hotandsweaty

hi
i have been in and out of australia twice before and both times the airlines arranged the visa for free automatically. this time my airline, anz, tells me there is a charge and that i must pay it separately. anyone flown recently since the new charge was instated, or am i misunderstanding?
thanks

scurry

This is a great question. I came across the same issue yesterday with AA/QANTAS. She said it was $25 per person.

Mucky

Hi,
Everyone told me it was free too, but the best deal I was able to get was A$20 (around £8) for an ETA.
That was direct to the aussie immigration website:
www.eta.immi.gov.au
My travel firm wanted A$40 (£16).

Do it yourself on line, I don't believe anything is free these days.


Muck

sandi

Apparently the fee that ANZ or AA/Qantas are asking are "service fees" for them to do the paperwork. According to the sites I've seen, there is "no charge for VISA for US citizens" for either tourists or business for the first 90-days.

Considering that many of the other services are charging much more than $25, it's a bargain. I would, however, check whether you can get your VISA upon arrival in AUS - I'd assume if this can be done, it would be "free".

LN

It appears that Muck is correct - no more free visas - they now want Aud$20 to process the Visa and you ARE charged whether it goes through or not!! amazing, isn't it? And yes, it's through the Australian government so if anyone does have a free site, then please list it. We'd all love to have it!

FromAtlanta

Sorry, I do not mean to sound ignorant- but who needs a Visa?

KayF

It seems that everyone visiting Australia needs a visa which is often done electronically by the airline. This link
http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/990i.pdf
shows that it costs A$65 for a visitor visa but no charge for an Electronic Travel Authority.
http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/visiting_tourism.htm
is the official Australian Immigration website and has the link to get the visa yourself online.
Hope this helps all our very welcome visitors.
Kay

scurry

Thanks for the advice, but I am NOT going to wait till I get there to figure out if I can get a free Visa. I can just picture getting off a 13-hour flight & having a hassle while I wait in the customs line.

In my opinion, the $25 (USpp) that AA/QANTAS is charging is worth the peace of mind.

sandi

On reading further - one "must" have a VISA prior arriving in Australia (not like a number of countries where you can obtain upon arrival).

Since this is an Electronic Visa, check the sites listed by KayF and you might be able to obtain with no service fee; otherwise, very little is free these days and it's not surprising that the airlines are charging for this service.

Though some sites indicate amounts less than $25 - in range of $12 - $18, go with whichever you feel most comfortable.

paulie90

I am traveling to Australia using frequent flyer miles at the end of November and just got a free visa through United Airlines. Telephone # 888-674-4680. For what it's worth, they didn't ask me anything about the origin of my ticket so it may not just be for frequent flyers.

crazymina

United did mine free two years ago, so it seems it's still their policy. Good to know...thanks!

scurry

When I booked my Qantas flights, the American Airlines reservation agent said something like:

"You'll have to bear with me. We've just instituted these service fees in the last week and haven't had formal training on them. We heard that our comptetition was considering adding them so we implemented them overnight so we could beat them to it."

ugh nice :{

mpoll

An Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) is required for most travellers for up to 3 months visit. The Aust Govt gets no fee for this, but agents are free to charge what they like. Most airlines charge a nominal handling fee. A friend recently got one done for free by Malaysian Airlines in the UK.

patw

Hi all,
Just got my electronic visa thru UAL (we're on FF tickets) and it was free. I guess it depends on the airline, if they want to charge or not. Took less than 5 minutes for each visa.
Cheers,
Pat

JamesA

When my Brother-in-Law ( a Teacher ) who is Thai was comming with us to Australia for a vacation he had to fly to Bangkok to submit a form, return 2 weeks later for an 'interview', then wait 2 days for the visa. It cost him ( well us in reality )over AUD 520 in fares and Visa cost! (US$330!). It also costs me about US$75 for wife and kids every time we go.

Lindsey

I just did all this yesterday, as I am headed there in a few weeks.

The only non-Australians who do NOT need visas to visit Australia are New Zealand passport holders. There are about 30 countries whose passport holders can obtain ETAs on the internet for AUD$20. (www.eta.immi.gov.au)
The website says the visa is "free" but the $20 is a processing fee charged by the govt.
It takes about 30 seconds to process, after you plug in all the info. You get a reference number back, but nothing to put into your passport. It's all stored electronically for the Australian immigration to look up when you arrive.
If United is giving organizing visas free for their flyers, that's a nice little bonus. Maybe they made a deal with the Australian govt.