We’re all excited to get out there and explore the world again as soon as possible. To make planning travel during COVID-19 easier and less stressful, we’ve put together a short guide to the resources, tools and advice you’ll need to book with confidence.
What’s in the guide?
Whether you’re planning or travelling, find the most relevant travel information using the links below.
- Find out where’s open for travel
- The best sources of reliable travel advice
- Find and book flexible fares
- Cleanliness and safety ratings
- Stay on top of the latest travel news
- COVID-19 travel FAQs
And of course, always check official websites for the latest information before you book or travel. Smartraveller.gov.au and the Australian Government Department of Health websites are great resources.
The best sources of reliable travel advice
We’ve collected the best places to find the travel information that will let you book with confidence on our Coronavirus Travel Advice page. It has links to state-by-state resources and government travel advice, plus flight cancellation and policy news from major airlines.
We’re updating this page regularly, so you can feel assured that you’re accessing the latest details, travel requirements and links to official sources.
Find and book flexible fares
Take the worry out of booking. Use our Flexible Ticket tool to filter your flights searches and hotels searches and see which options let you respond to changing circumstances most.
You can also click directly through to each airline’s booking policy from your flight search.
Cleanliness and safety ratings
We’ve added cleanliness and safety ratings to our airline and hotel search results to give you peace of mind when booking and planning travel during COVID-19.
Airlines
We’ve partnered with AirlineRatings.com to let you search for and choose airlines based on their COVID-19 safety rating. Each airline has a rating from 1 to 5 based on how many of these health and safety measures they currently follow:
- Face masks mandatory
- Plane deep-cleaned daily
- Flight crew wearing PPE
- Passenger sanitation packs provided
- Changes to food service
Just look for the purple badge that appears on all search results to see the rating, measures taken and what’s expected from the traveller. Search for a flight to see how it works.
Hotels
Hotels with a cleanliness score of 4.5 out of 5 now have a distinctive badge in our listings. The score is updated in real-time based on direct guest feedback through our partner TripAdvisor.
You can select cleanliness as a search filter when you browse hotels.
Stay on top of the latest travel news
The travel situation is always changing – so bookmark our travel blog to get the latest updates from around the world. We try to be as current as possible, but it’s always wise to double-check government guidelines before you plan travel during COVID-19.
Frequently asked questions
Being in any public space with other people, including while traveling, will increase your risk of exposure to the coronavirus. There are ways to make traveling safer for yourself and others, such as wearing a mask, maintaining a distance of at least six feet and hiring a car to drive yourself around. You should postpone travel if you or a travel companion feel unwell.
Fully vaccinated Australian citizens and permanent residents are allowed to travel abroad as of 1 November 2021, and will no longer need an exemption. Check Smartraveller.gov.au for the latest official travel advice and updates.
All travellers entering Australia outside of the Trans-Tasman Travel Bubble may quarantine for fourteen days upon arrival if they are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19. For the latest government advice, consult the Australian Department of Home Affairs.
