Australia Travel Forum

My wife and I plan to visit Australia next April. Our airfare from the US will be covered by frequent flyer miles and our hotels will be covered anywhere we can find a Marriott since I have lots of Marriott rewards points. We are looking at anywhere from 10 to 20 days for the trip. Is anyone aware of an airline pass available for travel within Australia? We have not been to Australia before and would like to see as much as possible.

Pretty sure there isnt.....

10 days you will lucky to see the east coast only and with 20 days you wont be able to do much more.

The cheapest flights are between Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane and Melbourne to Adelaide and Hobart (Tasmania). Keep your eye out for Jetstar, Virgin Blue and Tiger Airways for sales on these routes.

Cheers
Col & Sue

Hi qantas have an airline pass for people travelling from America, I understand that it includes the return airfare plus some flights within Australia, all up at a very low price, we cannot get a return fare Australia USA anywhere as low. Have a look on www.qantas.com

Good Luck,

Mike

Air passes are available - go to http://www.holidaysallover.com.au/travelpasses/flight_passes/boomerang.html Seems they must be purchased in USA and other countries before departure to Oz. As Mike has suggested try Qantas or whoever the carrier you're going to use for getting to/from here. You could also try www.webjet.com.au and see what happens with the multi city and round Australia ticket options as a comparison to the above travelpass web site.

With the time you have available suggest it will be your first trip. Please remember that Australia is almost the same size as the "Lower 48" of US and it would be impossible to see all that much of US in the time available. Possible suggestion: into Melbourne - Canberra - Sydney - Great Barrier Reef - Cairns and that is exit point back to US. Then return when you've got enough points and do another circuit. Sorry I don't know where the Marriott's are except in Melbourne, which is on the corner of Exhibition and Lonsdale Streets in the city - and a nice hotel too.

Enjoy Oz and for Melbourne, I'd suggest at least a 4 night stay.

David

I have experienced Australia the past two years (2007 = 22 days) and (2008 =25 days) and still have only scratched the surface but I have made a dent on some of the biggies (Uluru, Great Barrier Reef, Sydney, Barossa Valley, etc).

I used a Qantas airpass both times from the USA and I was able to fly to 3 different cities on each pass. (Perth to Adelaide; Adelaide to Cairns; & Cairns to Sydney in 2007 and in 2008 it was Darwin to Alice Springs; Uluru to Sydney; and Sydney to Melbourne.

We also had occasion to fly both Tiger Airways (from Bangkok to Darwin) and Jetstar (Darwin to Singapore) and would recommend both for any travel outside the country on side trips.

I checked the link to the Boomerang Airpass, and this names Australian Airlines as one of the carriers you can use. However, this airline does not exist anymore. So the Qantas Travel Pass seems the only available option.

I travelled on the Australian Airlines airpass years and years ago (1992), and it was fabulous. The good thing about it was that you could decide on site when you wanted to travel, even on the same day (if seats available) or next day. But as said, this one does not exist anymore.

Given the low fares for domestic flights a pass it not really necessary if you book well in advance. You should find really cheap fares with the mentioned airlines like Virgin Blue, Tiger, and also Qantas.

I also agree that you do not see a lot in 10 days, just Sydney and Melbourne and surroundings. In 20 days a rush along the east coast and perhaps a quick flight into the Red Centre.