Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
FARES FOR INTERNATIONAL
TRAVELERS Qantas typically
offers international travelers a dis-
count of around 30% off the full fares
that Australians pay for domestic
flights bought within Australia. To
qualify, quote your passport number
and international ticket number when
reserving. Don't assume the fare for
international travelers is the best deal,
though—the latest deal in the market
that day (or even better, perhaps, a
package deal with accommodations
thrown in) may be cheaper still.
AIR PASSES If you are planning on
whipping around to more than one
city, purchasing a Qantas Boomerang
Pass is much cheaper than buying reg-
ular fares. You must buy the mini-
mum-size pass before you arrive in
Australia and it can be extended to
other cities once you get there; resi-
dents of Australia and New Zealand
cannot purchase them.
With Qantas's Boomerang Pass, for
example, you must purchase a mini-
mum of two coupons (with a maxi-
mum of 10) priced at different fares
depending on where you travel, and
whether the flights are in high demand.
Fares are A$260 (US$169) or A$300
(US$195) per coupon for travel within
one zone, or A$330 (US$215) or
A$390 (US$254) per coupon for travel
between zones. The difference between
the higher and lower fares depends on
the availability of seats, so your
coupons may cost the lower or higher
amount depending on the day you buy
them and how many seats are available
on the flight you book.
Passes are a great value when you
consider that a fully-flexible one-way
fare from Melbourne to Cairns—a
(2,254km) 1,400-mile, 2-hour jour-
ney—is around A$530 (US$345),
compared with the Boomerang pass
fare of A$260 (US$169).
Coupons are also good for travel to
and from New Zealand and to the
most popular South Pacific nations,
and can also be used with Air Pacific.
Zone 1 covers Western Australia;
Zone 2 covers the Red Centre and
Darwin; Zone 3 covers major towns in
South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria,
New South Wales, and Queensland;
and Zone 4 covers many small towns
in the east coast states, including
island gateways like Hayman Island,
Hamilton Island, and Gladstone. You
must book your first two coupon des-
tinations before you arrive, but you
can book the rest as you go by phon-
ing or calling in to any Qantas office.
Another great thing about these fares
is that they are changeable and the
unused portion is refundable; you will
incur an A$50 (US$33) fee to change
destinations after the coupons have
been issued. Many small towns and
short flight sectors, some island
resorts, and some airports served by
subsidiaries of Qantas are not covered
by the passes, but most times you can
find local fares to these places which
are just as good a value as the
Boomerang pass, and passes will still
get you to loads of places.
AERIAL TOURS The great thing
about aerial touring is that it allows
you to whiz around the vast Australian
continent to see many highlights, and
you get to skip all the featureless coun-
tryside that typically separates Aus-
tralia's most fascinating bits. Much of
the landscape is best seen from the air,
anyhow (such as the weird Bungle
Bungles formations in the Kimberley).
Aircruising Australia ( & 02/9693
2233; www.aircruising.com.au) oper-
ates upscale aerial tours of 8 to 13 days
in a private aircraft, usually a 40-pas-
senger Fokker Friendship, which is
nimble enough to “flight-see” at a low
150m (500 ft.). One factor you may
regard as a plus is that the company
mainly markets within Australia, so
your fellow passengers are likely to be
Aussies. Perhaps because the tours are
expensive for Australians, most pas-
sengers are over 55. Those who have
Search WWH ::




Custom Search