It can be difficult to find cheap fares but there are definitely some tricks that we use to try to capture any opportunity for a discount.
I would just about rule out Qantas for cheap anything. Great airline, comfortable seats etc. but their pricing is nearly always on the ridiculously high end of any trip. Worth keeping an eye on them for international travel as they can sometimes be comparable but domestically, unless you want to pay for the additional comfort etc. (which it’s unlikely you would be reading this page if you were) then discounted tickets are difficult to come by.
I find Virgin Airlines and Jetstar will often have reasonable fares. Jetstar though is the stand out for being able to get ridiculously cheap fares at very selected times of year. If you know you will travel somewhere in the year, I would recommend joining Jetstars “Club Jetstar” program. While it does cost you to join each year and it isn’t as good as it once was (years ago it was $30 a year and they would give you a $30 flight credit – now it’s about $55 a year and you don’t get the flight credit) the discounts though will make up for what you’re paying in joining fees…… assuming you use it.
For example, the other week they had a member’s only sale. I managed to get (from Melbourne) $24 tickets each way to Hamilton Island next March (2023) which is good because the price of the accommodation certainly makes up for the discounted fares. I also got tickets for $24 to go to the Sunshine Coast and $68 back. I’ve been watching the Sunshine Coast all year and discounted tickets there are definitely harder to come by.
The thing to know with really good sale fares is:
- Join their email list – You must know that they’re coming up and when they go on sale. You want to be looking as soon as they are available as they will sell out fast. If the website crashes, just keep trying until you get on
- Make sure you have all dates that you know you could go somewhere so you don’t need to think about whether you can make the booking. By the time you think, you’ll probably have lost the fare so make a list of dates that you know you can go and have them handy
- Know that hevily discounted fares rarely (they do sometimes but are extremely limited) will be flying on days that are most popular. It is harder to find flights to leave on a Friday night and come home on a Sunday. Prepare for this. If you need to check if you can have time off work, do this before the fares go on sale so you know what you can look for.
- Heavily discounted fares are almost never available over school holidays or public holidays so be mindful of that as well.
- Know where you want to go. Have a range of places. I’ve had Perth on my radar for a couple of years just so we can go for a few days to visit a friend. A year ago they had a fare for $30 each way which is insanely low. Unfortunately by the time it came around, Western Australia put them back into lock down and we couldn’t go but we got a flight credit and used it for something else. Pity though.
- STICK TO YOUR PLAN. The problem with insanely good sales is that the fares are taken quickly. By then you are really wanting to go and you’re more likely to book something where the fares are almost just a normally good sale fare to still go. This is ok if you’re happy to do it but if the point is to utilise the discount, be strong and either look for something else or just wait until the next time.
- One last piece of advice. Know the weather in Australia. While it can still be a great weekend, I personally wouldn’t book for northern Australia in their wet season (summer)
With Jetstar alone, in the last 5 years, we have managed to get (from Melbourne):
- $38 tickets each way (per person) to Townsville where we took the kids and went for about 5 days to Magnetic Island
- $38 tickets each way (per person) to Ayers Rock which was booked for all five of us (we couldn’t go as I fell sick and needed surgery which I was absolutely spewing about)
- $19 tickets each way to Sydney on a couple of occassions. We had an exchange student stay with us for 10 weeks from Japan and were able to find these tickets during her stay where we flew out on the first flight and came home on the last and gave her a day in Sydney. Was brilliant
- We got the tickets to Perth that I mentioned above as well as the other tickets
- $38 tickets to Cairns
There will be plenty of others which I can’t remember off the top of my head. The point is, they can be found. You just have to be prepared. If you book multiple trips, you also have to remember that you booked them! They can creep up.
Watching these sales and hopefully being able to utilise them really is a fabulous opportunity to just get away for a few days and see the country.
