Stranded in the Solomon Islands, domestic flights cancelled

[MelMel]

Have you called the Emergency consulate number or just regular. You are coming close to a medical emergency. May be an idea to at least lodge your details

 

[Quickstatus]

Or maybe the Australian High Commission in Honiara:

[email protected]

+677 21 561 (yes 5 digit phone number)

......

I suspect the weather issue is because any aircraft would need to operate under visual flight rules as there are no precision landing systems at RNL
So this would affect any charter fixed wing as well
Not sure about Helicopters.

 

[Tiki]

Probably try the High Commission again and tell them 3 RAAF planes are in the Solomons

Email sent, not holding my breath.

 

[offshore171]

May be an idea to at least lodge your details

Yes good point

@Tiki Can you confirm whether you have reported your situation to DFAT or the High Commission? If not, as MelMel mentioned, it's probably time to at least make your situation known to them before it becomes a medical emergency.

 

[Tiki]

Yes good point

@Tiki Can you confirm whether you have reported your situation DFAT or the High Commission? If not, as MelMel mentioned, it's probably time to at least make your situation known to them before it becomes a medical emergency.

Yes I am in touch with Consulate in Honiara and registered. They are aware of the medical situation. It’s not a medical emergency yet, just the potential if he runs out of meds. I can stretch them every 2nd day as per kind doctors here.

Theoretically they are prioritising us for next flight every time one gets cancelled. It’s leaving us in a dilemma because we have a confirmed flight off the island. So unless they cancel all flights for a week or so it looks on the surface that we are getting out.

 

[Seat0B]

You are holding up very well with your practical actions re insect repellent and managing the medicines @Tiki. I can only imagine the stress you are feeling. I too agree with other posters that running out of diabetes medication is an emergency in itself and urge you to make contact on that basis with the insurer and the consulate. Don’t wait until the medicine runs out.

 

[Tiki]

Plane still scheduled for tomorrow morning I hope they fixed whatever it was.

But now the QF flight tomorrow jumped up to $1130, no points awards available. Just s few hours ago it was $795. Any way to get them to give us a better price compassion fare or something?

 

[Quickstatus]

Any way to get them to give us a better price compassion fare or something?

Unfortunately they don't do special fares

 

[henrus]

But now the QF flight tomorrow jumped up to $1130, no points awards available. Just s few hours ago it was $795. Any way to get them to give us a better price compassion fare or something?

QF compassion fares are 10% off the regular price. Criteria here:

https://agencyconnect.qantas.com/en/policies/fares-and-ticketing/fares-for-compassionate-travel

Just 4 seats left on QF tomorrows 19th flight HIR-BNE and 4 seats left on Fridays 21st Aug flight. Looking ahead plenty of seats on QF left Sun, Mon, Tue and Wed.

If the flight does run to HIR tomorrow then next best flight out of the country (aside from QF) would be Fiji airways to Nadi 4:30pm, 12 hr layover then flight to Brisbane then next day for about $652 per person. Thursday nothing out of the country except to Port Moresby which does provide same day connection to Australia.

I know you're probably fed up with them but perhaps reach out to Solomon Airlines and see if they can help. They've currently got 4 seats available on their Friday flight all in business class. It appears their A320s aren't in great shape either as their Friday flight is operated by Alliance on an E190 and then their next flight on Sunday (which has plenty of seats) operated by Skytrans on their A319.

 

[Quickstatus]

QF compassion fares are 10% off the regular price. Criteria here:

Interesting that's news for me. Thanks

My dad a few years ago tried it and was told they were don't do compassionate dates.

 

[henrus]

Interesting that's news for me. Thanks

My dad a few years ago tried it and was told they were don't do compassionate dates.

Not many do these days

Compassionate Airfares: Barely Worth the Hassle

Airlines including Qantas and Air New Zealand offer discounted compassionate or bereavement airfares for people who need to travel urgently due to a family member's medical emergency or funeral. But the savings might not be worth it.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Plane still scheduled for tomorrow morning I hope they fixed whatever it was.

But now the QF flight tomorrow jumped up to $1130, no points awards available. Just s few hours ago it was $795. Any way to get them to give us a better price compassion fare or something?

your insurance may cover the cost of your additional travel expenses.

 

[Flyfrequently]

Plane still scheduled for tomorrow morning I hope they fixed whatever it was.

But now the QF flight tomorrow jumped up to $1130, no points awards available. Just s few hours ago it was $795. Any way to get them to give us a better price compassion fare or something?

You could try
I would be emailing Tick with your timeline/efforts to get home @Tiki even though they say just save receipts etc.

Save screenshots of increasing fares should you need to justify your expenses

ie : 9pm AEST Tuesday 18/8/26

 

[henrus]

your insurance may cover the cost of your additional travel expenses.

Tiki mentioned in the first post they've got "Tick Travel Insurance standard cover" and googling revealed this PDF

https://www.tickinsurance.com.au/sites/default/files/2026-04/TK_ST_PDS_20260401.pdf

I'm not great with this sort of stuff so maybe some can confirm what I'm understanding but if I'm reading it right then it it appears just $50 per 12 hours up to $500 is covered under the standard plan (no excess applies), as per page 13.

In this case the missed flight might not be covered as per this FAQ:

Do you cover missed flight? | Tick Insurance

www.tickinsurance.com.au

 

[DAC1]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news given Tiki and her husband have had more than their fair share of it over the last week.

Given that the original flight home was on points and those points were refunded to Tiki, my experience (albeit with a different insurer) is that it can be very difficult to get any travel insurer to pay out on the flight home. My insurers position was “you booked with points, you got those points refunded, you’re no worse off.” They didn’t seem to care about the issue that reward seat availability isn’t always plentiful when it comes to last minute bookings.

However, I hope that they can take some compassion on Tiki’s position and any flight costs are covered especially given that this is approaching medical emergency territory.

 

[Tiki]

04:45 now and I woke up to rain on the roof. Given how sketchy this airline is I’m getting scared. Plane supposed to leave Honiara 06:00. It’s easing a bit. Wifi is down and 3G won’t load radar maps.

I can’t call Australian phone numbers. I’ve tried both local Telkom and Vodafone roaming. When I try to call there is a recording that the number does not exist.

Does Tick have a toll free USA number that routes to Australia? I have Tello but only use it for my USA credit cards and banking, also that was how I called Qantas to cancel the Monday flight.

If we get out today, we would probably go with Fiji Airways if reimbursement is not sure. It’s $500 per person cheaper so far. I don’t want to use Air Niugini. If something happened being stranded in POM is worse than HIR. Or he has enough meds to get us to Sunday and then use points on QF.

 

[henrus]

I can’t call Australian phone numbers. I’ve tried both local Telkom and Vodafone roaming. When I try to call there is a recording that the number does not exist.

Just checking when calling you're adding a plus symbol then the AU country code and area code without 0 followed by the number. It should look like this:
+61293333963
That is ticks insurances emergency number otherwise their website also lists the email: [email protected]

Contact Us | Tick Insurance

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tickinsurance.com.au

Wifi is down and 3G won’t load radar maps.

I can see H4-OTA is currently half way between HIR and RNL so hopefully thats good news and it lands soon.

 

[kpc]

Looking good

 

[markis10]

Looking good, plane about to land

 

[kpc]

Looking good, plane about to land

Landed