missbasille

I've seen a few posts about people applying for a bridging visa b, but quite a few are old so I just want to see if anyone has any recent experience? I applied for my partner visa 820 in December 2014 and I don't think I even have a case officer yet. It has been "in assessment" with no changes on the date since the day I lodged it. However I really want to book flights to go back to the UK for Christmas this year - the prices have already started to rocket!!! :mad: I went into Brisbane and lodged my paper application but the person I spoke to gave no guideline to how long it would take to process, just mentioned that if my main visa was close to being finalised they would do that instead. It's been a week almost and I haven't been charged for the visa so can only imagine it hasn't been touched yet. I just want to know if I should book my flights and hope for the best or should I call them to see if I can get the bridging visa b confirmed now for the dates I provided. Every week the flights are $100 higher, and I can't keep waiting and ending up paying $3000 that I could've paid $1900 for. Any information would be greatly appreciated!