Visas & Immigration is a popular topic at the Australian Frequent Flyer. When travelling overseas, you certainly need to have a good understanding of immigration procedures, including getting the required visas to the countries you are planning on visiting.
Last weekend, the newly-relaunched Sydney Morning Herald travel section was filled with articles and full-page advertisements for holidays in Queensland. Just a few days later, on 29 July, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced that she would close the state’s border to anyone from “greater Sydney” from 1am on Saturday, 1 August 2020. Queensland reopened its border from … Continued
It’s now been four months since the Australian government closed its border to non-Australian citizens and residents, and banned Aussies from leaving their own country without special permission. Shortly after, the federal government introduced mandatory hotel quarantine upon arrival into Australia. Ever since March, flight cancellations and border restrictions – not just in Australia – … Continued
If you’ve ever tried to redeem your frequent flyer points for an international flight in pre-COVID times, you’ve probably noticed that award availability can be difficult to find. To have any chance of success, you would often need to book early, be very flexible with travel dates and accept an indirect routing – especially if … Continued
Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia have cancelled some flights to and from Melbourne after New South Wales shut its border with Victoria for the first time since 1919. It comes as Melbourne is placed into lockdown from midnight tonight due to a spike in coronavirus cases. The ACT and Northern Territory are also now closing … Continued
Queensland will proceed with its plan to reopen the state’s border on 10 July to travellers from all Australian states and territories except Victoria. It comes as the Victorian government announces lockdowns of 10 Melbourne postcodes for four weeks, starting from tonight, following a localised COVID-19 outbreak. In addition, Queensland will not allow even its … Continued
There was a 98% reduction in international passengers travelling to and from Australia in April 2020, compared to the previous year, despite a surge in people leaving Australia on repatriation flights. Almost half of those passengers flew with Qatar Airways. There was also a 97.2% reduction in domestic airline passengers travelling within Australia in April 2020. … Continued
Qantas has now cancelled most of its scheduled international flights, except some flights to New Zealand, until 24 October 2020. It comes as Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Simon Birmingham indicates normal international travel may not resume until 2021. Meanwhile, the Queensland government plans to start billing returning international travellers for their mandatory 14-day … Continued
Emirates and Etihad Airways will add more flights after the United Arab Emirates government lifted a ban on transits through airports in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The UAE transit ban, which had been in force since 23 March 2020, was finally lifted last Wednesday night. The lifting of the UAE transit ban allows travellers to … Continued
With Australia’s international borders effectively closed since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s no surprise that many travellers are getting itchy feet. It’s also little surprise that there have been countless news and blog articles predicting when international borders may re-open. There’s nothing wrong with that – it’s a matter of huge public interest. … Continued
Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific are both increasing flights to Australia, after Singapore and Hong Kong both re-opened their airports to transiting passengers. But both Singapore and Hong Kong remain closed to arriving tourists. Singapore & Hong Kong transits are now possible After both countries closed their borders, both Singapore and Hong Kong went a … Continued
This week, Qantas revealed how it plans to woo travellers back to the skies with face masks and hand sanitiser. But, while social distancing will be practiced at airports, Qantas won’t commit to blocking middle seats on its flights. Qantas is not alone, with many airlines protesting that leaving seats empty would drastically increase airfares and … Continued
The state of New South Wales will relax travel restrictions from 1 June 2020, allowing travel within NSW for any reason – including holidays. The removal of intra-state travel restrictions will make it possible once again to travel to regional NSW destinations, as long as social distancing and hygiene guidelines are followed. “COVID could not … Continued
