Federal Government will be allowing fully vaccinated Australians to leave Australia for outward travel and to return (with 7 days of home quarantine).
Wondering if this has tipped many OzBargainers to pull the trigger and book an international flight?
Hoping to see some announcements from the major airlines about increasing flights to and from Australia in December.
A NSWer whinging about the harshness of lockdowns gets me giggling everytime.
Probably one of the worst time to travel for holiday. But if it's for essential reasons to see family or loved one, probably good news.
Won't be travelling for overseas holiday this year. Will be lucky if it's Q2 next year IMO.
you can't get back time - lots of people are waiting for the perfect time to do things -
maybe you might pay an extra 2k.
Do you think when you die that extra 2k spent is gonna matter.
I have my Qatar Airlines free return trip for two to book before March next year so I reckon I'll wait until a few people have come and gone and see how the whole international travel thing goes.
Are there still available free flights for travel periods beyond March?
I believe they have only extended it until March next year (last time I checked)
I have one of these "Free flights for Health care workers". I tried to book with it last week and there were no eligible flights in January that were coming up. I called the Qatar office in Sydney and they said the free trip promo was only on certain flights and there was nothing available in Jan / Feb to Paris. So I felt it was a marketing scam
I missed out on the promo flights when booking in October ‘20, but they released more promo flights and a new code for those who missed out in Feb ‘21. I managed to book flights to Paris in Sep ‘21 but due to the pandemic, rescheduled it to Feb-Apr ‘22.
I’ve been looking twice a week to reschedule later next year but to no avail.
The promo is real, but they offered limited seats in all the destinations they fly to around the world.
So far the flights for two have cost $580 in taxes.
Travel will never be the same, ticket price, mask, hotel price, quarantine, vaccination and more.
i dont know about anyone else here but i dont have any money….
For many of us lucky ones that were not really affected by Covid work wise, Covid has meant saving a lot of money, no twice daily barista coffee's, no buying lunch at work. Work from home plus travel restrictions has significantly bolstered my savings for the last 18 months.
Good on you, glad it has been good for some people i guess!
I think the IT industry as a whole did pretty well out of Covid. It meant more work building solutions for remote workers and less expenses. Hell where I work even started paying for my broadband, monitors, desk, chair etc because I am officially working from home. I have lots of sympathy for those that were not so fortunate (e.g. my wife ran private classes and she has basically gone to zero income, luckily it is more a part time thing rather than something we rely on and I easily have made up for that and more).
@gromit: Hey you guys young people will be the people complaining about in the future that are rich generation. Like us millennial complain about the rich 'boomers' i guess?
Good on you!
And you didn't buy a house with all that savings? The media has been telling lies.
I already own a house, I decided to go deep in shares march 2020 on dump, were way to many good bargains to be had. So I did make out well on that. Been way to difficult to get an investment property that falls into the parameters I want, probably been too picky, will look closer at that post xmas.
I have an approved long service leave at the end of the year hoping to go to Japan as a family but it is currently listed as 'Do not travel' according to the Aus government website… the airfare is around $1600 each but the quarantine cost would put us well into spending fortune on non-fun/usual essential costs
Not sure I'd be booking any travel currently, based on Scotty from Marketing's word…
Is this the same Scotty from Marketing that said international travel was a state issue? But now wants to seagull in and take the credit for 'opening the borders'? He's also talking about home quarantine like it's a thing, it's still 'being trialled' and hasn't been approved or agreed by the states.
Will only be going to countries with reciprocal health cover until travel insurance starts to cover hospitalisation due to Covid-19.
Being fully vaccinated your likelihood of avoiding hospitalisation is as high as 97% with delta.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-01/covid-vaccines-effect…
It's a small risk, but getting on a plane is also a risk.
Agreed, probably more riskier getting to the airport than dying from Covid.
Not scared of dying, scared of bankruptcy. If they do cover covid then time to start looking.
97% protection (I believe and happy to be corrected) means that out of 100 people who are hospitalized due to covid, 3 are fully vaccinated and the rest are either partially or not vaccinated.
It does not mean that 3 percent of vaccinated people are hospitalized after contacting delta in case that's what your assumption is.
Unless you're immune compromised or have other risk factors, delta is a miniscule risk to your health when fully vaccinated.
Travel insurances do have COVID-19 related health protection. But they offer no protection from flight cancellations due to lockdowns.
Until I see substantial numbers of passengers being able to freely return (on top of the existing however many who are in the line to get back in to Aus) I sadly won't be going anywhere. Risk of getting stuck OS at my own expense for extended periods of time is still far to high.
Even for business travel which I used to do a ton of in the past, no one is going anywhere probably until second half 22' or even start of 23'.
We are planning a local holiday in feb, and international late 2022 / early 2023
We are thinking UK, due to free NHS like a few others have said.
Spain. Camino de Santiago. May 2021.
Enjoy! I did it in May 2019 and it was an incredible experience!
I just want to enter Victoria without all this tracking stuff???
i booked mars
Managed to go to New Zealand in April before Delta hit.
Thats the only joy. Hope can fly to Magnetic Island )))
Not a chance for Bali or something like that.
I would probably consider Singapore for few weeks to chill there and maybe Get the virus and get over It?
I don't know….
feels like at some stage everybody will be exposed to the virus and i have immunosupression.
no antibodies producing after the first dose of Phyzer. Wonder how many got tested privately to see the antibodies)))
so i am a high risk category.
Wow - sorry to hear. Can you shed some light on the test ? Keen to get one done
I will be booking one to get back into Australia with home isolation hopefully in November?
The problem is coming back not going, until they sort out that, it’s hard to plan anything.
Booked for the family to go to Canada Jan-Feb. Have a 5 month old that hasn't met her grandparents yet so don't have the luxury of waiting it out.
Getting into Canada is easy but be prepared for a long wait at customs upon arrival. Toronto was soooo slow due to the number of people who don’t have their paperwork ready. Print everything onto paper as it makes the whole process faster and easier. ArriveCAN app on your phone and job done. You will have to book a covid test too and they each cost $150 (about) per person and it has to be the travel one. Not a free gov. Test.
Thanks @Third_Gear for the heads up, have been looking into it all over the last few days and saw those requirements. Great idea to have it all on paper too. Will see how customs is but the Sydney to Vancouver has always arrived at a quiet time (5am ish) and I'm normally only lined up behind a couple dozen people, fingers crossed its not too different.
Yeah normally Toronto is fast for me especially with the Canadian passport but it would have taken 3 hrs if I hadn’t lucked into the express lane.
I’m sure it will be better by the time you go though! Good luck and enjoy the trip.
I'm waiting until 2023.
"onwards" is certainly an option
Queensland and WA will remain locked down so no go until at least 2023.
Border challenges have all but failed miserably in the courts
Majority of people in those states are in favour of not opening up until COVID is eradicated, so will not let anyone out.
If ScoMo wants to adopt a national approach, he will have to use armed force or the states will not comply.
Before Federation each state had its own laws and militia, I’m guessing Australia could become divided into different nations.
Bring on the battles
Easy, neither state uses DST, so we've (the rest of AU) got an advantage on them. Surely we could take them down by surprise in the first hour? :p
Don't think these states will have an option is there will eventually be a covid outbreak. Queensland will have one before the end of the year and although WA does have a benefit of distance, I can't see it lasting 'til 2023 without an outbreak.
The main issue up until now has been the lack of supply of vaccine, but within the next month or so there should be ample supply for all states and you kind of need have an end date to get the vaccine otherwise then when the outbreak does happen you have too many waiting victims. Saying pretty please get the vaccine only works so much, these Governments will have to move to tougher restrictions and a 'end date' to protections.
I see Queensland opening up by early 2022 and WA by Easter 2022.
Looks like to many having fun > health #yolo
You mean like the rest of the world who are just living with it and doing mostly fine? Sure.
Keep safe in your bunker away from all of the things that could do you harm.
"mostly fine" is a relative phrase, to the Americans, it is still "mostly fine" with 700k deaths.
Yeah ask someone in Florida and they'll say "everything's fine bro", as their grandmother drops dead.
I'm one of the people who are desperate to travel so I have a ticket to go from Sydney to Paris on Nov 15. The naysayers can say whatever they like, but I haven't seen my partner for 18 months and this little glimmer of hope is mine alone to enjoy
I have booked my tickets for Nov 26. I haven't seen my family in 2 years. I am really annoyed by people who think we want to go for FUN, when we just wanna see our loved ones.
Good for you, I am totally with you and I really hope you enjoy your time with your family. Who cares about those people, family comes first
I heard an air industry spokesperson on radio the other morning talking about compulsory Covid testing for international flights.
Depending on several factors, including departing port, arrival port, and airline, travellers may have up to three or more compulsory tests, before during and/or after flying. And these tests would be paid by the customer. (These tests are independent of vaccination status.)
The spokesperson estimated the cost of each test at $150.00.
Adding up to $900 to a nice cheap $1100 return flight to Barcelona suddenly doesn't make it feel so cheap any more.
Having just flown it’s typically within 72hrs of your departure and yes $150. Once everyone hits the 80% marker I don’t think they will test anymore as by then you won’t be able to fly unless you are vaccinated. It really depends on the country you are flying into too.
Yes, I saw this reported on A Current Affair this week. They had a segment on how international travel will be once it starts up again. You cannot fly overseas if you are fully vaccinated. You must be fully vaccinated AND have a special covid test up to 48 hours before departure. This kind of test is not the usual one and can only be done at a very few specialist pathology clinics and costs $150 per person as mentioned. You must also have proof on paper of that test being positive and hand it in at the airport when departing, electronic proof is not accepted.
Apparently one of these clinics is being setup at Sydney airport, but they wont give you the paper confirmation. You need to arrange separately to get it printed once you get your test results (which takes around a couple of hours, could be more). So it seems this must be carefully planned 2 days before your travel so you have time to organise the paperwork before departing.
Be good to find out from someone who has actually done this how accurate the process shown by A Current Affair (and the traveller interviewed) was. Will they really accept paper confirmation only? Can you just go back to the clinic to get a printed confirmation?
What a pain. Not sure why a regular covid test that has satisfied the Govt for 18 months is not acceptable?
You must also get covid tests in the country you travel to.
And add to this the fact that plane tickets overseas are more than double the usual costs, plus all the uncertainty about quarantine and if we will be able to return (if covid kicks off again once restrictions are relaxed and the Govt goes into lockdown again), it's super high risk. Especially while Qantas is the only airline flying to Europe from Sydney so they can jack up the prices while they have no competition.
You must be fully vaccinated AND have a special covid test up to 48 hours before departure.
I'm concerned about this process too especially since it hasn't been nutted out or at least defined clearly but its early days so hopefully it will be described by the govt.
Similar process also applies for arrivals into various European countries, e.g. in France, arrivals must have a Health Pass (Pass Sanitaire), showing proof of vaccination status, serology or a negative PCR-test. This'll be an interesting hurdle for travellers.
Especially while Qantas is the only airline flying to Europe from Sydney so they can jack up the prices while they have no competition.
There are plenty of other airlines offering flights to Europe from Sydney. Namely Qatar, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Turkish Airlines, etc
the $150 it's almost a killer of flying anywhere….
7 days quarantine is still absurd. I wouldn’t take a holiday knowing I had to come home to a week of jail.
I don’t think we are anywhere near ready for quarantine-free travel, but then and only then will be when I start booking.
I'll wait until my kids (under 12) can get vaccinated and being able to return without quarantine (home or otherwise) before I start booking.
Already had an overseas trip and 2 interstate trips cancelled or cut short due to Covid.
Not in a hurry. I don’t need to go overseas for a nice holiday, plenty of places to do it even in Australia.
I'm in WA, so no…
I use to go to Bali a couple of times a year. I have to admit all this makes me extremely nervous. I guess eventually everything will be back to the new "normal" and we can travel here, there and everywhere again. I read a comment above about that you never know and the boarders might suddenly shut and then your stranded overseas
Yes, will be booking return tickets to the UK for travel late Sep 2022.
As at end of this month if you have both doses of the vaccine there is no more quarantine on arrival and only day 2 test so im betting on things being better by then.
two doses wouldnt be enough next year.
every 6 months + one more dose. They ordered 280 million.
When you do first two them its not going to end)) jabs boosters etc
A politician moved their lips & said something to lighten the mood. I'd rather wait to read the fine print & see what actually happens…
User name checks out
I don't think anyone should go overseas in November or December unless you plan on coming back next year. COVID cases will spike, governments will change rules around quarantine and lockdowns and restrictions, big ass queue at airport, capped arrivals etc.
Maybe let them iron shit out before you go overseas. I've been overseas during the pandemic and the airport delays and quarantine was absolutely mind numbing.
Agreed. FWIW I think it's just a carrot they are dangling to get those last few people to get injected.
I think they'll whisk it away for some reason or another.
But interstate might be ok what's the chance they will close the borders within again??
With a young family, would not be good to travel right now. If I were single different story. If we want things to be as they were, then at some point, we have to accept, we may get Covid.
Would it be so bad?
99.9% survival rate across all individual of all ages (health and unhealthy) as far as I know
Can you piss off with your misinformation? The mortality rate without medical assistance is between 2 and 3% depending on the age breakdown of the country…
Agreed and the long term effects of Covid aren't a joke.
The lung issues, the brain issues, and the various sensory issues are deeply unfun to live with.
@Carmen Sandiego: You can't know long term until the time has passed
Long term effects cannot be accurately guessed or predicted
@MementoMori: You say that but, there are already people who have caught COVID, survived, but now have the after effects.
Post Spanish Flu, there are reports coming out that the long term effects of the people who survived getting it was not dissimilar to Parkinson's, MS and other really unfun long term diseases.
A number of neurological conditions can trace some of their origins back to the individual catching fever from the common cold or a bout of glandular.
@Carmen Sandiego: This to me just seems like the regular fear mongering.
The Spanish Flu is still with us to this day - it's called 'the flu'
Yes, the good old regular flu - the one that magically disappeared and zero people have died from (down from 1-2k deaths per year to zero) when Covid came along 'because we were all following the rules', yet Covid is spreading because we don't follow the rules… I digress.
I don't think 'the flu' is causing Parkinsons etc, but, maybe it is. Never heard of it previously that's for sure.
@MementoMori: The Spanish Flu was one deadly variant of "the flu".
As for the information, one quote;
Epidemiologists have determined that Spanish Influenza survivors have a 2-3x higher risk of developing Parkinson's Disease, now termed Viral Parkinsonism, compared to those who did not come into contact with the virus. (from this source)
Also, a super fun History Channel article = this
As for how I know, I am in the process of being diagnosed with MS, and one of the many causes is fevers that affect the brain during a bout of Glandular flare up. A Glandular flare up is caused by a bout of "the flu". And this isn't just restricted to MS.
Lol
The mortality rate (death rate) is total deaths as a percentage of a given population, i.e. 1,507 in 25.6 million.
e.g. 0.006%, not 2 to 3%….
So you can you piss off with your 'The Project' level understanding of stats and misinformation?
Go on, check that I'm right…. I'll wait.
@MementoMori: Are you seriously quoting the number of deaths in a country like Australia (which successfully elimated the presence of COVID) dividing it by overall population as the basis for your mortality rate? A primary school student could spot the flaw in your logic…
@Tyrx: A primary school student would understand we cannot eliminate a virus like Covid let alone test accurately for this.
You would need to literally test the whole country on the same day, use accurate virus tests (which PCR is not) and all come back negative.
It's been going on for 18+ months - time to start using your brain and think critically - stop just believing the TV.
I didn't invent mortality rate btw. If you don't like the correct definition of it I can't help you.
@Carmen Sandiego: Yes, I am saying this.
Over 440 people die in Australia every day. This is life. 1,500 is a drop in the ocean in the scheme of things (3 days worth of deaths out of 365).
We had around 1,000 flu deaths every year and nobody seemed to care previously?
Go check suicide and alcohol as well.
Hopefully these numbers put things into perspective for you and your mind at ease.
Death is normal, OK and a part of life, especially these very low numbers.
(and before someone jumps in with 'what if it was someone you loved!!' - my granddad died of a 'coronavirus/unknown flu like illness')
For what it's worth a friend is flying from Melbourne to Europe in 5 days time
No vax
Did get an travel exemption to leave the country though
Point is it is possible to fly internationally in Oct 2021 without a vaccine
What the premiers / television says is one thing, actual government rules another
Your friend is an idiot who is probably going to get COVID.
They could be 'local to Europe', in Australia for work? It has been difficult to leave Australia to attend to a parent's ill health or even for their funeral; needed to jump through hoops with the border 'farce'. I've had a friend who is an only child go through hell to attend his mother's funeral.
Sorry, I don't mean to be rude; but not everyone that lives in Australia would have a family here. For some, it may be worth getting out rather than live with regret for the rest of their lives.
I meant not getting vaccinated and insisting on travelling.
@Orico: Fair point, but the travel exemption will not come through till the applicant gets vaccinated. A friend of mine needed to get it done before boarding the flight; which took full 3 weeks. Plus the PCR tests for airlines. This, I understand is if the applicant is returning within three months. The dept., isn’t accepting if you haven’t had one dose of the eligible vaccine.
I tried to look for a loophole to travel to Denmark to see my family. But the exemptions are quite watertight unless one is looking to fake their way out.
No, Melbourne guy, lived in Australia his whole life
im guessing youre jabbed, good luck to you lmfaoo
jabbed 30+ times with a cocktail of flu and other vaccines.
Do you know how difficult it is to get an exemption?
So many conditions etc, and your friend may have many issues actually coming back.
Yes coming back is the hard bit currently
It's an unknown basically
Wonder what that "exemption" is…
It's all clearly written on the Border Force website.
Basically you need to go for at least 3 months and write a stat dec.
I rather fly domestic and then late next year once things calm down with covid I'll fly international.
Lots of places I haven't visited domestically.
Not booking any flights here for at least 6 months, possibly more.
I live in Adelaide, so the choice of international airlines is limited to Singapore, Malaysia, and Qatar (Chinese airlines won't be coming back any time soon). All other options require flying interstate, so not only do I risk borders here or overseas being closed or quarantine restricted, but also SA/VIC or SA/NSW borders suddenly being closed too.
It's just not worth the risk.
I'm not booking until I find travel insurance that covers covid hospitalisation/delays/cancellations. Countries I want to go to still require you to self isolate or quarantine if you pick up covid and/or won't let you on a plane if covid positive (understandable). I'd want some level of cover for trip cancellations and travel delays and most importantly medical bills if a hospital trip was required.
I doubt you're going to find a COVID friendly policy for at least a couple of years. It's a known risk that shuts borders and cancels tickets in an instant, for millions of people at a time. Insurance companies are never going to bear that cost.
I'm not looking for coverage if the country or border shuts or if rules change and mandatory quarantine is imposed on travellers - this I agree is never going to happen as pandemics like terrorism weren't covered under pre covid policies anyway.
What I am waiting for coverage to be available for if an individual gets covid and needs to adjust travel plans which should be statistically easy enough to risk assess and price. This shouldn't be too far away for countries with high vaccination rates for covid and I have seen policies available with covid coverage for medical. There do also seem to be a few with limited cancellation coverage but the coverage is only available for select countries at the moment.
Dont trust govt .. they may backflip .. They will close the border and let citizen rot outside the country
I agree, we need to move on and let people in. The science shows that vaccinated people are safe and given that around 85%% of Australians have had their first dose, it is time to get ready to go 'back to normal' right now.
For the past four months, I have not been not allowed to visit my fully vaccinated parents (72 & 69 y.o), who live 30kms from me, in their own home because of restrictions - yet I see random people mingle, crowd around, and chat, and pretend it is exercise or recreation.