Looks like the Philippines is reopening

[KC813]

1 hour ago, GeoffH said:

I have booked a flight (well 2 of them) on the 5th April.

In the past I've taken the airport bus to Melbourne Airport and then flown to the Philippines from there but there don't seem to be any direct flights from Melbourne any more (no doubt related to Covid).  There were arrival caps in play up until now, related to arrival testing capacity, and Philippine airlines got the lions share of arrivals so I was going to book with them but their web site was NOT playing nicely so...

I am now booked onto an early morning flight on a Qantas Dash 8 turbo prop from Bendigo to Sydney with 4 hour layover at Sydney Airport and then a direct flight on a Qantas A330 to Manila.  Total time 14 hours 55 minutes which isn't really any longer than taking the airport bus to Melbourne and flying from there.

I will add that the 5 April flight from Sydney to Manila with Qantas was already about 50% full which makes me think I'm not the only one booking LOL.

*edit* I am booked into a hotel in Makati now for overnight stay on the night of the 5th.

How many tickets have you booked in the last year?

If this new policy eliminating the inbound vaccinated passenger cap actually lasts, a lot of airlines will gradually start ramping up flights to/from the Philippines and there will be fewer cancellations of existing scheduled flights.

I would not expect quick schedule additions.  The airlines have been burned too many times by Ph's sudden changes in passenger caps and Covid policies!

However, the one airline that might quickly increase service to Australia is PAL.  They have enough crew and midrange planes sitting around to up their schedule fairly quick.  Unfortunately, after returning most of their leased longhaul aircraft as part of the bankruptcy settlement, service increases to London and the U.S. are going to take time.

I don't know how I got off on doing an airliner forecast, but there you have it.  Probably because I am like so many others, viewing fares and feeling a little optimistic!

 

 

[Clermont]

2 hours ago, GeoffH said:

then a direct flight on a Qantas A330 to Manila.

If you know Geoff, when does qantas start flying and another thing, with the opening of the boarders, I assume, visas will revert back to normal, be careful your not slugged with penalty rates for overstaying. 

[GeoffH]

3 minutes ago, Clermont said:

If you know Geoff, when does qantas start flying and another thing, with the opening of the boarders, I assume, visas will revert back to normal, be careful your not slugged with penalty rates for overstaying. 

 

Overstaying penalty?  I'm in Aussie trying to get back?

When I get there it will be on a tourist visa and we'll look at the 13A later on.

[Gator]

2 hours ago, BrettGC said:

Makes me wonder how many will be turned away at check-in or arrival for not having a 48 hour negative PCR test or vaccination record. We know there'll be a lot. The self-entitlement is strong with some.  

And I wonder how many might get messed up like you almost did. If the flight cancels or delays then many ppl will be screwed. Not all airports have on-site PCR testing availability where you can get your results back in a few hours. In addition, it might be even worse if they’re in a transiting country and they’re not allowed to leave the airport due to that country’s Covid restrictions. As I mentioned in a different thread, those were the main reasons I booked the flights / route that I did (Orlando / LAX / Manila). 

[Freebie]

2 hours ago, jimdones said:

Notice that the 48h are prior to departure from the origin country, not prior to arrival. This is likely since it's not uncommon to spend 40h in transit so as to arrive to the Philippines from Europe..

And hopefully the BI fellows are able to understand time differences which can be significant. " Sir , it says here your test  was done 60 hours ago, entry not allowed. ".. "not so fast Grasshopper, theres a 13 hour time difference, so it was actually 47 hours ago. "  " Ah ok sir, please proceed"...... :)

[Snowy79]

I'm caught in the middle at the moment.  Due to the PRA cocking up my visa application I eneded up with a tourist visa valid for 14 days before my 36 month was due to end. I'd already triple checked with my local immigration what the score was and they said just renew as normal until the rules change again.

Surprise, surprise as I applied they told me I couldn't extend and would have to go to Intramuros and file a motion of consideration. To get my retirement visa all I needed was 20 days left on my visa and as I'm now 6 days short I can look at anything from 15k to 25k plus a fine just to extend. They have my passport or I'd just jump on a flight to Cambodia and back then have 3yrs to sort my life out. 

As for the WHO vax cert you can get one at a nearby Bureau of Quarantine for about 300 peso. Just incase you wish to do a visa run before they change the rules again. https://icv.boq.ph/

[OnMyWay]

10 hours ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

I mean if cases surge no matter which variant. More areas under alert level 3 in the same BI post so I think it wont take much to spook the IATF. If caes surge they will blame international travel which will be a contributing factor. But anyway lets see.

In addition to the trends, the reason I am optimistic is because some of the statements I read.  This one is from the article you linked.  Previously, the responses were usually draconian only.  Perhaps common sense is slowing trickling in?   One can only hope!

She also said that returning Filipinos have a lower incidence of testing positive from COVID-19 compared to local communities.

Vergeire also cited other experts: “It doesn’t make sense, because the transmission here in the Philippines is already high.”

“Dahil kung titignan ang ating four-door policy, ang pinaka-una doon is border control. Tapos na tayo do’n kasi ginagawa ‘yon to prevent the entry of Omicron variant. But now that there is already community transmission, we should move towards Doors 2, 3, and 4 kung sana papalakasin ang ating efforts and intervention sa community na po,” said Vergeire.

(If we look at our four-door policy, the very first door is border control. We are already past that because that was done to prevent the entry of Omicron variant. But now that there is already community transmission, we should move towards Doors 2, 3, and 4 where we need to strengthen our efforts and interventions in the community.) – Rappler.com

[BrettGC]

3 hours ago, GeoffH said:

 

The 48 hour negative PCR test is bit of a concern to be honest, may I ask where you got yours done?  

Just across from the departures area at Sydney international mate.  But I had the test taken the day before and the result was back about 90 mins later.  

3 hours ago, Onemore52 said:

Brett, what did you type into the App Store please mate?

I use android mate, maybe an iPhone user could help you with that.  

[GeoffH]

2 minutes ago, BrettGC said:

Just across from the departures area at Sydney international mate.  But I had the test taken the day before and the result was back about 90 mins later.  

 

Thanks for that, I will keep it as a back up plan in case my victorian test gets stuffed up.

[Jollygoodfellow]

6 hours ago, GeoffH said:

There is a Cagayan De Oro travel arrival web page (which the flight booking directed me too) but that doesn't really have a category to suit me and requires me to put in a local phone number.  I'm going to put that one off until after the regulations change and see if it's easier then.  If not I'll contact them on their Facebook page and see what they say.  At the very worst I'd be in the Philippines even if not in CDO haha.

Just use your gf or someones number.