Hi all, this is kind of off-beat, please bear with me.

I'm looking for advice/opinions from people who commute on QF -- which I'll loosely define as flying the same itin 3x or more per week.

Specifically, (a) is this a viable lifestyle, i.e. how does it compare with a regular bus/train/car commute? and (b) how do you manage the cost, e.g. can you get some type of a contract deal with QF without being a govt department?

I'm looking at returning to AU; jobs are in SYD/MEL but my wife ideally doesn't want to live in either. So I'm investigating the viability (both in terms of sanity and financially) of commuting by air. I wouldn't necessarily have to do it every weekday. Cost would seem to be the main obstacle -- even though it would be partially offset by cheaper cost of living, it would still be coming out of my own pocket.

I'd appreciate any info on this topic!

PS: I'm OW Sapphire if that swings me anything, but mostly from long-hauls.

Realistically, you are looking at a min of 3 hours for commute to the airport, check-in, flight time and travel form airport to city from anywhere to Sydney or Melbourne. So that means a very early start to the day to make a 9am meeting, and a late arrival home following a 5pm finish. Yes it can be done, but its going to get you down eventually.

However, it is better than commuting through most US airports. At least you get food of some sort at those times of day even on the 1 hour flights.

Generally the only way to get any decent discounts on QF flights is to be part of an organisation that spends lots of money with them, or just buy the cheap red-e-deals off the net. The discounts for large spends are normally on the flexible fares, so the internet specials are still cheaper but don't have the flexibility.

Might be better to live somewhere outside Sydney (say Blue Mountains) and commute by train. Certainly cheaper!

Sorry you'll have to tell me where you will be commuting from.

Thanks, this was my intuition, but since I've heard of others doing it, thought I would try and get it from the horse's mouth, so to speak.

Yo!

This is something I have done with varying frequency for the past 4 years. To put you in the picture....

I live in Newcastle - 140km by road from my office in Ryde. Commuting times (optimal) are:

* Road - 100 minutes each way. Door to door - but I drive FAST.

* Train - 160 minutes each way. Door to door, involves some bus travel.

* Air - 100 minutes each way. Door to door.

Travel by air also involves train and bus travel.

Total costs per week....

Train - $98.70 (includes bus sectors)

Air - $817.90 (includes train and bus sectors, would blow out to well over $1,000 if cabs were used).

Car - hard to judge. I racks the mileage up, but I enjoy driving in my car - and I get to leave home and leave work at the times that suit me, rather than the times dictated by schedules.

Bear in mind that I work on the North side of Sydney, close to the Newcastle Freeway and some distance from the Airport. On the plus side, my home is only 15 minutes (ten if I hurry) from Belmont airport, serviced by Aeropelican (not part of QF, but they do interline for domestic/ international transfers).




If you work in the CBD of Sydney, or closer to the airport, the air option becomes MORE attractive, train remains marginal and driving is almost completely out of the question - you could do air in 70 minutes each way, car would take well over 2 hours - through BAD traffic.

Around a dozen people commute daily via Aeropelican from Belmont - they also offer a commuter service from Williamtown (NTL), which has half a dozen regulars. Hundreds do it by train and car.

Any questions, contact me via email. You can find that address easily enough by doing a google groups search on "shillard".


I generally fly when I have to work late, or when peak traffic is expected (last day before public holidays, etc). Also helps to get me to work when bushfires close the freeway and the rail lines.


The only downside is the lack of participation in the QF Frequent Flyer programme, no points or status credits for these flights.


Prior to the advent of DeathStar (JQ), QF did operate a daily return 717 service from Newcastle to Sydney, usually available on the net for around $80 each way, and giving 10 status credits and 1,000 points - an offer I made GOOD use of for the few years it was available. On the last flight I was one of around 7 WPs who were mighty pissed at its demise.


If you want to work in Sydney and commute by air, Newcastle is the only viable option. Other regional areas are too expensive, and the scheduling is all wrong. Lifestyle wise, I find it works out fine for me. Sure, I leave home at 6am and return at 7:30pm, but my weekends are like they are spent at a holiday home, and I get the advantage of Sydney earnings, without the disadvantage of Sydney cost of living (particularly property).


In Newcastle I live 5 minutes from the beach, 5 minutes from the city centre, and 5 minutes from the major satellite shopping centre - also 15 minutes from the commuter airport and 20 minutes from the airport I can catch daily return services to MEL or BNE from.


I've tried living in Sydney, and maintain a dormitory apartment for those times when I work very late or arrive back in SYD from some overseas location at 9pm, but have concluded that nobody LIVES in Sydney.


As for Melbourne, I've never lived there but easily could. Mrs Shillard lived there for two years (prior to becoming Mrs Shillard) while studying at the ABS, and loved it. A VERY liveable city, with (for some professions) earnings potential comparable to Sydney, with a lower cost of living.


I rate it as my favourite capital city, but I'm buggered if I can give you any sound commuting advice for it.


Other land-based commuting alternatives are the Blue Mountains, Southern Highlands, and Central Coast - but they are becoming mini-Sydneys, and the traffic is appalling. Rail infrastructure is strongest on the Central Coast/ Newcastle lines, with the best commuter services.

My sister and brother-in-law recently relocated to Brisbane from Sydney. My b-i-l works from a home office and flies BNE-SYD every Wednesday morning, returning on Friday evening. He books flights online, choosing the cheapest on the day. Flying on a Friday evening reduces the chances of a cheap fare though.

My wife, who works for a large Pharma company here in Brisbane, often attends meetings in Sdney, and will get the 7:00 am flight for a 9:00 am meeting in North Ryde, then gets back to Brisbane by about 6:00 pm. We don't live far from the airport (9 minutes, when we realised that we were really late one day- wouldn't reccomend that though). She has done this up to 3 times a week, mon, wed, fri. but will take a change of clothes just in case she gets held over.
She is generally pretty tired but it beats living in SYD!!!!
Best of all her PA books FULL Y for her, stacking up the SCs faster than the empty HP's at the QP at the BNE FT AGM.

Hi,

I live in Sydney and commute to BNE, CBR, MEL, ADL, PER, AKL or WLG depending where I need to be this week, or that week.

Yes, it drives you mad.

Secondly Sydney is actually a really great place to live. I have lived in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney but have spent enough time in the other places to feel well informed. I thought I was going to hate Sydney but it's so much like lots of small towns joined together, in that once you are settled in an area, you really don't get out of that area much.

I know of a number of people that work in Canberra but live in Sydney and commute a few times a week. Also people that live in Adelaide and commute to Sydney on monday mornings and back friday nights. In these cases, they know well enough their schedule and so can book the cheap fares far enough out.

Hi...I travel cb-syd two or three times per week. Certainly feasible and works out around 190 return on cheap internet deals. Total trip time including airport time is about 2 hrs, maybe a little less if you skip the drink in the club.

But leaves you no time for FT (or HP or CLs, BTW)

And welcome to QF @ FT - your little piece of the Qantas Pub online...

Mrs og used to commute 2 to 4 times a week SYD-MEL when she attended corp HQ for a certain airline that no longer exists. She flew sub load and thought arriving at the check-in counter any more than 5 minutes before "door close" was a waste of time. She left home by 06:30, usually was on the 07:00 SYD-MEL flight and got home again around 19:00 - totally stuffed. Her weekends only really started after mid day.

When she got home I'd often say "what aircraft, what seat, what class was it today etc". Her range of answers included: "it had wings and 2 engines - I think a 747?", "that bloody little jump seat up front without comfort", "threatened with the middle seat down the back in WHY but given a new boarding pass at the gate that said 1A".

As the public servant who watched all this, I can only recommend that if you do go down this path, make sure you have an escape clause built into the deal so you can get a life.