Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - domestic Australian airfare and carriers

Well, Tiger Airlines, from another post, I never even heard of! wow!

We need to go from Sydney to either Darwin or Broome, then Darwin/Broome to Perth.

so we are realistically only needing 2 legs and I doubt that is enough for an 'airpass'.

so what are other websites and options for air travel between Australian cities? all I know of is Qantas Link and Virgin Blue and Jetstar(?)

oh , and would any of them contribute miles to AA or BA?

Qantas (http://www.qantas.com.au/regions/dyn/home/qualifier-region-au) Large domestic carrier with many routes
Jetstar (http://www.jetstar.com.au/) Low cost carrier owned by Qantas. Is gradually taking over some QF routes.
Australian (http://www.australianairlines.com.au/aahome.html) Owned by Qantas Operates out of Cairns. Some domestic flights, but mainly into Asia.
Virginblue (http://www.virginblue.com.au/) Australian wide service. Now has its own FFP
Ozjet (http://www.ozjet.com.au/) New start up business class only airline. SYD-MEL only at this time
REX (http://www.rex.com.au/) Regional Express Airline. Operates in SE of Australia
Sunshine Express (http://www.sunshineexpress.com.au/) Operates in coastal region about Brisbane
Skywest (http://www.skywest.com.au/) Operates in Western Australia & to Darwin
There are also other smaller regional airlines

Can get BA or AA miles on some QF flights. Need to check the fare classes

Well, Tiger Airlines, from another post, I never even heard of! wow!

We need to go from Sydney to either Darwin or Broome, then Darwin/Broome to Perth.

so we are realistically only needing 2 legs and I doubt that is enough for an 'airpass'.

so what are other websites and options for air travel between Australian cities? all I know of is Qantas Link and Virgin Blue and Jetstar(?)

oh , and would any of them contribute miles to AA or BA?

the phoenix

Mwenenzi, has given you a comprehensive list of the many airlines in Australia.

I'd suggest flying Qantas to Darwin from Sydney. Virgin Blue pulled out of the route in September 2005 due to poor loads. Thrice weekly, Qantas operates an A330 service to Mumbai - however due to aircraft range restrictions the flight has to re-fuel in Darwin. The 333 has AVOD, Skybed in Business etc. It makes a long SYD-DRW flight very nice ^ QF flies the 763 and 332 SYD-DRW other times.

Airnorth (http://www.airnorth.com.au) flies Darwin to Broome via Kununurra using Embraer EMB.120 Brasilia aircraft. Airnorth are a Qantas Frequent Flyer partner. While it would be a scenic and very convenient flight the flights are very expensive. Darwin-Broome is about AUD$300 up.

An alternative is Skywest (http://www.skywest.com.au). They are a cheaper alternative but unfortunately left the Qantas Frequent Flyer program a number of years ago. I'd say Skywest would be your best pick - DRW-Broome fare is about AUD$221. Much cheaper than Airnorth. Skywest fly their Fokker 100s on their Broome-Darwin-Broome routes so that will mean 34" seat pitch [most spacious economy class in AUS], and a meal service.

QantasLink, Qantas, Skywest and Virgin Blue all fly the Broome-Perth-Broome route. I recently got a fare with Qantas/QantasLink Perth-Karratha-Broome for AUD$179 during Qantas' recent sale. There is a Qantas Club in Broome.

I'm flying to Broome later this month, so if there is any help you need please do not hesitate to ask.

Hope that helps. Once again if you need any help, don't hesitate to ask.

Hope you have a great time in Australia :) ^

Regards
David

wow, thanks for the alternatives!

I will read up on Broome this evening and this stairway phenomenon. We leave Perth the evening of Jul14 so I'll have to see how that works out.

I will post soon with more questions.

wait, here is one,... that A333 SYD-PER in the skybed sounds quite appealing but what does a one way ticket run on average, David?!

Standard business class one way SYD-PER nonstop is A$1385 - yup quite a lot.

Is Qf the only one offering business?

actually I would need rough estimates for business seats from SYD-Darwin and maybe Darwin-Perth.? Kiwi or anyone? thanks

Only QF and Ozjet (which has only just started and is limited to a very small number of routes) has business.

As for fares, you can see them on www.qantas.com.au You may be able to get a little cheaper with other TA but wont be much (as there is precious little commission paid).

Ozjet has only just started and is limited to a very small number of routes

That is, one route!

Sounds like you'd get the plane to yourself though. Nobody's guaranteeing they'll be around for long....

I will read up on Broome this evening and this stairway phenomenon. We leave Perth the evening of Jul14 so I'll have to see how that works out.



Only works 3 nights a month.

Night 2 is best.

Was there a couple months back. Amazing.

DO book a Horizontal Falls seaplane tour at that time. And get it CONFIRMED. Demand is often high in that high season. The tidal turn at the time is massive. About 10 metres.

Do the trip that lands you on water for lunch. You go fishing and tame sharks swim around you. You jet boat right thru the falls. Incredible sensation.

The absolute essnetial place to view it from is the outer beer garden of The Mangrove Hotel:

http://www.oztravel.com.au/travel_mall/hotels/The_Mangrove_ReBroome.html

I really honestly appreciate it all. Right now it seems the stairway to Moon is one major reason to see Broome and since we lave Perth on Jul14, I cant see Broome as a practical trip. But we shall see!!

[QUOTE=QF NBI recently got a fare with Qantas/QantasLink Perth-Karratha-Broome for AUD$179 during Qantas' recent sale. There is a Qantas Club in Broome.

I'm flying to Broome later this month, so if there is any help you need please do not hesitate to ask.
[/QUOTE]

Hey David, one question, was that fare directly gotten from QF's website?

Hey David, one question, was that fare directly gotten from QF's website?

It was available on qf.com however I went to one of my good friends who works at FlightCentre and purchased the fare there. For the price I paid it was extremely good value. 2 flights, 2 meals, 2 different aircraft types, more points and more status credits towards elite status

Just to let you know there is a QF sale on now and I just purchased BNE-MEL-ADL for AUD$149. QF offer some great indirect fares...

BTW, if you need any more info. on Broome or Australia in general, I'd be happy to help [that goes to everyone too].. just drop me an email or PM. I love helping people with questions relating to my wonderful country.

Cheers
David

... Ozjet (which has only just started and is limited to a very small number of routes) ...Seeing this thread reminded me to mention that OzJet has now closed down, in case anyone has been following this thread but not seen the news elsewhere.

What can anyone tell me about Air Jamaica Express Limited? We will be seeking one-way air from either Prosperine PPP or Hamilton Island HTI to SYD in order to connect to UA for our return home.

JQ has a 335pm nonstop HTI-SYD, but I'm wary of taking the last nonstop of the day (out of two total), in case something goes wrong we are likely to misconnect to UA 840 the next afternoon.

DJ (Virgin Blue) has one daily from HTI-BNE at 235pm, then plenty of BNE-SYD the rest of the day.

Looks like DJ has 1250pm and 505pm out of PPP to BNE then plenty 'o' connections from there.

I'd prefer to take the JQ nonstop from HTI but looking for info on the reliability of that flight.

QF has options but I'm not liking their fares (from these two more remote airports) compared to JQ and DJ.

Thanks!

I cant tell you anything about Air Jamaica Express, but JQ = Jetstar, ie Qantas low cost subsidiary. Most aussie FTers hold DJ to be better than JQ, although a contributing factor is likely the fear that mainline QF will disappear from their routes and be replaced by JQ (as has already happened on some routes).

What can anyone tell me about Air Jamaica Express Limited?:D

(Now that the serious answer has been given by Kiwi Flyer.)

:D

(Now that the serious answer has been given by Kiwi Flyer.)
Well thanks ;) . When you do an ITA lookup on BNE-PPP, it says Air Jamaica Express Limited, but JQ676 for the flight number. Other websites also list JQ=Air Jamaica Exp Ltd so maybe it is a codeshare with JetStar or something.

Regardless, I'm inclined to take DJ953 to Prosperpine because it gets me that much closer, that much sooner, to my charter ^ .

Well thanks ;) . When you do an ITA lookup on BNE-PPP, it says Air Jamaica Express Limited, but JQ676 for the flight number. Other websites also list JQ=Air Jamaica Exp Ltd so maybe it is a codeshare with JetStar or something.No, it's only that this is a monster attack of the IATA "controlled duplicates".

There are actually two JQs:-

JQ/JMX - Air Jamaica Express
JQ/JST - Jetstar Airways

You'll see better airline/airport code listings on a site like this one (http://www.airlinecodes.co.uk/).

So the fact that relatively "dumb" sites like ITA don't have up-to-date codes makes me laugh, hence the grin.

No, it's only that this is a monster attack of the IATA "controlled duplicates".
...So the fact that relatively "dumb" sites like ITA don't have up-to-date codesThanks, makes it a lot clearer now.

I am somewhat amused by JQ's info on the airlinecodes website you linked:

JQ JST Jetstar Airways Pty Limited d/b/a Impulse Airlines - Australia "Impulse Airlines". How very LCC.

Ah, therein lies a tale. Have a look at this Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impulse_Airlines). A small random selection of passenger reports here (http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/impulse.htm), too. Unfortunately, good things don't last for ever ...

We are breathing new life into this thread.

tomorrow mrs phoenix and I will do a run through for packing. We are trying to pack real light. I mean we are traveling on TN and QF in F class on some segments but also have some QF domestic segments which I know carry some babbage requirements.

But the extreme limiting factor for luggage and how much we can bring seems to be AIr North. They have very tight luggage requirements it seems but I realize this is due to the size of the aircraft. Since their requirements are so strict, our packing for hte entire trip is being affected based on what they allow. You follow?

Are they extremely strict with their luggage requirements?

Is July a busy time for the DRW-KNX route on a Sunday morning at 0720?
thanks in advance!

ok, well we are back and for others who might have to one day do the same, here was our experience

We flew on QF
SYD-DRW
KNX-PER

decent service. got a hot meal

DRW-KNX was on Air North, decent small airline though I do not recall why I chose them over Skywest but they got the job done.

And were they extremely strict with the baggage allowance?

And were they extremely strict with the baggage allowance?

QF was a bit dodgy. I mean, I think they saw 1 carry on and 2 check in but I saw many with 2 bags on board and it annoyed me as I asked the GA if I could board with 2.


TL wasnt terribly strict. I think were were a Kilo over and none the wiser.

QF was a bit dodgy. I mean, I think they saw 1 carry on and 2 check in but I saw many with 2 bags on board and it annoyed me as I asked the GA if I could board with 2.According to the QF website you can take 2 pieces of hand luggage:

2 x 105cm (41in) bags or
1 x 105cm (41in) bag plus 1 x 185cm (73in) non rigid garment bag or
1 x 115cm (45in) bag

http://www.qantas.com.au/info/flying/beforeYouTravel/baggageCarryOn

SmilingBoy.