Flights to Australia - reliability?

[Bolsen]

On 06/07/2021 at 02:51, Canbush said:

 We did have to be in separate rooms next to one another, but I believe they were putting in some family rooms.

That´s interesting. Were you allowed to visit each other in your rooms or have contact with each other?

[Canbush]

1 hour ago, Bolsen said:

That´s interesting. Were you allowed to visit each other in your rooms or have contact with each other?

Absolutely.  The rooms were side by side.  We simply got up in the morning, sat on one or the other’s veranda for meals or just to relax, or choose a room to spend time when it was too hot outside.  The only thing we really did was sleep separately - which after 30 years of marriage felt a bit strange, but as I often worked away from home it wasn’t that unusual. If you were outside you just had to wear a mask  if you weren’t eating, and there was no wandering around the camp other than a direct trip to the laundry on the block when we needed to do some washing.  Laundry days were allocated to sets of huts.

This was back in April so there might have been some changes since, but we had no problems and enjoyed our two weeks enforced rest.

[Bolsen]

3 hours ago, Canbush said:

Absolutely.  The rooms were side by side.  We simply got up in the morning, sat on one or the other’s veranda for meals or just to relax, or choose a room to spend time when it was too hot outside.  The only thing we really did was sleep separately - which after 30 years of marriage felt a bit strange, but as I often worked away from home it wasn’t that unusual. If you were outside you just had to wear a mask  if you weren’t eating, and there was no wandering around the camp other than a direct trip to the laundry on the block when we needed to do some washing.  Laundry days were allocated to sets of huts.

This was back in April so there might have been some changes since, but we had no problems and enjoyed our two weeks enforced rest.

Oh, what a relief! Thank you for sharing your experience.

 

For those who traveled recently on a DFAT facilitated flight: What is the baggage allowance for premium economy? The Qantas page gave us conflicting answers. Thanks for the help!

[Maussie]

Couldn't tell you about premium. We travelled bog standard economy and were allowed 30kg checked and 7kg carry on + '1 personal item'. 

There's no family rooms at Howard Springs afaik. As a family we all have separate adjoining rooms. Units of 4 so if >4pax either in adjacent blocks or opposite, and are allowed to venture to each others' rooms/verandahs. 

There's a bunch of YouTube videos on the place which helped us understand the set-up.

[Marcrobi]

Has anyone heard recently if flights are still getting cancelled? If this is still happening what sort of notice have people received? 
I’m due to fly December 6th and really panicking about leaving work and getting cancelled!

[FirstWorldProblems]

48 minutes ago, Marcrobi said:

Has anyone heard recently if flights are still getting cancelled? If this is still happening what sort of notice have people received? 
I’m due to fly December 6th and really panicking about leaving work and getting cancelled!

I can understand your concern.  It is a dynamic situation and unfortunately it's subject to change at very short notice as the Covid situation continues to develop in Australia.  

I have had Etihad flights booked for December since January.  Last week I received a text message saying they had been cancelled.  I went online and could see they had been auto rebooked.  Looks like they have reduced the number of daily flights and shunted us onto the one remaining daily flight.   The new flights they've booked are less convenient for me, have a longer total journey, but at least they are still running.   

However with today's news that Australia isn't letting visiting citizens leave the country without permission, it's moot for us anyway - unless that changes.

[Jon the Hat]

5 hours ago, Marcrobi said:

Has anyone heard recently if flights are still getting cancelled? If this is still happening what sort of notice have people received? 
I’m due to fly December 6th and really panicking about leaving work and getting cancelled!

There are still some, but as the AU govt have not formally extended the reduced caps into September, I think there may be another bout of cancellations.  Who are you flying with again?  I am planning to book with DFAT as a backup when they announce the September flights.  Have you registered with DFAT?

[Marcrobi]

Flying from Newcastle with emirates. Yeah registered with them aswell. Guess all we can do is keep fingers crossed

[fatal3rror]

On 21/07/2021 at 18:47, fatal3rror said:

Thank you @Jon the Hat and @psuwara - I have been keeping an eye on the flights but not checking for the specific day of the week. Seems like the Thursday flight (same code) are still flying as scheduled. 

I understand nothing is guaranteed and are prepared for the worst case scenario - anything can happen within a month!

Quick update - we arrived into Melbourne yesterday. Flew business with Etihad from Manchester which was pretty hassle free. Only a 1.5 hr delay but apart from that, not much to report. First leg to Abu Dhabi was busier while the Melbourne leg had only 10 passengers on board (of which 6 were in Business).

Immigration, customs and Covid formalities took about 90 minutes followed by a 30 min journey to the hotel and 30 mins to get checked in.

[rtritudr]

Please note that the weekly inbound passenger numbers have been reduced in half again down to just 750 per week.

https://simpleflying.com/australian-state-cut-international-arrivals/

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/nsw-to-halve-number-of-international-arrivals-until-october-20210831-p58nmq.html

Edited September 1, 2021 by rtritudr

[Jon the Hat]

It just gets worse.. 3000 people just got their flights home cancelled, most of whom are fully vaccinated and a lower risk than the man on the street in Sydney.

[calNgary]

1 hour ago, Jon the Hat said:

It just gets worse.. 3000 people just got their flights home cancelled, most of whom are fully vaccinated and a lower risk than the man on the street in Sydney.

But until everyone here is vaccinated ,it really doesnt matter if those coming in are or not. 

 Cal x

 

[Nemesis]

7 hours ago, rtritudr said:

Please note that the weekly inbound passenger numbers have been reduced in half again down to just 750 per week.

https://simpleflying.com/australian-state-cut-international-arrivals/

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/nsw-to-halve-number-of-international-arrivals-until-october-20210831-p58nmq.html

Just to clarify, this is for flights into Sydney only.

[Nemesis]

40 minutes ago, calNgary said:

But until everyone here is vaccinated ,it really doesnt matter if those coming in are or not. 

 Cal x

 

And lets face it, we will NEVER reach a point where everyone is vaccinated. 

[Jon the Hat]

2 hours ago, Nemesis said:

Just to clarify, this is for flights into Sydney only.

And thank goodness for that.  Our flight with Singapore to Perth is fingers crossed still confirmed two weeks out.

[PerthLondonGirl89]

21 hours ago, Jon the Hat said:

And thank goodness for that.  Our flight with Singapore to Perth is fingers crossed still confirmed two weeks out.

Fingers crossed for you!!!! Let us know if you make it ! Is your SIN-PER flight a SQ 223 flight? Ours is luckily, still confirmed for 29th September, I am checking the app daily!!

Our Qatar flights on 16th September finally got cancelled this week as expected - so glad I booked Singapore too.  

Did you manage to get a DFAT flight or just hoping your Singapore one goes ahead?

[Jon the Hat]

On 02/09/2021 at 11:26, PerthLondonGirl89 said:

Fingers crossed for you!!!! Let us know if you make it ! Is your SIN-PER flight a SQ 223 flight? Ours is luckily, still confirmed for 29th September, I am checking the app daily!!

Our Qatar flights on 16th September finally got cancelled this week as expected - so glad I booked Singapore too.  

Did you manage to get a DFAT flight or just hoping your Singapore one goes ahead?

Yes 223 seems to be the lucky flight at the moment.  Not seen any cancellations recently.

[Gothnet]

Hey folks, just thought I’d wave from Perth quarantine.

 

Our route (LHR->ATH->DXB->PER) was fine a couple of weeks back. We went Emirates first class, because it was the only thing available. Apart from a *lot* of paperwork hassle it all went smoothly. Only about a dozen passengers on the last flight.

 

The weirdest thing was going from Dubai where everything was mostly normal, to Perth where we were greeted like a biohazard (which of course we are).

Good luck with your flight in a week or so @Jon the Hat, if they put you in the Murray Novotel.. it’s alright!

[Jon the Hat]

On 06/09/2021 at 16:36, Gothnet said:

Hey folks, just thought I’d wave from Perth quarantine.

 

Our route (LHR->ATH->DXB->PER) was fine a couple of weeks back. We went Emirates first class, because it was the only thing available. Apart from a *lot* of paperwork hassle it all went smoothly. Only about a dozen passengers on the last flight.

 

The weirdest thing was going from Dubai where everything was mostly normal, to Perth where we were greeted like a biohazard (which of course we are).

Good luck with your flight in a week or so @Jon the Hat, if they put you in the Murray Novotel.. it’s alright!

Thanks @Gothnet -  fingers are well and truly crossed.  All our stuff went yesterday, travel declarations all done, G2G pass updated.  Just got to find some one way travel insurance as my annual one doesn't cover migration.

Just to scare the shit out of us, I saw the first cancellation from SQ223 on facebook earlier.  30th September.  We fly next week so hopefully they are working on date order and we are ok.  There is no plan B now.

[PerthLondonGirl89]

21 hours ago, Jon the Hat said:

Thanks @Gothnet -  fingers are well and truly crossed.  All our stuff went yesterday, travel declarations all done, G2G pass updated.  Just got to find some one way travel insurance as my annual one doesn't cover migration.

Just to scare the shit out of us, I saw the first cancellation from SQ223 on facebook earlier.  30th September.  We fly next week so hopefully they are working on date order and we are ok.  There is no plan B now.

Yup unfortunately I am one of those unlucky ones with the SQ223 cancellation on 30th September. Absolutely gutted. So angry and so upset. 

[bicek]

7 minutes ago, PerthLondonGirl89 said:

Yup unfortunately I am one of those unlucky ones with the SQ223 cancellation on 30th September. Absolutely gutted. So angry and so upset. 

I'm so sorry to hear this. Are you registered with dfat? 

[PerthLondonGirl89]

10 minutes ago, bicek said:

I'm so sorry to hear this. Are you registered with dfat? 

I am... but of course it is not letting me log in to the website to update my details to say I have had yet another cancellation. 

[Craig Colas]

22 hours ago, Jon the Hat said:

Thanks @Gothnet -  fingers are well and truly crossed.  All our stuff went yesterday, travel declarations all done, G2G pass updated.  Just got to find some one way travel insurance as my annual one doesn't cover migration.

Just to scare the shit out of us, I saw the first cancellation from SQ223 on facebook earlier.  30th September.  We fly next week so hopefully they are working on date order and we are ok.  There is no plan B now.

How long before did you do your G2G pass Jon? Our flight is November didn't know when to start it that's all.

[bicek]

2 hours ago, PerthLondonGirl89 said:

I am... but of course it is not letting me log in to the website to update my details to say I have had yet another cancellation. 

Have you been checking dfat for cancellations for the September flights? They do pop up, so some people are searching each day and occasionally managing to get a late booking. 

[Gothnet]

1 hour ago, Craig Colas said:

How long before did you do your G2G pass Jon? Our flight is November didn't know when to start it that's all.

We did ours 1 week before departure. Same with the Australia travel declaration.