Getting Around by Air
Nov 4th, 2007 by Nick
I’ve been to Europe probably fifteen times over the years, and I have never used airplanes to move from one part of the vacation to the next. It’s always been trains, using Europe’s incredible rail network to maneuver about the continent. But for Australia, train travel was just not practical for my itinerary. So, I’m flying.
In Australia, there are not the myriad of low cost carriers that we see in the United States. Fortunately, there are a couple of discount carriers, which makes life a little simpler. The only flight where I was a little disappointed in the cost was Melbourne-Sydney, but that was my own fault as there had been a fare sale and I missed it.
All in all, I’m not too upset with my results:
Ayers Rock: Ayers Rock is an expensive and monopolistic place, and air travel is no different. Only Qantas flies there, and their operations are mostly set at mid-day. It is a 3-hour flight from Sydney or Melbourne, and they only fly to Melbourne on Mondays/Fridays. Airfare is very expensive (A$560 for the days I wanted).
Fortunately, Qantas still operates 2-class 737-800 planes on the Sydney-Ayers Rock route. I was able to let loose of 35,000 of my American miles and US$78 in taxes and fees for a “business class” ticket from Sydney-Ayers Rock, then Ayers Rock-Sydney connecting to a 767 on the Sydney-Melbourne shuttle. The coach award was 20,000 miles, so at 2.4 cents/mile it was a good candidate for an award redemption. But Qantas domestic coach is relatively tight pitch, so I was willing to pay an extra 15k for extra room for nearly 8 hours of flying SYD-AYQ-SYD-MEL.
Tasmania: Virgin Blue and Qantas’ JetStar low-frills division fly to both Hobart and Launceston. I was able to pick up a A$81 JetStar flight from Melbourne to Hobart, albeit a little earlier in the morning (6:45am) than I would have liked. Similarly, my A$72 flight on Virgin Blue from Launceston to Melbourne is at 9:30pm, a bit later than I would have liked.
Melbourne-Sydney: Qantas flies 34 flights per weekday between Melbourne and Sydney. That’s every half hour from 6am to 9pm, with a few extra flights tossed in. I overpaid for this one, A$153 all-in. I should have probably waited as I could get A$133 today, but with the Australian Open tennis tournament going on when I am leaving Melbourne, I did not want to get too cute with a Sunday evening flight. Also, Qantas gives me an extra bag of luggage allowance for having Gold status on American Airlines.
