Has anybody flown to the UK during covid?

[aconcannon]

Hi all,

 

I‘ve sadly received the call that all expats dread, and one of my parents is very sick.

 

I’m weighing up the logistics of getting back to the UK & have accepted that I’ll potentially be stuck there for several months due to flights being cancelled etc, and of course not forgetting the costs of the 14 day quarantine on my return to QLD.

 

I wondered if anybody has been in a similar boat? I have a heap of questions & would be so grateful if anybody could shed some light please.

 

1) has anybody had their exemption to leave Australia rejected, and if so on what grounds?

 

2) am I right in thinking I can’t book an outbound flight until I have the exemption in place & clean covid test results?

 

3) in regards to people’s flights being cancelled for returning to Oz, how many days notice are you getting & is the new proposed flight being confirmed the same day?

 

4) any other tips, tricks or general advice on the situation would be appreciated immensely.

 

As always, thank you! The support of this group has been invaluable to me over the years :-)

[Quoll]

So sorry to hear this is happening to you right now. On another board, someone was given an exemption quite quickly for a terminally ill parent. Last heard she was going to try and get a flight out but, like you, has no idea what the future will hold. 
My situation was different. My dad died inJune  and we decided it would be silly to go just for a funeral. He’d been In a care home, mum died 3 years ago so I delegated my son who lives in uk to farewell him. I’m cool with that and I know dad wouldn’t have cared. I’m sad but realistically there was nothing I could have done to make things better. 
I guess my question is - do you have to go? Do you have siblings who could shoulder the load, can you afford (worst case) 6 months away and can you bear  the cost of first or business class travel? What could you do when you’re there? Is it something that someone else could do?  I really do understand that you want to go but you will have to be pragmatic about it both temporally and financially.  Good luck!!!! 

[AliQ]

Very very sorry to hear this. Just to offer a different point of view, when my Mum took ill (many years ago now) I debated as to whether to go or not for a few days (work, finances etc). After a few days, I decided to get up and go. My Mum died whilst I was on my way.

I truely regret not going as soon as I was given the news. I still live with this regret. 

It's a very difficult decision for you, as everyone's personal circumstances and family dynamics are so different.

Good luck, I wish you well.

[Marisawright]

14 hours ago, aconcannon said:

I‘ve sadly received the call that all expats dread, and one of my parents is very sick.

1) has anybody had their exemption to leave Australia rejected, and if so on what grounds?

2) am I right in thinking I can’t book an outbound flight until I have the exemption in place & clean covid test results?

3) in regards to people’s flights being cancelled for returning to Oz, how many days notice are you getting & is the new proposed flight being confirmed the same day?

1. People do have exemptions refused, but there's no limit to the number of times you can reapply.   Your chances are higher if you can give more reason than "I want to be there",  e.g. you're needed because there are responsibilities (specify what they are) and no one else is able/available to do them.
    
2. You are right in thinking there's no point in booking an outbound flight until you get the exemption because it may take a few weeks to come through.   No idea about the covid test.
    
3. If you are flying economy, your seat can be cancelled at any time, from weeks to days before.  One person even had their seat cancelled on the day, and they were already at the airport.   The airline is only allowed to fill a very limited number of seats.  They want to fill those seats with high-paying business/first class passengers because it's not economic for them to put the plane in the air otherwise.  They take economy bookings, but if they subsequently get a business or first class booking, they will dump you off.

The good news is that it should be easier to get a flight back after October,  because you may have heard they'll be increasing the cap then.  

 

 

Edited September 23, 2020 by Marisawright

[Marisawright]

37 minutes ago, AliQ said:

Very very sorry to hear this. Just to offer a different point of view, when my Mum took ill (many years ago now) I debated as to whether to go or not for a few days (work, finances etc). After a few days, I decided to get up and go. My Mum died whilst I was on my way.

I feel for you and for the OP.  A similar thing happened to me - twice.  When my Mum took ill (over 30 years ago now), I had recently arrived in Australia.  In those days, if you left the country within a year of arrival, you lost your right to return.  You could apply for a special visa (similar to the RRV today) but obviously, I didn't have time to get one before Mum died.  With my Dad, I got the call, got straight on the first available plane - but he was gone before I got there.  I was glad to be there for Dad's funeral at least, and to help my sister sort things out, but I will always regret missing Mum's last days.

[Ausvisitor]

Also worth noting that the issue with Economy seat bumping only applies to the UK-AUS leg of the journey, there is no capping on the leg from AUS-UK so you could fly out on an economy seat and just pay the over-inflated cost for the return seat (if you need to get back quickly)

[Quoll]

Another thing to think about will be the route you take to UK - if you go via Singapore or HK then I don't think you have to quarantine for 2 weeks at the other end. I don't know if the Perth-London flight is going but that's ideal for avoiding quarantine.

[Jon the Hat]

3 hours ago, Quoll said:

Another thing to think about will be the route you take to UK - if you go via Singapore or HK then I don't think you have to quarantine for 2 weeks at the other end. I don't know if the Perth-London flight is going but that's ideal for avoiding quarantine.

Correct Singapore and HK are now both on the exceptions list so no self isolation required.

[aconcannon]

So sorry to hear this is happening to you right now. On another board, someone was given an exemption quite quickly for a terminally ill parent. Last heard she was going to try and get a flight out but, like you, has no idea what the future will hold. 
My situation was different. My dad died inJune  and we decided it would be silly to go just for a funeral. He’d been In a care home, mum died 3 years ago so I delegated my son who lives in uk to farewell him. I’m cool with that and I know dad wouldn’t have cared. I’m sad but realistically there was nothing I could have done to make things better. 
I guess my question is - do you have to go? Do you have siblings who could shoulder the load, can you afford (worst case) 6 months away and can you bear  the cost of first or business class travel? What could you do when you’re there? Is it something that someone else could do?  I really do understand that you want to go but you will have to be pragmatic about it both temporally and financially.  Good luck!!!! 

Hi [mention]Quoll [/mention] I don’t have to go no, but I’d like to go as I’m very close to my mum & feeling very useless being over here. I do have a brother but he also lives abroad and has children / a business to run so logistics for him aren’t easy. I have a job, but no children, so it makes more sense for me to be there to support them. Sorry to hear about your dad, that’s sad but sounds as though you’re happy wooo the decision you made. I have a strong urge to be there, and although it’s not an ideal situation I guess i just have to suck it up.

[Quoll]

6 hours ago, aconcannon said:

Hi [mention]Quoll [/mention] I don’t have to go no, but I’d like to go as I’m very close to my mum & feeling very useless being over here. I do have a brother but he also lives abroad and has children / a business to run so logistics for him aren’t easy. I have a job, but no children, so it makes more sense for me to be there to support them. Sorry to hear about your dad, that’s sad but sounds as though you’re happy wooo the decision you made. I have a strong urge to be there, and although it’s not an ideal situation I guess i just have to suck it up.

I do know how you feel - utterly useless! Hope you can get there and get home again! These COVID times have certainly made things much more difficult all round. I always used to say that there’s nothing that a passport and a credit card won’t solve but there are so many unknown parameters at the moment that makes everything ten times harder.
 

I really do hope things go well for you all and that it’s a productive time - future planning when you get to my age (probably about your parents’ age) is tricky to address but needs to be done. 

Have you applied for your exemption yet? 

[starlight7]

If you have that strong urge to go then you must.  Things are easing up a bit now in Australia so it will probably be a bit easier for you to return.  Good luck .

[Marisawright]

23 hours ago, aconcannon said:

Hi [mention]Quoll [/mention] I don’t have to go no, but I’d like to go as I’m very close to my mum & feeling very useless being over here. I do have a brother but he also lives abroad and has children / a business to run so logistics for him aren’t easy. I have a job, but no children, so it makes more sense for me to be there to support them. Sorry to hear about your dad, that’s sad but sounds as though you’re happy wooo the decision you made. I have a strong urge to be there, and although it’s not an ideal situation I guess i just have to suck it up.

Just make sure it’s your own need to go that’s driving you, and not guilt or emotional blackmail from parents or siblings