Middle East Airspace Diversions/Cancellations

[Seat0B]

Isnt it extending to December?

You can use benefits until December if you arrive in UAE by 31 Oct.

 

[OATEK]

How long was the proposed change, to be considered insignificant?

Only 20 mins.

 

[Happy Dude]

How long was the proposed change, to be considered insignificant?

Only 20 mins.

So was there any indication from them of what constitutes a significant change, other than deducing that it's >20mins? Might be handy for folks to know.

 

[Seat0B]

Update from Seat Son last night. This latest round of attacks from Iran has not affected the UAE at all. He suspects a bunch of back room deals were involved, as by common understanding on the ground in the UAE business circles, the UAE has some commercial and financial leverage over Iran.

He says life is going on pretty much as normal now. The outflow of people has largely stopped - all those who want to leave have already left. he says house purchase prices have fallen by 10% or so, particularly at the top end, but the rental market is very tight - many people who might have bought a house are now looking to rent for a while (himself included). He isn't sure about the inflow of expats, but says his organisation and several others are actively recruiting due to growth in business (he's a lawyer). He says its hard to tell the impact on tourists because it is now summer which is the off season - it was a balmy 43 degree as we spoke. But he suspects that people will hold off on their winter bookings for a bit longer yet just to see if things stay "stable" (his word!) or if it goes downhill again. He agreed with reports that a number of hotels, restaurants etc have closed down - and reminded me he had told me that a few months ago.

There have been substantial attacks in Kuwait, Iraq, Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi.

 

[OATEK]

So was there any indication from them of what constitutes a significant change, other than deducing that it's >20mins? Might be handy for folks to know.

The only concrete "substantial" change mentioned was cancellation of flight, or rather they said "the flight is still operating".

 

[John82]

The only concrete "substantial" change mentioned was cancellation of flight, or rather they said "the flight is still operating".

We had 20 min schedule change booked on Qantas, Emirates metal. It made the connection time from ok to uncomfortably tight. Qantas allowed rebooking onto other codeshares. Travel agency booking with requesed waiver code.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

We had 20 min schedule change booked on Qantas, Emirates metal. It made the connection time from ok to uncomfortably tight. Qantas allowed rebooking onto other codeshares. Travel agency booking with requesed waiver code.

One of the things QF does quite well. They’ll usually accept any time change as valid to refund.

 

[John82]

One of the things QF does quite well. They’ll usually accept any time change as valid to refund.

Also much better options for rerouting. EK is limited to EK flights generally while QF will rebook you on other partners as well.

 

[OATEK]

Had a chat to them, and they said NOT a significant change. However, the cancellation fees are modest, and we decided that rather than worry about whether things were going to escalate, and that we might find ourselves stuck half way to our destination, we would go with our backup flights.

The difference in timings means that we have to adjust our accommodation bookings in London, and so had to make a decision (one of them is pre-paid).

It will be a shame to drop back from J to PE for our backup flight, but getting there in a timely and safer way is important, and it is (theoretically) a daytime flight (leave SIN 9am, arrive LHR 4pm same day).

If the peace deal had held, we would have proceeded with the EK booking.

Just to update, cancelled and refunded within 5 days.