What’s changed in travel since COVID? (and what is the same?)

Business class fares to Europe that used to be around $7,000 jumped to $11,000 and above. Economy fares seemed to be well in excess of $3000. This of course was a combination of incredible demand meeting limited supply (something that the Australian government didn’t seem bothered about when they blocked extra flights from Qatar Airways last year).

Domestic airfares have come down a little from 2022-23 although I would argue that they are still not back to pre-2020 levels and the recent collapse of Rex and Bonza means there is little likelihood of them coming down much.

For trips to the US flights going via Fiji (with a stopover?) at Nadi with Fiji Airways offers very good value. Or fly via Asia (Japan, Korea, Hong Kong) for US flights — long extra travel time but break the trip and not so bad.

And don’t discount the new (to this region) airlines – Turkish Airlines for example are actually one of the largest airlines in the world based out of a brand new airport in Istanbul (great stopover option) with connections across Europe. They fly out of Melbourne and Sydney and in terms of in-flight service have a very good reputation. (Although us travel agents know that they are not a great airline to work with when flights are cancelled or delayed – quite tiresome in fact!)

A weakish currency plus worldwide inflation has made traditional destinations like the US, Canada, Europe etc much more expensive. The same goes for most of Africa, Central Asia and South America too as the travel industry in those destinations is usually priced in US dollars. 

Not a lot that can be done for this unfortunately. The US and Europe are destinations whose popularity seems impervious to adverse exchange rates, But still it is notable how it can affect tourist demand to some destinations.

The Japanese  yen is at decades low against the AUD and NZD. Tourism to Japan from our region has exploded in popularity. (And consequently the Australian travel industry has noticed how difficult it to get prompt responses from our industry partners in Japan at the moment).

Also South Africa’s Rand is weak which makes that wonderful destination still affordable. Although note that many Southern African game parks and operators base their pricing in US dollars nowadays especially the upmarket ones.

Oh and back to Turkish Airlines again (no, I don’t have shares in them). The Turkish Lira is at decades low – heartache for the Turkish people but makes that Istanbul stopover very affordable.

Oh and whilst cash is not really such a big thing as it used to be again try and avoid exchanging money at airports – if you pre-buy currency from banks or the post office (give it a few weeks) you get a much better exchange rate that way.

Many of us remember what a hassle and expense it used to be to make a call back home from overseas. In the late 1990s mobile phones and the internet started to make those things a little easier but ‘roaming’ charges were still exorbitant; especially when you knew how little it really cost your telco. Prior to COVID we had a plethora of travel sim cards that could be bought at airports or post offices but the process was still quite a hassle and full

In my opinion this is undoubtedly an area of the travel experience which is incomparably better nowadays due to the ubiquitous availability of public, free and (usually) good quality Wi-Fi.

You don’t have to pop into McDonald’s or Starbucks to download your e-mail anymore. Most cafes & restaurants that any traveller is likely to frequent offer free Wi-Fi. Most hotels have given up trying to charge for Wi-Fi which is often available to anyone in the lobby areas. Museums, galleries and many tourist attractions offer complimentary Wi-Fi. Many cities offer it too. On a recent (2024) trip to Tokyo I used the public Wi-Fi courtesy of the local government. Good enough for using Google maps and even making calls with Facebook or WhatsApp.

Sure you need to be careful as always. Best not access your bank account on an open Wi-Fi network in an airport for example– but for downloading emails and making calls free Wi-Fi has made the need for expensive roaming or fiddly travel sims (or even the new e-sims arguably) to be redundant.

This seems like a hangover from the COVID days which is not going away. More and more countries have introduced some form of visa (usually an e-visa) or online customs form that has to be completed prior to departure and shown on arrival via a smartphone app.

Standout examples are Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and (for us Aussies) New Zealand. Generally not a huge hassle but something to watch out for. And always make sure you are on the official website when applying for these entry visas as there are many scam websites out there luring travellers into paying over the odds.

One option is to check the entry requirements for a country via the Smart Traveller site. Links on that government website can be trusted to take you to the correct site.

Until 2020 our most popular rail journey was the iconic trans-Siberian (well technically the trans-Mongolian) express between Beijing and Moscow. Currently, and for the foreseeable future, this wonderful journey is not bookable due to economic sanctions.

China is belatedly trying to lure Australian visitors with relaxed visa requirements but I suspect re-building Chinese tourism is a long term project and we have discerned no significant uptick in interest so far. 

We have plenty of different rail itineraries for those passengers who appreciate the unique delights of touring by rail. Europe and central Asia (the Silk Road) are two of the most popular options currently with India by private train also incredibly popular.