So we still have our fingers crossed for our thrice-delayed trip to Europe, part of which is using up some KrisFlyer miles that will be running on fumes if we have to cancel again. We've now routed home through North America for a friend's wedding which coincides. We head off at the end of April (~10 days after Easter), fly to Denver via Toronto (overnight landside layover) in the last week of May, then back home from Vancouver in the first week of June.
The fixed long-haul itineraries (all J for 4 pax, which was quite difficult to do multiple times) are as follows:
MEL-xSIN-BCN (SQ using KrisFlyer)
LHR-xYYZ-DEN (AC using Aeroplan)
YVR-xSYD-MEL (QF using QFF)
The places that we specifically wanted to take the kids on a first major Europe trip are a week or so overview in each of:
KrisFlyer availability is usually pretty good, so I may be able to find an alternative Europe arrival port on a similar date if need be. Barcelona happened to be available on the right date, and I love it.
London departure long-haul in business is obviously not ideal, but AC had the right transAtlantic J availability. I may be able to swap to AC from FRA/CDG or similar, or to UA (even the LHR/FRA/MUC-DEN nonstops), but UA space is unlikely to open up until much closer to departure when the timings within Europe will be locked-in.
So, while we try to firm up the individual stops within Europe (booking everything flexibly, obviously, except maybe cheap internal flights), is there an optimal order of visiting those countries to reduce the risk (based on current or expected rules and infection rates) of having the trip interrupted by border problems? The wife and I are boosted, and the kids should be double-vaxed by then.
Like, is there any country that's likely to be more or less of a problem for...
The fixed long-haul itineraries (all J for 4 pax, which was quite difficult to do multiple times) are as follows:
MEL-xSIN-BCN (SQ using KrisFlyer)
LHR-xYYZ-DEN (AC using Aeroplan)
YVR-xSYD-MEL (QF using QFF)
The places that we specifically wanted to take the kids on a first major Europe trip are a week or so overview in each of:
- Rome and maybe somewhere else in Italy time permitting (Tuscany or Venice, where I've been, or Pompeii where I haven't)
- Paris, Versailles and Disneyland Paris
- Ireland, to visit my brother-in-law and family
- London to/from Edinburgh overland
KrisFlyer availability is usually pretty good, so I may be able to find an alternative Europe arrival port on a similar date if need be. Barcelona happened to be available on the right date, and I love it.
London departure long-haul in business is obviously not ideal, but AC had the right transAtlantic J availability. I may be able to swap to AC from FRA/CDG or similar, or to UA (even the LHR/FRA/MUC-DEN nonstops), but UA space is unlikely to open up until much closer to departure when the timings within Europe will be locked-in.
So, while we try to firm up the individual stops within Europe (booking everything flexibly, obviously, except maybe cheap internal flights), is there an optimal order of visiting those countries to reduce the risk (based on current or expected rules and infection rates) of having the trip interrupted by border problems? The wife and I are boosted, and the kids should be double-vaxed by then.
Like, is there any country that's likely to be more or less of a problem for...
- ...inbound from Australia vis Singapore?
- ...outbound to Canada and the US?
- ...inbound from or outbound to elsewhere in Europe?
