Lumpur KUL-JED-ATH on the 21 of March, booked in November 2019:
SV843 to JED 11:15 pm => 03:05 am
SV 191 to ATH 11:00 am => 01h35 pm

As you can see i had originally 6 hours layover in Jeddah on both legs.

1) On the 03 of March or so (approximatly 5 days before flying), my original flight to CGK is cancelled and the new one is SV826, departing at 10:00 am is creating an 14 hours layover in JED. Impossible to achieve without Saudia Visa, so i had to call the Saudia center in Paris.
They were very nice and firstly propose to refund my trip. After a few minutes, they also proposed to move my flight from another departing point and i could choose CDG (they proposed AMS, MAD or FRA also) as my new departing point. This was free of charge and allowed by the agent as my flight was cancelled and the layover exceeding Saudi's transit limit.
The outbound flight was finally:
SV 126 CDG-JED 04:45 pm => 00:10 am
SV 826 JED-CGK 10:00 am=>11:30 pm

"Only" 9 hours layover in Jeddah that i spent in their lounge trying to sleep whereas their typical arabic music was played in loop all night in the speakers, temperature was quite low too. It was rather long and unpleasant in their lounge, so i wouldn't eactly recommend to do this in eco, as the flight is still going from the old terminal you all heard about...
I finally board my plane, and make it to CGK 8 hours later than my original flight.

I had to throw one hotel night in Athènes, book a new flight to CDG and luckily have been refunded for my positionning flight to ATH as corona issues were growing in Europe. On the other hand, i was in a B787 from CDG instead of the A320 from ATH. From JED to CGK it was a 777 with a 2/2/2 config and lie flat seats.
Regarding the flights itself, food was really good and the crew was very professionnal and very friendly each time.
Business cabin was almost full from Paris and we were only 2 on the flight to Jakarta. The lounge in CDG is Paul Maxence which i never heard about, but it is very nice and quiet.

2) While i was in Jakarta, my inbound flight from KUL was cancelled and i was rebooked on the previous one, leaving at 04:40 pm (SV835) instead of 11:15 pm. Again, this was creating a 13h layover in Jeddah which is not allowed by Saudi government without visa. I went to the saudia's office in Jakarta and they proposed to move my flight from KUL to CGK for 2000€ in J or 1000€ in Y. When i said that i couldn't stay more than 12 hours in JED, they say they couldn't do anything and that i should reach the French office (Point of sale) or KUL office (departing point).

3) One day later (around the 12/13th of March), my flights were cancelled by Saudia because of Corona issue. I tried to call indonesian office which said that they couldn't do anything (again) as i was leaving from KUL. At this point i was really disapointed about the poor service even for business passenger and the lack of solutions coming from Saudia.
I had to call the Malaysian office who said that Saudia was no longer flying to Paris, and that they couldn't rebook me on another flight to Europe either. Finally, i asked them to get me a flight on Skyteam or any other company and they said that they couldn't do that. The woman on the phone proposed me to refund and advised me to buy another ticket on another airline as they had no clue how long or how bad it will be.
I finally bought a ticket on KLM and went back earlier than expected.

4) I called Saudia office 2 days ago, they proposed me half refund as i have already consumed half of my ticket, or to postponed my trip up to November 2020 as i booked in November 2019. In addition they proposed nothing for the 8 hours delay on the outbound.

In conclusion, i would say this is an incredible deal if you want to travel to Asia in very comfy conditions (the B787 from CDG was great) and they are quite flexible (at least the french office) when you have trouble on your journey. As silver member in AF FB program, i gained 15 000 miles and 54 XP. That's great value considering the ticket price ( around 700€).
But be carefull with long layovers in Jeddah, saudia's flight cancellations and be ready to spend a few hours on the phone with them..

Some extra question :
- Are they right to leave me with flight cancellations and no alternatives solutions for my inbound flight, even in Skyteam alliance ?
- can i ask for compensation as i arrived 8 hours later than expected at my destination ? Did anyone here had success claiming for compensation regarding EU261 legislation with Saudia ? (can't post lik but it's supposed to apply to any company leaving from Europe or landing in Europe)
- Should i ask for full refund or is half refund regular in that case ?

PS: I heard that some people were asking for hotels room during long layover, personnaly each time i asked they told me to ask the airport desk and i wasn't willing to take the risk of them saying no and staying in the lounge for extra long hours. Plus you need Saudi Visa..

allset2travel

Polo_LRT

Welcome nonetheless!

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Rambol

Thanks for sharing your experience! I am due to fly them in September so I all info is welcome. I am honestly not surprised that you ran into some problems given the entire Covid-19 situation. It seems like they could have handled some things better, but that is probably true for most airlines at the moment.

As for your questions:
- Even under EU regulation it is not clear whether you should be rebooked on another carrier. Given that your cancelled flight from KUL was not even subject to these regulations I think it is very likely that they are within their rights. Of course it is not very good from a customer service perspective, but given current circumstances it is not surprising.
- This depends on the reason why the flight is cancelled. If this is due to an extraordinary circumstance (which Covid-19 is) you are not due compensation. If it is due to operational reasons (no crew or airplane for example) you are due compensation given that the flight originated in the EU and was cancelled less than 14 days before departure. Flights landing in the EU (originating outside EU) are not subject to EU regulation, unless the operating carrier is an EU airline.
- Only the non-flown part of the ticket will be refunded, so a full refund will not be given. This of course doesn't mean that you can't ask for it. You might get lucky and get a generous agent.

Polo_LRT

Thank you for your answers.

To be fair with Saudia, i agree that i probably faced some turbulences linked to Covid19 issues that they were not prepared to, as any other company. The only real issue was for me, to be told to call the French office with crazy phone costs when i was facing a Saudia's agent in a Saudia Agency (in Jakarta) to deal with my booking.
In the end, i will probably try to flight my inbound flight when things will settle down.

I have taken good note of your answers but i can't find a way to check if my outbound flight was delayed because of Covid or because of other operational reasons. Is the only way to know, to fill the complain form ?

mattspod

Anyone had any success in getting them to reroute with another SkyTeam airline? So instead of KUL-ATH mid April (cancelled) maybe KUL-CDG with AirFrance at start of May? Someone mentioned a fare diffference waiver on Amsterdam instead but I guess this is pushing it a little further..
Thansk