Travelling to Australia During COVID-19 (Discussion)

[Flashback]

Hi Alan - Loved the podcast - thank you. Do you have any suggestions of how to reduce the very long wait time trying to speak to Qantas Customer service? I am in the UK trying to change my flight return date (Emirates codeshare from LHR via Dubai to Sydney 20 April). Is there a quieter time of day to call - (the site says 24 hour service but when I rang at 7am UK time there was already an hour's wait. I'm calling the number given for Qantas UK customer services. There is an option for Qantas to 'call me back' but as this is only to an Australian phone number, I can't use that option (my Aus mobile is in wifi/no calls mode to avoid hugs charges during the time I'm here - 3 months so far - so using a cheap UK mobile). My second try today at 8.30am took so long without speaking to anyone that my 'top up' PAYG credit expired....this doesn't bode well. Any suggestions for how to get around this, please? Thanks, Janice

Also.. there are plenty of cheap SIM cards that have unlimited minutes here.

 

[jonesja]

Also.. there are plenty of cheap SIM cards that have unlimited minutes here.

Thanks Flashback - I'll contact O2 to see if the SIM I bought can allow unlimited minutes - and if not I'll buy another just for the call - could well work out cheaper!

 

[Flashback]

Thanks Flashback - I'll contact O2 to see if the SIM I bought can allow unlimited minutes - and if not I'll buy another just for the call - could well work out cheaper!

Absolutely, how much are you spending per month? I can suggest a few alternatives if need be also.

 

[dajop]

Also, if you have a good internet connection, sign up for an old fashioned skype account... I am not sure how good the Qantas USA number is, but it is toll free and can (or at least used to) be accessed free of charge through Skype.

 

[Myrna]

@madrooster - Have there been any changes on the transit requirements for various cities / countries and airlines flying into Australia, since your very informative post. If so, would you be able to update them on that initial thread? Many thanks!

 

[dajop]

One thing, that is difficult to locate, is the time you will depart from hotel quarantine. This is probably important for some who might need to consider onward travel. It varies by state, this is what I have been able to find out for states accepting commercial flights from overseas that require quarantine on arrival.

State	Rules	Example flight arrival	Example leaving hotel quarantine (2 weeks later)
NSW	Arrival date = day 1 If flight lands before 12:00, depart between 04:00 and 10:00 on Day 15 If flight lands after 12:00, depart between 18:00 and 20:00 on Day 15	07:00 Monday 13:00 Monday	04:00-10:00 Monday 18:00-20:00 Monday
Vic	Arrival date = day 0, depart at 00:01 on Day 15	07:00 Monday	No earlier than 00:01 Tuesday
SA	Arrival date = day 0, depart at 00:01 on Day 15	07:00 Monday	No earlier than 00:01 Tuesday
WA	Exactly two weeks after flight lands	07:00 Monday	No earlier than 07:00 Monday
Qld (waiting for answer)

 

[PineappleSkip]

Interesting that Qld is so shy. This is my experience, checkin 01.30 night one (the key thing was the direction which as I understood it starts the clock. this was about 23:00 the night before, after flight arrival about 22:30). Hotel told me I needed to do 14 nights, not 14 days, and I selected a checkout slot from those svailable, the first of which was 00:00-00:30 on day 14. I got a further direction before checkout which basically gave me an early mark. So I could have stayed slightly less than 13x 24 hour periods if I was desperate to escape. Actually I hung around all night and checked out at 10:00.

so my example is flight arrival 22:30 Friday, checkout 10:00 (could have been 00:01) Friday.

in terms of risk that runs till you isolate in your room, the bus to hotel would be as risky as the plane and there was at least 1 person on my flight who later tested positive.

cheers skip

 

[Maisy33]

Son hoping to travel home from LAX with SQ next week. He received a seat bid upgrade. IS this standard?

 

[dajop]

Son hoping to travel home from LAX with SQ next week. He received a seat bid upgrade. IS this standard?

Not uncommon on relatively empty flights. Which sector? Is it economy or premium economy to business? Or just economy to premium economy ?

 

[Maisy33]

Dajop, PE to business

 

[mviy]

I think the main thing to take away from this is that hopefully this offer indicates that he is highly unlikely to be bumped off the flight.

 

[dajop]

Dajop, PE to business

Sounds worthwhile. During the pandemic , where flights are lightly loaded, premium economy is not the cabin to be in. Either economy, where you can lift up the armrests and lie down across 3 seats or business is the way to go.

 

[Wooddar]

Thursday at 5:26 AMHi. Hope you can help. We have been permitted to visit Uk in July / Aug for compassionate grounds but I am concerned on getting back even though we have confirmed dates. I understand there is a cap and it’s primarily the airlines who decide who flies. Any experiences with e.g Ethaid flying economy and which day of week is best to return. ? Ps plan to fly to London but maybe leaving from another Uk airport might reduce bump chance ?

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[PineappleSkip]

Madrooster's comprehensive guide is still the authoritative source.

You'll find it on this thread. He's a travel agent and I'm sure he'd be happy to help you.

cheers skip

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

The guide is terrific. But hopefully @madrooster finds the time to reply to post 113 (@Wooddar ) on this discussion thread.

 

[AFF Editor]

@madrooster will be joining me again on next Saturday's edition of the AFF on Air podcast. If anyone has a question they would like to ask him to be discussed during the episode, please ask here or send me your question in a conversation.

 

[PineappleSkip]

Probably the obvious question - I'd be interested to know what's changed in terms of getting back into Australia since last podcast

Also interested in what are the current options with travel insurance for travel ex Australia. There was some discussion of the latter late last year, and airlines have extended the validity dates. Some have queried trips out of Australia, and I have a work trip coming up if I get a leave pass. However with the exception of Emirates the travel insurances appeared to be specific to COVID and the 'Do not travel' warning for the rest of the world meant that travel insurance for anything else is generally unavailable and Emirates was the only practical option for me.

Cheers skip

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Probably the obvious question - I'd be interested to know what's changed in terms of getting back into Australia since last podcast

Also interested in what are the current options with travel insurance for travel ex Australia. There was some discussion of the latter late last year, and airlines have extended the validity dates. Some have queried trips out of Australia, and I have a work trip coming up if I get a leave pass. However with the exception of Emirates the travel insurances appeared to be specific to COVID and the 'Do not travel' warning for the rest of the world meant that travel insurance for anything else is generally unavailable and Emirates was the only practical option for me.

Cheers skip

Part of your insurance requirements may also depend on where you're planning to go. Australia has reciprocal health care with 11 countries... so going to anyone of those should cover immediate medical needs. Airlines will cover lost baggage to a degree. You might have to self insure (or your company to guarantee to cover) any other losses or personal liability.

 

[madrooster]

Qld (waiting for answer)

If you land at 7am Monday, you exit quarantine from 12:01am Monday 2 weeks later. Eg. enter quarantine 7am 07/06, exit 12:01am 21/06.

Qld's quarantine timing presents an issue when there is an active outbreak in Brisbane and a person finishing quarantine is heading to WA.

WA does allow entry via G2G pass exemption, even if their border is closed. They require that a person has completed 14 x 24 hour periods in quarantine in order to be exempted from a border closure against Qld but with the way the Qld timing works, you would never meet that requirement.

NSW's quarantine timing also presents the same issue if there is an active outbreak in Sydney and the WA border is closed. Vic and SA don't have this issue.

Probably the obvious question - I'd be interested to know what's changed in terms of getting back into Australia since last podcast

Also interested in what are the current options with travel insurance for travel ex Australia. There was some discussion of the latter late last year, and airlines have extended the validity dates. Some have queried trips out of Australia, and I have a work trip coming up if I get a leave pass. However with the exception of Emirates the travel insurances appeared to be specific to COVID and the 'Do not travel' warning for the rest of the world meant that travel insurance for anything else is generally unavailable and Emirates was the only practical option for me.

Cheers skip

In terms of a solid policy? None exist. There's holes in every policy at the moment.

Many have cover exclusions if you travel to a country that Australia has marked as do not travel. Many have all sorts of exclusions around 'pandemics'. Some will give limited cover when these exclusions are triggered, some give no cover at all (yet they will still take your money).

The guide is terrific. But hopefully @madrooster finds the time to reply to post 113 (@Wooddar ) on this discussion thread.

I have already responded to @Wooddar privately.

 

[Ric]

I believe that CX also have came out with a sort of Covid insurance policy.

https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_AU/flying-with-us/cathaycare/free-covid-19-insurance.html