I had not read anything in any of the travel books about this but while to speaking with our airline (Quantas) and they said we needed a Electronic Travel Authority to fly into Australia. I guess this is like a Visa?

Yes it is, nanabee. It is very easy to do online. After nervously doing it for myself and my hubby for our trip in a couple of weeks, I became a convert to this system. I wish <i>all</i> countries would use this system.

Eve

Thanks eve, I will apply - it must cut down on the wait time. We just found out about it last night and we leave for Australia in less than 2 weeks!

Also maybe you can settle an argument between me and my DH. We were told our carrier is Quantas but it is managed by American Airlines. What does that mean? We each have differeing opinions
I plan to call AA or Q but the wait time is long.

Hi Nanabee

It's spelt Qantas (no U) stands for Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Service. May seem petty, but it's almost the written equivalent of fingernails on a blackboard.

Enjoy your trip. If you are flying from the US to Australia, it will be on QF metal, but it may have an AA flight number.

nanabee -

The Australian ETA system works like a dream - you get immediate confirmation for tourist visas (barring something really odd), so don't worry about time - it takes about two minutes and approx $25 per person.

Suggest you jot down the confirmation number you're given, as the visa is good for a year, and you never know, you might want to go back.

You're probably booked under an AA flight number but the flight is operated by Qantas. You'll need to check-in with Qantas, not AA, if that's your first flight.

I'm sure Patty's correct--you're booked with American Airlines; however, they use Qantas &quot;metal&quot; (I just learned that expression!) to fly to Australia. We booked our whole trip through AA but are only using their plane for Denver to LAX. After that we'll be flying on Qantas, Air Nuigini, and United planes. Saved about $1,000 that way rather than booking directly with Qantas.

I'd give American or Qantas a call to see which counter to check in at; if you're ticketed through AA, I'd have thought it would be at their counter. Have you considered checking in online? 'Course, you'd still have to find out where to drop off your checked bag.

You were so fortunate that you spoke to Qantas and they told you about the ETA.

What day are you flying to Sydney? We're on the 10:30 p.m. flight on August 8th. Wouldn't it be cool if we were on the same flight!

You check-in with the operating carrier. Of course, if your first flight is operated by AA, then you'd check-in with AA.

Sarvowinner-
Most people probably know me as a terrible speller! I should have known better about the spelling of Qantas as my brother has corrected me many times (LOL - he lives in Australia) - and thanks!

Melng8 yes Idon't want to assume that the airlines has my conf number in their system, and not have it handy.

Eve--we leave on the 2nd of August - that would have been so cool to be on the same plane with a fellow Fodorite! Hope you have a wonderful time too.

Patty- I just found out from a lot of sleuthing. AA apparently leases some of their planes to Qantas. Who'da thought??

Thanks everyone. I think we are finally getting everything together.

<i>AA apparently leases some of their planes to Qantas.</i>

Do you have a link?

Hi Patty:
I have the following information from Wikipedia (topic Qantas) &quot;The main domestic competitor to Qantas, Ansett Australia, collapsed on 14 September 2001.[29] Market share for Qantas immediately neared 90%, with the relatively new budget airline Virgin Blue holding the remainder. In order to capitalise on this event, Qantas ordered Boeing 737-800 aircraft — obtaining them a mere three months later.[30] This unusually short time between order and delivery was possible due to the terrorist attacks in the United States on 11 September — the subsequent downturn in the US aviation market meant American Airlines no longer needed the aircraft they ordered. The delivery positions were reassigned to Qantas on condition the aircraft remained in American Airlines configuration for later possible lease purposes.[31]&quot;

I also called American Airlines and they said they share air routes with Qantas. We are apparantly booked on Qantas with an American Flight Number.

So this probably doesn't answer the question completely. But it is the best I can do.

Hi Nanabee - That reference relates to events that took place 7 years ago. I don't think there is any direct leasing of planes to Qantas by AA today. All QF planes have full Qantas livery and the seat configurations are standard for equivalent planes across the fleet.

I would be happy to hear differently.

Qantas is most certainly not &quot;managed by American Airlines&quot;. It is a publicly listed Australian company. Although there are offshore shareholders, both corporate and individual, no foreign interest can own more than 49%. This nearly changed last year but the takeover bid from nameless and faceless entities failed.

Code-sharing is common but it doesn't mean that because you book your flight with Company A and the flight is operated by Company B that company B &quot;manages&quot; company A.

Hope you have a smooth flight (it's long but you do survive!) and a fantastic visit.

When flying on business class tickets United Airlines paid for our ETAs.

The checkin agent got the ETA issued while I was standing there, checking in.

I learned that this is not the best way to go about it. Some people get denied ETA and end up not being able to travel and even having to wait for the Aussie weekend to end.

On a later trip I got the ETA for my brother by calling United well in advance of the travel date (IIRC it was 7 or 8 days in advance).

So if you are in biz or first class see if your airline will pay.

some people end up not being able to travel on that day, I meant, the day they applied for the ETA

I'm flying CX in J on an AA issued ticket and neither would issue the ETAs for free. I think CX used to do this for J/F but apparently not anymore.

I would apply now though. We went to Australia at Christmas, because we were flying Biz class my TA did it for free BUT when she applied my partners was refered (think he has a name similar to some one on a list or something) anyway it took about3 or 4 days to sort (no big deal they had to contact the australian embassey) my point being i would not leave it till last minute just incase there are any slight delays.