New Zealand Travel Bubble Announcement

[Mattg]

On the news tonight this is being reported as WA, NT (& Tas ) residents. That is, if I manage to get a flight from BNE to AKL, I will be OK. Is that your understanding?

EDIT: OK, I see the NZ site says "Travel from ...", so residency is not relevant.

Yeah, all that matters is where you have been in the last 14 days.

 

[Beano]

Thanks. Was seeing my GP today on another matter and got a referral to a lab that does the asymptomatic testing locally (Govt won't take aysymtomatics as far as I know).

Wherever you are the free government tests are no use. You need to pay for test from a path lab. The free tests don't have the necessary information. I met a guy on a Green flight from Melbourne who initially did the wrong test and they wouldn't let him on the flight the day before.

 

[RooFlyer]

I just visited Hobart Pathology where I'm going to get my test. They are totally on top of the NZ requirements and emphasised the need for me to bring my passport.

 

[serfty]

I have an interesting one for the end of the month.

I was booked with Qantas MEL-AKL in Business but the evening MEL-AKL flight was cancelled. They initially put me on a MEL-AKL flight leaving 12 hours earlier which was no good for me so I called and was able to rebook MEL-xSYD-AKL still in Business

It is the xSYD I am now concerned about. It means getting from the public areas of T3 to the airside departures of T1.

Would that be enough for NZ to deem me as being in NSW?

 

[Berlin]

I have an interesting one for the end of the month.

I was booked with Qantas MEL-AKL but the evening MEL-AKL flight was cancelled. They initially put me on a MEL-AKL flight leaving 12 hours earlier which was no good for me so I called and was able to rebook MEL-xSYD-AKL.

It is the xSYD I am now concerned about. It means getting from the public areas of T3 to the airside departures of T1.

Would that be enough for NZ to deem me as being in NSW?

I have a similar one coming up and as much as I wished it didn't, I am 99% sure that this will unfortunately totally qualify for having been in NSW. Knowing the NZ government, that won't be accepted as a "quick and safe" transfer.

But if anyone can vouch for the opposite- hey, please let me know that I'm wrong as this would solve quite a few potential issues for me too!

 

[justinbrett]

I have an interesting one for the end of the month.

I was booked with Qantas MEL-AKL in Business but the evening MEL-AKL flight was cancelled. They initially put me on a MEL-AKL flight leaving 12 hours earlier which was no good for me so I called and was able to rebook MEL-xSYD-AKL still in Business

It is the xSYD I am now concerned about. It means getting from the public areas of T3 to the airside departures of T1.

Would that be enough for NZ to deem me as being in NSW?

I don't think it matters, if they haven't removed the restriction on NSW by then it's very unlikely the flight will operate as a quarantine free flight.

 

[milehighclub]

Would that be enough for NZ to deem me as being in NSW?

• You cannot transit through New South Wales, Queensland, the Northern Territory or Western Australia by air or road to get to New Zealand.

International travel

Information for air and sea travellers about entering and leaving New Zealand.

covid19.govt.nz

Would appear so

 

[serfty]

• You cannot transit through New South Wales, Queensland, the Northern Territory or Western Australia by air or road to get to New Zealand.

International travel

Information for air and sea travellers about entering and leaving New Zealand.

covid19.govt.nz

Would appear so

Thanks - not unexpected - there's still three weeks to hope

---

I have looked for options but Business is sold out for via MEL, BNE the day before and the day after. There are unpalatable timed routes here and there via WLG and ZQN.

... can only wait and see what happens - I note that Qantas have cancelled their SYD-AKL flights today and tomorrow.

 

[henrus]

Yeah, all that matters is where you have been in the last 14 days.

No this is not the case for NZ:

• Travellers to New Zealand must not have been in New South Wales on or after 11:59pm (NZT) on 22 June or in Queensland, the Northern Territory or Western Australia on or after 10:30pm (NZT) on 26 June 2021.

 

[Beano]

No this is not the case for NZ:

Mattg is correct, all that matters is where you have been, but you still need the right visas.

 

[justinbrett]

No this is not the case for NZ:

The dates will be removed once they hit 14 days

 

[Beano]

After 14 days, even if NSW and QLD are still with restrictions, there should be "green" flights to NZ with pre-departure testing.

 

[jakeseven7]

Last week I had to cancel Air NZ flights due to the bubble pause. I was told the refund would take 15 business days but it actually took 3 business days, and I suspect 2 of them were due to my bank not Air NZ. It was a fully refundable fare but even so I have been pleasantly surprised by how relatively painless the Air NZ refund process was (unlike the disappointment at missing the event I was travelling for - not the airline's fault).

Well you’d hope so given they were fined millions for being so slack with refunds… good to see they have improved so as not to get in trouble again.

 

[RooFlyer]

Thanks - not unexpected - there's still three weeks to hope

i’m in the same boat at the end of this month. Except I have a transit through both Sydney and Brisbane!

It’s a status run using a sale business fare so if I defer it I'm going to get screwed on the cost. Oh well.

 

[Beano]

This begs the question, if you have to transit through a city in lockdown how does that affect getting to NZ? In Sydney and Brisbane you have to leave the terminal.

 

[Berlin]

This begs the question, if you have to transit through a city in lockdown how does that affect getting to NZ? In Sydney and Brisbane you have to leave the terminal.

You must not have been in those states over a certain amount of time so it won't work. At least that is my understanding (unfortunately).

 

[Beano]

You must not have been in those states over a certain amount of time so it won't work. At least that is my understanding (unfortunately).

Just what I thought. Pity.

 

[henrus]

The dates will be removed once they hit 14 days

For NSW 14 days is today, so in theory, they should be removed but I don't think they are.

EDIT : An update to this that was posted via the NZ gov covid Facebook page, the 14-day rule does not apply in this case. Anyone who has been in NSW since the 22nd of June or QLD since the 26th of June can not fly to NZ even if they've spent more than 14 days outside of a paused state. If technically eligible for a return green flight then those individuals could fly back into the paused state and then catch a return green flight out but can't go direct.

What I want to know is the strictness of these return green flights from QLD/NSW to NZ. In theory, any Australian who's been in NZ since 5 April 2021 is eligible to travel but I wonder if there are additional checks on top of that. The NZ gov is saying people who are ordinary residents... which means Kiwi's living in Australia can't use these flights?

 

[Jmrocky]

You must not have been in those states over a certain amount of time so it won't work. At least that is my understanding (unfortunately).

That's correct imo, and buried in the detail in the NZ COVID page for current (not paused) states is:

"You will not be able to transit through New South Wales or Queensland by air or road to get to New Zealand."

 

[justinbrett]

For NSW 14 days is today, so in theory, they should be removed but I don't think they are.

EDIT : An update to this that was posted via the NZ gov covid Facebook page, the 14-day rule does not apply in this case. Anyone who has been in NSW since the 22nd of June or QLD since the 26th of June can not fly to NZ even if they've spent more than 14 days outside of a paused state. If technically eligible for a return green flight then those individuals could fly back into the paused state and then catch a return green flight out but can't go direct.

What I want to know is the strictness of these return green flights from QLD/NSW to NZ. In theory, any Australian who's been in NZ since 5 April 2021 is eligible to travel but I wonder if there are additional checks on top of that. The NZ gov is saying people who are ordinary residents... which means Kiwi's living in Australia can't use these flights?

That must have been an error as it now says 26th June for both states

To be eligible to travel quarantine-free to New Zealand, you must:

• have proof of a negative pre-departure test if you have been in Australia for more than 72 hours.
• not have been in New South Wales or Queensland after 10:30pm (NZT) on 26 June 2021.

You will not be able to transit through New South Wales or Queensland by air or road to get to New Zealand.