UK repatriation flights gone in 4 minutes?

[tso310]

1 hour ago, leicesterguyuk said:

This registration asks for an ASQ hotel booking? 

Thats the only one I know that you can register with. This was the old one https://bit.ly/3jVCJgS but it transfers you to the new one.

[Max69xl]

On 8/31/2020 at 5:33 PM, banglay said:

plenty of flights in both direction ...   London > BKK    &  BKK >London 

There are no commercial flights from London to Bangkok. You should know this by now. 

[richard_smith237]

1 minute ago, Max69xl said:

On 8/31/2020 at 5:33 PM, banglay said:

plenty of flights in both direction ...   London > BKK    &  BKK >London 

There are no commercial flights from London to Bangkok. You should know this by now. 

He probably does know this by now after yesterday when everyone else on the thread already mentioned that there are no commercial flights !!!! but hey, he may have missed all those comments and jumped straight for yours !!!! 

 

 

(comment meant in jest of course to ridicule the obvious nature and delayed timing of your post) 

 

 

[Max69xl]

3 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

He probably does know this by now after yesterday when everyone else on the thread already mentioned that there are no commercial flights !!!! but hey, he may have missed all those comments and jumped straight for yours !!!! 

 

 

(comment meant in jest of course to ridicule the obvious nature and delayed timing of your post) 

 

 

Not knowing there are no commercial flights since several months because of closed borders,only repatriation flights, tells me he doesn't have a clue. This 7 pages (so far) thread is all about repatriation flights from London. 

[leicesterguyuk]

56 minutes ago, tso310 said:

Thats the only one I know that you can register with. This was the old one https://bit.ly/3jVCJgS but it transfers you to the new one.

Yes, I get the same. 

 

It asks for you to upload a file for an ASQ hotel booking, which I assume would be a booking confirmation. But that's not possible until a flight is confirmed. How have others down this? 

[richard_smith237]

2 minutes ago, leicesterguyuk said:

Yes, I get the same. 

 

It asks for you to upload a file for an ASQ hotel booking, which I assume would be a booking confirmation. But that's not possible until a flight is confirmed. How have others down this? 

Its just a ‘download’ check box right?

 

Place in the download folder a fake booking? 

Or a statement that you will make an ASQ booking once a Repatriation flight and dates are confirmed. 

Or, make an actual *refundable booking.

 

*Best option, But, are the ASQ bookings still fully refundable if cancelled a week before check-in ? (when I did this they were).

[leicesterguyuk]

1 minute ago, richard_smith237 said:

Its just a ‘download’ check box right?

 

Place in the download folder a fake booking? 

Or a statement that you will make an ASQ booking once a Repatriation flight and dates are confirmed. 

Or, make an actual *refundable booking.

 

*Best option, But, are the ASQ bookings still fully refundable if cancelled a week before check-in ? (when I did this they were).

A lot of the ASQ hotels seem to say non-refundable on this program. 

 

I'm trying to get my head around the order of things in the application. Is the registration for flights separate to submitting relevant visa / work permit etc documents?

 

One of the documents in all categories to email is the insurance certificate, but how can you take out a policy before knowing when you'll fly and arrive? And if booking the flight is the first step to get a date sorted, are people booking onto these flights before even being confirmed as fully eligible?

 

And then a CoE isn't later issued until the embassy receive the negative Covid test and Fit to Fly document. I thought this just needed to be ready for check in before but now it seems it's needed for the issuance of the CoE. Getting tested and receiving results within 72 hours isn't easy, especially with Sunday flights but now this needs sending to the embassy and the CoE then received and printed before the flight...? Are they working around the clock? 

[tso310]

6 minutes ago, leicesterguyuk said:

Yes, I get the same. 

 

It asks for you to upload a file for an ASQ hotel booking, which I assume would be a booking confirmation. But that's not possible until a flight is confirmed. How have others down this? 

I thought most ASQs were offering full refunds if you have to cancel but who knows. This aspect has been discussed somewhere sometime ago on TV. You may have to check with your short list of hotels directly.  Have a look at this and scroll down to cancellation https://www.booking.com/hotel/th/royal-benja.en-gb.html?aid=1338124&label=asq-hotel

 

[AndrewMciver]

3 hours ago, tso310 said:

I thought most ASQs were offering full refunds if you have to cancel but who knows. This aspect has been discussed somewhere sometime ago on TV. You may have to check with your short list of hotels directly.  Have a look at this and scroll down to cancellation https://www.booking.com/hotel/th/royal-benja.en-gb.html?aid=1338124&label=asq-hotel

 

 

Most are non refundable. Some allow transfer to different dates. 

 

3 hours ago, leicesterguyuk said:

Yes, I get the same. 

 

It asks for you to upload a file for an ASQ hotel booking, which I assume would be a booking confirmation. But that's not possible until a flight is confirmed. How have others down this? 

 

Do you have the correct visa and are you eligible to return? I'd strongly urge you to get your visa in order first. 

[AndrewMciver]

 

I've emailed a few embassies around Europe and no such luck at the moment. Language barrier and difficulty understanding what i am trying to suggest seems a major stumbling. The major issue appears to be the CoE , which looks like it can only be issued in the country you are departing. 

 

Grasping at straws here ... but is there any feasable ways to travel from Taipei or Hong Kong and transfer from there, and get a remote CoE from those embassies - what does a CoE look like anyways? Is it a stamp in your passport, or just a letter?

 

Still furious and angry here. I firmly believe next month, i'll be in the same situation - some IT error, because i am attempting to book 3 people, will mean i miss out again. The lack of queuing system really is appalling and cruel. 

 

What's even more disgusting is some of these flights have not been travelling full. Alot of passengers not turning up and not paying. They just can't be arsed to fill the paper work to add more passengers. 

 

 

[Hackney35]

Got lucky and managed to get gf a ticket despite having to register for a login on the day. 
27th was full but there was a space on the 20th. She’s already had many desperate messages on fb from fellow Thais asking to swap her ticket (sick relatives... and buffalos etc etc)

They really should put on more of these flights, there is clearly plenty of demand and they could even charge a bit more I think. 

Anyone know what happens next in terms of making payment to Thai? Should they be in contact soon or nearer the time?

 

 

[torturedsole]

23 minutes ago, Hackney35 said:

She’s already had many desperate messages on fb from fellow Thais asking to swap her ticket (sick relatives... and buffalos etc etc)

Sick buffalos cost money and so does the golden flight ticket. If someone offered me enough for the ticket then I wouldn't look gift horse in the mouth.  Cash up front, of course.  

[AndrewMciver]

2 hours ago, torturedsole said:

Sick buffalos cost money and so does the golden flight ticket. If someone offered me enough for the ticket then I wouldn't look gift horse in the mouth.  Cash up front, of course.  

 

Ticket will be registered to the name. Won't be that straight forward to change or sell it. 

[mjakob007]

6 hours ago, AndrewMciver said:

 

I've emailed a few embassies around Europe and no such luck at the moment. Language barrier and difficulty understanding what i am trying to suggest seems a major stumbling. The major issue appears to be the CoE , which looks like it can only be issued in the country you are departing. 

 

Grasping at straws here ... but is there any feasable ways to travel from Taipei or Hong Kong and transfer from there, and get a remote CoE from those embassies - what does a CoE look like anyways? Is it a stamp in your passport, or just a letter?

 

Still furious and angry here. I firmly believe next month, i'll be in the same situation - some IT error, because i am attempting to book 3 people, will mean i miss out again. The lack of queuing system really is appalling and cruel. 

 

What's even more disgusting is some of these flights have not been travelling full. Alot of passengers not turning up and not paying. They just can't be arsed to fill the paper work to add more passengers. 

 

 

- CoE is issued by the country of residence.

- Seat allocations on repat flights are managed by Thai Embassies that has jurisdiction over those  airport/city/country of origin of the reapt flight.

 

If one plans to take a connecting flight via hub, just need to bear in mind the 72 hour validity of covid results at the time of boarding the repat flight. ie obtain a test result as close as possible to the first flight or do a second covid test at the transit location.

 

If you are not able to join any flights from Europe, we read Emirates flying daily from Dubai to Bangkok starting 1/sept. If thats  happening, you can join EK from UK and connect in Dubai.

 

As you have mentioned, Taipei or HK would be other options. However most of these origins are of high demand as is the case with Europe.

 

There are 3 flights in September from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Thailand (18th ,25th ,28th), these flights are under the jurisdiction of Royal Thai Embassy (RTE) in Kenya. This may be an option you want to explore. There was one such flight last month, which was less than half full and had almost equal if not more foreigners than Thai nationals. The demand on these flights are nowhere near the flights on other mainstream locations and hence higher chance to get seats allocated.

 

We just called up Ethiopian airlines in bangkok and got tickets issued. Had no contact with RTE kenya. All you need is, confirmation from RTE, UK that they will issue you CoE if you have a ticket on these flights.

[mjakob007]

11 hours ago, leicesterguyuk said:

A lot of the ASQ hotels seem to say non-refundable on this program. 

 

I'm trying to get my head around the order of things in the application. Is the registration for flights separate to submitting relevant visa / work permit etc documents?

 

One of the documents in all categories to email is the insurance certificate, but how can you take out a policy before knowing when you'll fly and arrive? And if booking the flight is the first step to get a date sorted, are people booking onto these flights before even being confirmed as fully eligible?

 

And then a CoE isn't later issued until the embassy receive the negative Covid test and Fit to Fly document. I thought this just needed to be ready for check in before but now it seems it's needed for the issuance of the CoE. Getting tested and receiving results within 72 hours isn't easy, especially with Sunday flights but now this needs sending to the embassy and the CoE then received and printed before the flight...? Are they working around the clock? 

Date changes, cancellations for ASQ vary based on the venue.

Best to check with each of them on their T & C.

 

- Most of them allow date changes for a few times without additional cost.

- few even offered refund if CoE was denied and we produce evidence of such denial.

- there were a couple who accepted nominal deposit and provided a provisional ASQ booking. they gave us the option to complete full payment no later than 10 days to check in.

 

[SVC Porter]

I wonder did any of the Emirates flights disembark yesterday and today in BKK

[treetops]

16 minutes ago, SVC Porter said:

I wonder did any of the Emirates flights disembark yesterday and today in BKK

Not very scientific, but if I look at the seating for tomorrow's flight I can see at least a couple of seats booked on the DXB-BKK leg that are empty on the BKK-HKG leg.  That would indicate to me the passengers got off at BKK as it's unlikely anyone would select to move at the change point.

[noserious]

23 hours ago, leicesterguyuk said:

Let me get this right, the dogs were allowed in the cabin?! Or you could hear them in the cabin from the hold? 

The dogs were in the cabin. At least one of the dogs was a "service dog". This dog acts as moral support for people who are anxious about flying. Then the lawyers of the regular pet owners made a fuss and now all kinds of pets are allowed on flights domestically. There are pictures on Twitter of "service ponies" and "emotional support pigs" etc. At arrival gates in many American airports there is an area for the animals to drink water and relieve themselves.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/travel/9943454/weird-animals-emotional-support-plane-kangaroo/

 

One of the many reasons I am so glad to leave my country. Americans take everything to the extreme. I'm all for animal rights but this is taking the <deleted>.

[leicesterguyuk]

1 minute ago, noserious said:

The dogs were in the cabin. At least one of the dogs was a "service dog". This dog acts as moral support for people who are anxious about flying. Then the lawyers of the regular pet owners made a fuss and now all kinds of pets are allowed on flights domestically. There are pictures on Twitter of "service ponies" and "emotional support pigs" etc. At arrival gates in many American airports there is an area for the animals to drink water and relieve themselves.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/travel/9943454/weird-animals-emotional-support-plane-kangaroo/

 

One of the many reasons I am so glad to leave my country. Americans take everything to the extreme. I'm all for animal rights but this is taking the <deleted>.

Service ponies? Emotional support pigs? Worryingly, I fear you're being deadly serious! 

 

I assume a doctors note is needed to take such livestock onto flights? Where does a pony sit? Special seatbelt? And where does it sh*t? The cabin must stink! 

[tso310]

A pic of our elder daughter and son-in-law with Ali at T2 Heathrow flying Lufthansa to Shanghai some 13 months ago. Ali, female, is named after the Spurs striker. She flew in a cage under the seat and used the human toilet successfully. Air China also do this. 

[noserious]

On 9/1/2020 at 6:49 PM, AndrewMciver said:

 

Was your Chicago to Seoul to Bangkok all one flight?

 

Or did you go to Seoul then connect?

 

If so, who issued your CoE?

14 hours from ORD - ICN and a 2-hour layover in spartan Incheon airport. There are all these robots cruising
the airport offering to carry your baggage and dispensing information in many languages.

Then a packed 5-hour flight ICN - BKK.
As another poster already said. I got my COE from Chicago. I over-nighted my documents and passport on
a Thursday and had my Non-Imm B visa by the following Tuesday. Which is a miracle considering how appalling the US postal system is and all the looting, riots, civil unrest and violence in Chicago. (USA in general)
I had been teaching online in America for my school in Bangkok for the last 5 months. Getting up at 3am to teach for 5 hours was suboptimal. What really stressed me out was not knowing how long it would go on for. I finally figured a way out. Words cannot express how relieved I am to be teaching from my ASQ hotel.

[unheard]

51 minutes ago, noserious said:

I got my COE from Chicago.

Where did you obtain your Fit-to-Fly?

[noserious]

I was staying near Detroit so I went on Michigan.gov/coronavirus  and there is a list of labs that do testing.
I sent  messages to all of the email addresses listed explaining my situation. A few said they would do results
within 24 hours if I could get an "order as STAT" from a doctor. However, my insurance and doctor etc. are
all in Thailand. I sent another email to the labs that had responded explaining that I didn't have a general
practitioner. One lab in the boondock's took pity on me and let me do a self-referral for the test and also referred me to one of their doctors they do business with. It turned out that the doctor's son works in Taipei
and went through a similar situation so she was sympathetic to my cause. I was so worried that I asked her
to do 2 different Fit-to-fly certificates. One about Covid and one general. 
I called Passport Health and Travel Clinic and they were not useful. I even called places in Chicago (were I flew from) thinking that a bigger city would have more resources but it seemed that they had no idea about expedited lab results. By the way, the Passport Health in Chicago only does Fit-to-fly certificates 2 days a week. 
So unless you are undergoing surgery or are a professional sports player it's very difficult to get results within 24 hours in the midwest. I'm so glad to get out of there. 

[Aussieroaming]

On 8/31/2020 at 5:41 PM, tso310 said:

I believe this flight is restricted to teachers only. There is a thread about it somewhere, in Thai News I think. Something about many English language teachers needing to get to Thailand. I suspect contact was done for those guys that had the appropriate visa.

No, there were spare seats on that flight, so it was opened up to non teachers. I heard about it on facebook and registered for a seat via the person that posted the registration link. The flight was pretty full when it did leave London.

[Aussieroaming]

On 9/1/2020 at 12:21 AM, pazienza said:

Has anyone heard of the "secret" TG917 flight out on 31st August from London? It was apparently a farang only flight - I have a screenshot with details but as it contains sensitive name information I'd rather not post it, but it confirms the flight name/date and some of the passenger list - all very western names. Anyone can PM if they want to see. I cannot verify if the flight actually departed, but I heard about it from Thai-written Facebook circles

 

What I'm trying to say is, it may well be worth trying to contact the London embassy and seeing what can be done. 

I was on the flight, yes it was mainly foreigners

[pazienza]

1 hour ago, Aussieroaming said:

I was on the flight, yes it was mainly foreigners

Yep - I heard that a lot of non teachers were able to get seats.

 

Goes to show that actually contacting the embassy is worthwhile even if all repatriation flights are sold out.

[SVC Porter]

Just looking at the Thai Embassy website for London now and it's even more difficult to make head or tail of what is required! 

[leicesterguyuk]

1 hour ago, SVC Porter said:

Just looking at the Thai Embassy website for London now and it's even more difficult to make head or tail of what is required! 

Certainly looks like a downgrade to me. 

[SVC Porter]

What does this even mean?

 

** Relaxation of lockdown measures and living in the UK that began to return to a near normal state It provides convenient access to local medical services in your residence. You can also use the service to easily obtain such documents online. Embassy Therefore request to suspend the health check-up service to issue Fit to Fly certification from August 2020 

[Greghuntleyuk]

1 hour ago, SVC Porter said:

What does this even mean?

 

** Relaxation of lockdown measures and living in the UK that began to return to a near normal state It provides convenient access to local medical services in your residence. You can also use the service to easily obtain such documents online. Embassy Therefore request to suspend the health check-up service to issue Fit to Fly certification from August 2020 

 

Does anyone know what the declaration form is ?