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Over the last few months I’ve been debating on how to proceed with booking my family’s tickets from Belarus to Montenegro. Due to Russia’s genocide in Ukraine, the situation in the region is deteriorating further and further. There is so much uncertainty, that it’s hard to plan anything more than a few days away. Forget months!
For Belarus citizens, it’s almost impossible to get a EU/US visa. Also, there are presently only a few ways to fly out of the country. Turkish Airlines is basically the only game in town, unless you count the national carrier Belavia whose wings have been “clipped” by sanctions.
Due to all the uncertainty, I originally planned to wait till the end of April in order to finalize the tickets for my family. We are supposed to meet at the end of May, hence the deadline. However, I’ve been keeping track of the tickets, and the prices started to creep up. It doesn’t help that the same route from Moscow airport currently costs double compared to Minsk. And Moscow is our back-up plan.
Why not use miles? I would love to, but it simply makes no sense in our particular situation. First of all, the flights we need are only bookable via Turkish program and cost 45k miles roundtrip+$154 in taxes. By comparison, the revenue ticket runs at $395 per person. Not to mention, I don’t have enough points (for five tickets) to transfer to Turkish program anyway.
Miles are great because they usually give you more flexibility compared to revenue tickets. But as you can see, they don’t always make sense value-wise. It’s hard to predict what these flights will cost in a few weeks. But I’ve decided to just get it over with, so I don’t have to agonize over this dilemma any longer.
What sealed the deal is the fact that Turkish Airlines will allow me to change the destination at no additional cost. Well, plus the difference in price at the time, of course. So, if Montenegro institutes a visa regime for Belarusian citizens all of a sudden, we can hopefully switch the flight to Turkey instead. And of course, if Turkish cancels the flight due to war in Ukraine, I will simply get a refund. I’m not crazy about spending close to $2k due to all the variables, but it is what it is.
Why I chose Capital One Travel portal
Normally, my advice is to book your tickets directly through airline. That way, in case things go wrong, you won’t have to go through a middle-man, aka travel agency. Of course, if you have a card that allows you to get extra value towards airline tickets, that’s a different story. Not long ago, I was finally able to burn my Merrill+ currency and get 2 cents per point. That’s a no-brainer.
In our case, my husband happened to have a $300 credit I could use via Capital One travel portal, courtesy of his Capital One Venture X card. So, naturally that’s where I turned to first. The price was identical to what I was able to find on Turkish Airlines website. Originally, I was only planning to book one ticket, just so I could use up the credit. The rest would be purchased directly through the airline.
But I changed my mind when I saw an option to buy CFAR (cancel for any reason) insurance for the tickets. It’s pretty cool that you can cancel the flight only 3 hours in advance. Plus, earning 5X per dollar certainly doesn’t hurt.
To be honest, when I saw that it would cost $87 to insure a $395 ticket, I almost skipped it. Plus, I would only get 80% of the tickets’ value back if I canceled them. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that under the circumstances, it would probably be a prudent thing to do.
First of all, I’ve never dealt with Turkish Airlines, and have no idea how hard it would be to switch the flights to another destination. Plus, the cost may be prohibitive anyway. In that case I would simply cut my losses and rebook on Belavia.
Not to mention, so much can happen that may prevent my family from getting on the airplane. My dad’s health isn’t great. Someone may test positive for Covid. Plus, my ex brother-in-law may prevent my nephews from leaving the country at the last minute. Ever since my sister divorced him, his goal in life has been to make her life as miserable as possible. So ruining our family reunion would be very much in character for this dude.
This is a game of percentages. I asked myself if there is a near 27% chance of my family not being able to fly to Montenegro in two months. And the answer was unfortunately Yes.
Another unique benefit that Capital One portal offers is monitoring your purchased tickets for several weeks, and refunding up to $50 in case of a price drop. I don’t expect this to happen for us, but who knows? It certainly is nice to have. So far, I have to say, I’m impressed by Capital One travel portal.
Why Capital One CFAR insurance is most likely a bad deal for you
The reason I paid this astronomical price is because there is no way for me to purchase it cheaper elsewhere. When you go to websites like insuremytrip.com, it asks you about your place of residency. When you put “Belarus”, it only gives an option to purchase medical insurance (which I do plan to buy closer to the trip). But if you are a US citizen, you should get a far more reasonable quote, though some states do not offer CFAR option.
In this day and age, I definitely recommend making sure you are protected. Even if you don’t intend to pay extra for CFAR option, having a standalone travel insurance in place is prudent. Keep in mind that the policy that comes with your credit card most likely will not cover the cost of your hotel quarantine in case you test positive for Covid.
I can’t predict what things will be like in Belarus in two months, but at least I’ll be able to get some of my money back if everything falls apart at the last minute.
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Author: Leana
Leana is the founder of Miles For Family. She enjoys beach vacations and visiting her family in Europe. Originally from Belarus, Leana resides in central Florida with her husband and two children.
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Leana, I have followed the situation of your parents through your posts, and I pray for all of the people living in authoritarian states regularly. Reading this post about the differences in insurance offered to citizens of different countries makes me realize again that we are very blessed to live in the US – no matter what other troubles may exist here, I am truly grateful for our country.
@Arkansas Traveler Definitely. Every country has its issues, but all things considered, we are all very fortunate to live in US. I love Belarus and my hometown, and the thought of possibly never going back breaks my heart. But as long as it’s de facto occupied by Russia, I won’t be taking any chances.
That said, in many ways my family is very lucky. They could be in Ukraine right now. So everything is relative. They are aware that things could be much worse. Sinking economy and international isolation don’t compare to being tortured or killed.