Flight travel during Covid

[cmyden]

Some recent experiences (sorted by date they were sent in):

"Still waiting for ours. Sent in March "

"brought my application in to Service Canada on April 6th and just got it last week! "

"Submitted my daughters in person April 14, still don’t have it."

"Mine went in on April 16th and I'm still waiting!"

"I mailed my child's renewal passport in and it was received on Apr 25. We actually got it back by mail on July 22. "

"I sent mine and my kids in through a Service Canada office on April 28th and still have nothing. There’s no rhyme or reason to what’s happening!"

"still waiting. Sent May 2nd. "

"I sent my sons in on May 4, still waiting."

"sent my daughters May 5 , still waiting"

"Submitted my son's may 8 and still waiting"

"sent May 10th for my two daughters and I'm still waiting. A friend sent her child's the same day and she's had hers for over a month."

"Sent ours via mail May 16, cc charged July 3 and still waiting for them"

"Sent my older sons on May 27th got it last week "

"Sent Passport applications in via mail on July 18 and received all 3 passports TODAY, August 17!!!!" (Standard passport renewal request)

----

Sent in...

March: 0 out of 1 (0%)
April: 2 out of 5 (40%)
May: 2 out of 8 (25%)
July: 3 out of 3 (100%)

[activeStick]

Makes me nervous, but good to see that it looks like things are getting better. I'm hoping to make a trip out to Asia around Christmas time if possible with Singapore being really high up on my list to visit but their policy is that Canadian passports must be valid for 6 months after my arrival date and my passport is set to expire in May. I'm thinking I should probably get it renewed now.

[Amethyst]

I'm flying to Saskatoon tomorrow and pre-booked a security screening time, but the information makes no sense to me. I'm flying WestJet Encore, my boarding pass says Gate C58 and the screening info tells me to go Screening Area D.

First off, Area D is international. I know there are some swing gates, but I thought those were numbered in the 70s. And isn't WestJet Encore the small planes that take off from the little hallway off Concourse A (where WestJet mostly is)?

Does this make sense to anyone? My flight is early morning, so I don't want to have to get up even earlier, to run all over the airport.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Amethyst

I'm flying to Saskatoon tomorrow and pre-booked a security screening time, but the information makes no sense to me. I'm flying WestJet Encore, my boarding pass says Gate C58 and the screening info tells me to go Screening Area D.

First off, Area D is international. I know there are some swing gates, but I thought those were numbered in the 70s. And isn't WestJet Encore the small planes that take off from the little hallway off Concourse A (where WestJet mostly is)?

Does this make sense to anyone? My flight is early morning, so I don't want to have to get up even earlier, to run all over the airport.

Things have changed quite a bit at YYC since COVID. The domestic terminal, swing gates and international D terminal are all the same now. International flights still depart from D but all those D gates handle domestic flights as well where previously it was only the 70 swing gates. I think most of the D gates can handle the smaller jets as I've seen quite a few gates hooked up to Q400s on my recent flights. I don't know about D security but I assume they can do domestic screening now.

[tvp2003]

Anyone travel to Japan recently? It looks like they’re only allowing limited access travel visas (as part of a group) unless you have family there; I have no plans to travel soon so I don’t mind waiting but I’d be curious to know if that might change anytime soon.

Flights seem pretty pricey as well, although I have no idea if that is due to little demand or potentially high demand.

[Byrns]

Originally Posted by tvp2003

Anyone travel to Japan recently? It looks like they’re only allowing limited access travel visas (as part of a group) unless you have family there; I have no plans to travel soon so I don’t mind waiting but I’d be curious to know if that might change anytime soon.

Flights seem pretty pricey as well, although I have no idea if that is due to little demand or potentially high demand.

I've been waiting to go, but so far no sign of them reopening. I check this thread on reddit regularly for updates. (they have a new thread every month)

https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel...m_information/

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by tvp2003

Anyone travel to Japan recently? It looks like they’re only allowing limited access travel visas (as part of a group) unless you have family there; I have no plans to travel soon so I don’t mind waiting but I’d be curious to know if that might change anytime soon.

Flights seem pretty pricey as well, although I have no idea if that is due to little demand or potentially high demand.

https://www.travelcaffeine.com/when-...eign-tourists/
^^ good blog post to keep an eye on for Japan updates.

Throughout the pandemic I've found that when a country is essentially closed to tourists but flights are still operating, the airfares were always very expensive. Australia was like that too. It was common to see airfares for $3500+ roundtrip, about 3 times the 'normal' price, while Australia was closed. Since reopening, fares to Australia certainly haven't been spectacular like they were pre-pandemic, but they're more like $1800-$2000, closer to 1.3 times. Japan hasn't been quite that bad. Prices to Japan certainly haven't been great, but not insane. Vancouver-Tokyo hovers around $1200 nonstop. 1 stop from Calgary for about $100 more.

Once a country re-opens to tourists, you start to see the airlines increase their frequency of flights, which means more supply of seats, more competition, etc. Re-opening also means more demand as well of course, but it seems like the increase in supply is enough to offset this and help with prices.

East Asia (China, Japan, South Korea) is the one region of the world where capacity (number of seats) is not yet close to pre-pandemic levels. (This has affected Southeast Asia as well, since many flights route through East Asia).

Of course overall, prices have just been generally more expensive to everywhere since April/May. Only in the last few weeks have there been some signs of airlines in North America starting to offer better prices to anywhere.

[Byrns]

Japan to ease COVID entry requirements, raise cap on entrants. The government is also set to open Japan to more foreign tourists by allowing unguided tours -- ones not accompanied by tour conductors -- after the country on June 10 started processing applications for accepting foreign visitors on guided package tours from 98 countries and regions deemed low-risk for coronavirus transmission. The countries include the United States, Britain, China, South Korea, Indonesia and Thailand. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is expected to announce further easing in entry requirements and a higher cap on entrants Wednesday. While Japan has slowly lifted its cap on entry numbers, most recently doubling it to 20,000 on June 1, the government seeks to raise it further, possibly to 50,000, the source said.

https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2...-entrants.html

Seems Canada is excluded.

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by Byrns

https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2...-entrants.html

Seems Canada is excluded.

It was pretty common for foreign news outlets to fail to mention Canada if there was a long list of countries when a country dropped restrictions a country-by-country basis. Or sometimes even if it was a relatively short list.

The United States, Britain, China, South Korea, Indonesia and Thailand are likely just some of the countries that would potentially be on the list.

Back in May when Japan officially announced tour groups would be allowed back in there were 98 nations that made the cut. It feels like surely more than 6 nations would qualify for unguided tours.


Summary of Japan's next steps towards reopening to individual tourists, condensed from https://www.travelcaffeine.com/when-...eign-tourists/

- As early as tomorrow (Aug 24) Japan will be announcing that 'unguided tours' will start to be allowed.

- 'Unguided tours' are not the same as 'individual tourists'. Unguided tours would likely still require using a specific travel agency for booking trips, with the agency monitoring plans, etc.

- In order to transition from 'unguided tours' to 'individual tourists' Japan's government needs to downgrade Covid's special status to 'Category 5' (same level as the flu in Japan’s infectious disease category system).

- Once that status change occurs it is believed that things would get back to normal pretty quickly in Japan in regards to individual tourists.

- The mechanics for the status change to Category 5 are unclear; Japan's government panel of medical experts requested that it happen *immediately* several weeks ago and it still hasn’t occurred. At this point, it’s expected when the current wave of cases subsides.

- The Japanese Prime Minister (Kishida) has stated that economic growth is vital, and he plans to make that a top priority. In order to achieve these economic goals, Japan’s government will likely need to downgrade COVID’s status to encourage economically-productive activity and ease the public back to a sense of normalcy.

- Recent poll data also shows the Japanese public is now far less concerned with COVID than the economy.

As we saw here in Canada, your government appointed panel of medical experts may have their science-backed recommendations fall on deaf ears. But when the public opinion polls start to shift...

[redforever]

Absolutely no problems at Calgary or Toronto airport today (August 24). Cleared security in Calgary in less than 10 minutes, boarded on time, and arrived 10 minutes early in Toronto. My bag was about the 5th one out so no problems with baggage either. However, lots of suitcases sitting around in Toronto airport.



Took the complimentary shuttle to the hotel and checked in with Aurora, the cruise ship line I am doing the NW Passage with. Had to show them my negative COVID test I got yesterday, fill out another medical form, and fill in the ArriveCan form. I have to clear Greenland customs at Kangerlussuaqbut but when I board the boat, I am considered in Canadian waters so need ArriveCan to get on the boat. A fuel stop is required at Iqualit.

I will be tested for COVID every 4 days on the ship. Lecture halls require masks.

[Boblobla]

So from what I am reading, the 6 month expiry restriction to go to the states went away correct? My kids passport expires at the end of May and we are looking to travel in December.

Passport valid for travel to the United States – Your passport must be valid for at least six months beyond your period of stay in the United States (unless exempt by country-specific agreements).

Here is the document

[GreenLantern]

Anyone been to Vegas recently? Looking at doing a couples trip down in the fall.

Wondering what to expect. Haven't flown since the pandemic started.

[Ryan Coke]

Basically, everything is the same as before, except you still have to wear mask on the airplane until you walk off in Vegas. Unless you take a US carrier, then you don’t have to do that either.

[Nyah]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern

Anyone been to Vegas recently? Looking at doing a couples trip down in the fall.

Wondering what to expect. Haven't flown since the pandemic started.

Get to the airport a bit earlier than you normally would in case the lines for check in/security/border control are long. In addition to what Ryan Coke said, you have to wear a mask in YYC as well (along with on the plane), so make sure it's a comfortable mask. Other than that it was a piece of cake for me a couple weeks ago (flying domestic).

[Flambé]

Originally Posted by Flambé

My wife successfully spoke with a human! He told her we should expect it any time now. And you know how he knew?

Verbatim from my wife, "Because it's been a really long time."

...

September 1, 2022 Update:

We have passport!
One of three passports arrived via Xpress Post; this one for my youngest child.

Now we wait and see when the other two arrive.

That Service Canada rep was partially correct!

Edit: Looks like my daughter's passport was issued on August 29, 2022 and then rush delivered to us. So exactly 4 months. Hopefully the other two arrive tomorrow.

[Flambé]

Originally Posted by Meelapo

Braved the line at the registry to get birth certificates, paid the extra to get them delivered to the registry (3-5 business days) vs mailed (two weeks), and booked my passport appointment in Brooks for May 13th. Travel date is June 28th so I feel like I have enough time. But who knows at this point.

Any update on your passport journey? I can't imagine you received your children's passports before your trip, and I feel bad for leading you on the Brooks trip.

Cheers!

[Flambé]

The final two passports were delivered via Xpress Post today.

Saga over. Thanks for listening.

[memphusk]

I'm having trouble finding solid information on what age kids need to be vaccinated for air travel into the US. Does anybody know what ages?

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by memphusk

I'm having trouble finding solid information on what age kids need to be vaccinated for air travel into the US. Does anybody know what ages?

Under 18 it isn't required for entry into the US.

But coming back to Canada the requirement is vaccine or quarantine for 12+

[bigtmac19]

Flew Detroit to Orlando return last week of August. No unusual line-ups in either airport. Lots of airline employees in airports still masking. We masked in the airport’s and on the planes. Daughter-in-law woke up the morning after we got home with Covid. 12 days out and she’s still positive. Went to the clinic today and now has bronchitis too. My son and I are still fine.