Plan Review

[okiedokie]

Oneworld Business Reward ticket. I'm unfamiliar with flying J (well, U - same difference) so have found some perks. Couldn't find full information on a few things:

- Sydney, eGate for departure so express exit card not much value? Better to check in online and go straight to usual security + eGate immigration.

- Manila can't find if business gets any express entry or exit through immigration?

- Istanbul looks to be no express entry. For exit, I found "For other Airline passengers, there is a separate Immigration Fast Track Pass is available also upon departure ( not arrival though)" though unsure how to get, only company I found was more a yearly thing than one off passes. I'm flying BA.

- From what I can see JFK does have express entry/exit for BA passengers in terminal 7, granted seemingly 1/4 of the plane is business seats so see how that goes.

- My flight from JFK to Hong Kong goes via Vancouver, so for whatever insane reason (why aren't we still friends? Why aren't we still friends...) I need to get a Canadian visa. To sit on the tarmac in a plane??

- Arrive Darwin at 3am. Is there any business lane, or can I get an express card when I leave in Sydney?

I've already done seat selection except for BA, due to ~$140 fees per seat!

Can I check in online for anything other than the Qantas ones, or will I need to go to the counter each time? I'm going carry-on, except for departing Istanbul due to new laws.

Thanks!

 

[Hvr]

- My flight from JFK to Hong Kong goes via Vancouver, so for whatever insane reason (why aren't we still friends? Why aren't we still friends...) I need to get a Canadian visa. To sit on the tarmac in a plane??

<snip>
Thanks!

Two questions re this point.

1) Are you an Australian passport holder? If so then there's no need for a visa.

2) Who told you this?

 

[okiedokie]

1) Yes

2) Qantas when booking. I went on Canadian Embassy website to double check, it said what country are you from, I picked Australia, picked transit, and it said I needed a Visa.
I already applied and was approved, $7.

Transit through Canada without a visa

It sounded ridiculous, however so would making any electronic device larger than a phone required as checked baggage if coming from a muslim country, or wire tapping a microwave.

So ridiculously stupid and totally not true, that it just may actually be true

 

[clazman]

You are forced off the plane in Vancouver they carry out a clean and sometimes a crew swap

 

[Pushka]

Visas are needed for Aussies into Canada now.

 

[okiedokie]

I'd hardly call my trip 'in Canada'... certainly not going to count it as a country I've been to! US craziness is overflowing it seems.

Visa all sorted.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I'd hardly call my trip 'in Canada'... certainly not going to count it as a country I've been to! US craziness is overflowing it seems.

Visa all sorted.

You shouldn't have needed a visa. AU passports can get an electronic travel authority.

 

[Pushka]

You shouldn't have needed a visa. AU passports can get an electronic travel authority.

That's what he/she has done.

 

[RooFlyer]

1) Yes

2) Qantas when booking. I went on Canadian Embassy website to double check, it said what country are you from, I picked Australia, picked transit, and it said I needed a Visa.
I already applied and was approved, $7.

Transit through Canada without a visa

It sounded ridiculous, however so would making any electronic device larger than a phone required as checked baggage if coming from a muslim country, or wire tapping a microwave.

So ridiculously stupid and totally not true, that it just may actually be true

If you got a visa, then you have the wrong document, but I'm pretty sure you haven't.

Visas are needed for Aussies into Canada now.

No, they aren't.

Australians need an Electronic Travel Authorisation, eTA which is much the same as an ESTA for the USA. It costs $7, so I dare say that's what the OP got, without realising it.

A valid eTA is required for boarding in, say Australia.

 

[Pushka]

If you got a visa, then you have the wrong document, but I'm pretty sure you haven't.



No, they aren't.

Australians need an Electronic Travel Authorisation, eTA which is much the same as an ESTA for the USA. It costs $7, so I dare say that's what the OP got, without realising it.

A valid eTA is required for boarding in, say Australia.

Splitting hairs really. You have to apply online, in advance and pay money. That to the majority of travellers denotes a visa. The OP paid $7.

 

[trooper]

Words have meaning. A Visa is a visa...an ETA is not. Calling it that doesn't make it so.....

Visas Ive applied for in advance have required photographs, passport submission...more or less intrusive forms.....significant fees and waiting times..and often a visit to an Embassy to get my passport back....

....my ESTAs for the US take a couple of minutes online at home...

Hardly comparable...

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Splitting hairs really. You have to apply online, in advance and pay money. That to the majority of travellers denotes a visa. The OP paid $7.

As the OP stated they needed a visa, and posted a link to a page about needing a visa for transit, there's no harm in putting the correct information for others who might come across this thread in a similar situation.

 

[RooFlyer]

This is the definitive page: Visa or eTA?

 

[Pushka]

Sure. But if it is stated that you don't need a visa then some might think you can just buy a ticket then get off in Vancouver without doing anything in advance. So while technically not a visa, you simply cannot just board a plane.

You guys are expert travellers. Not everyone is and you can lose them in the language.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Sure. But if it is stated that you don't need a visa then some might think you can just buy a ticket then get off in Vancouver without doing anything in advance. So while technically not a visa, you simply cannot just board a plane.

You guys are expert travellers. Not everyone is and you can lose them in the language.

Agree with the sentiment and definitely shouldn't say you can travel without the required documents. But correct terminology even for infrequent flyers can be important.

It's like saying tourists need a visa for the USA (or Australia). They don't. They need an ESTA (or similar electronic authority). It's a big difference and someone thinking they need a visa could go down that path and have a lot of unnecessary heartache.

 

[Pushka]

Agree with the sentiment and definitely shouldn't say you can travel without the required documents. But correct terminology even for infrequent flyers can be important.

It's like saying tourists need a visa for the USA (or Australia). They don't. They need an ESTA (or similar electronic authority). It's a big difference and someone thinking they need a visa could go down that path and have a lot of unnecessary heartache.

I risk manage. To the average traveller saying point blank that they don't need a visa is more risky than telling them that they might, so they can look further into it.

(Corrected. Not what I meant to say first time round. . Simo stated it properly. )

 

[amaroo]

The things you learn! Last travelled to Canada 2014, no eTA required .... given they've copied their southern friends with their ESTA, and with a 10 fold increase in refugees crossing from LOTFAP - how long before we hear our Canadian friends start chanting "build the wall"

 

[Simo]

I risk manage. To the average traveller saying point blank that they don't need a visa is more risky than telling them they need to look into the situation.

Not a great word but saying you need a visa and people will look into it and then find out the actual correct way

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Not a great word but saying you need a visa and people will look into it and then find out the actual correct way

In an ideal world, yes. But this happens all the time with China and transit without visa. People get told they must have a visa for China when in fact their itinerary might be eligible for transit without visa. It often takes just one person on the internet to state emphatically that 'you need a visa' and that creates enough doubt for some that they actually go and get one. Wasting hours of time and costing $$ that they don't need to spend.

 

[okiedokie]

Yes Canada and USA aren't 'visas' - basically mean I need paperwork and approval I can't simply rock up