AJ747M

I'm trying to get back to Australia in November, ideally without spending two arms and a leg. I'm thinking of purchasing a CMB-HKG-SYD ticket on CX J which is a relatively affordable 1500EUR. I'm an Australian citizen.

Has anyone heard of business class ticket holders getting bumped off flights to Aus? I'd like to feel quite confident before I take the plunge, as I'd need to purchase other non-refundable tickets to get to Colombo from my home base of Stockholm. Obviously the arrival caps are very low, so I assume CX lets people on in order of price paid.

Mwenenzi

All depends on if/when the arrival cap is reinstated. Was reduced 50% from 14 July to 31 Aug. Then to be reviewed (will be extended) The cap is dictated by the states.

How each airline manage cap reductions/over booking is unknown. Been reported SQ work on on last in-first out. QR seem to overbook and base on price.
At this time 1500EUR. would be a very good price, even for economy.

Australia’s response to Covid-19 [general border control thread]

AJ747M

Thanks for the info. I actually managed to nab an SQ economy ticket ARN-CPH-SIN-SYD for 1100EUR ten days before they announced the cap halving. Maybe that will stick if they do last-in first out...

Will have a read through that thread as well - thanks for sharing

djsflynn

I've heard of business class ticket holders being bumped off flights to Australia, but mainly when the caps have been reshuffled and there's the inevitable knock-on effect in the first few weeks as airlines need to readjust capacity. You'd like to think that by now, things have settled down with the current 50% caps in place for long enough.

That said, it can still happen if somebody on the list who is already considered a priority traveller (eg needs to get home for urgent reason) has their own status 'upgraded' again (eg their reason has become super-urgent), so if the flight is at maximum load (even if that's just 15 people) then they might get moved up and onto that flight and somebody not as 'urgent' can be bumped off.

Not wishing by any stretch to alarm you, but just saying it can happen, and no booking is 100% locked in.

FWIW, there are a few Facebook groups for people trying to get back to AU as well as those who've made it and are in quarantine, so perhaps joining both of those might also help with getting feedback from people in a similar situation as yourself.

Good luck!

AJ747M

Cheers djsflynn. Good information in the Facebook group as well.

fakecd

money talks.

I heard with QR you call them and say you need to fly, wola magically a 15k USD one-way seat opens up should you wish to take it, it wont be on website you have to call and obtain it. if you do take it, they simply bump off whatever lowest ranked passenger.

fair? not.... is this right? absolutely. there is quota of 1 cap, airline shud sell to the peson paying 10x premium for that previledge... and if you have problem, blame the govt not CX

AJ747M

Agreed that the government should be blamed, not the airlines.

After the latest 'no auto-exemption for overseas residents' nonsense, I think I'll cancel all my tickets, save the $$$ and head back "home" when the smallest inkling of common sense has returned to the country...

davidj1

Anyone made it on economy fares? Given during my intended flying period CX has limited sales to 2-3 economy seats per day, it would be safe to take one of these as "cap factored" seats, assuming no further decrease to caps?

brunos

At takeoff and landing an aircraft needs some pax at the back to equilibrate the plane.
That could be a positive factor.

Mwenenzi

No one knows for sure, if any more reductions in the future. The current 50% reduction in AU arrival caps is due to end/be reviewed at the end of October. But highly likely the AU states will not go back the previous higher caps in November. NSW was the only state that openly did not agree with the cap reduction, but now they are having increased Delta CV19 cases with no sign of it slowing down. The other states are becoming more isolated and retreating more into their hermit serfdoms. WA & VIC have been trigger happy in closing the international border at short notice. NSW have been very reliable with their arrival cap.

The current federal health order “human biosecurity emergency period under the Biosecurity Act 2015” is due to expire on 17 September, but will be extended for another 3 months. That is one of the keys that determines the AU federal & state governments responses to CV19.

Most of the seat cancellations/over bookings, by a significant margin, happen with Qatar QR. A TA on AuFreqFlyer has posted more QR seat cancellations are expected. QR seem to take the end of 3 month “biosecurity emergency period” as a sign to open up bookings(which get cancelled). Other airlines seem to assume the restrictions will continue, as they are almost certain to do.

sbs2716g

NSW is cutting to 750 arrival per week from 1505 in sept n October.

https://www.news.com.au/travel/trave...c304072b45b571

davidj1

But I thought the messaging was around needing to open up and normalise the situation? Actions don't align to words.