Booking Condor in its precarious state

[cruisequeen4ever]

Aviation experts, I could really use your expertise, please.

 

DH and I love Condor because we can fly nonstop to Europe up and over, whereas other airlines would add at least one stop and 3 hours extra flying time. We planned on using Condor again next summer, but then the Thomas Cook thing happened, and now there are some concerns. Condor was bailed out til around March of 2020 when it believes it can sustain itself, but I also read it’s hoping to be bought out. 

 

Buying nonrefundable airfare on an airline that may go bankrupt to catch a cruise seems highly risky to us both, however if we did it, we would immediately purchase travel insurance. 

 

I have a few questions. 

 

1) If we use Alaska Airlines FF miles to book Condor, would Alaska have to put as on an alternative airline if Condor went out of business? Or would they just refund our miles and cancel the ticket? 

 

2) Would travel insurance protect us if Condor went out of business? Some policies seem like they do, and others seem questionable. 

 

3) Condor applied for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Would that help us? If so, how? 

 

4) Opinion question...Would you feel comfortable booking Condor in its current state?

 

Thank you in advance! 

[FlyerTalker]

3 hours ago, cruisequeen4ever said:

1) If we use Alaska Airlines FF miles to book Condor, would Alaska have to put as on an alternative airline if Condor went out of business? Or would they just refund our miles and cancel the ticket? 

 

Neither, IMO.  According the the AS Mileage Plan terms and conditions:

 

"Travel on award tickets will be subject to the tariff, contract of carriage, ticket terms and travel re-accommodation policies of the operating carrier. Passengers whose itineraries are interrupted due to irregular operations while traveling on a Mileage Plan award ticket will be rerouted by the operating carrier."

 

There is no separate mention of a carrier going completely out of business.  Would cessation of operations be "irregular"?  I'll leave it to the lawyers to come up with the answer.

 

It is allowed for a passenger to cancel an award ticket and redeposit the miles.  However there is a fee for this service.  And it is unclear if this must be done before a carrier ceases service.  Give the T&C a read for yourself.

 

3 hours ago, cruisequeen4ever said:

2) Would travel insurance protect us if Condor went out of business? Some policies seem like they do, and others seem questionable.

 

Completely depends on the coverage of the specific policy.  There are no blanket answers with "travel insurance".  And further, it would only cover actual losses incurred from the cancellation of air service.

 

3 hours ago, cruisequeen4ever said:

3) Condor applied for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Would that help us? If so, how?

 

You are an unsecured creditor.  And it may affect the specific "insurance" you may acquire.

 

3 hours ago, cruisequeen4ever said:

4) Opinion question...Would you feel comfortable booking Condor in its current state?

 

It would depend on the extent of whatever insurance coverage I would obtain.  If Condor went under, you would likely have to purchase new tickets at a higher cost than what you had.  Does your coverage cover the fare differential or just provide for a return of your original purchase price?  Are there restrictions?  And so much more.

 

As a disclaimer, please note that I would not be flying on Condor in any case.   Not one of my choices for international travel.

.

 

[cruisequeen4ever]

Thank you, FlyerTalker for taking time to carefully and thoroughly answer my questions. I was hoping I’d hear from you. I did forget to mention that we had thought our backup would be to pay to redeposit our miles if we needed to, since that’s the most minimal cost risk we could take, but I had not considered the possibility of being unable to if Condor went out of business. We will give this us a lot more research and thought. 

[waterbug123]

10 hours ago, cruisequeen4ever said:

Thank you, FlyerTalker for taking time to carefully and thoroughly answer my questions. I was hoping I’d hear from you. I did forget to mention that we had thought our backup would be to pay to redeposit our miles if we needed to, since that’s the most minimal cost risk we could take, but I had not considered the possibility of being unable to if Condor went out of business. We will give this us a lot more research and thought. 

 

More than getting your miles back, I'd be worried about what the possibly last minute price would be on a new ticket on a new airline if your travel insurance didn't cover that.

[cruisequeen4ever]

9 hours ago, waterbug123 said:

 

More than getting your miles back, I'd be worried about what the possibly last minute price would be on a new ticket on a new airline if your travel insurance didn't cover that.

Absolutely 

[iancal]

I believe that I read something about the German Gov’t bailing out Condor.  Not certain how that will work.

 

 We were in the  Zakynthos, Greece on Oct 6 and saw a Condor flight from Germany  deplane a load of holiday makers and take another group home.  I was surprised at first because the aircraft had a fair bit of TC livery on it however the Condor logo was towards the back.

Edited October 13, 2019 by iancal

[cruisequeen4ever]

19 hours ago, iancal said:

I believe that I read something about the German Gov’t bailing out Condor.  Not certain how that will work.

 

 We were in the  Zakynthos, Greece on Oct 6 and saw a Condor flight from Germany  deplane a load of holiday makers and take another group home.  I was surprised at first because the aircraft had a fair bit of TC livery on it however the Condor logo was towards the back.

The German govt did bail them out but only for the next 6 months. They’re currently looking for buyers/investors. We would be flying them next summer after the bailout money dried up.

[iancal]

Danger!

[Hlitner]

I noticed that Condor's administrator said that the airline has enough liquidity (thanks to a bailout by the EU) to get through the "winter."  He also expressed optimism that the airline could find a new partner.  One wonders what will happen if they do not find a partner (with deep pockets) by next spring.  Will the EU continue to financially prop up the airline?  Hard to say.   Personally I prefer to avoid airlines in financial trouble.  As iancal said, "Danger."

 

Hank

[iancal]

Keep your powder dry.  Look at alternatives.   We have often booked transatlantic flights a month or so out and had excellent pricing.

 

Wait to see what happens in the next few months.  If Condor is re-financed and are viable they will no doubt have a big sale to fill the seats.  Then you will be in a better position to make a decision.

 

I am somewhat conservative and would be reluctant to book even if the alternative means an extra connection.

Edited October 16, 2019 by iancal

[cruisequeen4ever]

I read that Indigo Partners who own Frontier Airlines are interested in buying them. Lufthansa may still be interested. Virgin Atlantic bid last spring but hasn’t said anything recently. The German govt. values the airline, so hopefully a buyer/investor will be found to help the airline survive.

[cruisequeen4ever]

We decided to play it safe and go with a tried and true. Hopefully Condor does make it, though, and we’ll happily go up and over with them another year! 

 

Thank you all for your help! 

Edited October 19, 2019 by cruisequeen4ever