Earlier, I posed the question of whether Gulf carriers will ever make a full recovery from the current conflict in the Middle East, and if so, how long it will take. I’ve also addressed the topic of what to do if you have a ticket booked on a Gulf carrier, given all the uncertainty. In this post I’d like to pose another question, which reflects a dilemma I’m currently facing.
Given that Miami has no nonstop flights to North or Southeast Asia, I had been expecting that my best opportunity to redeem miles for a comfortable ride would be to book a Gulf carrier at the last minute. Suffice it to say that the current conflict complicates that.
The argument for traveling through the Gulf right now is easy — flights are largely wide open, award availability is good, etc. Gulf carriers carry a massive amount of sixth freedom traffic (between other countries), and when those options disappear overnight, availability via other regions is suddenly looking much tighter.
A great solo travel tip spotted this week on One Mile at a Time.
