Currently travelling RTW Business Award Oneworld, Coronavirus outbreak causing flight cancellations with some destinations inaccessible upon arrival.

Joined
Feb 8, 2020
Posts
7
Hi all, I've just joined but have been lurking the forums for some time learning from all of the lovely people here.

Currently I find myself travelling RTW and feel the need to pay forward my experience travelling with the outbreak. Hopefully this will give anyone in the same boat some perspective of what may happen during travel, even when you may think you'll be fine.

TL;DR -
  • Check your Itineraries, some flights are being re-scheduled for past dates.
  • Some flights are not even allowable anymore and ticketing staff are not aware due to the rules changing so fast.
  • You could find yourself severely stranded even if you are in transit via Hong Kong
My experience so far:

I am currently scheduled to depart Amsterdam in just 3 days via Qatars prestigious Q-Suite which was the catalyst for the last minute booking in the first place.

Trying to prepare for this exciting moment, I found myself checking the Qantas app tonight just to confirm my seats were all secured and they didn't do a quick switch on me. Everything was fine for my Qatar flights, phew!

However
, I saw that my Hong Kong - Cebu flight was cancelled and my heart began to sink. I then saw a rescheduled flight underneath and thought "Phew, we're still good". After a few more hours I checked again just to make sure, then upon closer inspection, the rescheduled flight was 8 hours before I actually touch down in Hong Kong rendering it impossible unless Delorean Airlines is about to launch and I didn't get the memo.

At this stage I am thinking to myself "What if I didn't check my app? I could have been stuck!"

So, like all Australians do I got in line and spent the best part of an hour on hold and spoke to a lady who tried to help, she apologized for not receiving correspondence and these were the options given to me:

• Give up my 2x Q-suite flights and fly Cathay directly to Hong Kong, onward to Cebu
• Take my 2 x Q-suite flights to Hong Kong, stay overnight (16+ hours, layover)

Option 1 hurt, this was the motivational factor of the RTW flight to begin with.

Option 2 hurt just as much as being in a crowded area for an unnecessary amount of time could increase chances of exposure which I wasn't too keen on either.

After 2 hours on the phone, I was passed onto a supervisor who went above and beyond to check availability for alternatives. Unfortunately Oneworld is locked and the only flights to Cebu are using Cathay.

So, I received no email correspondence regarding the shifty swap to a flight in the past, plus now I either had to give up my Q-Suite flights or spend a night in Fever City. The supervisor suggested I contact Cathay to see if they have any partner airlines that can get me to Cebu from Hong Kong, so I did.

After being on hold for 1 & 1/2 hours, a helpful Filipina lady answered and I let her know my story so far. She stopped me there and said (get this)....

"Oh, weren't you aware that all flights inbound to Philippines from Hong Kong are banned from entering?"

My jaw dropped, I replied "No.... But I'm in transit"

She replied; "Regardless of if you are in-transit, if your flight originated in Hong Kong you will not be allowed to enter Philippines"

She continued: "Yes, lots of people are stranded currently, it will be good to speak with Qantas about this. They should have really known this from the start. It's a Oneworld wide announcement!" - She seemed shocked that Qantas wasn't aware.

So, 3 days before I fly, no correspondence of a change in flights, the flight is 8 hours in the past and regardless I'll be rejected upon trying to enter Cebu even if I am in transit via Hong Kong.

So, I ring Qantas back and the guy I spoke with put me on hold. He comes back and confirms that this is in fact true.

I'll be receiving a phone call back in about 3 hours to have my flight re routed directly from Amsterdam - Doha - Manila - Cebu - Just awaiting confirmation by the boss. BUT!

I have just found out that all flights out of Philippines to Hong Kong are not allowed either, so when I get back onto the phone with him he's going to be thrown another curve ball as my next destination after Cebu is to Japan via Hong Kong!

I'll update this as it unfolds however anyone travelling through Hong Kong please be careful and double check your itineraries even if it is days before you depart. I only saw this because I logged into the app and wanted to see what seat number I was sitting on. I didn't receive an error on my app, I had to go into the change my seat section to find out.

Update 1 (The next day)

Thanks everyone for the replies,

Qantas called me an hour ago to ask me how I felt about AMS - HEL - TKO - CEB which would be a super long leg and in Economy instead of Business.

Considering the sheer amount of points used I have kindly explained that this was a special RTW flight and would prefer to head AMS-DOH-MNL route if possible.

At this time I'm told she will need to hear back on two things; confirmation from her supervisor and confirmation from the participating airline, Qatar.

I then added that flying into Hong Kong at any stage could render me unable to take any future flights and things are changing rapidly. Avoiding this in advance will prevent further hardship as it will be harder for me to communicate once I'm in Asia.

The ladys silence almost felt like she wanted to agree but couldn't out of workplace formalities.

Lastly, coming out of Japan I was scheduled to pass Hong Kong one more time back into Australia..

So,I should be receiving a phone call today on the following:
  • Further options and whether or not the AMS-DOH-MNL routing is possible on their end and Qatars.
  • Plus whether or not the MNL-CEB-MNL broken part of the leg will be waved by Qantas.
  • Direct flight out of Philippines to Japan in the same class, bypassing Hong Kong.
  • Direct flight out of Japan bypassing Hong Kong back into Australia.
 
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That's scary. We're currently booked to transit HKG off QF onto EK to BKK in 10 days time.
Must look and see if Thailand is stopping flights from HKG.
 
Cruise lines are preventing people who just transit through HK from boarding their ships - with people already enroute to their cruise from the US being barred and having to fly home. That was last week. Today, no one holding a Chinese/HK/Macau Passport is allowed to board, period.

It is a very fast moving situation. And I wonder when Singapore will be next. It has more cases per population than HK. Of people who havent been anywhere near China.

Edit - And welcome to AFF. You have started with a great story to tell but I''m unsure of you have got it all sorted yet?
 
possibly because it had lots of Wuhan residents transiting through there?
Who knows? One is a teacher at school so would have expected a stable population? Pure guess. And doesnt really explain why its higher than HK.
 
YMMV & just a personal opinion, watching the change in the landscape I wouldn't be booking through Changi or Honkers (or I would be actively rerouting any existing booking away from) for the next 3-4 months.
 
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Cruise lines are preventing people who just transit through HK from boarding their ships - with people already enroute to their cruise from the US being barred and having to fly home. That was last week. Today, no one holding a Chinese/HK/Macau Passport is allowed to board, period.

Other than RCCL who else is doing this now?

I'm surprised that each of the lines in the Carnival fleet is apparently doing things differently. I would have expected fleet wide consistency.
 
Phillipines has gone very aggressive, but others may well do the same in coming days.

Can you drop Cebu, or change to another place in SEAsia.
 
nCOV requiring hospitalisation manifests usually as pneumonia

No kidding. But causation doesn’t necessarily run in the opposite direction.

 
Is this an award or a normal oneworld RTW ticket (eg xONEx/xGLOBnn)?

5 oneworld members fly to their major hubs from MNL. CX, JL, MH, QR and QF. JL goes to both NRT and HND from MNL. CEB is only CX to HKG with QR starting flights in April.

Can you reroute AMS-DOH-MNL-(ground CEB)-MNL-TYO?
 
No kidding. But causation doesn’t necessarily run in the opposite direction.

no kidding. But in current circumstances testing all pneumonia is necessary

There is another thread about nCOV. This one is about a members experience re RTW and nCOV.
 
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That's scary. We're currently booked to transit HKG off QF onto EK to BKK in 10 days time.
Must look and see if Thailand is stopping flights from HKG.

Hi, the downside is waiting for something to escalate could leave you a little left out. My flight cancellation was within 3 days of my flight- Just need to be open to the possibility that in this rapid-change environment anything can happen. My recommendation is to avoid HKG all together if possible :)

Any chance to route via SIN as they have a number of QR flights flying there?

Hi! There is a Doha to Manila flight available, however Qantas would like me to front for the domestic leg into Cebu. Then back again. Additionally, Manila isn't an airport I enjoy going through- Have lost multiple things out of my luggage so I try to avoid it if I can :)

Does QR fly to Japan?

You might be able to avoid both HK and the Phillipines?

I'm seeking to avoid HK but Cebu was a main part of the trip unfortunately.

Holy moley, good catch from you! What a mess!

Could go to Japan via SIN or KUL on JL or MH too.

Thank you, there is a flight out of MNL to Japan however availability this soon to departure is proving to be difficult.

Cruise lines are preventing people who just transit through HK from boarding their ships - with people already enroute to their cruise from the US being barred and having to fly home. That was last week. Today, no one holding a Chinese/HK/Macau Passport is allowed to board, period.

It is a very fast moving situation. And I wonder when Singapore will be next. It has more cases per population than HK. Of people who havent been anywhere near China.

Edit - And welcome to AFF. You have started with a great story to tell but I''m unsure of you have got it all sorted yet?

Thanks! good to be here- Story isn't finished yet, I'll be updating it soon with my call- However I'm now waiting to hear back from them (again)

Phillipines has gone very aggressive, but others may well do the same in coming days.

Can you drop Cebu, or change to another place in SEAsia.

Yes they did, Still having trouble believing I could be stuck if I didn't check and start the process. Imagine people who travelled via HKG only to be rejected at Philippine immigration?

Is this an award or a normal oneworld RTW ticket (eg xONEx/xGLOBnn)?

5 oneworld members fly to their major hubs from MNL. CX, JL, MH, QR and QF. JL goes to both NRT and HND from MNL. CEB is only CX to HKG with QR starting flights in April.

Can you reroute AMS-DOH-MNL-(ground CEB)-MNL-TYO?

Hi, I'm flying a RTW Award Oneworld flight. In my original post they are weighing up the AMS-DOH-MNL route however I'm receiving the "subject to acceptance by the other carrier" replies. My requests are being escalated currently and I'm waiting for a phone call back. Hoping Qantas could chip me a non-Oneworld flight from MNL to CEB. Then direct out of MNL to Sapporo bypassing HKG all together.
 

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