If you have social media or even watch TV, you would have definitely seen the utter devastation and destruction in our beautiful country that seems not to want to end. For the past few months, firefighters have been doing an incredible job trying to restrict these bushfires, but they continue to keep growing and cause significant catastrophes. So far, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia have all been subject to the fires as well as immense smoke which has even drifted into parts of New Zealand and even South America.

While bushfires aren’t uncommon here, we haven’t ever seen fires that have caused this much damage, and it’s honestly heartbreaking to see. Not only are bushfires a common occurrence, but we also get a lot of cyclones and flash flooding activity during our summer months, and this is exactly what this post is about.

Both Qantas and Virgin Australia have issued travel waivers between now and the 9th of January as a result of Cyclone Blake, which is tracking towards the Northern Territory and Western Australia.

So what does this mean if you have upcoming travel around Port Hedland, Broome and Karratha?

Qantas

• If you’re travelling on any of these affected services, you may book an alternate Qantas flight (the flight has to be the same booking code or a lower fare and cannot be 14 days later than the original booking date of departure/arrival)
• If you decided you don’t want to travel to these destinations and want to change your location altogether, you’re able to free of charge (if you book a higher priced fare there will obviously be a difference in price
• And if you don’t want to travel at all, you’re more than welcome to put that flight value in credit to use at a later date

Virgin Australia

• If you’re travelling on any of these services, you’re able to rebook onto another service (with the same fare and cabin) within the 14 days of the original date.
• You can choose a whole new destination no later than 14 days from the original date. Passengers may have to pay depending on fares and differences, so that’s something to watch.
• Passengers can also elect to put their original flights into a credit which can be used at a later date.

Overall this will only affect a small number of travellers, but it’s definitely good information to know if you need some advice or clarity. I would advise passengers to regularly check the carriers websites as well as social media profiles like Facebook and Twitter, which are often more up to date.