Australia is a huge country, with long distances between major cities. Rail travel is generally expensive and unpopular, and buses take a long time to get from place to place. Luckily, four major airlines compete for a share of domestic Australian business, thus offering reasonably priced fares to get around Australia.
Here's a break-down of the carriers who fly domestic Australian routes, and the best time to shop for their airfare bargains.
Tiger Airways
Tiger Airways is arguably the airline with the cheapest base fares in Australia. They regularly offer one-way fares for less than $50 for popular routes like Melbourne to Sydney or Sydney to Gold Coast. Tiger offers special “Raw,” fares, which are updated weekly. Fares as low as $29 - and sometimes less - can often be found.
Keep in mind there will be additional fees to the base fares, such as a $6 per sector convenience fee for bookings made online (more for telephone bookings), in addition to on-board snacks and checked baggage fees.
Tiger limits carry-on bags to one bag weighing just seven kilograms. Passengers can purchase a checked baggage allowance of one bag up to 15kg for $15 at the time of booking. Fees will be higher if passengers wait until the day of travel to buy baggage allowance.
Jetstar
Jetstar is the budget arm of Qantas, and travelers can earn Qantas frequent flyer points on Jetstar flights.
The standard Jetstar Light basic fares do not include checked baggage, but allow 10kg of hand luggage plus one small personal item. Up to 20kg of checked baggage can be purchased for $10 at the time of booking. Baggage can be purchased for $40 before the departure date, or $80 at the airport, so it's best to decide on baggage at the time of booking.
Jetstar is famous for their aptly named “Friday Fare Frenzy,” which offers certain routes – both domestic and international - for deeply discounted rates. Sale fares are announced each Friday morning, and travelers can book online during the sale hours of 4-8pm AEDT. Past specials have included Adelaide to Perth for $79, and Melbourne to Lauceston, Tasmania for $19. One thing to keep in mind with the sale fares is that they are often for bookings several months in advance, with specific allowable travel dates.
Virgin Blue
Virgin Blue, a relative of Virgin Atlantic, Virgin America and now V Australia, fits somewhere in the middle of the budget carriers. They aren't as “budget” as Tiger, but not as cushy as Qantas either. Virgin Blue has a variety of fare types from a very restrictive “Go” fare, all the way to premium economy fares.
Virgin Blue has a frequent flyer program called Velocity, with partners including Delta and Emirates, along with the other Virgin carriers. Award travel is relatively easy to accrue and redeem.
Virgin Blue has a “Happy Hour” each day from 12 noon to 1pm AEST. They announce new domestic fares on sale each day, and passengers have an hour to book them. In addition to “Happy Hour” fares, they do list a number of special discounted fares for sale on their website.
Qantas
Generally speaking, the non-budget carriers like Qantas - Australia's national airline - tend to have more expensive fares than their low-price counterparts. But for passengers traveling with baggage, and especially on longer flights, it may be worth a few extra dollars up front. Qantas's standard fares include 23-kg of checked baggage. And, they are the only domestic carrier that still serves free non-alcoholic drinks and snacks.
On longer flights, such as Cairns to Melbourne or Sydney to Perth, Qantas provides full meals and snacks, in-flight movies and headphones all for free. To get the same amenities on a budget carrier, passengers would have to pay at least an extra $10 to $40 on board. So including amenities and the checked baggage allowance, it might be worth it to pay a few dollars more to fly with Qantas.
In addition to regular fares, Qantas offers “Red e-Deals” each week between various cities around Australia. They are part of the One World global airline alliance, with partners including American Airlines an British Airways.
For more information on any of the airlines listed above, contact details are as follows:
- Tiger Airways: tigerairways.com or by phone 03 9335 3033 (Melbourne number)
- Jetstar: jetstar.com or by phone at 13 15 38
- Virgin Blue: virginblue.com.au or by phone at 13 67 89
- Qantas qantas.com or by phone at 13 13 13
Travelers can register to receive e-newsletters and special fare updates for all of the above airlines, with specials targeted to their preferred cities.
Please note that baggage fees and policies are current as of February 2010. Please check with the airline at the time of booking any flights, as prices and policies may change.
Mandy Morrissey - As a lover of words and travel, Mandy worked for eight years in the travel industry as both a travel advisor and branch manager for a ...
