Since the end of 2021, most states and territories have started relaxing international and domestic borders so that fully-vaccinated travellers can… well, travel. (I’m still looking on wistfully from the sunny shores of WA).
Still, it’s not quite business as usual. The overall domestic travel experience is different to how it was pre-COVID. These days, you’re mandated to wear masks while at the airport and onboard your flight, and you need to keep an eye on the travel restrictions that exist. Here’s what you need to know.
1. Check for entry requirements
Some Australian states and territories may require you to apply for a permit before entry, even if you’re a resident returning from a trip. This is normally quick and easy to do online — and as long as the borders remain open — should be approved almost instantly after submission.
Which states and territories can I travel to freely?
| Legend: ✔️ = quarantine-free travel permitted | ⭕ = restrictions in place |
Below are the Australian state and territory entry requirements as of Wednesday 2 February 2022. Please note this is general advice only and refers to fully-vaccinated and healthy travellers who are not currently ill or showing a positive test from COVID-19. Be sure to check government websites for the latest information, as this can change quickly.
- ✔️ New South Wales: No permit or COVID-19 test required.
- ✔️ Victoria: No permit or COVID-19 test required.
- ✔️ Queensland: No permit or COVID-19 test required.
- ✔️ South Australia: No permit or COVID-19 test required.
- ⭕ Western Australia: You must apply for a G2G Pass. Entry is restricted at present under the ‘controlled border’.
- ✔️ Tasmania: No permit or COVID-19 test required. Unvaccinated travellers need an exemption.
- ✔️ Australian Capital Territory: No permit or COVID-19 test required.
- ✔️ Northern Territory: You must complete a Border Entry Form. No COVID-19 test required.
2. Know when to wear a mask
In early 2021, it became a requirement nationwide to be wearing a face mask when at the airport or travelling onboard a flight within Australia and to New Zealand. However, you may temporarily remove them while eating or drinking.
Most airlines, including Qantas, Virgin Australia and Jetstar, can provide ‘fly safe’ kits with masks and wipes. However, it’s still best to have your own reusable masks, if only for environmental (and fashion) reasons! But note that some foreign countries are mandating N95/FFP2 single-use masks as a minimum.
As a rule of thumb, it’s a good idea to carry at least three masks with you when flying. That way, you have spares if needed, particularly if the destination you’re travelling to also requires them for specific places (e.g. on public transport or at the theatre to see a show).
Who doesn’t need to wear a mask?
Currently, children under 12 years of age and those with relevant medical conditions are exempt from wearing a mask when travelling. All other travellers must continue to wear masks while at the airport and onboard.
3. Qantas, Virgin and Rex still offer fare flexibility
The good news? When you buy a fare, Qantas, Virgin Australia and Rex are still offering some form of fare flexibility, even on reward seats and the cheapest sale tickets.
At the time of writing, here are the flight change policies of major Australian airlines. Be sure to check for the most recent policy if you do decide to book:
Qantas
Cash fare: Unlimited free flight changes for domestic flights booked and for travel up to 30 April 2022.
Reward seats: No fee for changes or cancellations to Classic Flight Rewards on domestic Qantas-operated flights up to 30 April 2022.
Virgin Australia
Cash fare: Unlimited changes or cancel to Travel Bank for free, for domestic flights until 30 April 2022. A fare difference applies to changes if you change fare class, routing or cabin class.
Reward seats: No fee for changes or cancellations to reward seats up to 30 April 2022.
Rex
A full refund is offered if you can’t make the flight due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, even if the flight still goes ahead.
Jetstar
You’ll receive a full credit for your booking if the flight is affected by border restrictions, including those that would render you unable to travel or would result in home quarantine. You can also change a booking once for free, until 30 April 2022.
You can also buy a FareCredit add-on at the time of booking to enable you to cancel your booking for any reason before airport check-in opens, and receive the full balance as a credit.
Read our guide to domestic airline coronavirus fee waivers [2022] →
Point Hacks tip: Qantas and Velocity reward seats offer better flexibility compared to cash tickets. If you have a stash of Qantas Points or Velocity Points, now is the time to use them for travel! Of course, Rex still offers the best refund policy overall.
4. Most domestic lounges are now open
The vast majority of Qantas, Virgin Australia and Rex lounges are now open for business for your pre-flight enjoyment. The remainder is expected to re-open in the coming months, depending on travel demand. At the time of writing:
- Qantas: Most domestic lounges, plus selected international lounges are open. See here for the latest updates.
- Virgin Australia: All seven domestic lounges are now open. See here for the latest updates.
- Rex: All three lounges are open. Read more about Rex lounges.
5. Don’t become complacent, and be aware plans can change quickly
Domestic travel is slowly returning to normal – but we’re not back to pre-COVID times just yet. Even though most internal borders are open currently, we know from prior experience that the situation can change quickly.
Do your best to physically distance yourself from others where possible. Of course, this isn’t practical in a lot of locations (including onboard a plane) as capacity restrictions are lifted. But we’d suggest you still follow other safety precautions where you can.
Practice good hygiene, especially with washing your hands after coughing and sneezing. Wear a mask when required and change it often. If you have reusable masks, be sure to wash them regularly as well.
We’d recommend downloading the local government apps for any state or territory you travel to, particularly if QR-code scanning for contact tracing is required in those locations.
Finally, it could be useful to discuss a backup plan with your loved ones and your workplace if you travel. Try to book flexible accommodation and get the most flexible airfares possible. There’s no insurance that can cover these changes due to government-mandated border closures.
At least, if you book reward seats with frequent flyer points, then you could be eligible for a full refund and won’t end up turning your hard-earned cash into airline credits. At Point Hacks, we can’t stress that enough. Safe travels!
Would you travel if all domestic borders are currently open, but could shut quickly with an outbreak?
Need some inspiration on how to boost your Qantas or Velocity points balance and get travelling domestically quicker? Here are our top points credit card sign-up offers.
Qantas American Express Premium
- Sign-up Bonus:
- 20,000 bonus Qantas Points
- Rewards Earn Rate:
- 1 Qantas Point earned per $1 spent on eligible purchases. 1 additional Qantas Point per $1 on selected Qantas products and services in Australia. 0.5 Qantas Points per $1 spent at government bodies in Australia
- Annual Fee:
- $249 p.a. annual fee
- The Qantas American Express Premium Card has 20,000 bonus Qantas Points on offer for new American Express Card Members who apply online, are approved, and spend $3,000 on your new Card within the first 3 months of approval date. The card comes with 2 Qantas Club Complimentary Lounge invitations after eligible Qantas spend each Card Member year and earns up to 2 Qantas Points per $ on eligible purchases.
American Express Velocity Platinum
- Sign-up Bonus:
- Up to 100,000 bonus Velocity Points¹
- Rewards Earn Rate:
- 1.25 Velocity Points earned per $1 on all eligible spend except for government bodies⁵. 2.25 Velocity Points per $1 spent on selected Virgin Australia purchases⁵. 0.5 Velocity Points per $1 on Government spend⁵
- Annual Fee:
- $440 p.a.
- Offer expires
- 30 April 2026
- The American Express Velocity Platinum Card has 70,000 bonus Velocity Points on offer for new American Express Card Members who apply, are approved and spend $5,000 on eligible purchases within the first 3 months of approval, plus an additional 30,000 Velocity Points when you spend a minimum of $1 on your Card within 90 days of paying your second year annual Card Fee¹. (Offer ends 30 April 2026. New Amex Card Members only. T&Cs apply.) Includes several perks such as Virgin Australia Lounge Access² every time you fly domestically with Virgin Australia, 2 VA Guest Lounge Passes³ each year and a Complimentary Domestic Return Virgin Australia Flight⁷.
Hi,
Does anyone know if one got to be Fully vaccinated to board a Virgin or Qantas Domestic flight (Qld –> Vic & vice versa)? Ta!
The stupid and useless Victorian government and CHO ain’t much better than Queensland and WA.
You might feel differently if you knew of people who have died of COVID19. We don’t have a pile of 600,000 plus dead bodies like the USA.
The real problem Australia now faces is the incompetent handling of the vaccine roll out. The responsibility for that failure rests squarely on the shoulders of the federal government. This is hardly surprising when the government has an innate distrust of science and technology and you have a religious nutcase for a PM who believes in hands on faith healing. The medical / policy forum literature has been advocating for a shift from AZ to mRNA vaccines weeks ago. The data being cited on AZ side effects were way out of date and now mysteriously and very lately revised tripling the the rate and forcing a rethink on the acceptability of AZ for different cohorts – just what you get from Clot Morrison and his dithering ministers. More troubling is that it has been known for weeks that AZ wasn’t going to cut it with the emergent variants as the Seychelles and other countries have found out – a huge problem now facing the UK with its reliance on AZ and its decision to prolong the timing of the second dose leaving a vast proportion of the population exposed to the new variants. Meanwhile Clot Morrison has failed to set up a decentralised national arrivals centre to get people home and lower the risk of leaky quarantine seals, or broker a national best practice standard – monumental incompetence – no worries you can always pray to your god to fix it
Thank you, this is one of the best summaries I’ve read. Clear and concise.
QLD –
Good to go?
Maybe good to go?
Not so good to go?
Why go?
Don’t go?
In a country saturated with confusing, contradictory and ever-changing ‘requirements’, it’s quite possible Qld and Premier Palaszcuk have won First Prize for Knee-Jerk Stupidity 2021.
Dunno, Shaun, I just took a look at the QLD GOV website in readiness for a trip to NZ and it seems simple enough.
What is it you want and expect?
Option one is to do nothing – when the virus gets out you have less instruments to control the spread because your data set is limited – fully lockdowns inevitably follow when the virus gets out of hand.
Option two is to close borders – we know that works but then folk whinge because they are geographically separated from an outbreak.
Option three is to try and find some middle ground – define hot spots and set up protocols to manage on a more local basis. Then you have to process folk according to whether they have been to a hotspot or not.
What’s your solution?
The QLD Travel Declaration can be completed online in minutes – I just checked it out.
Meanwhile, here in FNQ the tourism industry is pumping – hotels are busy, posh restaurants like Nautilus in Port Douglas are booked out for weeks. Local resort managers tell me it’s the biggest season for 5 years or more.
In the meantime, we’re months away from an effective vaccination program. Less than 2.5% of Australians have been fully vaccinated. Those with Astra Zeneca (AZ) may well have to be re-vaccinated with Pfizer or Moderna because AZ is significantly less effective against the COVID variants. If the Indian or South African variants infiltrate the community, we’re in one almighty mess and heading back for major lockdowns.
There is going to be some sort of cost to living during a pandemic. Stupid and ill informed commentary ain’t gonna protect the community. For now we are still reliant on the quarantine system, contact tracing, and the fall back position of localised or extensive lockdowns.
State gov’s wouldn’t need additional systems and processes in place if there was a national standard – but then Clot Morrison is MIA.
AZ has proved itself effective against the variants particularly the Delta variant where it is almost equal to Pfizer. Most countries are using AZ and many would be happy to take ours.