Daughter in Finland

M

Mark and Narelle

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Joined
Sep 24, 2020
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Hi all, I currently have my 16 yr old in Finland on student exchange. She departed 7 Jan with a return date of 7 Nov. Her return flight with Emirates has been cancelled or she has been bumped (depending who you speak to)
We are trying via the consular to have her reinstated with little luck so far. We may need to book another flight with another airline.
I found this web site and subsequent forum and am just trying to get some advise.
I am finding it so difficult trying to ascertain who is actually flying in to Australia, wether flights available are actually going to fly etc... etc....
Any suggestions on an industry expert or an independent travel agent with a great reputation that may be able to offer us some advise or steer us in the right direction would be greatly appreciated
Thanks Mark and Narelle
 
Mark and Narelle said:
Hi all, I currently have my 16 yr old in Finland on student exchange. She departed 7 Jan with a return date of 7 Nov. Her return flight with Emirates has been cancelled or she has been bumped (depending who you speak to)
We are trying via the consular to have her reinstated with little luck so far. We may need to book another flight with another airline.
I found this web site and subsequent forum and am just trying to get some advise.
I am finding it so difficult trying to ascertain who is actually flying in to Australia, wether flights available are actually going to fly etc... etc....
Any suggestions on an industry expert or an independent travel agent with a great reputation that may be able to offer us some advise or steer us in the right direction would be greatly appreciated
Thanks Mark and Narelle
Click to expand...
Welcome to AFF and you must have been rather concerned over the last few months. I'm a little surprised the program continued during the pandemic to be honest.
Try Qatar into Adelaide. Adelaide also seems a popular choice for the mandatory hotel stay as well. I'm not sure how this will work if you live in WA as they are being renegade right now.
 
Mark and Narelle said:
Hi, preferably Adelaide but we won’t mind which city to be honest, we will deal with the the rules and regulations as required
Click to expand...
Then Qatar would be the perfect choice. Apparently seats available according to a post here yesterday. SQ also flies in here currently.
 
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Looks like QR is operating daily flights out of HEL:

News | Routes

Routes is the home of the world’s leading aviation network development conferences and events. Plus aviation news and features, and profiles of global airlines and airports.
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No updates to Australia operations yet...
 
Update on BNE:

Qatar Airways extends Brisbane service into 1Q21

Qatar Airways in Northern winter 2020/21 season will continue to operate service to Brisbane, as the airline opened reservation for travel on/after 25OCT20, in the last 24 hours. The oneWorld member plans...
www.routesonline.com www.routesonline.com
 
I am seeing a friend on Thursday who recently returned from an annual three month trip to Norway which stretched to 9 months this year due to Covid. I'll ask her about her travel arrangements.
 
Mark and Narelle welcome to AFF. You must be pulling your hair out. My daughter is stuck in Europe atm and we were quite concerned initially because she also had to self isolate so I know how you might be feeling. Your daughter is quite young at 16 to be away so long, I hope she is not too homesick. Mine is a bit older so has age to help her cope and I have told her to just wait it out. At 16 you don't have this same degree of latitude. How does she feel about staying with her hosts so far? How do they feel about having her stay a little longer?
 
You could try contacting QFlyer. They are an online travel agent, based in Adelaide, and they are very familiar with Finnair, etc. I had very good service from them with a cancelled trip to Europe earlier in the COVID era, and they seemed very knowledgeable, and honest/forthright with information. I am not associated with them in any other way. Some other people have commended them, and others have not, so who knows if I just got lucky or not, but it might be worth a phone call/email to them and then you be the judge of it all. Hope it all works out for you.
 
Long shot. 2 yrs ago my daughter messaged me she was stcuk in Dublin due to extreme weather phenomenon "The Beast from the East". All public transport had stopped running and few cars were on the road. She managed to find someone who would drive her to the airport but was running late. I messaged Etihad on fb and they asked for regular updates from her via me. They kept the gate open for her and she caught the last plane out of Dublin for next 3 days. I have to admit I was very surprised at what could be achieved on fb messenger.

This probably will not solve your problem, but anything is worth a try. Why not try messaging Emirates on fb to see if they might escalate your enquiry.
 
It's far from easy right now with many horror stories. There are some Facebook groups about Australian quarantine containing truly terrible implications from the government imposed flight caps. Anyway - to your problem ...

kayak.com.au (or skyscanner etc) is the best place to start to see what might be available however:

1. Only book direct with the airline (instantly dismiss any option from an Online travel agent IMHO)
2. Check your flight is flying NOW on the day of the week you want to fly (do this for all legs). Many airlines are selling flights that aren't currently flying. Of course things might improve in the near future but do you want to take that gamble? For example Lufthansa is right now selling ANA code shares for NH889 (which has never flown) and NH879 (which only flies 3 days per week, soon to increase to 4 days per week). The airlines update their schedules a month or two out from the flight date so if you find yourself booked on an "orphaned" flight you will be bumped then go to the back of the queue again. Googling the flight number is a good place to start and that will lead you to flightradar24 or one of the other sites.
3. Consider booking a refundable backup flight in case the caps cause your daughter to be bumped at the last minute. Apparently the caps get fine tuned a day or two out and your daughter could be the unlucky one.
4. Keep in touch with the airline and/or check the airline website for last minute (like today) availability. Also consider waitlisting for earlier flights. And consider reconfirming your booking.
5. There is anecdotal evidence that business class has a better chance that economy. But YMMV.

Good luck getting your daughter home. (It's taken me 5 attempts to get home from Sweden and I hope I finally have a booking that might stick.)
 
sydunipete said:
1. Only book direct with the airline (instantly dismiss any option from an Online travel agent IMHO)
Click to expand...

This would be my recommendation as well.

Too easy for an airline to cancel your booking and leave it to the agent to deal with it. If the booking is directly with the airline you will have a chance to speak to an agent and explain the circumstances (in the OP's case, an unaccompanied minor away from home).
 
I spoke to my friend today about her return from 9 months in Norway helping with family issues.

She booked a through ticket with Emirates from Stavanger to Oslo to Dubai to Perth. Her flight left Stavanger on a Tuesday morning, so she had a covid test on Friday about 10:30. It came back negative on the Monday night.

There were some visa problems in Stavanger on the Tuesday morning which had to be sorted out through the Danish embassy, but she finally was allowed to board around 8:00. In Oslo, the check-in staff told her that she couldn’t fly on to Dubai as her covid test was done more than 96 hours ago. She finally convinced them that her test was was within the 96 hours from the first flight’s departure.

The flight from Oslo was disrupted by one of the 8 economy passengers who had lost his mobile. He spent 45 minutes crawling around the aircraft looking for the phone, disrupting the other passengers. Finally, another passenger rang his number and they could hear it ringing. It turned up in his jacket in the overhead locker.

There was a 4 hour delay in Dubai. Everything after that went smoothly.

She was quarantined in a hotel on Hay Street and had a window which opened a little. Her room had a view of the District Courts, Hay Street and few other interesting sights. The food was pretty dire but she was able to get some food deliveries. She knitted a shawl and a jacket while she was in quarantine. Some light bulbs were blown and she was unable to get anyone to replace them.

She may have to return to Norway next year.

The one arrangement which she was so pleased about was booking a through ticket with the one airline.
 
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