Visas

I've gotten my passport back with the necessary visas (I think) for my upcoming trips. A few places I can get a visa on arrival, and there are a couple of places where it is not clear if I need a visa or not due to poor wording. Even the visa experts I use were baffled. Hopefully it works out okay, and if not I can talk my way out of the problem.

The passport came back in good time, for I have been invited by Qantas to a promotional A380 flight. Despite being domestic only (sadly), the function will be held in the international terminal. I'm looking forward to it.

The new US visa (waiver) program ESTA, which comes in mid January is now up and running - you can pre-register now at the website. I've managed to avoid USA on the first few trips for 2009, in part to avoid problems with the new system. However, I've realised I should still sign up by the end of this year, because in the event of irregular operations on my flights from South America to Australia I may get rerouted via USA. It would be very annoying to be denied the option merely because I failed to register.