Partner redemption – what happens if one leg of the redemption gets cancelled?

[Thywillbedone]

Hi all. I have booked some one-way award flights for later this year on Cathay using Avios (BKK-HKG-LON). What happens if the first leg of the redemption is cancelled (i.e. the flight doesn’t run)? Does the whole booking fail and get refunded? The second leg of the redemption is the part I really want – and there would be other ways of getting from BKK to HKG. Obviously with Cathay in the position it is in, the likelihood of one leg not running is not insignificant.

Thanks.

Edit – follow-on question: if the whole booking were the fail if Leg 1 was cancelled …I assume I am better off trying to chop off the first leg of the redemption and book it separately?

• This topic was modified 55 years, 4 months ago by .

[NorthernLass]

I assume you’ll be at the mercy of Cathay’s Ts and Cs, whatever these are. I think EU/UK261 only applies from flights out of the UK where the airline isn’t EU based.

[Thywillbedone]

NorthernLass wrote:

I assume you’ll be at the mercy of Cathay’s Ts and Cs, whatever these are. I think EU/UK261 only applies from flights out of the UK where the airline isn’t EU based.

Hi. I had the same flights booked last year and the booking was ultimately cancelled – I got a full refund from BA at the time with no fees. But I don’t know if it was a problem with the first or second leg of the booking.

[Thywillbedone]

Answered my questions. Best to keep both legs on one booking as (1) transiting HKG currently requires it, and (2) if leg 1 is delayed on the day, I would have no recourse on leg 2 if I missed it. So will keep a watching brief to see if leg 1 flights are travelling closer to the time. If there is risk of leg 1 being cancelled, I can chop it off the bookings for £35 pp.

[LostAntipod]

I had a cancelled redemption leg once, was rescheduled onto a later flight with a different carrier (not even OW, it was Thai instead of QF, booked with Avios).
Might have helped that I was in F, and that it was the last leg of the outbound.
YMMV.