Australia to Reduce Incoming Int. Passenger Capacity from July 2021

They could create a list of amber countries with anyone who has only been in amber (or mix of amber and green) countries in the last 14 days and also vaccinated and testing negative to a rapid test upon arrival allowed to home quarantine.
 
mviy said:
They could create a list of amber countries with anyone who has only been in amber (or mix of amber and green) countries in the last 14 days and also vaccinated and testing negative to a rapid test upon arrival allowed to home quarantine.
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These are all things that will happen, but have to get past the loony premiers who have spent the last 18 months telling their voters that they have protected them from having any cases. I think that was fine then, but it’s time to move forward.

until we have a “? “ number vaccinated and they get them to agree it’s time to move to living with the virus, we won’t see any changes.
 
Flying mermaid said:
Yes Dr FM said when she got her email about a repatriation flight it was almost booked out already. She already had a commercial ticket so wasn’t too fussed, but just felt it was very unfair that people who had lived in the UK for 20 years and were coming back for a niece’s wedding and then returning to the UK were treated equally with people genuinely trying to get back permanently.
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It’s extremely unfair but that’s the lazy system they’ve put in place. I have no (financial) need of a DFAT flight but will be taking my place on one (and, yes, then leaving again) as I’ve had 3 commercial flights cancelled in the last 18 months (all in full price J too - have been really unlucky with arrival caps moving twice). HS quarantine will be much better for my kids than the lottery of HQ, and I have an ageing dad and a new baby to meet. Australia does not give a flying hoot about that, or me, so I in return now don’t care what they think the moral purpose of their repatriation flights are - I’m going to game their system. (But will book in biz or premium economy - will leave the econ seats to the broke stranded people.)
 
roogirl said:
It’s extremely unfair but that’s the lazy system they’ve put in place. I have no (financial) need of a DFAT flight but will be taking my place on one (and, yes, then leaving again) as I’ve had 3 commercial flights cancelled in the last 18 months (all in full price J too - have been really unlucky with arrival caps moving twice). HS quarantine will be much better for my kids than the lottery of HQ, and I have an ageing dad and a new baby to meet. Australia does not give a flying hoot about that, or me, so I in return now don’t care what they think the moral purpose of their repatriation flights are - I’m going to game their system. (But will book in biz or premium economy - will leave the econ seats to the broke stranded people.)
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Well I think if you are not booking economy it’s fine. They are the ones who are doing it tough. Dr FM only registered for the repat flights after Singapore Air started cancelling flights and was looking like a no go option, even though she was booked in J. When she was sent the email about the repat flight she had managed to get a J seat with Qatar, so she didn’t need it. She said the Y seats vanished immediately but there was still J available when she looked.

While I think it is an unfair system, I do want to see my son, so hopefully he will make it out here and then yes like you he will leave again. Probably stay a month after quarantine - maybe less. He will probably come on a commercial flight if he can get a seat. Haven’t heard from him fir a few days so if he has decided it’s all too hard I am going to be very sad :(
 
It’s very hard isn’t it. I don’t think any of us want to be displacing vulnerable people. But everyone has their own stories. One of the worst things about this whole Fortress Australia thing is not feeling like wanting to connect with family (many of whom may be either very old or very young) is a valid reason to want to come back, and is in some way selfish. It’s inhuman.
 
I have got confirmation that this is true. I’m booked on delta PE late august to come home permanently. Travel agent has told me caps have been allocated. Some days are the same amount as they were allowed before and some are zero which is going to lead to bumpings. Have yet to find out where my flight landed in the caps lottery. Hopefully it’s been given more than zero otherwise I’ll be cancelled on or hopefully moved to a different date.
Amanad78 said:
I'm liking your comment, not the article.
I agree, it's almost unbelievable, every day things seem to be getting worse, not better
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Heard from son - he is still waiting on final visa paperwork and then will join the hunger games. In some ways I suppose it is better he hasn’t booked anything yet, as at least if a seat is available now it won’t be taken away - or am I being wildly optimistic? Anyway he is going to use Madrooster to book, so at least he will have the best to help him :)
 
My wife and I have decided to take a break from Australia. Pre-Covid, we had always planned on leaving for a few (three?) months to spend time with our families in Germany, originally we thought this might be mid-2022, now we are moving that forward. There is this feeling of suffocating due to the travel bans and if it takes longer than three months for the Federal Government to recognise that having 27 cases in Sydney is not the end of the world, so be it, we will watch from the distance. Most likely, we will only return when home quarantine for fully vaccinated travellers is an option: I have been fully vaccinated, my wife will be on Tuesday.

The impact on the business we run should be minimal, as a first step we are organising a new passport for our daughter (5) at the moment, hers has expired. Then, onto the travel exemption – if anyone had told me two years ago that we need to apply for the 'right' to leave Australia, I would have declared them insane.

We are grateful to be dual citizens to have this opportunity and it will be great for the kids (our son is 3) to spend a lot of quality time with their grandparents/ family, and to attend school there. The world is opening up and I am sick and tired of listening to a certain CHO telling us that she is not 'concerned' about a case of Covid. Australia is being left behind!
 
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JBNY said:
I have got confirmation that this is true. I’m booked on delta PE late august to come home permanently. Travel agent has told me caps have been allocated. Some days are the same amount as they were allowed before and some are zero which is going to lead to bumpings. Have yet to find out where my flight landed in the caps lottery. Hopefully it’s been given more than zero otherwise I’ll be cancelled on or hopefully moved to a different date.
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Fingers crossed for you. At least you are coming from US. Before the caps came in, all three carriers they were still selling lots of seats - in all cabins (on some flights, they seemed to be selling at least 9 seats - if not more). That could give you greater chance of success, as the flights weren't full under the old caps, so there might be some room to accommodate currently booked passengers under the caps. Contrast this to flights from Singapore and the Middle East which were already full, even under the old caps.
 
I have been having a look at prices again and they are looking pretty expensive in J for a direct flight from the west coast. 39,000! I have just told him if it’s too crazy not to come. Thanks crazy premiers.
 
We've been tracking SIN-PER (we are booked on a flight later this month). Whilst unfortunately we can't see anything in relation to our flights (Scoot operated), we've noticed, based on seat maps, that the number of economy passengers with seats on SQ flights between 14 Jul and 24 Jul has reduced from 155 to 98 ... so 57 people have been bumped, just on this one route alone on one airline.
 
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Stay patient. With 1 million Pfizer a week from July 19 we may yet have everyone who wants the vaccine fully vaccinated by Christmas. I think the Feds will be desperate to leave no stone unturned to accelerate the vaccine rollout and get it done and be able to reverse the reduction in passenger capacity and then go further.
 
Seat0B said:
Just giving myself another time out after reading this thread. I feel like I will never see my fully vaccinated son again. It’s disgraceful.
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Think positive.
We also get depressed at times not being able to see family / friends back home (or them visit us) but I try to hold on to the hope that the vaccination roll out will be speedy, the restrictions on numbers will then ease and flight prices will come down.
 
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Seat0B said:
Just giving myself another time out after reading this thread. I feel like I will never see my fully vaccinated son again. It’s disgraceful.
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How is his flight going - is he still scheduled to arrive in August?
 
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