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Major flight cancellations: How Capital One miles saved my international trip home
Ben Smithson is a senior writer for TPG and is based in London. Originally from Australia and a qualified lawyer with a financial services background, he has almost a decade of experience writing about a broad range of travel and loyalty topics.
March 23, 2026 • 8 min read
The cards we feature here are from partners who compensate us when you are approved through our site, and this may impact how or where these products appear. We don't cover all available credit cards, but our analysis, reviews, and opinions are entirely from our editorial team. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
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Quick summary
A major Middle East conflict led to widespread flight cancellations and disrupted travel for about 1 million passengers, including the author.
The author’s original flight to Australia via a Middle Eastern airline was canceled due to airspace closures, requiring urgent alternative arrangements.
Flexible transferable rewards enabled the author to quickly secure a last-minute seat on another airline, despite limited availability and time constraints.
The article highlights the value of maintaining transferable rewards for emergency travel situations.
What to consider
Transferable rewards can be moved to various airline partners, offering flexibility when direct flights are unavailable.
Redemption options may depend on award seat availability and transfer times, which can be critical during disruptions.
Alternative uses for rewards include booking travel through a portal or offsetting eligible travel purchases within a set timeframe.
What you'll miss from the article
A detailed account of how transferable rewards can be used in real-world emergencies, including step-by-step guidance on navigating sudden travel disruptions.
Generated by AI with support from our editorial team.
The recent conflict in the Middle East and the unprecedented airspace closures have canceled thousands of flights and disrupted the travel plans of an estimated 1 million passengers, myself included.
I was booked on a Middle Eastern airline to the United Arab Emirates on the day the disruption began, and my essential travel home looked impossible.
Upon hearing news last month that my father-in-law was reaching his final stages in a health battle, I looked at options to travel from my current residence in London to my home country of Australia to pay my final respects.
Keen to redeem my points and miles, I found an excellent deal: just 35,000 Emirates Skywards miles in economy class for the 22-hour journey Down Under. While I normally do this marathon journey in business class, this trip was not a holiday, and I booked just one week in advance. I needed to get from point A to point B as cheaply, quickly and easily as possible, so economy class made sense.
I chose my seats, checked in online and timed my routine journey to London Gatwick Airport (LGW) perfectly. I arrived 80 minutes before departure, with just enough time to check my bag, head through security and walk onto the plane.
While I normally like to read about world news on the way to the airport to pass the time, on this day, I didn't, perhaps distracted by the somber reason for this journey.
As I rounded the corner to the Emirates check-in desk, expecting to see a dozen stragglers finalizing check-in, I was instead greeted with hundreds of people milling around, looking concerned; there were no check-in staff at any desks. I noticed everyone still had their large suitcases, which set off alarm bells in my head, and I asked one of the passengers if there was an issue with the flight, fearing an engineering problem or a weather delay.
It was much worse than that.
The passenger gloomily told me the flight was canceled because Dubai International Airport (DXB) was closed "due to war." I checked the news on my phone to learn that the U.S. had just launched military strikes against Iran, and all Emirates flights that day were cancelled.
I asked an airport ground staff member what I should do, and they advised me to return to London and await further information from Emirates.
Dejected, I went back to my apartment, rang my husband to explain I wouldn't be arriving in Australia the following day and tried to figure out what to do.
Eventually exhausted and with no solutions, I decided to sleep on it, hoping to wake up the next morning and find that the order had miraculously been restored to global aviation.
Of course, the next morning, when I woke up and got up to speed on developments, nothing had improved. Middle Eastern airspace was still closed, I had no way to get to Australia and was wasting valuable time to say goodbye to a loved one.
At 8:30 a.m., still in my pajamas, I started looking for any flight options using any points and miles from the U.K. to Australia, leaving as soon as possible. This is where tools like Seats.aero are enormously valuable for being able to search across multiple routes, programs, dates and classes at once.
It took a while to weed out all of the options that went via the Middle East, as I was fairly certain none would operate that day. There were some undesirable options to travel the long way via the U.S., but these required plenty of miles and would be an epic 30 hours in the air, not enjoyable in economy class.
Seats.aero miraculously found me one seat remaining on Thai Airways leaving from Heathrow Airport (LHR) in London at 11:50 a.m. that morning to Sydney Airport (SYD) with a short connection in Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) for 65,000 Air Canada Aeroplan points.
Imagining other disrupted travelers in London trying desperately to secure the same seat, I quickly checked my Aeroplan balance, which had only 20,000 points — not nearly enough to book this flight.
Thankfully, I have a healthy balance of Capital One miles that transfer at a 1:1 rate to Aeroplan, and I quickly initiated a transfer of 45,000 miles, which would become the 65,000 Aeroplan points needed to complete this booking. With the time nearing 9 a.m. and bag drop closing 60 minutes before departure (I had to check a bag), I had less than one hour to book this flight, shower and head out the door. Fortunately, I had not unpacked from the day before.
My Capital One miles transferred instantly to Aeroplan, and I hurriedly proceeded to book the Thai Airways redemption. There were several stressful moments when the payment wouldn't go through. (I feared someone else had reserved the seat while I was transferring the miles, and I would be back to square one.) But eventually it loaded, and I received that all-important ticket number.
I was out the door less than 20 minutes later in an Uber to Heathrow. Explaining at check-in why I had only booked the flight 80 minutes earlier and that it hadn't been possible to select a seat online this close to departure, she took pity on me, gave me an exit row seat and blocked the seat next to me so I had some extra space.
I was quickly on my way to Australia via Thailand. I arrived just 24 hours after my original Emirates flight, feeling extremely grateful for my Capital One miles.
Why Capital One miles can be good in a crisis
Earning transferable rewards like Capital One miles lets you keep them in your Capital One account and transfer them only when you know you will need them, such as for an emergency. I've found this flexibility hugely valuable.
However, in an emergency, time is precious. You may not have the mental bandwidth to check availability, research transfer times and rates, or consider flying to nearby airports to find a reasonable award rate.
Or there just might not be any award availability through any transfer partners. Instead, the only option might be a high cash fare that you may not really be able to afford.
Luckily, you still have a few options with your Capital One miles. You can redeem your miles for flights, hotels or rental cars booked through the Capital One Travel portal at a rate of 1 cent per mile. Additionally, if you made an eligible travel purchase within the last 90 days, you can redeem your miles for a statement credit at 1 cent per mile to offset the cost.
If you’re looking to earn more transferable miles, the following Capital One cards offer great welcome offers:
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card: Earn 75,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening, plus receive a $300 credit to use on hotel and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Travel in the first cardholder year.
My disrupted travel plans due to the closure of Middle Eastern airspace are exactly why I collect transferable rewards. Had I only earned, say, Emirates Skywards miles, I might still be in London trying to work out how to get home.
Instead, I struck gold by finding the only decently priced and timed economy award seat from the U.K. to Australia the day after the disruptions began, which I could book with Capital One miles that transferred instantly to Aeroplan.
If you want to earn rewards that you can have ready for emergencies like this, Capital One miles are a great choice to collect.
By commenting, you agree to our Community Guidelines to help create a positive space for conversation. The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, our partners, or The Points Guy (“TPG”). They have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these parties. All responses are submitted by individual contributors, and neither the bank advertiser, our partners, nor TPG are responsible for ensuring that all posts and/or questions are answered.
