Rebooking with Emirates

[ronb]

Hi,

I live in Melbourne and booked a return ticket MEL-DXB-ATH before March 2020.
Departure is on 14/9/20, so I will not be able to fly, since the travel ban for Australians for departures is till 17/9/2020.

Emirates committed to exempt ticket holders, who purchased their ticket before flights were suspended in March, from change fees and even from booking class price gaps.

I called Emirates service centre, and my request to rebook the flight free of charge was rejected, because "we have no information about travel ban from Australia in our system, and we already resumed our flights to/from Melbourne".
When I asked about their source of information, the man who served me sent me to the IATA Web site, where there is no information about travel ban for Australian residents who want to leave Australia, only about restrictions for travellers who arrive at Australia.

Has anyone else faced a similar problem? I am likely not to be the only one...

Thanks, Ron

 

[serfty]

Welcome to AFF @ronb

That seems really strange that IATA have not included that specific information on that page.

IATA - International Travel Document News

www.iatatravelcentre.com

However, if you look here at another IATA COVID-19 rescource:

COVID-19 Dashboard on State & Airport Restrictions

This dashboard presents information on the latest FIR (Flight Information Region), airport, and state restrictions posted via NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) and AIS (Aeronautical Information Service) data in the context of the COVID-19 crisis.

www.iata.org

Select Australia, then choose YMML and scroll down you will see this:

NOTAM ID NOTAM Message
F1605/20-YBBB F1605/20 NOTAMR F1334/20 Q) YUXX/QPCCA/IV/NBO/E/000/999/2537S13421E999 A) YMMM/YBBB B) 2005290327 C) 2006290300 EST E) AUSTRALIA: COVID-19 TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS AND PASSENGER REQUIREMENTS 1. AUSTRALIA HAS TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS AND PASSENGER REQUIREMENTS IN PLACE. 2. INTERNATIONAL PASSENGERS 2A. PASSENGER ENTRY TO AUSTRALIA LIMITED TO AUSTRALIAN CITIZENS, RESIDENTS AND IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBERS. ALL TRAVELLERS TO AUSTRALIA WILL BE SUBJECT TO MANDATORY QUARANTINE FOR 14 DAYS AT DESIGNATED FACILITIES IN THEIR PORT OF ARRIVAL. 2B. PASSENGER DEPARTURE FROM AUSTRALIA IS RESTRICTED FOR ALL AUSTRALIAN CITIZENS AND RESIDENTS. 2C. DETAILED INFORMATION, INCLUDING EXEMPTIONS, IS AVAILABLE FROM AUSTRALIA'S DEPARTMENT OF HOME AFFAIRS AT COVID-19 and the border 3. DOMESTIC AND INTERSTATE PASSENGERS 3A. AUSTRALIANS MUST AVOID ALL NON-ESSENTIAL DOMESTIC TRAVEL. 3B. SOME STATES AND TERRITORIES HAVE APPLIED THEIR OWN RESTRICTIONS AND THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT IS ALSO RESTRICTING TRAVEL TO CERTAIN REMOTE COMMUNITIES. 3C. DETAILED INFORMATION FOR EACH STATE AND TERRITORY IS AVAILABLE THROUGH AUSTRALIA'S DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH WEBSITE AT Health alerts | Australian Government Department of Health COV-HEALTH-ALERT/CORONAVIRUS-COVID-19-ADVICE-FOR-TRAVELLERS 3D. ALSO REFER TO STATE AND TERRITORY GOVERNMENT WEBSITES FOR FURTHER TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS. 3E. ALSO CONTACT THE DESTINATION AERODROME OPERATOR PRIOR TO DEPARTURE FOR ANY ACCESS LIMITATIONS. CREATED: 29 May 2020 03:27:00 SOURCE: YBBBZEZX

That has a link to this page:

Leaving Australia | COVID-19 and the border

Hopefully that should be sufficient.

 

[ronb]

All good. I sent them two links to government sites in a FB post, and they changed my tickets free of charge. Thanks!