MELBNGSM Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 On 24/03/2021 at 11:26, Kathss56 said: WELL! they have stuck to their word and started issuing parent visas to those onshore as from today. Got my grant this morning after 5yrs 5days! Good luck to the others waiting, as at least we know now they saved us a place ! All the best Kath Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathss56 Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 24 minutes ago, MELBNGSM said: All the best Kath Thanks, same to you, hopefully July for you!!. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Jane Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 @BargeUK I’ve just seen that they are opening Melbourne up on the 8th of April! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BargeUK Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 3 hours ago, Lady Jane said: @BargeUK I’ve just seen that they are opening Melbourne up on the 8th of April! Yay! I saw that too. Cap of 800 the first week then increasing the week after. I do hope that's in time for Canda too.... I can hardly dare to believe this might actually happen! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BargeUK Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 On 17/03/2021 at 09:16, Canda said: Hi BargeUK, thanks for the update, much appreciated… we still have everything crossed but have extended our rental accommodation, just in case. We are due to fly on the 17th April but just don't know whether to postpone, change airport or wait to see what happens, the longer we put off the more expensive & limited the flights become… all feels very uncertain, whichever choice we make. How about you? Have you seen the news today? International flights to start on 8 April - hopefully just in time for you too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BargeUK Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 On 25/03/2021 at 11:13, BargeUK said: Yay! I saw that too. Cap of 800 the first week then increasing the week after. I do hope that's in time for Canda too.... I can hardly dare to believe this might actually happen! Huh! All this time waiting and worrying about Melbourne opening up and when it finally does our flights are promptly cancelled! Thought it was too good to be true. We think we've managed to book new flights but they are twice as much money and are to Sydney. Nothing available to Melbourne till August! We had them booked since the beginning of December so it's very disappointing. Guess we'll just have to sweat it out a bit longer..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canda Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 15 minutes ago, BargeUK said: Huh! All this time waiting and worrying about Melbourne opening up and when it finally does our flights are promptly cancelled! Thought it was too good to be true. We think we've managed to book new flights but they are twice as much money and are to Sydney. Nothing available to Melbourne till August! We had them booked since the beginning of December so it's very disappointing. Guess we'll just have to sweat it out a bit longer..... Oh no, that’s so disappointing... I think our flights are an earlier date to yours? Just can’t believe what’s happening we daren’t open our emails now... Meanwhile our furniture is travelling like the speed of light to Australia, storage fees await at the other end for sure, seems to be have been the only cargo ship to get through the Suez Canal this week. Good job we don’t need health checks again, blood pressure will be through the roof . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Jane Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 11 hours ago, BargeUK said: Huh! All this time waiting and worrying about Melbourne opening up and when it finally does our flights are promptly cancelled! Thought it was too good to be true. We think we've managed to book new flights but they are twice as much money and are to Sydney. Nothing available to Melbourne till August! We had them booked since the beginning of December so it's very disappointing. Guess we'll just have to sweat it out a bit longer..... Oh no! Do they give you any reason why? That is so upsetting and frustrating. Were you flying economy or business? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BargeUK Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 1 minute ago, Lady Jane said: Oh no! Do they give you any reason why? That is so upsetting and frustrating. Were you flying economy or business? No real reason - just the leg from Doha to Melbourne was no longer confirmed. Maybe they overbooked at beginning of December expecting more seats to be available by end of April. We were booked business class for that reason plus the extra luggage allowance. What was disappointing was they haven't even offered us an alternative - just said we could have our money back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BargeUK Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 11 hours ago, Canda said: Oh no, that’s so disappointing... I think our flights are an earlier date to yours? Just can’t believe what’s happening we daren’t open our emails now... Meanwhile our furniture is travelling like the speed of light to Australia, storage fees await at the other end for sure, seems to be have been the only cargo ship to get through the Suez Canal this week. Good job we don’t need health checks again, blood pressure will be through the roof . I'd like to think you'd have heard something by now if you had a problem with your flights because, as you say, they are before ours. At least they didn't tell us 48 hours before we flew so we have got a bit of time to re-book. I'll keep everything crossed for you. I don't think our shipping has actually left the UK yet because they said they would email me the details once it did. It was only a part container so they had to wait for another load to fill the container so hopefully we'll beat it there! And as for the blood pressure.....well......daren't even think about that!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LindaH27 Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 26 minutes ago, BargeUK said: No real reason - just the leg from Doha to Melbourne was no longer confirmed. Maybe they overbooked at beginning of December expecting more seats to be available by end of April. We were booked business class for that reason plus the extra luggage allowance. What was disappointing was they haven't even offered us an alternative - just said we could have our money back! Maybe some back ground to all this ?? https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/mar/27/airlines-say-planes-were-stuck-on-tarmac-waiting-for-scott-morrison-press-conferences?utm_term=9263f4af022352bf9a5664562e64268d&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayAUS&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTAU_email Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BargeUK Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 28 minutes ago, LindaH27 said: Maybe some back ground to all this ?? https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/mar/27/airlines-say-planes-were-stuck-on-tarmac-waiting-for-scott-morrison-press-conferences?utm_term=9263f4af022352bf9a5664562e64268d&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayAUS&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTAU_email You're absolutely right. Brisbane has 2 (two) new cases so they're planning to halve international arrivals for the next couple of weeks - hopefully not as long as Melbourne's couple of weeks - but the airlines get no notice. All they said when Melbourne closed was the planes already in the air could complete their flights! How can any company plan for that? Hopefully, once Australia has completed its vaccine rollout they will accept that there will be some cases of the virus but not the hospitalisations and deaths that have been seen elsewhere. They have done an amazing job of supressing it and keeping it out so there's no reason to expect they will change the way they're doing things any time soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Jane Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 1 hour ago, BargeUK said: No real reason - just the leg from Doha to Melbourne was no longer confirmed. Maybe they overbooked at beginning of December expecting more seats to be available by end of April. We were booked business class for that reason plus the extra luggage allowance. What was disappointing was they haven't even offered us an alternative - just said we could have our money back! I’m really surprised when your business class that you’ve been bumped, I’ve only heard of economy customers being bumped off. Very disappointing that you haven’t been offered alternative as I’ve seen other Qatar passengers have. I’m assuming it’s not the whole flight cancelled? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BargeUK Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 2 hours ago, Lady Jane said: I’m really surprised when your business class that you’ve been bumped, I’ve only heard of economy customers being bumped off. Very disappointing that you haven’t been offered alternative as I’ve seen other Qatar passengers have. I’m assuming it’s not the whole flight cancelled? I don't know - our travel agent just said we were no longer confirmed on the second leg of the journey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LindaH27 Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 (edited) 31 minutes ago, BargeUK said: I don't know - our travel agent just said we were no longer confirmed on the second leg of the journey UPDATED. Oops didn’t read properly - you did book with agent !! Did you try to book direct with airline yourself or through agent? Only asking because there’s been a few posts on other forums where people who booked business direct were ok but people who booked through agent were bumped. They do try to look after their own frequent flyers. Also a few years ago I booked in online the day before for my flight to Australia. Printed out the boarding passes and all the details. Day after, I still went to check in desk, I always do and was told I’d been offloaded from the second leg! I asked for the supervisor and showed him all my printed out proof. Cue a very anxious 15 minutes whilst he was walking up and down shouting down the telephone to the airline. Eventually I was called over and given the boarding passes for both legs. The second leg was on a different seat to the one I booked. Apparently they had decided to change the plane overnight so my prebooked seat didn’t exist on the alternate plane!! But they pulled all the stops out and got me onto what was actually a full plane so I don’t know whether someone else got bumped instead! . Or whether they had the same scenario again with other passengers as I like to get there early for as soon as desks open to dump my luggage then go and relax. Edited March 27, 2021 by LindaH27 Correction Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Jane Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, LindaH27 said: UPDATED. Oops didn’t read properly - you did book with agent !! Did you try to book direct with airline yourself or through agent? Only asking because there’s been a few posts on other forums where people who booked business direct were ok but people who booked through agent were bumped. They do try to look after their own frequent flyers. Also a few years ago I booked in online the day before for my flight to Australia. Printed out the boarding passes and all the details. Day after, I still went to check in desk, I always do and was told I’d been offloaded from the second leg! I asked for the supervisor and showed him all my printed out proof. Cue a very anxious 15 minutes whilst he was walking up and down shouting down the telephone to the airline. Eventually I was called over and given the boarding passes for both legs. The second leg was on a different seat to the one I booked. Apparently they had decided to change the plane overnight so my prebooked seat didn’t exist on the alternate plane!! But they pulled all the stops out and got me onto what was actually a full plane so I don’t know whether someone else got bumped instead! . Or whether they had the same scenario again with other passengers as I like to get there early for as soon as desks open to dump my luggage then go and relax. I’ve also seen that on other forums about when booking via an agent, more chance of being bumped. I’ve booked direct with Emirates, who we always use, and I must admit I’ve not seen anyone bumped from an emirates flight and Lots moved/bumped from Qatar airlines. (hope I haven’t jinxed myself ) Edited March 27, 2021 by Lady Jane Add Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BargeUK Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 5 hours ago, Lady Jane said: I’ve also seen that on other forums about when booking via an agent, more chance of being bumped. I’ve booked direct with Emirates, who we always use, and I must admit I’ve not seen anyone bumped from an emirates flight and Lots moved/bumped from Qatar airlines. (hope I haven’t jinxed myself ) To be honest, we've been going backwards and forwards for the last 10 years and never used a travel agent before. We were advised to use one for this trip recommended by our emigration agent because of the circumstances with covid and the fact that they had a better chance of contacting the airlines in the event of any problems. It's done now so we have to live with it and just hope things work out. If this flight gets cancelled or we get kicked off we'll presumably get our money back and then maybe try and book ourselves Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathss56 Posted March 29, 2021 Share Posted March 29, 2021 (edited) On 27/03/2021 at 17:59, BargeUK said: No real reason - just the leg from Doha to Melbourne was no longer confirmed. Maybe they overbooked at beginning of December expecting more seats to be available by end of April. We were booked business class for that reason plus the extra luggage allowance. What was disappointing was they haven't even offered us an alternative - just said we could have our money back! People from the UK are now not allowed to transit through Changi airport to believe, so maybe Doha have done the same? Edited March 29, 2021 by Kathss56 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BargeUK Posted March 29, 2021 Share Posted March 29, 2021 7 hours ago, Kathss56 said: People from the UK are now not allowed to transit through Changi airport to believe, so maybe Doha have done the same? There is a special arrangement for people flying from UK to Australia whereby you stay on the plane at the changeover in Changi. It's a 90 minute layover so not too bad - just means you don't get to stretch your legs for a couple of hours. We're booked with Singapore Airlines now so keeping fingers, toes and everything else crossed!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LindaH27 Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 Apparently Karen Andrews is the new Home Affairs Minister taking over from Peter Dutton. Will be interesting to see some of her viewpoints! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LindaH27 Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/mar/30/biloela-family-new-home-affairs-minister-karen-andrews-urged-to-look-with-fresh-eyes-at-plight 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
143mag Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 Happy for everyone who received their visa but I feel like we are only one left from Pre April 2016. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katherin2016 Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 (edited) Hi everyone I just got the VAC 2nd payment request today ! At least they are processing The application now . Edited March 31, 2021 by Katherin2016 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaz59 Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 Has anyone heard anything who applied in 2017 Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BargeUK Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 On 27/03/2021 at 16:32, Lady Jane said: I’ve also seen that on other forums about when booking via an agent, more chance of being bumped. I’ve booked direct with Emirates, who we always use, and I must admit I’ve not seen anyone bumped from an emirates flight and Lots moved/bumped from Qatar airlines. (hope I haven’t jinxed myself ) It actually seems that we weren't bumped off but the whole flight was cancelled! Sadly our replacement flight was also cancelled and so now we're waiting with bated breath to see if our 3rd flight works out! It's like slow torture.....we had to move the date back a bit so that prolongs the agony 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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