mandolino

I'm also a train fan but mainly use them for intra-state trips.
There are very few really interesting long distance train rides in Australia.

The country is a big rounded square with a mostly convex coastline and long-distance trains take the shortest distance which mostly means cutting across the interior which eliminates any interesting features like hills, rivers, fertile populated areas and sea-views.

harvyk

Tiger is cheap, that's where the good things end.

They have a very small fleet, and if anything goes wrong they are likely to leave you stranded at the airport and tell you to go and buy a ticket with one of the other carriers and to expect a refund in 4 to 6 weeks.

As for catching trains in Australia, I've caught a few trains (talking intercity / interstate, not suburban), they are very expensive, often close to if not more expensive than an airfare, they are slow, often with lots of stops along the way (which makes them slower than the bus). They are comfortable enough, and often have some sort of buy on board food service. But unless you are a train buff, they are not the way of getting around any sort of distance.

bensyd

Agree with what others have said. I don't think you could pay me to get on a Sydney-Melbourne train service. Slow, old trains and boring scenery.

harvyk

and according to a friend of mine who does the trip somewhat frequently (well from Yass to Melbourne at least), you get a lot of "interesting" people on that service. By interesting I mean you sleep with one eye open...

bensyd

Ha! I wasn't sure if I was remembering correctly that I'd read that somewhere, so didn't mention it. I guess I did.

The reality is that everyone either flies or drives. What's left are those who can only afford the train -- if you're on the dole you can use a concession card for discounted fares. From what I understand a few of the passengers BYO booze (I'm talking premixed Woodstock and Coke, not a glass of bubbly to have with a lunch hamper) and/or some stronger stuff.

jpatokal

Hot tip if you do travel by train: on the daytime routes, you can get "First Class" for pennies extra (eg. <$10 for Sydney-Canberra, ~5 hrs). This buys you a slightly larger seat, easy access to the bar/restaurant, and a distinctly non-threatening set of neighbors.

JClasstraveller

Slightly is putting it mildly. I'd be surprised if it's any bigger. It's still 2-2 configuration. Legroom and recline is a bit more but not hugely. Check this link: http://www.nswtrainlink.info/your_journey/seating

Fellow travellers are probably a bit better though.

thadocta

How can you "Use BA to fly around australia" (sic) when BA only fly, once a day, into one Australian city (SYD)?

Dave

mandolino

I can only presume they meant Qantas which still codeshares with BA I believe.

JClasstraveller

He obviously means Avios.

Lottie1001

Thanks for the continued responses.

I was confused by BA, too.

However Avios might be good. Would I be able to use them for internal flights in Australia, even if I fly from London without using them?

Mwenenzi

Yes.
Shanye2233 confuses many of us here

jpatokal

To be precise, the first class seat has precisely 6.45 cm more legroom. It's a train, not an LCC, and all the seats are pretty generously sized by airplane standards... but as noted, I still wouldn't want to sit in one for 12 hours!

harvyk

Esp considering that for around the same price you could be there in about an hour and a half.

expatboy

Provided you have enough Avios, you should be able to book Avios redemptions with QF - possibly via the BA website for mainline QF services, but for QantasLink (a subsidiary that flies to the relatively smaller places) you'll need to call BA. If you do manage it on the BA site then just search as normal for an Avios flight between (say) BNE and SYD and it will hopefully throw up a message saying something along the lines of "BA don't fly there but try these options instead...".

Of course when I try and double-check that it works I get the "Sorry our systems are not responding" message