How can I get to Australia ASAP without breaking the bank

ifeelstupid

Hi all

I know this is not really the right forum but there are people on here who seem to have good knowledge of airlines, routes etc.

Story is we have a bit of a crisis in Australia - family member has been diagnosed with a serious illness - getting excellent treatment but support.

We are in the process of applying for exemption to travel and visas for her parents (both are very likely to be approved within the next week or so allowing for holidays). We are aware of quarantine rules etc. - not ideal but unavoidable.

My question is does anyone know a route/airline that will get these people there without totally breaking the bank. I am aware that there are a limited number of flights operating into Syd.

I have had a look at the usual suspects but finding it difficult to find much availability in the near future. Tickets will also need to be flexible - visa is likely to be granted for 12 months but may or may not need all of that time.

Any help appreciated

lintdrummer

Sorry to hear about your family illness, wishing her a speedy recovery.

It's a tough one regarding the flights, there's so much uncertainty at the moment. I don't know what you consider totally breaking the bank but I've just had a look at the cheapest options to Australia from around Europe. With the cheaper fares you are looking at multiple stops and airlines. Flexible tickets are going to be very expensive. I think the best option is to go one way and then figure out the return journey once the parents have a clearer idea of the timeline.

A couple of examples of fares I've found for January...

4th of January: Dublin - Berlin with either Aer Lingus or Ryanair. Ryanair leaves the connection tight enough at 1hr 5min whereas EI gives long wait at over 8 hours. Then Berlin - Sydney with lengthy stopovers in Istanbul and Singapore. Total per person approx €1300.

15th of January: Dublin - Lisbon then Lisbon - Sydney with stopovers in Geneva, Copenhagen and Singapore. Lengthy but again around €1200 - €1300 per person.

You can search for this kind of route yourself in skyscanner by picking a departure country and searching for the cheapest fare in January. Then see if there are flights available to the departure airport from Dublin on the same date.

Sorry I can't be of any more help than that. Hopefully somebody else will come up with alternative options. Best of Luck.

Caranica

Itasoftware is bringing up a direct flight to Istanbul and then onwards to Singapore and Sydney for €1,177 on the second and several other dates in January. One way.

Caranica

Caranica wrote: »

Itasoftware is bringing up a direct flight to Istanbul and then onwards to Singapore and Sydney for €1,177 on the second and several other dates in January. One way.

€937 with Emirates via Dubai on 20th January is by far the cheapest and most straight forward, but later in the month than you'd like I'm sure.

ifeelstupid

Thank you folks, all options to consider and much better fares than I have been seeing.

I had been focusing on focusing on flights through UAE for the more direct option as it has been my usual route.

It's likely that parents will stagger departure to be able to lengthen time one of them will be there so later in the month/early Feb looks okay there.

Her mum is very anxious about the journey and is likely to travel first (asap) so may have to suck it up and pay whatever it takes for that journey!

I considered hittin Alan Joyce up on LinkedIn last night until I remembered his announcement that Qantas will not be flying internationally until mid-2021 at least:-(

Addle

Dreadful situation. Best of luck.
Are you also bearing in mind that you have to isolate when you get to Australia?

un5byh7sqpd2x0

lintdrummer wrote: »

You can search for this kind of route yourself in skyscanner by picking a departure country and searching for the cheapest fare in January. Then see if there are flights available to the departure airport from Dublin on the same date.

That’s awful complicated. Can’t you just put in Dublin as the start, Sydney as the destination and all of January. There are several days where you can get there for < €750

lintdrummer

Dogg Munde wrote: »

That’s awful complicated. Can’t you just put in Dublin as the start, Sydney as the destination and all of January. There are several days where you can get there for < €750

Tried that but for some reason it was working out far more expensive.

cee_jay

There is an Irish Instagrammer who had to do this recently:
https://instagram.com/fifisfoodblogdublin?igshid=1a3c0wma7v6sl

She shared her quarantine story in the hotel over there, costs etc. She flew from Italy, and shared some of the hassle she had with flights. Would be worth looking at her highlights.

California Dreamer

Quarantine in a hotel for 2 weeks at your own expense! There is no way around that. I am not sure about Sydney but an in law of mine did it in Perth and cost $4000!

endofrainbow

3 things to note :

check entry requirements into stopover countries;

book direct with airlines

wait until visa is approved before booking

ifeelstupid

California Dreamer wrote: »

Quarantine in a hotel for 2 weeks at your own expense! There is no way around that. I am not sure about Sydney but an in law of mine did it in Perth and cost $4000!

Yes, unfortunately no was around it - $3,000 I think is the cost and under normal circumstances the trip would not be a consideration but not normal circumstances unfortunately. You can "possibly" be granted a 2 hour pass from quarantine if the person is end of live, thankfully we are not at that stage and hope not to be either

ExMachina1000

I would make contact with the Australian Irish association for whichever city your unwell relative lives in. They are a volunteer based organisations and are absolutely excellent at helping people out and giving ideas.

I had experience dealing with both Perth and Brisbane groups and they were so helpful.

Hit them up on Facebook messenger maybe

ifeelstupid

endofrainbow wrote: »

3 things to note :

check entry requirements into stopover countries;

book direct with airlines

wait until visa is approved before booking

Travel exemption has to be approved before visa - all paperwork was submitted this week but unfortunately with the Christmas holidays there will inevitably be delays in the process. We have someone working on that end of things and liaising with consulate in Sydney.

Everything is under control as much as it can be really except the flights, I spent a few hours looking up routes on Skyscanner and then going direct to airline website to check them but couldn't find any that were actually operating.
I will phone the major ones after the weekend and see if any progress can be made.

Thanks everyone for your time and your advice, much appreciated

votecounts

Nothing really to add, but hope your family get sorted.

beggars_bush

Fly into NZ, don't they pay for the hotel quarantine?

Then fly to Australia

ifeelstupid

beggars_bush wrote: »

Fly into NZ, don't they pay for the hotel quarantine?

Then fly to Australia

Looked into this, special permission also required for travel to NZ so non runner really

mandrake04

ifeelstupid wrote: »

Travel exemption has to be approved before visa - all paperwork was submitted this week but unfortunately with the Christmas holidays there will inevitably be delays in the process. We have someone working on that end of things and liaising with consulate in Sydney.

Everything is under control as much as it can be really except the flights, I spent a few hours looking up routes on Skyscanner and then going direct to airline website to check them but couldn't find any that were actually operating.
I will phone the major ones after the weekend and see if any progress can be made.

Thanks everyone for your time and your advice, much appreciated

How did you go? They have reduced the international intake by 50% due to the new strains did this affect your plans?

ifeelstupid

mandrake04 wrote: »

How did you go? They have reduced the international intake by 50% due to the new strains did this affect your plans?

Hi

Got a flight booked for her mum, was due to travel last week but C-19 scuppered that plan with a positive test:mad:

The other immediate family members who has been granted permission/exemption to travel on compassionate terms also had to go into self-isolation for 2 weeks so everything on hold at the moment.

Ended up paying through the nose for fairly direct (and flexible) flight so at least that's something. Mum is not really sick with Covid so hopefully will be able to get negative test by next week at the latest and it will be a matter of trying to find a flight to re-book on with current ticket then.

Fingers crossed!!