Booking trip to OZ.. where do I start

the_devil_made_me_do_it

Booking a holiday to OZ bewtween the 10th-30th September and to be honest I don't know where to start. We are looking to visit Melbourne, Tasmainia & Sydney.

My oh & I had decided to fly with Emirates after hearing loads of good things about them. We don't really want to use a travel agent, as we may be staying with folks in Geelong and Sydney.

We don't know whether to stop off in Dubai for one night before going onto Melbourne. Also, don't know how to go about organizing a few days car hire.

Can all this be done via Emirates? Please help! It's the first time we've been out of Europe.

Incapuppy

the_devil_made_me_do_it wrote: »

We don't really want to use a travel agent, as we may be staying with folks in Geelong and Sydney.

I'm not sure why this would prevent you from using the services of a travel agent.

Why don't you speak to some long haul experts in this field such as Austravel, Trailfinders or Travelbag for starters?

the_devil_made_me_do_it

Incapuppy wrote: »

I'm not sure why this would prevent you from using the services of a travel agent.

Apologies, it does sound a bit odd dosen't it. I suppose it's because, hopefully we will only need flights.

See told you I don't have a clue

Incapuppy

the_devil_made_me_do_it wrote: »

See told you I don't have a clue

Any of the above companies will be able to deal with all of your requirements: advice on airlines, any special offers re: stopovers, car hire etc.

No doubt there will be many that will say it is easy to organise it all independently but if it were my first time undertaking this kind of journey I think I would find it preferable to have one point of contact for all aspects of the trip.

Do get quotes/advice from more than one company though

olias

Sounds like you are trying to do too much. You say you are going for 20 days. Take off 2 days travel each way, 1 day in Dubai and 2 further days travelling between Melbourne/Tassie and Tassie/Sydney and that only leaves you with 13 days or about 4 days in each area. Maybe give Tassie and Dubai a miss. Although that still only gives just under a week in Geelong/Melbourne and Sydney. You don't want to find yourself rushing around so much you don't enjoy your holiday.

Olias

richardw

Where can you fly from in the UK?

the_devil_made_me_do_it

I'd be flying from Newcastle.

pilates39

DO NOT pay anyone for an Australian Visa - agents and internet sites will do it for about £12.
Do it yourself and it is free -

http://www.immi.gov.au/visitors/tourist/evisitor/how-to-apply.htm

we applied and got ours free and everything was fine.

Have previously booked with Austravel and found them fine but now we know where to look we do it ourselves but first time would not attempt it.

Re car hire - been over there 9 times and never had car hire - no need in Sydney and Melbourne as they have good public transport and lots of travel companies have good day trips.

We booked all our recent trip online - booked with Thai Airlines - hotels in Sydney etc - internal flights with Jetstar.

The exchange rate (like most other countries) is very low at the moment so you will find it quite expensive. We paid 1/3 more this year (Dec 09 - Jan 10) than last year for our holiday and will have to think twice about doing it again this December although it is a brilliant place to visit.

lozkate

Look at www.rentnewcars.com.au for your car hire, we have just used them and they were very good, a lot cheaper than through the companies directly and we got upgrades on 2 of the 3 car hires we made.

the_devil_made_me_do_it

Thanks for the link, want to avoid un-necessary spending.

Been having a think & using public transport sounds appealing. I usually use public transport when I go on holiday, this dosen't have to be any different I don't suppose.

Is there a train from Melbs to Sydney?

pilates39 wrote: »

DO NOT pay anyone for an Australian Visa - agents and internet sites will do it for about £12.
Do it yourself and it is free -

http://www.immi.gov.au/visitors/tourist/evisitor/how-to-apply.htm

we applied and got ours free and everything was fine.

Have previously booked with Austravel and found them fine but now we know where to look we do it ourselves but first time would not attempt it.

Re car hire - been over there 9 times and never had car hire - no need in Sydney and Melbourne as they have good public transport and lots of travel companies have good day trips.

We booked all our recent trip online - booked with Thai Airlines - hotels in Sydney etc - internal flights with Jetstar.

The exchange rate (like most other countries) is very low at the moment so you will find it quite expensive. We paid 1/3 more this year (Dec 09 - Jan 10) than last year for our holiday and will have to think twice about doing it again this December although it is a brilliant place to visit.

pilates39

There is a train from Melbourne to Sydney but would be better to fly. As I am new not allowed to give web addresses but google Jetstar, Quantas domestic and Virgin who all fly from Melbourne to Sydney and often have "sales" and offers. Join the club and they will email you when the offers are available.
For dedicated Australian info go to Trip Advisor Australia forums - and then to which ever area you are interested in - we have always found the people on the Oz ones to be very helpful.