Questions and Answers

Hello — first time poster. I’m curious if anyone has info or is in a similar situation…

We booked our honeymoon in the Maldives for mid-July 2020 (booked over a year ago). We have been following the re-opening plan in the Maldives closely, and the latest info we are seeing is that their policy could include a mandatory minimum stay (14 nights) and may only initially open to Asian countries.

We are flying on Qatar from Chicago->Doha->Maldives. My question is this: If the flight is operating, but we specifically don’t meet the destination country’s requirements for entry — either/or they are not allowing Americans in or we do not meet the minimum stay requirements — are we eligible for a complete refund?

This seems like a muddy grey area and I am hoping to find some clarification!

Thanks!

Most carriers put the onus on travelers to meet entry requirements to their destinations. If the flights are operating, I would check the COVID policies of your booking carrier to see what options they will provide for a cancelation initiated by you. You could also try to see if requesting a credit for future travel produces a better response than a cash refund request. Good luck, and congratulations on the wedding!

If the traveler does not meet entry requirements for the country, the airline is in full right to refuse carriage. The traveler is not entitled to a refund, as they still technically used that seat, as it flew our empty. This is during normal times, but now amongst covid, many airlines are more lenient with their policies. I would read up on Qatar’s covid policy. If you are able to get a credit, or move the flight to another date, I would do so