flyerby

I have 2 J tickets on 2 different PNRs with the following legs:
1. TLV-IST-MEX in Mar 2021.
2. EWR-IST-TLV in Apr 2021.

One ticket is for me and the other is for my daughter who is a teenager.

One ticket is an award, I class, ticket issued by TK call center and the other is a Y ticket bought via Expedia and upgraded to J via TK call center with EP vouchers.

Miles will expire at the end of this year and EP vouchers pre Covid19 had expiration in May 2020.

In these Covid19 times, I'm starting to think that I have a problem with my tickets as MEX or EWR may not start to operate (right now the earliest schedule is Jan 1 2021).

Should I take any preemptive action now? such as:
1. Change MEX to IAH and buy a ticket IAH-MEX myself (TK has already started flights to IAH).
2. Change EWR to JFK (TK has already started flights to JFK).
3. Cancel the ticket via Expedia and buy it directly from TK to better handle IRROPs. Will I be able to reuse my EP vouchers?

Thanks.

ISTFlyer

First, Elite Plus vouchers are extended at least 6 months so your new vouchers should be valid until 30 November 2020 if you disapply the vouchers. In some cases, the vouchers would have a longer availability but it's so hard to track.

Also, as your flights are in March, there would be schedule changes until then which would allow you a free change and it's early to presume which routes would operate at which frequency. So, if I were you I would have waited more; although keep in mind that dealing with OTA's for changes in TK could be quite painful so it might make sense to apply the first part of option 3 until 30 November 2020. Also be sure to, disapply the vouchers through TK before requesting a cancellation through Expedia.

If you purchase a ticket via TK you would deal with them during changes.

However, I would still suggest booking the itinerary that best fits your schedule rather than concentrating on current TK destinations. You might consider options 1 and 2, when there is are schedule changes that are announced. It's too early to think about them.

So my opinion;

- Disapply the vouchers on your Expedia ticket
- Cancel the ticket through Expedia ( Although cancellation fees may apply )
- Purchase the same itinerary or desired itinerary via TK
- Apply the vouchers to your new ticket
- Wait for schedule changes and deal with them when they are announced; if no schedule changes happen -> no issues.

flyerby

Thanks for the reply.
If I follow your advice, what would happen if for example one month before the flight, the leg is canceled?
Will I be able to reschedule to any other flight, i. e., IST-IAH-MEX or IST-PTY-MEX instead of IST-MEX and JFK-IST instead of EWR-IST? or only on flights that still have I class availability and then IAH-MEX or PTY-MEX (as not operated by TK) is out of the question and TK will transport only to IAH or PTY? And only if there’s availability.

ISTFlyer

- You would have the right to cancel the tickets, waive the fare difference if applicable rather than doing a voluntary change at the moment. Also a destination change is possible within the same region ( North America for your case ) without any charge. Plus you would know the schedulings for all flights that month and you would not make changes based on predictions but on actual published schedules.

- If your flights are cancelled 15 days before the flight or on a closer date to your flight, you would be able to request a rebooking on another carrier including IST-IAH-MEX and IST-PTY-MEX; although you would need to contact a sales office to do that as hotline agents do not have the power to rebook you on another airline. You wouldn't need I fare class availability as well to rebook but the process would be similar, you would need to contact a sales office as the hotline agents do also not have the power to open award inventory or rebook you on another flight without award inventory.

- If your flights are cancelled earlier than 15 days before the flight, no rebooking on another carrier would be made, although, you would be free to rebook within TK flights. No award availability would be required in this case as well when rebooking an I fare class ticket. So in this case, you would be able to book IST-IAH or IST-PTY if the Mexico routes get cancelled. The separate flight to Mexico would be on your own expense in this case.

For changing the EWR-IST leg to JFK-IST, any interruption including a schedule change over 15 minutes is enough. You would not need award inventory. Although, if you voluntarily want to change your departure from EWR to JFK, award inventory would be required.