Goodbye, Travel Josh (Travel Josh's Travel Advice)

This week we speak to Travel Josh Engstrom from Liberty Travel for the last time. Sadly Travel Josh is headed back to Australia, but don't worry, we've got some new friends to introduce you to! Not to mention, on his way out, Travel Josh has very kindly given us his latest round of updates.

Information is changing regularly so be sure to check back each week for updates.

Farewell, from Travel Josh

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of the readers and viewers of my travel updates during this whole Covid period. My company decided to wind down my entire team, so I chose their severance and repatriation offer and will be winding up this Friday.

It has been my absolute privilege to help, motivate and calm as many people as I possibly could throughout, it has been an incredibly tough experience for so many, and I hope that I helped make the whole trip home easier for you all.

I have now passed the baton to two of my colleagues who have decided to stay with the company. Please be as nice to them as you have been to me, they are dynamos with flights and while they don’t have the privilege of being Australian – they work for an Australian company and we can make them honorary Aussies!

Please join me in welcoming Elias and Michael to the America Josh Travel section! Their contact details will be added to next week’s blog, in the meantime, I can pass on any inquiries.

Top Travel Tip of the Week

Have a family and don’t mind doing an extra stop in Auckland on the way home? You might want to consider Air NZ – they have this economy product called Skycouch, which lifts the bottom of the seats of a whole row up to form a little “bed”. With great connections into both SYD and BNE (YES and I believe the holy grail of Melbourne will be coming back online for Air NZ very soon).

Check out the link below – Air NZ does a way better job of selling it than me! My point is, especially for young families, Air NZ may offer your journey an added level of comfort for your kids (and therefore you). Did I mention the NZ wine selection on-board!

https://www.airnewzealand.com/economy-skycouch

With prices for a whole row of three booked – at $200 total, it’s a great cost-effective way to get a little more comfort on your journey home.

Availability over the next period (2nd March – 16th March)

Plenty of economy seats with Air NZ – be careful, prices are already climbing for this time of year (already UA/DL/AA availability is getting tight), hopefully, the caps get lifted by then so that the market is flooded with more seats, but be wary, this is not guaranteed – so if you know your dates and are happy with Air NZ, I suggest booking this sooner rather than later.

Where can you travel right now?

I get this question a lot and here are some options tailored to the US resident done by my work Liberty Travel – handy quick link to get started:

https://www.libertytravel.com/travel-articles/where-americans-can-travel-now

Australian flight and travel cap updates

Effective from 16 November 2020:

NSW: limit of 3,000 passenger arrivals per week
QLD: limit of 1000 passenger arrivals per week
WA: limit of 1025 passenger arrivals per week
VIC: no international passenger arrivals. TBD plans by the Victorian Premier to reopen Melbourne to international travellers.
SA: limit of 600 passenger arrivals per week. On 16 November 2020, all international flights to Adelaide were suspended until the end of the week.
TAS: 450 passengers over three flights before Christmas.
ACT: 360 passengers over two flights before Christmas
NT: Government-facilitated flights only – currently no plans for government-facilitated flights from the United States.

Read the Prime Minister's Media Statement: https://www.pm.gov.au/media/national-cabinet-2