Qantas does Vegas direct

[justinbrett]

I was told pre Obama or post Obama cant get ESTA

There’s lots of misinformation about this. It’s 2021. Black and white on the website.

You have to declare it in the ESTA application but its automatically approved if it was before this date.

 

[newtrex]

Why do Qantas always skip Melbourne? They fly mostly out of Brisbane and Sydney

 

[Aeryn]

Why do Qantas always skip Melbourne? They fly mostly out of Brisbane and Sydney

Whilst SYD has the most QF flights being QFs Australian base, MEL has or connects with quite a few. It certainly isnt always skipped.

From MEL you can fly QF non-stop to Asia (SIN, DEL, DPS, NRT, CGK, HKG), USA (LAX, DFW), NZ (AKL, CHC, ZQN, WLG). Or flights with 1 stop/connection to LHR, CDG or FCO.

Plus there are code shares with other OW partners from MEL such as FJ to NAN, LATAM to SCL, Hawaiian to HNL, AA to LAX. Plus many more on CX, MH, JL and QR.

The advantage BNE has over MEL is closer proximity to many SEA and Pacific destinations meaning that QF can use smaller planes to service those international routes from BNE. QF has a shortage of long haul aircraft. As BNE is closer to USA than MEL; it means the A330 is an option whereas MEL always needs a 787 or A380.

Domestically its self explanatory Qld is much much larger geographically than Vic, so more regional airports to service.

QF has invested in MEL as it has an F and J lounge, BNE only has a J.

 

[newtrex]

Whilst SYD has the most QF flights being QFs Australian base, MEL has or connects with quite a few.

Luckily, LATAM, United, Delta fills the gap left by Qantas.

 

[OZDUCK]

Been to Cuba previously.

Not eligible for ESTA, no consulate in Brisbane for tourist visa, booking 6-9months in advance for an interview, costs of flying return to another state for an interview, costs of a tourist visa. All for a 1-2 hour transit in a country I no longer wish to visit.

It is going to be lot harder to fly to Cuba anyway. Air Canada & WestJet have already cancelled flights and seemingly even Aeroflot is pausing them.

Cuba says airlines can no longer refuel on the island as U.S. blockade deepens energy crisis

Political pressure from President Donald Trump on Latin America has effectively severed Cuba’s access to its primary petroleum sources in Venezuela and Mexico.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[CaptJCool]

The Luxor Good memories

Getting a solo day as my then friend went to the Grand Canyon. And I still never made it there

$2 NEW YORK steaks at 3am

And an impromptu movie set
Late night Vegas And here’s to the series
“Saved by the Bell”

 

[justinbrett]

Why do Qantas always skip Melbourne? They fly mostly out of Brisbane and Sydney

I don’t agree with that statement. There’s more international flights out of MEL than BNE. US flights from MEL almost have to overfly SYD to get there, and BNE is even closer than SYD, but I think that’s a minor factor. Some of the Pacific flights are out of Brisbane because it’s either closer and/or Brisbane has a large Pacific Islander community. For longhaul I definitely think that’s statement is false.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

I don’t agree with that statement. There’s more international flights out of MEL than BNE. US flights from MEL almost have to overfly SYD to get there, and BNE is even closer than SYD, but I think that’s a minor factor. Some of the Pacific flights are out of Brisbane because it’s either closer and/or Brisbane has a large Pacific Islander community. For longhaul I definitely think that’s statement is false.

Agree, #fakenews

 

[FlyingKangaroo]

There’s lots of misinformation about this. It’s 2021. Black and white on the website.

You have to declare it in the ESTA application but its automatically approved if it was before this date.

We had an EU citizen employee denied an ESTA last month and the only potential outlier to their application that we could identify was a visit to Cuba in 2018. If it was something else that triggered rejection, it'd be even less rational.

Given the current state of things in the US, nothing surprises me, and they're demonstrating daily that what's written down in black and white matters increasingly less.

I consider it a win for the employee who didn't have to go to Las Vegas. I was jealous.

 

[ChrisFlyer]

My favourite line from the Exec Traveller story is this one from Jetstar CEO Steph Tully about a Brisbane-Vegas flight - or, as she puts it, “Bris-Vegas to Las Vegas.” “It’s very Jetstar, we think."

Nothing like breaking out a quote from last year to try and make a nothing burger story seem like anything other than clickbait.

 

[justinbrett]

We had an EU citizen employee denied an ESTA last month and the only potential outlier to their application that we could identify was a visit to Cuba in 2018. If it was something else that triggered rejection, it'd be even less rational.

Given the current state of things in the US, nothing surprises me, and they're demonstrating daily that what's written down in black and white matters increasingly less.

I consider it a win for the employee who didn't have to go to Las Vegas. I was jealous.

It’s a black and white condition for exclusion, the reverse is not an automatic approval. There has always been many stories of people getting randomly denied.

I’ve only just renewed my ESTA (and I’ve been to Cuba), I’ve also been vetted for Global Entry so I really don’t think they’re that concerned about it (unless within the dates prescribed).

 

[FlyingKangaroo]

It’s a black and white condition for exclusion, the reverse is not an automatic approval. There has always been many stories of people getting randomly denied.

If we accept that people are randomly denied for no reason whatsoever, then it's a simple lottery (at least one whose odds are generally in your favour), but if -- as one would hope -- there's a basis for denial even if they never tell you what it is, the cautionary comment here would simply be that visits to places like Cuba, regardless of when they were, might trigger denial regardless of what appears to be "black and white", especially where nothing else in the application looks sus.

You have to declare it in the ESTA application but its automatically approved if it was before this date.

In other words: no, not automatically approved.

 

[justinbrett]

In other words: no, not automatically approved.

OK, it's not automatically blocked...

Yes I'm sure there's an algorithm to evaluate risk factors, and visiting Cuba may increase your risk of not getting approved - amongst a number of other factors. It can also be your collegue shares the name of another person with a questionable record. You'll never know (I believe the latter is the most likely cause for random rejections).

The point (all along) is travel to Cuba doesn't prevent you from getting an ESTA. But as always, you're up to the gamble of whether it gets approved - just search here for the many examples of people who got denied for no apparent reason.

 

[RooFlyer]

Whats the hassle ?

In my case, a year or so ago I had to renew my US B1/B2 Visa just to return back to Australia from the Caribbean on a Finnair RTW.. Ineligible for an ESTA because I visited Iran. It was most excruciating process over about 6 weeks.

I certainly don’t know why that country doesn’t do airline transit. They don’t like foreigners entering their country yet they force them to do it. They could contain all the nasty people within an airline terminal but no, they kick them out in the street and goodness knows what they get up to while they are there.

I mean, they still could do passport checks if they insist, and hoover up information on who’s there and of course they get the information anyway from the Airlines.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

In my case, a year or so ago I had to renew my US B1/B2 Visa just to return back to Australia from the Caribbean on a Finnair RTW.. Ineligible for an ESTA because I visited Iran. It was most excruciating process over about 6 weeks.

I certainly don’t know why that country doesn’t do airline transit. They don’t like foreigners entering their country yet they force them to do it. They could contain all the nasty people within an airline terminal but no, they kick them out in the street and goodness knows what they get up to while they are there.

I mean, they still could do passport checks if they insist, and hoover up information on who’s there and of course they get the information anyway from the Airlines.

The entire system at US airports don't allow that, it's open departures for any destination. Don't like foreigners entering their country? That's utter rubbish.

 

[FlyingKangaroo]

I certainly don’t know why that country doesn’t do airline transit. They don’t like foreigners entering their country yet they force them to do it. They could contain all the nasty people within an airline terminal but no, they kick them out in the street and goodness knows what they get up to while they are there.

I mean, they still could do passport checks if they insist, and hoover up information on who’s there and of course they get the information anyway from the Airlines.

Yuck, that sounds bleak -- definitely doesn't sound worth it.

They don't do it because they simply lack the infrastructure to do it, especially without a properly secured international departures zone even airside or formal immigration exit protocols (also wild that the US doesn't do this; another example of process that's antithetical to wanting to know and control who's in the country). They just have no way to stop people from simply leaving the airport even if they checked passports, and obviously there's not enough transit traffic to reassess (and even if there was, I'd still say good luck getting the US government to bother).

Then again, the above is also all true for Canada, notwithstanding less antagonistic rhetoric towards foreigners.

The lack of formal exit procedures will never not be weird to me.

(Worth noting though, to be fair, that lots of countries even with formal exit checks require visas/ETAs for short transits, even when they don't leave secure areas.)

 

[justinbrett]

I certainly don’t know why that country doesn’t do airline transit.

They used to, pre 9/11.

I have vivid memories of the LAX transit area in the mid 90s, flying LHR-LAX-SYD with NZ. I don't recall it being very good.

 

[FlyingKangaroo]

They used to, pre 9/11.

I have vivid memories of the LAX transit area in the mid 90s, flying LHR-LAX-SYD with NZ. I don't recall it being very good.

If you know, was it a dedicated space used for that specific flight, or a general holding area for anyone who wanted to do international transit? Curious how they were able to manage this, unless the US was just far less bothered back then by people potentially just leaving the airport during transit.

 

[RooFlyer]

The entire system at US airports don't allow that, it's open departures for any destination. Don't like foreigners entering their country? That's utter rubbish.

Yeah well, I guess they would need to change the infrastructure to do it.

Attempting to build a wall across at least part of the Mexican border would seem to indicate that they are prepared to do stuff.

And I’m prepared to defend the bit about don’t like foreigners entering their country. I guess I’m talking about the Administration though, not the general population who on the whole are very nice and welcoming. I lived in the US for a while, and for a couple of years in southern Canada - frequently across the border.

 

[RooFlyer]

But hey, let’s not forget about the appeals of Vegas!