freebo

Hi,
Sad and complex situation I find myself in.

- I'm due flying on an award flight in J from Australia to South Africa very soon with my wife.

- I've just learned of my mothers death in the UK, as an only child I'll be arranging the funeral in the coming days.

- Assuming we travel at all we will need to get from S Africa to the UK to attend the funeral towards the current planned end of the trip. It looks like the funeral arrangements will take a couple of weeks due to availability of crematoriums in the UK, which also aligns with the length of my trip.

- My travel insurance only covers me for death of a close relative who is resident in Australia (small print).

- If we don't travel as well as the flights we will loose about $20k in hotels and travel, this was a major trip for us to celebrate a significant birthday,

- It looks like I will loose 2x J class fares JNB-SIN-BNE (return leg).

Does anyone have any knowledge or ideas on what, if anything, I can ask of Singapore Airlines at this point?

Many Thanks,

MSPeconomist

Can't you get a second set of award tickets JNB-UK and UK-JNB RT and keep the flights you currently have between Australia and South Africa? How long do you need to be in England? JNB isn't ridiculously far out of the way for travel between LHR and BNE, even if it wouldn't be part of a normal legal routing. You're in business class, so the length of the flights isn't so important if you have the time.

freebo

Sadly not as I don't have enough points and the dates just don't work, I will need to be in the UK on the day I'm due to be departing JNB.

TravelwhileyouEat

If SQ is willing to re-route and open award space that's wait-listed for you (and you have the additional miles) you can ask the return to be changed to LHR / MAN to Australia which leaves you with having to find your way to the UK. SQ may be inclined to waive the re-booking fees if you want to change date on the award flight (not sure if it's enough for them to release space though if it's on wait-listed dates). They may ask for proof of the family emergency, i.e. a death certificate.

Difference between a zone 10 and 11 award is 27,000 miles per person on a saver award plus tax difference (which could be substantial because of the crazy amount for the UK departure tax for premium cabin travel)

If they can't get you the re-route, you can maybe ask if they can change the RT award to a one-way award and have the miles re-deposited (it wouldn't hurt to ask if they can waive the re-deposit and re-issue fees). You'll then have to find your way from JNB to the UK and back to BNE on your own though.

lokijuh

Sorry to hear of your loss. Death of a parent can be a difficult time.

I see no reason, as your journey hasn't commenced that SQ won't refund your return leg, unless you have a free stopover in SIN in one of the legs of the trip, the award flights are just the sum of two one way awards. If they do, often cash fares out of Europe are quite inexpensive in business class (although cheaper if doing return), and if you want to use points, but are points deprived see if they can re-route you out of Istanbul as it is in the same zone as South Africa, and then you just need to pay to get to IST (which is just under 4 hours) as well as the fare from JNB to LHR. .

Also, if you don't want to take the trip, sometimes (but often not) land based operators and hotels will be lenient for genuine emergencies such as death of ones parents. May be worth checking to see. Of course there is no obligation, but no harm in asking.

freebo

Thanks all for the useful suggestions, additional info is I do have about 190.000 SQ points available to do this, which would be the amount I'd have if I transferred my VA points.

fone

a) From what I read, you have a redemption flight in J from Australia to South Africa, which you have not flown on any of the segments within the ticket.

b) You also have a 2x J class fares JNB-SIN-BNE. Are these redemption or revenue? If redemption, are they on the same ticket as (a)?

c) You mentioned availability of crematorium plus your trip. When is your trip booked for and when (and how long) do you need to by physically in the UK.

d) You're aware that (assuming your miles are still valid), that redemption bookings can be refunded for a small fee.

e) As mentioned by others, do check which of your $20k hotel/travel bookings are refundable, or can be refunded due to your circumstances. Alternatively, let them know of your circumstances and ask if you can postpone the trip. It is always best if you can settle the funeral before going on the trip.

freebo

b) no - this is the same award flight

c) We now have a confirmed date for funeral, its 3 days after I'm due to depart JNB to return to BNE - instead of JNB I need to go to MAN and be in UK for about 5-6 days, no time to return to BNE and then get back to the UK

d) I wasn't, but as I depart in less than 24 hours I will still be going ahead with the trip

e) There are a lot of segments and bookings to consider, my plan is coalescing around completing most/all of the trip and going directly to the UK at the end of it, being there for 2 days before the funeral and 3 after.

lokijuh

If you have no intention of taking the JNB-SIN-BNE sector I would be on the phone to SQ to see if you can cancel it, before you check in for your outbound flight, as once you get on that first plane, you won't get a refund of the points. Otherwise you are stuck with it, although you still should be able to move it to a later date, subject to availability even after taking the first flight (this would be the case if you did a return from JNB-LHR-JNB and travelled back on existing ticket at later date).

I call out from the T&C.
This is of course contigent on SQ making available your seats to you still on BNE-SIN-JNB.

freebo

Just an update to say SQ where very helpful and have re-routed my return leg for the extra cost in points. We will make our own way to the UK and they are bringing us back from CDG as there was nothing out of England available.

Thanks once again to everyone for your advice.