Flights to Australia - reliability?

[Jon the Hat]

1 hour ago, Gothnet said:

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

Yes you can do it earlier, but then you need to update your health and travel declarations within 7 days anyway, so not much point to be honest.

[Jon the Hat]

3 hours 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. 

Oh no that is a nightmare.  No idea why they are fucking around with flights less than 3 weeks out but assume it is to do with Govt moving numbers around.  

I have spoke to SIA today and they tell me that all necessary cancellations for next week have been sent, but honestly I won't believe it until I am on the plane taking off.

Edited September 10, 2021 by Jon the Hat

[psuwara]

3 hours 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. 

Sorry to hear. It’s so frustrating when this happens. We had flights pushed back from December the. April all the way to June. Finally got lucky with low cost business flights on Etihad. We booked them and thankfully got out of Russia in time before I became illegally stateless.

[PerthLondonGirl89]

@bicek yeah I have had a look today but no DFAT flights have become available. I will keep checking though and will also keep an eye on emails for the October flights.

@psuwara  it is definitely not a nice situation and it sucks that so many have been through it. Our first flights were cancelled at the start of February and then this is our second lot cancelled in September. I am very pleased that you guys did eventually make it to Aus! I am sure we will get there eventually too.

[Anna Mat]

On 09/09/2021 at 10:47, 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.

hi Jon, 

Hope your flight will go ahead ,crossing my fingers for you ! Ours is in Dec with Quantas LON-PER-MEL .

May I ask you who did you go for the migration insurance , I need to look into it. many thanks

[Jon the Hat]

15 minutes ago, Anna Mat said:

hi Jon, 

Hope your flight will go ahead ,crossing my fingers for you ! Ours is in Dec with Quantas LON-PER-MEL .

May I ask you who did you go for the migration insurance , I need to look into it. many thanks

I’ve used True Traveller, they were very helpful.

[bicek]

2 hours ago, Anna Mat said:

hi Jon, 

Hope your flight will go ahead ,crossing my fingers for you ! Ours is in Dec with Quantas LON-PER-MEL .

May I ask you who did you go for the migration insurance , I need to look into it. many thanks

I'd also appreciate some advice on this as our usual cover doesn't apply for migration. Just sorted out removals insurance with Letton percival. 

 

Ah thanks @Jon the Hat I've only just spotted your reply. I'll look them up. 

Edited September 10, 2021 by bicek

[PerthLondonGirl89]

On 10/09/2021 at 11:47, Jon the Hat said:

Oh no that is a nightmare.  No idea why they are fucking around with flights less than 3 weeks out but assume it is to do with Govt moving numbers around.  

I have spoke to SIA today and they tell me that all necessary cancellations for next week have been sent, but honestly I won't believe it until I am on the plane taking off.

Sorry I completely missed this earlier. Yeah it feels like a kick in the teeth as it seems like there is just a small batch of 223 flights that have been cancelled - the majority seem to be okay, we just happened to pick the wrong flights. The part I keep replaying in my head is that I was umming and ahhing over booking the week earlier which those flights seem to be okay. I keep thinking why did I not book those instead!! BUT! It is out of my control. We are lucky as we have a roof over our heads for as long as we need, I do freelance work so we will be getting some type of income, and we are all healthy and okay as are my family in Aus so we have no pressing reason to get back other than un-pausing our life for our next big steps (starting a family etc!). I just need to be grateful for the position I am in, as disappointing as it is to have our flights cancelled yet again. Getting back to Australia will happen eventually.

Obviously anything can happen but all of this does make me more hopeful that your flights will be okay as I think you would have heard with this recent batch of cancellations if not. IThis forum and the stranded Aussie's FB pages have shown me that there are (unfortunately) so many of us in this position - and as much as I want to be the one with the success story of getting home I am so happy for those who do actually make it because I know the intense feelings that go on inside and the affect that this situation has on you!

[Jon the Hat]

I can’t quite believe it but we’re at Heathrow having breakfast.  Bags dropped, all checked in, through security.  I’m starting to believe we are going to make it! Can I get excited now?

[Craig Colas]

4 minutes ago, Jon the Hat said:

I can’t quite believe it but we’re at Heathrow having breakfast.  Bags dropped, all checked in, through security.  I’m starting to believe we are going to make it! Can I get excited now?

Good luck!!! @Jon the Hat

[bicek]

4 minutes ago, Jon the Hat said:

I can’t quite believe it but we’re at Heathrow having breakfast.  Bags dropped, all checked in, through security.  I’m starting to believe we are going to make it! Can I get excited now?

Yay! Amazing! Have a safe flight and best of luck with everything on the other side. Let us know how it all goes

[psuwara]

20 minutes ago, Jon the Hat said:

I can’t quite believe it but we’re at Heathrow having breakfast.  Bags dropped, all checked in, through security.  I’m starting to believe we are going to make it! Can I get excited now?

That’s so good to hear! Reminds me of our adventure only 1.5 months ago. The rush of it all is exhilarating, frustrating and at times overwhelming. Getting on the plane was definitely full of Euphoria! 

Living your experience vicariously! Thanks for sharing.

Safe flight and keep us all updated! 

[Drumbeat]

3 hours ago, Jon the Hat said:

I can’t quite believe it but we’re at Heathrow having breakfast.  Bags dropped, all checked in, through security.  I’m starting to believe we are going to make it! Can I get excited now?

Great news, enjoy the flight 

[Canbush]

5 hours ago, Jon the Hat said:

I can’t quite believe it but we’re at Heathrow having breakfast.  Bags dropped, all checked in, through security.  I’m starting to believe we are going to make it! Can I get excited now?

Great news. Have a good trip home. 

[Anna Mat]

8 hours ago, Jon the Hat said:

I can’t quite believe it but we’re at Heathrow having breakfast.  Bags dropped, all checked in, through security.  I’m starting to believe we are going to make it! Can I get excited now?

Yes ! Great news Jon! Hope your trip goes smootlhy. Looking forward to hearing from you from Aus ! 

[Jon the Hat]

On 16/09/2021 at 00:08, Anna Mat said:

Yes ! Great news Jon! Hope your trip goes smootlhy. Looking forward to hearing from you from Aus ! 

Thanks!  We have been very lucky, smooth flights with space to stretch out, maybe 60 people in Economy on the London - Singapore leg, and 20 on Singapore-Perth, including the entertainment of one guy in a CSI style full body suit

Arrival in Perth was slow but smooth, with sanitiser & mask change / passport control / Navy checking you had a G2G pass / G2G details check with police (no mention of Australian Travel Dec, so I guess they check that at passport control via your passport number) / baggage collection / customs checks / Hotel bus check / wait for bus / bus escorted by 2 police cars to the hotel / Carries our own bags onto a trolley / hotel check in / escort by secutiry to lift / from lift / into room.  And breathe.

Very lucky with the hotel as well. the Hyatt with a river view suite.  Kids beds are in the lounge but plenty of room generally.  My lovely cousin brought us a goody box.  Got some room service wine, and the dinner was pleasant.  Only 13 days to go! 

[PerthLondonGirl89]

1 hour ago, Jon the Hat said:

Thanks!  We have been very lucky, smooth flights with space to stretch out, maybe 60 people in Economy on the London - Singapore leg, and 20 on Singapore-Perth, including the entertainment of one guy in a CSI style full body suit

Arrival in Perth was slow but smooth, with sanitiser & mask change / passport control / Navy checking you had a G2G pass / G2G details check with police (no mention of Australian Travel Dec, so I guess they check that at passport control via your passport number) / baggage collection / customs checks / Hotel bus check / wait for bus / bus escorted by 2 police cars to the hotel / Carries our own bags onto a trolley / hotel check in / escort by secutiry to lift / from lift / into room.  And breathe.

Very lucky with the hotel as well. the Hyatt with a river view suite.  Kids beds are in the lounge but plenty of room generally.  My lovely cousin brought us a goody box.  Got some room service wine, and the dinner was pleasant.  Only 13 days to go! 

Awesome news Jon, so happy for you that you finally made it  enjoy Perth!! 

[Anna Mat]

On 17/09/2021 at 06:58, Jon the Hat said:

Thanks!  We have been very lucky, smooth flights with space to stretch out, maybe 60 people in Economy on the London - Singapore leg, and 20 on Singapore-Perth, including the entertainment of one guy in a CSI style full body suit

Arrival in Perth was slow but smooth, with sanitiser & mask change / passport control / Navy checking you had a G2G pass / G2G details check with police (no mention of Australian Travel Dec, so I guess they check that at passport control via your passport number) / baggage collection / customs checks / Hotel bus check / wait for bus / bus escorted by 2 police cars to the hotel / Carries our own bags onto a trolley / hotel check in / escort by secutiry to lift / from lift / into room.  And breathe.

Very lucky with the hotel as well. the Hyatt with a river view suite.  Kids beds are in the lounge but plenty of room generally.  My lovely cousin brought us a goody box.  Got some room service wine, and the dinner was pleasant.  Only 13 days to go! 

Hi Jon, awesome that all went well!!!

Hope the quarantine is not too difficult to manage. Thanks a lot for your detailed info - it is very helpful.

Are you staying in Peth or moving to Adelaide after quarantine?  All the best!

[Chris in Adelaide]

On 17/09/2021 at 15:28, Jon the Hat said:

Thanks!  We have been very lucky, smooth flights with space to stretch out, maybe 60 people in Economy on the London - Singapore leg, and 20 on Singapore-Perth, including the entertainment of one guy in a CSI style full body suit

Arrival in Perth was slow but smooth, with sanitiser & mask change / passport control / Navy checking you had a G2G pass / G2G details check with police (no mention of Australian Travel Dec, so I guess they check that at passport control via your passport number) / baggage collection / customs checks / Hotel bus check / wait for bus / bus escorted by 2 police cars to the hotel / Carries our own bags onto a trolley / hotel check in / escort by secutiry to lift / from lift / into room.  And breathe.

Very lucky with the hotel as well. the Hyatt with a river view suite.  Kids beds are in the lounge but plenty of room generally.  My lovely cousin brought us a goody box.  Got some room service wine, and the dinner was pleasant.  Only 13 days to go! 

Hi Jon the Hat - welcome to Oz! It's Chris from your old sixth form in Surrey, along with your old Head Girl. We moved over to Adelaide back in May so are a few steps ahead. If there's anything we can do to help you get sorted, just give me a shout. I hope the quarantine is going OK. It doesn't last forever and the dull bits (as if!) will be quickly forgotten.

All the best, Chris 

[psuwara]

This was a day in quarantine… 14 of these. Between 13th of July to 27th of July…

Good times. We stayed at the Mercure, even got a good view of the protests in the city during the time.

[MacGyver]

Some signs of hope from Scott Morrison’s press conference in Washington, where he said:

"Once we hit 80 per cent vaccinations, that means Australians will be able to travel in those states that are opening up, they will be able to get on planes and go overseas and come home," he said.

"And that means Australians who are overseas that are vaccinated with vaccines that are recognised in Australia, will be able to get on planes and come to Australia.

"The caps at the airport for vaccinated Australians to return will be lifted, and that means there will be the commercial demand for those flights to be put on. I don't think Qantas will have to be encouraged to start running those flights and putting people on those seats."

80% target should be reached sometime between October and December so hopefully that helps people with PR overseas to get flights with more confidence if not late this year then early next year.

[Nemesis]

1 hour ago, MacGyver said:

Some signs of hope from Scott Morrison’s press conference in Washington, where he said:

"Once we hit 80 per cent vaccinations, that means Australians will be able to travel in those states that are opening up, they will be able to get on planes and go overseas and come home," he said.

"And that means Australians who are overseas that are vaccinated with vaccines that are recognised in Australia, will be able to get on planes and come to Australia.

"The caps at the airport for vaccinated Australians to return will be lifted, and that means there will be the commercial demand for those flights to be put on. I don't think Qantas will have to be encouraged to start running those flights and putting people on those seats."

80% target should be reached sometime between October and December so hopefully that helps people with PR overseas to get flights with more confidence if not late this year then early next year.

Good news unless you're in Queensland 

New modelling shows states that are leaning towards 90 per cent vaccination thresholds as a condition of opening up may not reach those milestones until almost mid January.

Modelling by Dr Chris Billington from Melbourne University, based on current vaccine supply and seven-day averages of jabs, shows Queensland will not have fully vaccinated 90 per cent of people aged 16 and over until December 31.

But if Queensland insists on including everyone aged over 12 in its vaccination tallies – something that is increasingly being discussed – the state will not reach the 90 per cent milestone until January 11.....,.

.........Mr Miles could not say what mechanisms were available for the State Government to prevent Queenslanders travelling overseas when international borders opened.......

......However, there are fears Queensland could continue forcing returning travellers into hotel or regional quarantine facilities.

“We are putting in place our own arrangements to try to allow for more inbound international travel,” Mr Miles said.

“By Christmas we hope to have Wellcamp open and operating with 100 beds so that we can be bringing back more people.”

https://www.couriermail.com.au/coronavirus/new-modelling-queensland-may-not-reopen-until-2022-if-it-follows-plan-to-wait-until-90-per-cent-vaccinated/news-story/178c89eca440c3364fdc95aa92185f4d  (might be behind a paywall)

[rammygirl]

Just heard the Tour Down under will not be happening next January. Doesn’t give me much hope that borders will open for Christmas.

[MacGyver]

28 minutes ago, Nemesis said:

Good news unless you're in Queensland 

New modelling shows states that are leaning towards 90 per cent vaccination thresholds as a condition of opening up may not reach those milestones until almost mid January.

Modelling by Dr Chris Billington from Melbourne University, based on current vaccine supply and seven-day averages of jabs, shows Queensland will not have fully vaccinated 90 per cent of people aged 16 and over until December 31.

But if Queensland insists on including everyone aged over 12 in its vaccination tallies – something that is increasingly being discussed – the state will not reach the 90 per cent milestone until January 11.....,.

.........Mr Miles could not say what mechanisms were available for the State Government to prevent Queenslanders travelling overseas when international borders opened.......

......However, there are fears Queensland could continue forcing returning travellers into hotel or regional quarantine facilities.

“We are putting in place our own arrangements to try to allow for more inbound international travel,” Mr Miles said.

“By Christmas we hope to have Wellcamp open and operating with 100 beds so that we can be bringing back more people.”

https://www.couriermail.com.au/coronavirus/new-modelling-queensland-may-not-reopen-until-2022-if-it-follows-plan-to-wait-until-90-per-cent-vaccinated/news-story/178c89eca440c3364fdc95aa92185f4d  (might be behind a paywall)

It will be interesting to see how this plays out towards the end of the year. The federal government seem keen to open international borders (for residents at least), while several states seem keen to remain closed for longer (Qld, WA etc). I think it will be very difficult politically for state premiers to resist opening up when 80% of their electorate are double vaxxed.

I doubt they would be so forceful, but What happens if the federal government just opens international borders and allows Qantas etc to start landing planes full of passengers in Qld and WA? Are state premiers legally permitted to prevent this (I thought not as international borders are federally managed)? If not, they might have to just roll with the punches and manage the arrivals as best they can.

[SoniaG]

4 hours ago, MacGyver said:

Some signs of hope from Scott Morrison’s press conference in Washington, where he said:

"Once we hit 80 per cent vaccinations, that means Australians will be able to travel in those states that are opening up, they will be able to get on planes and go overseas and come home," he said.

"And that means Australians who are overseas that are vaccinated with vaccines that are recognised in Australia, will be able to get on planes and come to Australia.

"The caps at the airport for vaccinated Australians to return will be lifted, and that means there will be the commercial demand for those flights to be put on. I don't think Qantas will have to be encouraged to start running those flights and putting people on those seats."

80% target should be reached sometime between October and December so hopefully that helps people with PR overseas to get flights with more confidence if not late this year then early next year.

I really hope this happens. Fingers crossed. Also, am interested to know how the vaccination verification will be done. I am fully vaccinated(AZ) and have a certificate as well. Will that be enough or is there some portal that I need to upload this for the Aus gov to verify?