Dear All,
sorry for being a tad OT, but what alternatives are there for travelling = flying domestically in Australia.

Is the best bet to get a type of visit Australia pass or should one buy tickets locally or what ?

Are there any carriers prefered in terms of cost - is there any link between Virgin Blue and SQ ? I have PPS with SQ - would that help ?

Planning to fly into SYD on Dec 28 and leaving again on Jan 15

Would like to go SYD - Ayers / Alice Springs - Cairns - Brisbane - Sydney

TYIA

Any advise is highly appreciated

Cheers

Thomas

when i travelled for leisure in OZ, i bought domestic ticket through internet.
No tie-up between SQ and virgin blue.
I used QF for domestic flights (CNS - AYQ / ASP - ADL), cause there were not good connections or flights on the routes operated by V.Blue.
They don't fly to AYQ! They don't link ASP (or AYQ) to CNS! Not direct Flight SYD-ASP

The best way to get around Australia is usually to fly.

Buy Qantas, Jetstar, or VirginBlue (sorry, no tie to SQ) tickets online.

Flights to Alice Springs are usually rather expensive. Depending on what your plans are, a package might be the way to go.

Those flight passes are usually much more expensive than buying the individual tickets online.

Cairns-Brisbane is a fairly nice drive if you have the time.

PM me if you have more questions.

As a general rule buying cheapies online via the 3 carriers websites is the way to go these days. Beats a airpass hands down. (The only time QF's Boomerang pass comes into it's own is if there are trans-tasman segments and by having no change fees etc.)

Having said all that, however, you have hit the absolute peakest of peak travel periods down here. The whole country seems to pack up and move from 26 Dec for 5 weeks. It's the summer school vacation period and between your dates mentioned, a lot of industry is also closed down as well. As a result, the cheapies may well be gone, or the fares on offer may be a lot higher than what one would normally find.

Maybe a quick research surf on segments you are looking at, adding up the $ value of those segments combined and comparing against a pass would be not such a futile exercise at this time.

Cheers.

IMHO Cairns is not a good idea at that time of the year.

[QUOTE=cathaana]The best way to get around Australia is usually to fly./QUOTE]

hi cathaana,
i don't agreed with you.
IMHO the best way to discorver australia is not flying. A good 4WD and a bergens on your back :-)
(if you have the time to do this, it's obvious:-))

I like an ultralight at 500 feet.

Watch out for sales posted to QF forum. Not too likely for your travel dates though.

As for driving. Forget it unless you have a lot more time. Remember Australia is as big as continental US.

Remember if you decide to go for a pass (QF only) you must buy it *before* you enter Australia, and also note I think they restrict the sales of said passes to a tie in with an international tix into Oz - ie: I think you have to fly QF (or possibly a OW partner?) into Oz to tack on the airpass.. that may not be the case though - call your local QF res office to find out the exact cost and for any gotchas like that).

DJ (Virgin Blue) only has a tenious codeshare agreement with UA, but it's not very relevant to this situation. Best bet is, as the others have said, is to trawl qantas.com.au, virginblue.com.au & jetstar.com to find low fares on the sectors you're interested in.

It can be great. There's certainly a risk of lots of rain, but if the monsoon season starts late, Dec/early Jan can be lovely, if a little hot.

AFAIK, it's not strictly necessary to fly QF (or OW carriers) towards OZ in order to buy QF pass for domestic legs. BUT (eheh), the pass' rates change heavily.
The cheapest fare is for passengers travelling to OZ with QF. If you vchoose *A, you'll pay more than these.

Dear All,
thanks for your help and suggestions.

Have been able to book
WEL-AKL for NZD 90 Dec 27
CNS-BNE for AUD 119 Jan 10
BNE-SYD for AUD 79 Jan 15

Great prices - however I am struggling to find something reasonable for
SYD - Alice Springs or Ayers on Jan 1 and from either of those to CNS on Jan 5 - any suggestions - or should I try the route with airpass ?

TYIA

Cheers

Thomas

managed to get the flights sorted out.

However can someone recomend a nice - very nice Homestead for new years in or around Hunter Valley / Sydney ?
i.e arrival Dec 30 - leave jan 1 ?

TYIA

Cheers

Thomas