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Has anyone purchased airfare yet? I think this would be a really fun trip, so I've been trying to estimate the cost for me and my wife. We live in Boston, and the cheapest airfare I can find is around 2200 per ticket. Has anyone been able to find cheaper fares? Has anyone traveled to Australia before and can comment generally about the experience?
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when you ask about the experience i assume you mean in terms of customs/ease of getting from the airport to your hotel etc.
compared to america our immigration is really relaxed. just use the golden rule and you'll be fine. i like to pride myself on telling people the australians are friendly, and for the most part we are. the only thing that they're strict on is bringing in food/plant material.
www.webjet.com.au is a good place to compare costs, but I usually find the cheapest flight on this and then book directly through the cheapest airline via their website to avoid the 3rd party booking fee (I'm cheap, I know )
http://www.enemy-agency.com
I also use Skyscanner.com.au and Wego.com.au for comparing fares, but I always book with the airline direct.
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This, because both LAX-SYD and SYD-MEL are busy and highly competitive.
There are four airlines flying LAX-SYD direct (Delta, United, Qantas and Virgin Australia). It's not quite as cheap as it used to be, but I managed to do my first PAX Prime run in 2009 on Qantas for under $1000 return.
The Sydney-Melbourne run is one of the busiest air routes in the world and has four airlines fighting for passengers (Qantas, Virgin Australia, Tiger and Jetstar). It's about a one-hour flight and there are flights leaving every half-hour during the day.
As of the time of this post Virgin Australia's fare for that weekend for SYD-MEL is $109 (USD$113) each way as of today; Qantas wants $129 (USD$133) and that's with no particular specials or promotions, just an advance booking.
Jetstar has fares as little as $35 (USD$36!!) but fly to a different airport, Melbourne Avalon (AVV), instead. You'll need to factor in a little extra transit time on the airport shuttle to get into Melbourne proper.
Not quite- Qantas flies non-stop to SYD out of Dallas-Fort Worth, though.
http://www.virginaustralia.com/au/en/experience/airline-partners/delta-air-lines/
http://www.virginaustralia.com/au/en/experience/airline-partners/air-new-zealand/
http://www.qantas.com.au/fflyer/dyn/partners/airline/american-airlines
http://www.jetstar.com/au/en/what-we-offer/our-guarantees/price-beat-guarantee
Price Beat Guarantee
If you find a published internet airfare on another airline that is lower than the lowest available comparable Jetstar fare on Jetstar.com, call us to book with Jetstar and we will beat the other airline's fare by 10% (provided we can verify the lower fare when you call to book). The comparable fare must be for a one way direct flight on the same route at a comparable time.
Holy crap. I'm doing this every time I fly.
http://www.enemy-agency.com
Tiger airways did a sale that ended yesterday, $40 each way between SYD and MEL not including check in luggage. I'm looking forward to spending an hour squeezing my 6'4'' frame into the small wire cage that I'm assuming will be my seat for the flight.
http://www.enemy-agency.com
Actually, his cage will reach terminal velocity before reaching the ground, so the 500 feet shorter distance is kind of moot.
Agreed! Talk about a roaring good time!
Vapok
http://www.enemy-agency.com
Alongside the carriers that fly to Australia, it's also worth signing up for email deals from any of the airlines that fly direct to any of the big Asian hub airports - Tokyo, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Hong Kong - generally you can pick up a cheap flight from any of those airports to Australia on Jetstar/AirAsia/Tiger/Scoot, if you don't mind a stopover.
Now to work out where to sleep.
http://www.enemy-agency.com
Previous PAXs: PAX Prime 2011, PAX AUS 2013