A journey born out of spite, as the world learns to live with Covid-19
I didn’t get to see Mum before she passed away a month ago and also missed her funeral. I do still want to get back to my hometown Kuching but airfares are ridiculously high. I would have paid the high price to go see Mum but as she’s gone now, I didn’t feel like being ripped-off.
Then I realised that the same airline can fly me to Paris and then Kuching for about the same price! Would I consider doing that just to spite the airline?
Can I be any more spiteful? Perhaps give my money to another airline that gives me even more destinations for less?
It wasn’t an easy process to make the best decision, all within a short space of time. Especially while the world is just learning to live with Covid-19 and plenty of travel restrictions abound. Let me tell you in greater detail.
WTF SQ!?!?
Singapore Airlines is charging about NZD1800 one-bloody-way to fly to Singapore, Kuching or Penang because there’s no competition (but “only” about NZD1300 to Kuala Lumpur which doesn’t work for me due to poor connection, testing and quarantine requirements). That’s 4x the usual price or 18x the best price I’ve ever had.
However, they charge as little as around NZD1070 to UK/Europe only! And I then realised that I could fly with them to Europe (eg. Paris to see friends) and then with them again to Kuching. That would add up to about NZD150 more than the simple journey to Kuching only.
I would want to do that just to spite them, right?
WTF SQ!?!?
Working through other options
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go to just Paris or perhaps open-jaw it with a place that’s new to me. Perhaps I would compare the fares to/from their different destinations.
Working through various other possibilities based on airfare prices.
Amongst the destinations unrelated to Singapore Airlines was Ukraine. That was the destination we had booked for that was cancelled due to Covid-19 back in 2020. They were wide open for tourism. But when I realised that their Covid-19 situation was worsening, I started looking at other countries that had easy entry requirements but were safer on the pandemic front.
Entry Requirements
There’s also a lot of work to do on entry requirements to different countries. These are complex and varied, depending on one’s vaccination status, nationality, departure point and transit point. These determine whether one can enter and require a test beforehand.
Many European countries are open and some do not require tests. Asia and Oceania are largely closed.
I decided to try for countries that do not require a pre-departure PCR test. Apart from the cost of NZD215-285, it is stressful trying to meet the 48h or 72h testing time frame.
Despite the high price, tests in New Zealand are slow and they don’t guarantee results in time for departure even if tested 72h beforehand. In contrast, a PCR tests about 90 minutes at Istanbul airport and costs about NZD37.
Especially difficult are countries that count it from the arrival time rather than departure time, due to longhaul flights and long transits.
Entry requirements are more complex than they used to be.
Checking, double-checking, triple-checking the entry requirements
I had to go through repeatedly, with a fine-tooth comb, the entry requirements for prospective countries. Apart from official government websites, some airlines make available the rules they use at check-in, usually through systems like Timatic or Traveldoc.
In the meantime, I learned my friends near Paris weren’t going to be there! Instead, they were going to be driving from Sicily back home. They invited me to join them for the ride in Milan. What an awesome idea!
But Italy requires a test 72h before arrival. Tricky. So the solution is to get to Italy but not directly from New Zealand.
Entry requirements checked with different sources.
Decision made!
I settled on flying with Emirates to Larnaca as it would save me the stress and cost of a PCR test in New Zealand. Dubai does not require a test for most people who are just in transit, unless it is required by the final destination. And Cyprus doesn’t need one, coming from New Zealand. That’s a savings of NZD215-285.
However, the airfare to Larnaca with Emirates was high unless one continued to Malta on the same plane or on a later date. So, I ticketed myself to Larnaca and then Malta, with the last leg dated for next August, in order to save NZD200. It is questionable whether I can currently enter Malta unless I had an EU vaccine passport (being processed with the French government) or a Malaysian one. They don’t currently recognise a New Zealand one, not that it exists yet.
There’s a gap in the map where I have to get from Larnaca to Italy. This proved not so cheap as budget airlines seem to not be servicing the “sun” destinations heavily at this time of year. The savings of my PCR test makes up most of that airfare (not included in the amounts shown on map).
From Italy, I’d ride with my friends across to France where I’d fly back from Paris to Kuching. The PCR testing time frame for this journey will be tricky again. I had to comply with “3 day beforehand” for both arrival at Kuala Lumpur (then overnighting airside) and then Kuching. This meant a very small testing window in Paris. So I chose to break my journey for a couple of days in Istanbul where I can have a PCR test result in 90 mins for only NZD37. Turkish Airlines is also a great airline and the fare was amongst the cheapest.
My final routing.
So, my final itinerary from Auckland to Europe (four places) and then Kuching, cost NZD47 less than Singapore Airlines from Auckland to Europe (Paris only) and then Kuching. It was also only NZD107 more than Auckland to Kuching.
You may think that I gave my money to other airlines rather than Singapore Airlines out of spite. But I couldn’t possibly comment.
Vaccination Certificates
Vaccination certificates or passports are a requirement for entry into sights and public transport in Europe. New Zealand doesn’t have one yet but only issues a confirmation letter (which I got laminated). I had my Malaysian one (converted from New Zealand data) in case my French/EU one didn’t arrive. Fortunately it did!
My various proof of vaccination.