Year in Australia

Skully_2

Hi there,

Planning for a trip to Australia for a year's working visa at the moment, but having trouble with a few things.

1) I can't seem to find affordable tidy travel insurance for a year which would cover extreme sports. I know it costs more to do such activities, but I am getting quote for over £1000 for the year!

2) Reasonable flights are alluding me at the moment. i intend to go out in January which is Australia's summer and tourist season so any cheap help would be appreciated!

3) Bit of financial management, I have upwards of £7k+ in one bank account and intend to set up an additional one with 1000 emergency money, is it wise to spread out my 7k or keep it altogether in one account?

4) Is getting a credit card a good idea? Never had one before in my life and not sure if I'd use it unless it was something MAJOR tbh

Many thanks and love to those who reply!

Spinning martin!

:money:

view

1) have you tried oinc.com that covers winter sports (you'll have to read the policy if it covers other sports also - what are you going to do?)

2) don't go in January. can you delay it a few months? January is the high season. if you leave it til end March/ April you'll only pay £600 (fantastic deals just now) search via travelsupermarket.co.uk

3) spread it. take travellers cheques and get a pre-paid card. You will be charged each time you take cash out of an atm plus hit with foreign currency charge

4) yes - as long as you're sensible. Many hotels/car hire agencies etc.. will only accept a credit card - set it up so that when you need to use it (never for cash advance) transfer the money from your bank immediately to cover it.

have you sorted out work yet? set up your cv and cover letter and search via google.com.au for agencies - get in contact before you go/send your cv to them - is best to set up appointments etc.., before you get there - get your foot in the door before the other thousands that will be doing exactly the same as you.

Any questions on Australia - just fire away.

Bananabelly

With regards to flights, it usually gets a bit cheaper after the middle of January, then cheaper again in February, but still great weather nearly everywhere. It won't be any cheaper unless you move dates.

Definitely get a credit card if you can, even if you lock it away in your backpack for emergencies only. I personally wouldn't get traveller's cheques, I think they are a complete waste of time these days. It would be useful to have 2 cards to access your bank account in case you lose one, so either talk to your bank and see if that's possible, or set up another account, and the ability to transfer between them, and take both cards (separate them though!) so that you have another way to get money if one goes missing.

Travel insurance web is usually pretty good. I am on a round the world trip at the moment and got a year's travel insurance for around 350 pounds, including North America, through World Nomads (through the Lonely Planet website). They are good because everything is online, even claims, so you don't need to take physical paperwork with you.

thepeacock

Hiya. A few things based on my year in Australia.

1) I skipped travel insurance - Aus has a reciprocal deal to provide medical help for Brits - This should be one of the first things you sign up for once you arrive.

2) Flights - Just try all the airlines and a few good agencies like Opodo but if you are coming up with high prices it's just due to demand so shift your dates. You can also try and win a trip to Oz -e.g. http://australiabargains.co.uk/win/

3 / 4) Nationwide credit card / and debit card used to be the way to go but I think they have stopped their zero percentage overseas transactions to non EU. Don't know if the post office are still offering this ? Credit card is OK so long as you have self discipline to pay it off every month. I opened a bank account in Oz so I could get a debit card and moved all my UK savings in one go.

thepeacock

Afterthought on flights - Have you tried STA Travel ? They sometimes have special flights only for under 26 or for long stays. They probably have insurance deals etc too.

Cade_Foster

I would not take peacocks advice about skipping insurance as while they may have reciprocal agreements this will not cover repatriation or anything like that, also travel insurance is for other things besides health.

Around April probably just after easter will probably be the cheapest(earliest) time to fly but do you want to wait that long.

tronski

When I went to Oz for a year, I opened an Oz bank account as soon as I arrived and transferred all my money. Was a lot easier!! I banked with Westpac out there.

I'd definitely take a credit card just in case. I needed it to prebook accomodation and flights.

Keep looking for flights. We wanted to in December. We ended up flying on 28th Nov, spending 2 nights in Hong Kong, arriving in Sydney on 2nd Dec. Saved us nearly £300 each then flying on 1st Dec. We booked with Flight Centre who were really helpful. They also price match.

Skully_2

Thanks for the replies so far!

I spotted the Santander Zero credit card and asked about that in my branch today so defo applying for that.

I'm already with Nationwide and do my main banking with them with their Flexaccount. I am not sure what they are doing with their 0% transactions, but they are definitely still doing free cash withdrawls overseas. Which will be handy.

I notice Nwide do an e-savings/e-savings+ which allows to stash your cash, save a little and have instant access between that and my flexaccount, anyone recommend/think it's a good idea? I do intend to work out there so perhaps stashing 4 out of the 8.5k into this could be a good move?

Going in January, well I could move it, it's just I arranged to meet friends in the south of the country (Adelaide area) by end of Jan. Suppose I could risk a friendship for saving a few hundred quid!

gedebage

If you can get a cheap flight to either Hong Kong or Singapore it might be worthwhile to take your onward leg to Australia using one of the Asian based low cost carriers. You could try www.tigerairways.com, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines or www.jetstar.com, a subsidiary of QANTAS.There is also Air Asia operating from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

Bananabelly

Cade_Foster wrote: »

I would not take peacocks advice about skipping insurance as while they may have reciprocal agreements this will not cover repatriation or anything like that, also travel insurance is for other things besides health.

Around April probably just after easter will probably be the cheapest(earliest) time to fly but do you want to wait that long.

I agree, it is very very bad advice to go travelling for any amount of time without travel insurance. The agreement will cover emergency care primarily, and it is a different setup to the UK (not so generous as the NHS, even to Aussies). You wouldn't be covered for personal liability, or theft/fire/etc to your possessions....I could go on, but I think you get the idea.

gedebage

Australians are covered by Medicare. Most people there also have some kind of private health insurance . One thing I do like about the Medicare system is that you can walk into any surgery or medical centre and receive treatment.

Not like here where you register with a particular doctor. If you are working in Oz you should be covered by Medicare as you will be paying through taxation. As others have said you should take out travel insurance to cover other things.