Are the airlines in Australia pricing us out of the market.

[Gold Coast Cruisers]

I found Qantas Gold Coast to Sydney dep 10:05am

$171 per person.

There is one for $94 per person but that's at 6.00am and to be realistic I wouldn't want to arrive in Sydney that early for a cruise. Makes to long a day.

Returning 23 November 3:20pm $224 per person.

Maybe it's just the prices are higher where we live being a tourist destination.

You could almost fly to NZ for that.:rolleyes:

Jill:)

[Steve & Sue]

Virgin

$294 per person, the day before because the ONE flight on the 9th (which goes via Melbourne anyway) would not get us to Sydney in time for embarkation and $137 each on the return flight.

 

Those that live in capital cities or near them shouldn't complain. Us country mousies have to pay a lot more to get anywhere and have a lot fewer choices in flights. For 5 of us it would be a lot cheaper for us to drive the 11 hours to Sydney than try to fly. We also considered driving the 4 hours to Adelaide and flying from there as we would have more choices of flights and a bigger luggage allowance, than our airlines are allowing.

 

We have chosen a more expensive airline but one that gives us more luggage allowance and has a direct flight path, but this still means we have to stay in Sydney the day before the cruise.

[icat2000]

OUTBOUND - 09 November 2013

10:10 OOL Gold Coast Jetstar

12:40 SYD Sydney Kingsford Smith 1h 30

 

RETURN - 23 November 2013

16:30 SYD Sydney Kingsford Smith Jetstar

16:50 OOL Gold Coast 1h 20

 

$342 plus baggage costs (for 2 people)

Edited September 23, 2013 by icat2000

[wildweston]

$905.50 for two people ..... Virgin which was cheaper than Qantas !

[Kiwi Kruzer]

You could almost fly to NZ for that.:rolleyes:

 

Yes you could. I did a quick Zuji search ( I could only get the Au site) and those prices , depending on the time of day you fly, would be about the same.

What did shock me was when I took it through to details of the price and saw all the airline, airport and Govt Levy's and taxes that were included .:eek:

 

I you don't use Sydney airport you can save heaps:D:D

 

Edited September 23, 2013 by Kiwi Kruzer

[Gold Coast Cruisers]

$905.50 for two people ..... Virgin which was cheaper than Qantas !

 

 

Wow Chez that's really expensive and really makes a huge difference to your cruise having to add that much on.

 

Jill:)

[icat2000]

What's the earliest flight you can get out once the ship docks? 11 am? Say flying from Brisbane to Sydney

Edited September 23, 2013 by icat2000

[Gold Coast Cruisers]

What's the earliest flight you can get out once the ship docks? 11 am? Say flying from Brisbane to Sydney

 

Yes that's about right Sarah. You have to allow time in case the ship docks late, then you've got the traffic at peak times to get to the airport so 11:00 is ideal.

 

That Jetstar price you found from OOL was that with Jetstar themselves? I did a dummy booking 2 adults and 1 check bag each and it came to a grand total return of $668.:eek:

 

Jill:)

[chrisnkyze]

Not sure if we are allowed to post web addresses here, but iv not paid full price for a domestic flight all year. It's easy, book through an international website in a foreign currency... Go to oz bargain dot com dot au and search jetstar :)

[icat2000]

Yes that's about right Sarah. You have to allow time in case the ship docks late, then you've got the traffic at peak times to get to the airport so 11:00 is ideal.

 

That Jetstar price you found from OOL was that with Jetstar themselves? I did a dummy booking 2 adults and 1 check bag each and it came to a grand total return of $668.:eek:

 

Jill:)

 

I did it through Sky Scanner

 

http://www.skyscanner.com.au/

 

I think the deal is through Expedia.com.au

 

Have a look there.

Edited September 23, 2013 by icat2000

[wildweston]

Wow Chez that's really expensive and really makes a huge difference to your cruise having to add that much on.

 

Jill:)

 

I know Jilly, I always have to get a good deal on a cruise to make it worthwhile. Sometimes the airfares are more than the cruise, but I am a really good bargain hunter and I can be found checking airfare prices at ridiculous hours and I do seem to strike it lucky. The prices can change within minutes I have found.

[springaussie]

Jilly the problem on the way home is the start of NSW and Victoria Schoolies. Had an experience with searching for a cruise airfare from Brisbane to Sydney last year with a Schoolies date clash. Luckily had not booked cruise. Solved the problem by going on a cruise from Fort Lauderdale instead.

Besides the Voyager of the Seas being in Sydney I cannot see any other reason by the expensive airfares to Sydney on the forward trip. Searched events, concerts sporting etc no matches.

I would be flying down Friday back Sunday. Good fares on Tiger from OOL. Stay before and after cruise in Sydney.

Glen

[dizzy1948]

Here's mine from Sunny Perth (well it will be if it stops raining) :eek:

Flight: VA552

Depart: Perth (PER)

Sat Nov 09 2013 05:40 AM

Arrive: Sydney (SYD)

Sat Nov 09 2013 12:55 PM

 

Flight: VA551

Depart: Sydney (SYD)

Sat Nov 23 2013 07:00 AM

Arrive: Perth (PER)

Sat Nov 23 2013 09:05 AM

Guests: 2 Taxes & Airline Surcharges: $171.44

Fares View$ 624.56

Total: $ 796.00

Now in that I have just picked two fares - not time specific - if we returned later in the day - it would go up to $308.00 per person ++ this fare is with Virgin - it is with checked luggage - I have cut out all the waffle to show the bare details

[Gold Coast Cruisers]

Here's mine from Sunny Perth (well it will be if it stops raining) :eek:

Flight: VA552

Depart: Perth (PER)

Sat Nov 09 2013 05:40 AM

Arrive: Sydney (SYD)

Sat Nov 09 2013 12:55 PM

 

Flight: VA551

Depart: Sydney (SYD)

Sat Nov 23 2013 07:00 AM

Arrive: Perth (PER)

Sat Nov 23 2013 09:05 AM

Guests: 2 Taxes & Airline Surcharges: $171.44

Fares View$ 624.56

Total: $ 796.00

Now in that I have just picked two fares - not time specific - if we returned later in the day - it would go up to $308.00 per person ++ this fare is with Virgin - it is with checked luggage - I have cut out all the waffle to show the bare details

 

 

That's a pretty good airfare for two adults Liz.

Maybe domestic flying is cheaper for the longer distance travelled. Same as cruises, we always find a longer cruise works out cheaper per day than the shorter cruises do.

 

Jill:)

[springaussie]

Jill

Jetstar have just released cheaper fares for your days.

[dizzy1948]

That's a pretty good airfare for two adults Liz.

Maybe domestic flying is cheaper for the longer distance travelled. Same as cruises, we always find a longer cruise works out cheaper per day than the shorter cruises do.

 

Jill:)

 

You could be right on reflection. I booked our flights Perth/Melb one way Jet star in Feb - that was $976.00 for four travelling mid December and return on 4th January with Tiger - $743.00 for four. Two different airlines purely because of the time of flights. Note to self: Fly interstate for holidays - cheaper than staying on home ground :p:D

[Amandah1987]

I need to fly from Adelaide to Sydney. My friends I'm going with want to fly Qantas (prob have frequent flyer points or something) so I'm stuck going with Qantas, one way for my 3 year old, and I will cost $338 and I'm pretty sure the flight back is more than that.

Have looked everywhere to get cheaper but can't find cheaper anywhere

[MMDown Under]

Try booking flights from Perth to WA towns!!!!!!! It is costing more to fly my grandsons from Esperance to Perth 700 kms (ish) 1 hr 10 mins - than it is for them to fly Perth to Melbourne - 3 hrs and about 2000 kms (ish). Fly in Fly outs to the mines have upped the prices for us. (Not them personally - it's the "boom") Then there is the booking fee - which can range from $7.50 per person to $11.50. So yes, the prices have gone haywire. :eek:

 

Brisbane friends have driven to Geelong to mind their grandsons during the school holidays, because they said it was going to cost them $850 plus to fly them to Brisbane.

 

With the increased airfares between Brisbane/Gold Coast to Sydney, I now fly to Sydney less often. The last time I flew to Sydney, the fares didn't reduce, even though there were empty seats on the plane.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

One route that is booming at the moment is Australia to Queenstown. The planes are flying in full , several times a day. The snow is amazing this year.:):)

 

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

We've just come back from a trip to Melbourne. $298pp return on Virgin Australia. We booked just under three weeks before the trip.

 

I have noticed that cheap flights often "magically" disappear once the required flight is less than one month away, although sometimes they pop up again a week or so before the required date if bookings are slow for that flight.

 

Realistically though, the airlines usually only release a certain number of seats at the cheap prices and once those are gone, you pay more. Early morning and late evening flights are often cheaper than those in the middle of the day. To get a decent price on our flight down to Melbourne we had to choose an 8:30am flight or earlier.

[Esilef]

Also be flexible with the day you fly. If cruising check the day prior to the cruise ect. Sometimes you can save enough to be able to justify the cost of a hotel for a night.

 

Try and fly off peak.

 

Look out for specials and book.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

The Hotels in Sydney have learned how to use the Cruise Schedule now and they don't give generous discounts any more on the nights before a ship sails. The airlines do the same.

They just programme the dates into their computers.

 

Drat those darned new fangled machines.:D:D

 

 

[NSWP]

The Hotels in Sydney have learned how to use the Cruise Schedule now and they don't give generous discounts any more on the nights before a ship sails. The airlines do the same.

They just programme the dates into their computers.

 

Drat those darned new fangled machines.:D:D

 

 

Just like the Viator tours in the ports of call, they go up in price when the ships are in. I have bee comparing prices for our upcoming Aurora/Oriana cruises, not much difference in ship's shorex prices and Viator prices. They mostly all use the same tour operators anyway.

[Kiwicruiser25]

The Hotels in Sydney have learned how to use the Cruise Schedule now and they don't give generous discounts any more on the nights before a ship sails. The airlines do the same.

They just programme the dates into their computers.

 

Drat those darned new fangled machines.:D:D

 

 

You have hit the nail on the head Kiwi Kruzer.

The day before and the day of the cruise, the Airlines have increased prices.

Makes the shorter cruises out of reach, if you have to fly in from anywhere in Australia.

[awesome girl]

We have to pay $800 plus for the two of us to get to Sydney and return,

no matter what time of the day it is.:mad: