Questions and Answers

I had planned to take my mother to Ireland for her 70th birthday in July. I used Alaska miles to purchase her roundtrip business class ticket on Condor from Seattle to Frankfurt. I purchased a roundtrip business class ticket for me on the same flights through the Chase portal. I was hoping to use the miles earned to ensure at least Gold status on Alaska for next year. Alaska was kind enough to link our reservations. I then bought both of us roundtrip tickets from Frankfurt to Dublin on aer lingus. Having sweated out a trip on Condor last year when Tomas Cook went bankrupt, I decided to buy travel insurance that would cover any bankruptcy contingency. Well everything was purchased and all looked in order as of the beginning of January. Not so much now.

I have been playing a game of chicken and it appears to be coming to an end soon. Getting information from Condor is hard as hell, but from what I can tell they have cancelled or will cancel long haul flights through the end of June. I assume if I push, I can get a refund if they cancel the flight. As I read their website, I can modify my flight plans for free up until the end of May and get a credit for rebooking on one of their future flights. I have been hoping that Condor would extend their cancellation dates into July but that hasn’t happened yet or that they would extend the free rebooking beyond the end of May, again hasn’t happened yet. My other hopes, somewhat sadistically, was that Condor would actually go bankrupt this time after TAP pulled out of the sale or that my mom would get “furloughed” from her part-time side job and I could make a claim against the travel insurance. Again neither has happened. At this point, my mom has no desire to fly and she hardly leaves her house for fear of catching the coronavirus (her part time job has decided that she should telecommute from her house). So what is the best move to get as much money/miles back? Here is where I see it, please let me know if I am getting something wrong.

Mom’s ticket on Condor – Since I purchased her ticket from Alaska using points and have Gold Status, I don’t think I will have a problem cancelling her ticket and getting the Alaska miles returned to my account. I am not sure why I haven’t done this online yet. Anyone see a problem with this?

My ticket on Condor – I purchased this ticket using the Chase Portal, mostly with points, but I think I was about $82 short and put that on my Chase card. It would seem like I am screwed under Condor’s current policy. My thought is to wait until the last possible day in May and, unless Condor’s policy has changed at that point, cancel with them and take a credit. That is my least favorite option. Can anyone throw me a bone on how to possibly get a refund from Condor or Chase?

Our tickets on Aer Lingus – These tickets were fairly cheap. They were purchased with my chase card, not the portal. Naturally I would love a refund, but a future credit would not be a disaster. Thoughts?

Travel insurance – If it matters the policy was obtained by C&F Travel Insured International and is underwritten by United States Fire Insurance Company. I got the base policy with the optional travel benefits upgrade. [I just didn’t want to suffer through the whole will Condor go bankrupt or not thing again and my mom is no spring chicken.] Unless Condor goes bankrupt or someone gets laid off, I don’t see how the travel insurance policy comes into play at this point. It has a quarantine provision, but sheltering in place is not the same as quarantining….. Anyone else see how it could be applicable?

As always, thanks in advance for any wisdom you are willing to share.