Episode 33: Negotiating Coronavirus Change Waivers

We’re trying something different on our No Annual Fee Podcast this week with a format called Short Cuts.

In Short Cuts we’ll cover the latest points & miles news, and our take on recent developments, in short digestible shows with a singular topic.

This week we’re talking Coronavirus change waivers, and how to navigate them for upcoming travel. In life almost everything is negotiable, including change waivers.

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Check out Episode 67 of our Paid Show where we discuss:

  • Booking awards
  • Mileage runs
  • Coronavirus waivers
  • And much more…

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About the author

– Written by Robert Dwyer, contributor at Milenomics. Connect with me on Twitter @RobertDwyer

Comments

  1. Appreciate the free podcast released today and the prior one re Robert saving his Japan trip after the AA account shutdown. I have round trip tickets in F on ANA to Japan on March 26th using Virgin Atlantic miles for me and an elderly parent. I am trying to figure out my “ask” and when and which airline to ask. Right now ANA’s policy for refunds on revenue tickets for international flights extends thru March 19th. If ANA cancels my flights, I assume ANA might let me rebook them for later this year, which I think is the best that I can hope if we do not take the flights. (Ideally, ANA would allow us to rebook next year for Cherry Blossom Festival time, which was the purpose of our trip.). Alternatively, I think the minimum I can expect is the return of my Virgin Atlantic miles and the taxes/fees paid. Is there anything in the middle I should seek out? TIA for any recommendations/suggestions.

    1. I think a lot of us are in a similar position with existing award travel in that we want to push out travel a year, and no award calendar goes out more than 365 days. So it’s technically not possible to change to the same week next year, especially for a roundtrip.

      I’m in a similar situation with a trip to Italy in April. I don’t want to push it out to summer (too much uncertainty still) and the next vacation window is April 2021. Aeroplan/Tap Portugal can’t accomodate that kind of a change so I’m asking them to cancel, refund my miles + fees, and waive change fees. A schedule change should help with this but getting through to call centers is challenging right now.

      You’re in a unique position with 2 hard to get tickets on ANA First so hopefully you can leverage that to some extent. I just don’t know whether Virgin Atlantic has the ability to force ANA First that’s not there/not there yet. And I think Virgin Atlantic only allows booking 331 days out. I think I’d just seek a cancellation and try to pounce on the award space as soon as it opens for 2021.

      Best of luck and keep us posted?

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