I have an elderly visitor who needs to leave Australia, preferably from Brisbane, late November for visa purposes.
What is the physically gentlest, yet affordable way to leave and return? I looked at cruises, but I couldn't find any for less than 7 days and all over $1500. Maybe they could fly to Sydney, but they find flying to be very taxing, physically.
Trips to New Caledonia are pretty much off the cards at the moment due to the civil unrest there, which will hurt the cruise options, easiest way would be to fly to New Zealand or Vanuatu and knock it over.
Flying to Sydney won't help much for leaving and reentering the country.
Yes, I thought there might be more cruise options out of Sydney than Brisbane.
Cost factoring, remember with cruises it includes accommodation and food and suppose the "gentlest"
with that said flying NZ would probably be cheapest
I've been told by colleagues whose parents have to leave and come back for visa reasons (one of them used to work as a travel agent too so she has experience in this) that cruises don't count, because it's a round trip that starts and ends in Australia.
My aunt is going off to Fiji in December for her visa, around $600-$700 return flights, and travel agents will help her arrange general details like accommodation. I know flying is very taxing, but to be honest I don't think there's going to be anything that can be done unless it's a one way cruise to NZ.
Thanks for the tip about those cruises not counting!
Also as freefall said above, your visitor will have to fly out of Australia, not just out of Brisbane, going to Sydney is going to do nothing for their visa requirements.
Is it subclass 600? 50% processed in 23 days, 90% in 39 days. Might be cheaper to head back home unless you're sponsoring living costs in a nearby country?
I think they already got multiple entry visa with limited duration at a time.
Sure, if they have a 651 then BNE/AKL/BNE day trip is obvious, but let's see if OP chooses to clarify
They're on a 12 month multiple reentry visa where they can't be here longer than 3 months at a time. Which one exactly, I don't know.
@nowindex: Likely a subclass 651 eVisitor for citizens of UK/Europe. Visit Australia as often as you wish in a 12-month period. Stay up to 3 months each time you enter Australia.
@sumyungguy: Normal 600 visa has the same conditions, 1 year with multiple entries, each time 3 months
Brisbane to Auckland is fairly cheap - for example, you can do a same day turn (albeit a really long day) for $440 return on 22 November, and even less for the flights if you take a holiday for a few days (but need to factor in accommodation etc of course).
Better yet, send them home with no return Simplest option.
If the person is elderly and they need a gentle trip then they should travel in premium economy at a minimum. Cheapest may be Brisbane to Auckland on China Airlines. Webjet on random November date, premium economy is ~$1000 return
New Zealand, Fiji or Vietnam look decent for one-way trips in November from BrisVegas
https://www.skyscanner.com.au/transport/flights-from/bne/?ad…
If it is Vietnam in November, leave out the Central part (Danang/ Hoian, Hue…) due to typhoon and flood season.
Depends how long they have to be gone for, but Singapore return on Scoot can be done for $400 or slightly less.
If they have to stay somewhere and pay for accommodation for several weeks, Singapore is a bit expensive. They could then pay slightly more for tickets to Thailand or Vietnam where accommodation and food can be had for under $50 a day.
Do what everyone else does and go to somewhere like Bali for a week. It's only about $600~$700 for return flights and a cheap hotel for $30 to $50 a day and come home…