Evolution of flights to Australia

gerrynimo

Hi,

Since last year, my gf and me have been planning our trip to Australia at the end of 2008. (29 Oct - 1 Dec). We plan to fly to Sydney, do a round trip (melbourne, Alice Springs, Cairns), and end up in Brisbane, from where we want to fly out of.

As we have not quite saved up enough, i have spend the past 2 monts compiling a spreadsheet with all the costs and expenses.

Now, looking at flights pretty much every day over the past 2 months, it was always Cathay Pacific that was cheapest, with prices staying constant around 750 quid. (statravel, ebookers,...).
I think in the past 2 months, i have only seems them go up once by 10 quid or so.

However, when i checked yesterday, i found that now Qantas is the cheapest, and cheapest tickets are now around 945 quid!! _pale_

My question is, for all you experienced travellers out there or people in the travel industry... Does this mean that the "cheap" tickets I have been seeing in the past 2 monts are now definitely gone, and from now on prices start at 945-ish quid and will only go up?
Or is there still a chance that this is just a current situation, and is it possible that in maybe 2 months time, cheaper tickets can be available again?

We are not at all bothered with what airline we fly, but we want to get there as cheap as possible. Can I still hope for the 700-ish quid tickets to come back at some point? Also, will it be better to get our tickets book asap, or is there more chance of special deals and cheaper tickets nearer to November?

Thanks a lot for your opinion on this! :beer:

Sam_Bee

There are two aspects that have worked against you.

The first is that all major airlines have sales until the end of Feb / early March as this is peak booking period, so it encourages everyone to book.

And the second is that, there is every chance the cheaper seats will have gone.

However, if you can travel out a day earlier, you can still find similar prices on Cathay, except it will include 3 nights accommodation (where-ever you want). Speak to an Oz specialist Oztravel, Travelbag, Trailfinders etc and ask about their IT fares.

Not only will it include 3 nights accommodation, you will only have to pay a deposit, and not the full whack up front. And you don't have to use the accommodation if you don't want to.

daveybuk

It does generally seem to be the case unfortunately that the earlier you book flights these days, the better. (Although a friend of mine did get a last minute return to Hong Kong the other week for £420).

Given the distances you're looking to cover, it would be worth taking some internal flights anyway to give yourselves some more time in the best places - so maybe you can find a deal that encompasses those and therefore becomes better value. Certainly, Qantas in the past have done things like that. If not, check out Virgin Blue.

Also, I think it's Kayak that shows you the price trends and differing prices according to the exact date you fly - well worth checking out as even though, for instance, Friday flights might be full and expensive, Wednesday ones could be emptier and cheaper.

gerrynimo

Hi Sam Bee and Daveybuk,

Thanks a lot already for your replies! I know these kinda things are hard to predict, and have to say it definitely forces us to re-think and do the whole expenses/saving exercise again, as these new prices mean an extra 400 quid for the both of us! And it is not like there is any added value for this extra money, as they are still exactly the same flights...

In the past months, i have collected a wide variety of travel-links, and unfortunately it seems that this rise in prices is showing on every website. So yes, we probably missed the sales period, but as we only receive our bonusses end of March, we had no way of booking flights yet.

Would you happen to have a link for the Oztravel website? I have already visited the other Oz specialists you mention.
Also, can you give me some more info about those IT fares, with the 3 night accomodation included? Can i check/book this on the Cathay Pacific website (is it only Cathay Pacific that does this?), or do i have to go via an Oztravel specialist to get these fares?

Thanks again for your help!

Sam_Bee

Sorry, by Oz Travel, I meant http://www.austravel.com/ !

But they are all similar in that they should all be able to help you with the Cathay Pacific IT fares.

IT (Inclusive Tour fares) are discounted air fares that you can only buy in-conjunction with a certain level of accommodation. Airlines use them as a way of deeply discounting their fares, knowing the actual price will never be revealed as they have to be packaged up with accommodation. The amount of accommodation you have to book varies from airline to airline. Cathay want you to book 3 nights (minimum), airlines such as Malaysian require you to book accommodation for your entire stay.

IT fares are popular for Africa and Asia, less popular for Australia, and not worth worrying about for Europe or the US. However, they tend to be year round fares, meaning there is no booking deadlines (like the sale fares you missed out on) and also you don't need to pay the lot up-front.

You won't be able to book them on Cathay's website, in fact the complexities of them mean it's often easier to speak to an expert about them (like the companies I recommended). You can pick and choose where you want the accommodation, so if you booked the cheapest 3 nights accommodation, the total would be roughly approximate to the sale fares you were looking at, particularly if you use it in Hong Kong (on the return a stopover would be better - it would be high season when you travel out, but low season when you return, and hotels will be very reasonable).

However, if you are looking to book accommodation anyway, you might as well use the 3 nights you need to book to book a hotel you intended to.

Other airlines offer IT Fares, but very few to Australia, and in your particular instance, Cathay is the best option, particularly if you take note of the date I mentioned!

So get onto it asap, as you will only have to pay a deposit. Report back if you have any difficulties!

gerrynimo

Thanks again, Sam Bee! That is excellent advise!

I will try and speak to one of those travel specialists, and definitely will look into the IT-fares! Hopefully this is a way of keeping the cost for our flights to a minimum!
:beer:

Vampgirl

I don't know if this is going to be of any use to you at all, but there is a new low-cost carrier that will start flying London Stanstead to Melbourne in the third quarter the year (so around September I imagine) called Air Downunder. According to their website they will start taking online bookings from April, they're advertising prices from around £425 return.

I have no idea whether this airline will be any good, whether it will launch on time or what the quality of service will be, but it might be worth investigating if you simply want the cheapest flight to Aus.

gerrynimo

Hi Vampgirl,

Had a look at their website, and yes, definitely looks promising! This certainly is helpful! I will keep a very close eye on their site in April! Hopefully they can deliver what they seems to be promising!


Thanks a lot!

portygirl

We booked a RTW ticket with a company called Travel Nation in 2006 - they specialise in RTW tickets with unususual itineries. This included quite a few internal flights in OZ. We only had to pay a deposit on booking with the balance 10 weeks prior to departure.I think some of the OZ specialists may offer this option. This might be useful for folk that don't have the budget to book & pay the full amount at once when prices are low. This year we booked direct with ANZ for an LA/Fiji trip & had to pay £1900 up front, ouch!

shazrazmataz

Also take into consideration, Nov, Dec & Jan are the most expensive months to fly to Oz.

Have you tried Singapore airlines, they're the best by far to fly with :D

gerrynimo

Hi Portygirl,

To be honest, we have several internal flights planned (Adelaide - Alice Springs, Alice Springs - Cairns, Cairns - Brisbane), so a RTW ticket that can be used also for internal flights could be an option. That is, if it is at the right price, as internal flights in Australia can be done quite cheaply with Virginblue or Jetstar (apart from flights to Alice Springs, as only Qantas still fly there... 550 quid for 2 pp.... ouch! _pale_ ).
So for it to be financially interesting, the price of the RTW has to be less then combination of flight to Australia and cheap internal flights with budget airline.

Do you have any idea how much an RTW would cost per person? I will try to contact Travel Nation too to check.

Our original plan was to fly to Sydney, do our round-trip, and end up in and fly out of Brisbane. But with prices going up as they have, I think we will now just do a return to Brisbane, and then on arrival in Brisbane take a VirginBlue flight to Sydney to start of our journey (about 80 quid for both of us), as this seems to work out cheaper.
I did a few checks yesterday, and can find a return flight LHR-BNE for 734 pp with China Airlines. It's 2 stopovers and probably not my preferred airline, but it would definitely keep the price down.

Hi Shazrazmataz,

Yes, i have most definitely tried Singapore Airlines, as I flew with them when i went to Australia 3 years ago. And absolutely loved them! But unfortunately, their prices, like the rest of them, have gone up also, so.... Priority now is to get there as cheap as possible, as I want to save the extra money from flights to use on our internal trips and excursions.

Thanks again all for your help! :beer: