Is Australia open to tourists now?

Q I’ve heard that Australia is opening up to visa holders but having heard similar things several times over the past few months, can I be absolutely clear: does this mean that you are able to enter Australia with a tourist visa from this date?

Julie B

A Yes, there was surprising and welcome news on Monday from the Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison. A country that has spent the past two years diligently keeping people out is now opening up (or at least significant parts of it are). The government has confirmed that this covers ordinary tourists (plus family visitors and business travellers).

Ability to travel is entirely based on vaccination, with no requirement to have had a booster – and just a lateral flow test in the 24 hours before arrival. It remains to be seen how quickly travel to Australia will recover. I expect to see a surge of bookings from people desperate to see loved ones, but pure tourism may take a while longer. The announcement has come at a time corresponding to the summer peak in Australia; as autumn arrives in the southern parts of the nation, the appeal of a short-notice trip may dwindle. By Easter, Victoria and Tasmania will be distinctly cooler.

At the same time as Mr Morrison – a former managing director of Tourism Australia – was making the announcement, the incumbent Phillipa Harrison said Australia has been “a little bit ridiculed” by much of the rest of the world for its continued strict closure. “It’s the whole ‘fortress Australia’ concept,“ she told an event in Sydney. ”People just don’t understand why they’re shut out, why they can’t reconnect with family and friends.”

Meanwhile, just because you are allowed to enter Australia, individual states still have control over who they let in – particularly Western Australia (WA), which remains closed. The state’s attitude baffles me. Ninety per cent of eligible people are fully vaccinated, and yet a strategy of “let’s get almost everyone jabbed and we can then relax” has not materialised.

Instead, the WA premier, Mark McGowan, wants to get boosters fully rolled out across the state. To do otherwise would be “reckless and irresponsible”, he says. It is a huge shame for people who want to visit loved ones and for those of us who just love Australia’s largest state.

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Q I think I’m being badly treated by easyJet. I’m part of a booking of 10 people flying from Gatwick to Antalya on 16 April and returning a week later. We’re booked on the late flight (which gets in at 1.20am on 24 April) but I need to return on the earlier flight, arriving at 5.20pm on 23 April.

Same airport, same departure day, same airline – just a few hours earlier. But easyJet says the change of flight policy doesn’t apply to bulk bookings done through an agent. They can change it but will charge me £200 to do so, which is only a little less than the flight if I booked it now. Do I have a case to expect a lower fee?

Name supplied

A The general principle that easyJet has long applied is that changes of flight are possible if you pay the flight change fee (currently zero) plus any difference in fare. Had you made an individual booking, there should have been no problem with switching to the earlier flight. The night departure is currently £237, £15 more than the afternoon flight. The airline could pocket the difference, and sell your seat on the later, more popular departure. But on any airline, flights that are part of package trips involving other people are less easy to change: last summer switching a British Airways flight to Gibraltar bought with a package holiday cost me a small fortune.

I can, however, suggest two cheaper options. The more secure is to buy a new ticket on SunExpress, an excellent Turkish airline that has a nonstop departure to Gatwick at 9.20am, which will get you to the Sussex airport at 12 noon. It is currently on sale at £186, including a 20kg bag. But for around £30 you could hope to avail of the little-known “get home early” policy that easyJet has operated for many years.

“If there’s room you can transfer onto an earlier flight leaving on the same day for a small change fee,” the airline says. Crucially you can do this on the easyJet app – no need to wait for the easyJet desk to open. “You can start checking availability on the app at any time on the day of your return flight,” easyJet says.

So my advice is to wait: to check at midnight whether this option is available, and if it is not, then to buy a ticket on SunExpress; I don’t expect the fare will increase significantly from the current level. There is even a Turkish Airlines flight on the same route at 9.10am, giving you yet more back-up if needed.

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Q I am having a problem with an airline. I booked flights to Dalaman online for my whole family. When I received the email confirmation, I noticed that my three-year-old son’s surname was my maiden name instead of his actual surname. I called the airline immediately after realising that to try and correct this mistake. They asked me to send a photo of my son’s passport, which I did immediately.

They replied two days later to say that they are unable to make any changes after the ticket has been issued and that I have to cancel without a refund and book again. The total price of the tickets was £704, I can’t pay that again. I emailed to say, ‘can I at least pay for an extra seat for my son and you link it to the family ticket?’ They say the complaint is closed now. Can they ban us from travel unless we purchase new tickets?

Name supplied

A How frustrating that the airline is being so unhelpful. Many airlines recognise that such inadvertent errors are common, and do not seek to exploit mistakes by forcing people to pay twice. British Airways even allows you to cancel the entire booking within 24 hours for a full refund.

I am particularly concerned you were told you would have to abandon the first booking entirely, losing £704. This is nonsense. Depending on the airline’s rules for selling tickets to young people, you should be able to buy a new ticket for your son in his correct name. This will create a minor issue that I’m sure can be easily addressed: when checking in you will need to make sure he is seated adjacent to you. One way to solve this is to check in the whole party, including the “wrong” name, as well as your son under his new booking separately: the exact seat does not matter. He will be a “no-show” under the mistaken name, but can occupy the seat with you rather than that representing the new booking.

All of this, I think you will agree, is a complicated and expensive response to a problem that should not exist in the first place. If you have a few weeks before your departure, there is a cheaper and easier option: renew his passport in your maiden name instead of his actual last name. Over the years many travellers have successfully done just that to avoid excessive airline fees: passport offices are wearily accustomed to such requests, and will generally comply when you provide proof in the shape of your marriage certificate and the Turkish Airlines booking. The cost for an online renewal is £49.

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