2020 year of travel (or not!) in review

[Bundy Bear]

So lucky I booked my overseas trip for January to Singapore and Vietnam.

I left Singapore the day the first coronavirus case was announced in Singapore.

• Number of flights 16
• New airlines flown Vietnam Airlines, China Airlines.
• New aircraft types A350-900
• New airports visited SGN (Ho Chi minh City)

Those new categories.

• Where had you planned to go this year, but were unable to? (Proserpine, Adelaide x2, Perth, Melbourne)
• How many fewer miles did you fly in 2020 compared to 2019? (2020-18833/2019-22990)
• What's one thing you've learnt and/or are thankful for this year? I saved money, from not traveling.

My trip to Vietnam was with a traveling companion who was last there 50 years earlier.
My first return trip across the Tasman sea in a day.

 

[luxury-lizard]

Well here goes:-

• managed a ski trip to Whistler in late Jan/early Feb (airports - YVR, HND)
• flew to Cape Town in early March only to fly home 4 days later due to CV (airports - SIN, JNB, PER)
• A couple of domestic trips - North Queensland in late July when NSW border opened for a few weeks, then NT (The Center) in Nov
• New airlines - NH and SA / no new aircraft
• Miles flown/not flown - sorry don't keep track but down about 50%

Cancelled trips:

• Seychelles and Mauritius (see aborted trip to Cape Town above)
• Europe - Switzerland, Germany

Other stuff:-

• Saved money of course but did not keep track of it - roll it forward to 2021 and more likely 2022
• Learned that I miss the planning as much as the actual travel and that wonderful feeling of that pre-departure glass of Champagne meaning that we're finally on our way

 

[Major]

Only 1 flight this year. MEL-OOL in Jan. Nothing else planned.

This will be the longest period without a flight in more than 20 years

 

[wandering_fred]

2019 (31 flights 35745 miles) 2020 (6 flights 8948 miles)
No 2020 international flights - 10 cancelled
Airline rankings for handling cancellations
JQ (full flex tickets)>
CX(a bit of a delay but only exchange rate issues)>
AA (with likely unusable credits)

Nothing yet scheduled for 2021...........

Safe holiday travels for those able to do so and in 2021
happier wandering

Fred

 

[Buzzard]

Number of flights in 2020: 0
New airports visited in 2020: 1

Visited MIM. walked there from where I was staying.

 

[Drakecula]

• Number of flights in 2020: 0
• Cancelled flight destinations: 0
• Something I've learnt in 2020: Working from home was great. I had less anxiety about social situations because I wasn't in many due to staying home for a good chunk of time.
• Something I appreciate from this year: The amount of savings we've accumulated from not doing anything, very useful for the house build and we'll be able to get all the extras we need (flooring, driveway, solar panels, etc) sooner rather than later.
• Something I'm looking forward to next year: I'm planning a floor to ceiling bookcase with a rolling ladder in the new house, so maybe I can get that put in next year, pending all the other things we need done as a priority.

 

[JohnM]

Cancelled:

DONE4 taking in Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, mainland USA, Canada, Hawaii, Japan, S Korea, Kamchatka in far E Russia. That was to be my 16th successive annual D/AONEx.

First time in QR A380 F; CX F.

France, Spain, Chad.

Indian Pacific SYD-PER.

Raja Ampat (Indonesian Spice Islands) - DRW voyage.



Did squeeze in some flights: to Tassie in January and BME recently.

Changed travel to plenty of driving within WA through the year.


If we still had Flight Tracker, I could tell you more...

 

[chelzmalee]

• Number of flights: 0
• Existing airlines flown: 0
• New airlines flown: 0
• New aircraft types: 0
• New airports visited: 0
• Existing airports visited: 0
• Cancelled flight destinations: Nil, didn't get that far in planning before the 'Rona hit.
• Something I've learnt in 2020: Nothing is every guaranteed.
• Something I appreciate from this year: Being employed throughout the pandemic, and the value of family.

It's been an interesting year for me. Non-travel related - I changed jobs (where I am much happier) right before the pandemic went into overdrive in March, my mental health bounced back and I managed to lose 19kgs. It's been a god awful year for many, but I have found it to be a wonderful year of personal growth.

That said, looking forward to a vax and being comfortable travelling on a plane again.

 

[Scarlett]

The year is almost to a close and nothing further planned or likely, so: (last years figures in brackets)

- Number of flights: 18 (48)
- New airlines: 1 - EY (2 - SB, B2)
- New aircraft: Nil (0)
- New airports: MCT, AUH (9)
- New lounges visited: MCT, AUH (EY F - thank you pre-collapse VA) (9)

- Best flight: MEL-CMB in UL J
- Worst flight: AUH-SYD in EY Y (booked the day before the flight to cut short a holiday and get back before Australia closed borders and after UL had cancelled our flights back to Australia. Even though I had the poor mans flat bed in Y on the lightly loaded flight, it was not comfortable.)

- Airport facilities used due to lounges being closed: VA - OOL, SYD, BNE / QF - DRW
- Destinations planned but cancelled: PER (twice!), LAX, BOG, MDE, AUA, BON, CUR, PTY, LIR

- $ outstanding (and airlines deliberately avoiding refunds or massively delaying repayment):

• AV ~AUD10K ("would you like a voucher?", "no, I want a refund", "ok, we're working on that" (x10...))
• UL ~AUD3K ("where is my refund?", "someone from Colombo finance section will definitely call you back" (x10...), crickets...)
• EY ~AUD300 ("We will not refund your fare component as you wanted a refund and this is a non-refundable fare. There is nothing further we will do" - even though this was an involuntary cancellation (ie: EY cancelled the flight!) and is against EY conditions of carriage and has been pointed out multiple times.)

- One thing I have learnt: there really is no consumer protection with international travel if it is something unusual, ie: a pandemic. Travel insurance washed hands due pandemic exclusion and chargebacks have been denied by the bank due to COVID-19 exemption claimed by Mastercard. Short of legal action, I believe I have exhausted all of my options.

 

[Myrna]

• Something I appreciate from this year: Had time (and money) for a major home renovation turning a single storey 2.5 bedroom, 1 bathroom house into a 2 level, 5 bedroom, 3 bathroom house! With the non refundable safari deposit refunded via a travel insurance claim, I bought an 85' Samsung TV which was delivered today (and had plenty of $$ to spare) but honestly, I feel like a bird in a locked cage with clipped wings!!!

 

[jb747]

Number of flights in 2020: 1 (goodbye 747 )

• New airlines flown: None
• New aircraft types: None
• New airports visited: None
• Cancelled flight destinations: LHR / LAX / SAN. There would have likely been more, but those were the two trips booked.
• Miles flown in 2020: 0 (technically around 100, but since we landed at the same airport it doesn't count)
• Something I've learnt in 2020: I miss traveling
• Something I appreciate from this year: My next international flight

Number of flights: 0. It’s the first time since 1974 that I haven’t even set foot on an aircraft.
Cancelled. RTW, which was booked via Melbourne, Singapore, LA, Houston, Manchester, Singapore, and back to Melbourne. It would have included Seattle, Dayton, NYC, Washington, and Orlando, but never got as far as booking those sectors.

Cancelled drive/caravan trip to outback Qld, and back via NT and SA. Caravan got a total of about 1,000 kms, all within Victoria.

Cancelled all flight plans for 2021. It was to be Avignon and Venice. I can’t see that happening within 3 years. TBA I guess.

 

[kookaburra75]

2020 was certainly a year of ups and downs. In late Jan I decided to finish up with the job I had (too much time away from home travelling being one reason), and walked into a new job with a smaller company. We managed to get a few flights into 2020, with 7 month gap in the middle. One big plus, was the AFF Annual Get together happened in Canberra.

Other stuff:-

• Saved money of course but did not keep track of it - roll it forward to 2021 and more likely 2022
• Learned that I miss the planning as much as the actual travel and that wonderful feeling of that pre-departure glass of Champagne meaning that we're finally on our way

MrsK and I also have that ritual, and we've been keeping our hand in during the shut downs, so we're ready once we get travelling again.

But, back to the facts

• Number of flights in 2020: 19 (17 domestic, 2 international) c.f. 2019 - 103 flights
• New airlines flown: None
• New aircraft types: None
• New airports visited: BNK - for our fist trip to Byron Bay
• Cancelled flight destinations: None - we were planning a 'quiet' year at home, with a few road trips
• Miles flown in 2020 compared to 2019: 2020 - 16,314 miles (2019 - 80,275 miles)
• Something I've learnt in 2020: I really don't miss travel for work
• Something I appreciate from this year: Not having to get up at 4.30am for the first flight of the day, more time at home to get all of those things done that have been building up the past five years

 

[VPS]

• Number of flights in 2020: 5 - 2 International, 2 Domestic, 1 Domestic in South America
• New airlines flown: 1- LATAM
• New aircraft types: None but I did get to have my last international trip in the bubble of the 747
• New airports visited: SCL and EZE
• New countries visited: Argentina, Chile and Uruguay
• New continents: Antarctica
• Cancelled flight destinations: So many domestic trips with planned catch up with friends and missing AFF – had planned trips to Vic, Qld, WA. Also planned on attending conference in Northern Ireland and trying to have a White Christmas somewhere
• Miles flown in 2020 compared to 2019: 2020 26319 km (2019 - 52,204 km)
• Something I've learnt in 2020: I really miss travelling and catching up with friends
• Something I appreciate from this year: A chance to stop and relax a bit and not feel guilty saying no to people because you have to self isolate.

 

[AIRwin]

• Number of flights in 2020: 22 16 so far and another 7 upcoming subject to no new border restrictions (2019: 62)
• New airports visited: TSV so far and BME upcoming subject to no new border restrictions
• New lounges visited: CBR (QF J) so far and MEL (The Club) upcoming subject to no new border restrictions (2019: GMP/HND)
• Australian capital city airports visited: BNE/CBR/MEL/PER/SYD so far and PER upcoming subject to no new border restrictions (2019: BNE/MEL/PER/SYD)
• Australian regional city airports visited: TSV so far and BME and LST /NTL upcoming subject to no new border restrictions (2019: CNS)
• Miles flown in 2020: 23,821 16,102 so far and another 6,239 to go subject to no new border restrictions (2019: 31,618)
• Something I appreciate from this year: Exploring new "domestic" destinations TSV and BME/NTL subject to no new border restrictions

Final update for 2020 (NTL trip replaced by LST)

 

[AIRwin]

And just to add that I'm glad I made it to ACT, WA and TAS all within December 2020 as they have now imposed a hard border with QLD...

 

[kamchatsky]

Number of flights: 0. It’s the first time since 1974 that I haven’t even set foot on an aircraft.
Cancelled. RTW, which was booked via Melbourne, Singapore, LA, Houston, Manchester, Singapore, and back to Melbourne. It would have included Seattle, Dayton, NYC, Washington, and Orlando, but never got as far as booking those sectors.

Cancelled drive/caravan trip to outback Qld, and back via NT and SA. Caravan got a total of about 1,000 kms, all within Victoria.

Cancelled all flight plans for 2021. It was to be Avignon and Venice. I can’t see that happening within 3 years. TBA I guess.

You think international travelling won't be happening in 3 years? Noooooooooooo ......

 

[defurax]

What an odd year! Basically zero travel from mid-March to late November with the almost permanent lockdown in Victoria.
I came back to MEL from LAX just in time to self isolate at home for 2 weeks and my next flight was 8 1/2 months later to CBR.

So overall:

• Number of flights in 2020: 26 (51k miles) compared to 76 flights in 2019 (129k miles)
• New airlines flown: VA
• New aircraft types: Not a new type, but first time flying the awful BA Intl J seat
• New airports visited: Not a new airport, but transited to SIN new terminal
• Cancelled flight destinations: Don't really want to think about it... Easter Island, Tahiti, Buenos Aires, Barcelona, New Zealand, Jakarta, Hong Kong...and many more
• Miles flown in 2020 compared to 2019: 51k miles in 2020 compared to 129k miles in 2019
• Something I've learnt in 2020: Fully flex doesn't mean quick refund
• Something I appreciate from this year: Not stressing about connections, missing flights, bad weather at airports, useless cab drivers, transit security, the TSA, etc...

I also received my brand new APEC business travel card in January 2020, it is in a drawer and will most likely never give any benefits considering all the border checks for covid tests, covid vaccination and QR codes/covid apps. I don't really see APEC lines being a thing...