Recent content by Jennifer Cook

  1. J

    Article: Europe Doesn’t Recognise Australian Vaccination Certificates

    Just follow the process here: Covid certificate immunity request and you can store the certificate in the app or print it out.
  2. J

    Article: Europe Doesn’t Recognise Australian Vaccination Certificates

    The Swiss route as explained in the article is fast and easy. My partner just used it in November, applied before he left, it took 48 hours and we used a cancellable hotel booking confirmation as proof of travel (he wasn’t going to Switzerland only Italy, France and Netherlands) and cancelled it...
  3. J

    Flight Centre refunds for cancelled flights

    Travel agent services are partially an insurance policy: you pay for the guarantee of support if and when you need it - they (the good ones) advocate for you in a situation where you mind need urgent repatriation, get you priority access to the airlines to make reschedules, proactively...
  4. J

    Flight Centre refunds for cancelled flights

    I'm sorry, but what "profits"? If you book through a travel agent, you are paying for their booking service to you, which you have received. If you don't want to pay for that service, book direct with the airline in future. My closest friend has been one of Flight Centres top corporate travel...
  5. J

    Does Closing Beaches Make Any Sense?

    At the risk of being called every name under the sun, I live at Bondi Beach and was on the beach - with my Epidemiologist husband - on the day it was closed. We spent about an hour at the southern end on the sand and in the water, and didn't come within 10 metres of another person the entire...
  6. J

    Is there an easy way to find out OTHER countries travel restrictions?

    The UA site is correct, I suspect they are in the process of updating the information on the site, it's a few days old however. The Brazil situation is too complicated to go into, but in summary, yes - it was meant to be fully outlined on TIMATIC, as it related to particular issues Brazil was...
  7. J

    Is there an easy way to find out OTHER countries travel restrictions?

    South Polynesia now requires a medical certificate for ALL foreign visitors, regardless of where you are travelling from or have been recently. This was only on Smart Traveller, and it has the links through to the Polynesian Health Ministery website for the information from the source. I think...
  8. J

    Is there an easy way to find out OTHER countries travel restrictions?

    FYI - I looked at both the IATA and TIMATIC sites this morning, and both contained out of date advice for the country I was looking for. Homepage | Smartraveller was more current.
  9. J

    Pickpockets in Barcelona

    I lived in Barcelona for many years and 'blending in like a local' is your best strategy. I was never pickpocketed, but I warned many tourist who were about to be, in most cases they stood out a mile. 'Travel apparel' like multipocketed vests, waist bags etc are a beacon to thieves and really...
  10. J

    Ponant Antarctica Beyond the Polar Circle

    I really recommend One Ocean Expeditions on the Academik Ioffe if you are not really a 'cruise person' and care more about wildlife and the experience of the place than happy hour. It was small (100 people) so you could disembark regularly and not have to queue for ages - only 100 people can...
  11. J

    China TWOV questions

    Yes, I found that post on our return whilst searching for answers. That person was given a straight answer, we weren't told specifically, but its the only reason I can think of. You won't find that 'policy' on any government website, so who know what other new 'policies' are floating around...
  12. J

    China TWOV questions

    Hi, we were travelling from Helsinki to Brisbane via Shanghai, on Finnair for the first leg and Qantas for the second. Yes, both Australian passports. The Finnair Chinese liaison was wonderful, she argued hard to get us entry as there was no logical reason - that we could see - for denied entry.
  13. J

    China TWOV questions

    I would recommend extreme caution if intending to rely on the 144 hour visa waiver for travel through Shanghai. My partner and I attempted to enter Shanghai in November last year, and despite meeting the conditions in every respect, were denied entry and required to leave immediately. We were...
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