The International Contingent

[kalifire]

@sirjonnyp, just noticed Australia is now enforcing a mandatory 14 day self isolation period for all international arrivals. Shouldn’t stop you getting in, but will mean you’re in lockdown when you do.

[sirjonnyp]

Yeah I saw. It feels like the horse has already bolted here in terms of numbers of cases compared to NZ, but understandable. Not going to lie, it's pretty depressing at the moment. Had a rocky few weeks already, almost broke my foot last weekend, had a job interview that I really wanted (on the basis my visa was going to be granted) but haven't heard back, by the time I arrive the UK will probably have isolation guidelines so I won't be able to see any of my mates and now when I get back to Aus I won't even be able to hug my partner while I'm isolating. And that's to add to the festival looking unlikely.

I took myself out for a bike ride to try and get my head right but ended up cycling around a massive graveyard for half an hour. Having a beer now and going to go home and get those snugs while I still can. 

[BlackZeppelin]

Looking pretty bleak now.

Even if it went ahead, getting to and back from the UK look like ordeals in themselves.

Best hope is that the tickets get Grandfathered  into 2021. Also unlikely.

[Calvin Klein]

I cancelled my London accomodation yesterday. For boring tax reasons, I just couldn't take the chance to wait. 
Now I'll need to wait and see what happens to my plane tickets. Hopefully I can get a refund but I'm not very optimistic. 

This was looking like our last chance to go to Glastonbury in a while. Hope I'm wrong. 
 

[beefykoala]

Oh shit I forgot about our accommodation reservations. Thanks for the heads up! 

[Bryanrebe]

We're pulling the pin as of this morning. Seven week dream holiday down the drain, absolutely gutted..

I'm going to see the doctor today because I have very bad lungs, so need to see if I need to be in self isolation.

Grim times people, stay safe xx

[beefykoala]

Love to all my internationals - may we still one day meet upon the rolling luggage hills of Heathrow, and toast with Strongbow-filled wellies to finally making it.

[Mark H]

1 hour ago, Bryanrebe said:

We're pulling the pin as of this morning. Seven week dream holiday down the drain, absolutely gutted..

I'm going to see the doctor today because I have very bad lungs, so need to see if I need to be in self isolation.

Grim times people, stay safe xx

I’m really sorry this hasn’t worked out for you. I hope you do get to experience the festival at some point and that you and your family come through this.

[Bryanrebe]

It's 1.30am here but I'm too excited to sleep. Soooooo grateful we can roll our tickets over!

I'm in self isolation for health reasons, the doctor's told me to stay home during all this. I also have a cough and a co-worker being tested, so might already be infected. This rollover is a bright light at the end of the tunnel!

[northernringo]

17 minutes ago, Bryanrebe said:

It's 1.30am here but I'm too excited to sleep. Soooooo grateful we can roll our tickets over!

I'm in self isolation for health reasons, the doctor's told me to stay home during all this. I also have a cough and a co-worker being tested, so might already be infected. This rollover is a bright light at the end of the tunnel!

Hope you feel better soon!

[kalifire]

So sad to read people having to abandon their plans. But, I think today's announcement works for us internationals.

My main concern (aside from all the health stuff, obviously) was to avoid a situation whereby:

• Glastonbury is on but I can't get to it due to flight chaos; or
• Glastonbury is not on but I'm stuck with my flights

Clearly the ideal situation is the festival is on and I can get to it, but given things aren't going that way at all, today's announcement ensures no FOMO in June, and no stress for a ticket for next year.

It's as much of a win as we can realistically get at this point.

The only other reason to visit was to see my parents, but given their age and the lockdown older people will get soon, it would only endanger infection to turn up, so that's one worry less as well.

I'm now stuck with a return trip to London in June, with Cathay Pacific. I'm hopeful that they may agree to either shift those flights to Christmas (I intend to visit then as well) or offer a refund (which I know would only happen if they're unable to provide the service).

This has been an absolute rollercoaster, at times frustrating, at times emotional, and I'm very aware that this is an entirely privileged problem to have, while others are going through, or about to go through, real trauma. But it's been difficult nonetheless.

I hope you're all keeping strong. Imagine the scenes in June 2021.

Edited March 18, 2020 by kalifire

[dmedxb]

Our glamping provider has also rolled over our booking to 2021. I hope they're still in business then after, I assume, taking a huge knock due to losing their entire season. 

[Reckoner]

Glad I’m lazy and hadn’t booked flights yet. Although being in Singapore, this has been part of our lives since the start of Feb albeit with a strange normality about it. 

Roll those tickets over, get the flight price alerts sorted, and start searching for trains/buses or Tuesday night hotels. It’s the greatest place in the world, and you have to take the opportunity. 

[assorted]

My airline (British Airways) is currently offering no change fees/cancels up until May 30th. Assuming that will be extended to include my flight dates soon enough and I'll change it to next year if I can.

Tried to change my hotels on either end but looks like I may need to wait a bit longer for June 2021 dates to become available. 

Assuming/hoping we will hear we can roll over our tipi reservation with no issues... 

Everyone in my group is on board to keep this together for 2021 so I guess this is the best result of a horrible situation. 

[Calvin Klein]

I'm also hoping to be able to change my flights to next year, or even better, a refund. Although that would mean not seeing my parents until who knows when. A bit worried, as they live in Spain. And living here, you never know if you'll be able to afford such a trip in a year. But I guess having a guaranteed ticket is good news. 

This was a pretty much perfect line up for me. I could not believe it when it was announced. But it seems we have much more important things to worry about now. Hope everybody is feeling good today.

[Suprefan]

Want to go to England if possible. think everyone needs a holiday from all this. But have to see if restrictions extend before any moves get made. Also have a mini trip to Dublin while over there and obviously Ryanair has to be nice for once. Maybe Ill get credit and can use it for next year when bookings open. And yeah, main flights ( Virgin ) hopefully can be moved too if need be. Knowing that I dont have to pay the balance for another year gives some freedom and having Worthy View booked also is one less thing to wort out. 

[beefykoala]

I was clever not putting the year in the thread name. BUMP FOR 2021!!!

I for one am pummppppeedd.

[Copperface]

On 3/18/2020 at 6:57 PM, assorted said:

My airline (British Airways) is currently offering no change fees/cancels up until May 30th. Assuming that will be extended to include my flight dates soon enough and I'll change it to next year if I can.

 

They are currently just offering vouchers for future travel valid for one year from scheduled departure date. Useless for me. No refunds for cancellation as yet.

[assorted]

3 hours ago, Copperface said:

They are currently just offering vouchers for future travel valid for one year from scheduled departure date. Useless for me. No refunds for cancellation as yet.

Good to know thank you. I certainly hope that changes.

[Suprefan]

28 minutes ago, assorted said:

Good to know thank you. I certainly hope that changes.

Probably not, they just want you to keep using them however possible. American and Southwest just announced extensions for trip changes to extend til May 31. And if youve ever flown Southwest they just keep rolling over your credit til you use it or it expires, and they also announced extensions for credits too cause people lost some due to this.

Edited March 21, 2020 by Suprefan

[sirjonnyp]

How's everyone in this thread doing? I've been doing a lot of bread baking and playstation playing while finding it slightly amusing that now my visa has come through the job market has completely dried up. 

I had the email from Cathay Pacific cancelling my flights that I would have been taking to the farm in June. Glad that it's being cancelled so that I don't have to pay any fees. Wondering what to do now though - would it be better to take Cathay credit or take the money? I'm fortunate to be in a position where I likely won't need the money, so that isn't a factor. Do we think that flights are going to be more expensive when the airlines feel confident enough to start running again?

[assorted]

14 hours ago, sirjonnyp said:

I had the email from Cathay Pacific cancelling my flights that I would have been taking to the farm in June. Glad that it's being cancelled so that I don't have to pay any fees. Wondering what to do now though - would it be better to take Cathay credit or take the money? I'm fortunate to be in a position where I likely won't need the money, so that isn't a factor. Do we think that flights are going to be more expensive when the airlines feel confident enough to start running again?

British Airways just sent me the email that my Glastonbury flight dates count for a voucher.

I just wanted to change my dates with no fees, but they were making me call for that so I just took the voucher. Like you I wanted to just roll over the flight dates to the new dates, but I also didn't want to be on hold with British Airways for an hour to do it so I will report back how the voucher works out (which they said takes up to 6 days). After I bought my (discount) ticket I paid for checked bags and seat selection and I'm concerned the voucher won't include those charges and I'll have to get on the phone regardless... 

[BlackZeppelin]

On 4/28/2020 at 9:25 AM, sirjonnyp said:

How's everyone in this thread doing? I've been doing a lot of bread baking and playstation playing while finding it slightly amusing that now my visa has come through the job market has completely dried up. 

I had the email from Cathay Pacific cancelling my flights that I would have been taking to the farm in June. Glad that it's being cancelled so that I don't have to pay any fees. Wondering what to do now though - would it be better to take Cathay credit or take the money? I'm fortunate to be in a position where I likely won't need the money, so that isn't a factor. Do we think that flights are going to be more expensive when the airlines feel confident enough to start running again?

Thanks for the prompt SirJonny , I called Flight Centre and ended up taking the Cathay credit.

I  just hope international travel is available next year. Australia has done pretty well with infection rates and mortality. (Still under 100).

But probably the last thing to happen will be eading of the borders. 

Edited April 28, 2020 by BlackZeppelin

[kalifire]

Also got the email from Cathay. I didn’t book with them directly so I have to go through my agent, which is Aunt Betty (part of the Flight Centre group but a different name). 

AB are not accepting emails and refuse to talk to anyone if their flight isn’t scheduled within 24 hours, making it impossible for me to sort this out. They have a form you can use to request a credit voucher or refund (or choose ‘I’d still like to fly’!!), so I’ve requested the refund, which they’ll get around to god knows when.

So I’ve initiated a transaction dispute with my bank, on the basis of ‘goods not received’. I’ve provided them with evidence of the booking, cancellation, and the difficulties in contacting, and they’ll investigate it and decide whether to refund directly.

[sirjonnyp]

I finally got around to calling Cathay to move my flights. I booked directly with them in January, so their website led me to believe that I could just defer my tickets for a year (their cut off date was 30 June 2021, so pretty good timing) so initially asked to move the tickets back to the same dates next year. After what seemed like an eternity I was told that I couldn't move my flights any later than October due to my type of ticket so instead I have ended up with a refund, which was my least preferred option due to probably having to pay more for flights next year.

How is everyone else getting on with recouping / rebooking?