Cheap Travel Australia

For cheap holidays in Australia, look out for ways to travel cheaply in and around Australia.

For cheap airfares, competition is key. Plan to take your flights in airports with good flight connections – the top four airports in Australia are the Sydney Airport, the Melbourne Airport, the Brisbane Airport and the Perth Airport. Airlines that operate out of airports with many connections tend to offer cheap travel deals throughout the year.

With the high passenger volumes, there are also better and cheaper options for land transfers from the airport to your final destination. Some cheap hotel deals include complimentary land transfers from the airport to your hotel that you should make use of.

Cheap travel and budget airlines go hand in hand. Pick a budget carrier for your flights in and around Australia. The budget carriers operating in Australia are JetStar, Tiger Airways and Virgin Blue. JetStar and Tiger Airways tend to offer more cheap travel deals than Virgin Blue, although Virgin Blue’s network in Australia is comparable to that of the national carrier, Qantas.

Speaking of Qantas, although Qantas is a premium carrier (read: higher airfares), Qantas has been known to offer a number of cheap travel deals occasionally. Sometimes, package cheap hotels and cheap travel deals are offered, so do check out their website as well. A plus point about flying with Qantas is that if you are a Qantas frequent flyer, you get to chalk up frequent flyer points as well.

Don’t forget to check out Australia’s other carriers, such as Rex Airlines, Jetstar, Virgin Blue and Tiger Airways. The following regional carriers specialize in flights in certain regions only – Rex Airlines (Queensland, NSW, Victoria, South Australia), SkyWest (Western Australia) and Airnorth (Northern Territory). Published airfares for regional carriers are not cheap, but there are occasional deals for cheap travel around Australia on their websites.

To get the best cheap travel deal, try to travel on weekdays to take full advantage of cheap holiday deals. Avoid travel bookings on weekends and on Mondays. Last minute flights are another way to secure cheap travel tickets, but always have a back-up plan, including cheap hotels or accommodation bookings, just in case there are no suitable last-minute flights within your budget.

Plan your travel itinerary by grouping cities you plan to visit in clusters to save on travel expenses. For example, the Sunshine Coast is about 30 minutes north of Brisbane City, and the Gold Coast is about an hour’s drive south of Brisbane, so they are best visited sequentially (Sunshine Coast-Brisbane City-Gold Coast, or vice-versa; with Brisbane City as the mid-stop).

Make use of the free shuttle service available in many major Australian cities to save on travel expenses. Here is a list of cities with complimentary shuttle services around the city centre:

• Perth (SmartRider Free Transit Zone by Transperth)
• Sydney (Free CBD Shuttle Route 555 by Sydney Buses)
• Melbourne (Free City Circle Tourist Tram by Metlink)
• Adelaide (Adelaide-Glenelg Tram)
• Hobart (Free Bus Shuttle between Regatta Grounds and Hobart by Metro)

Finally, when traveling inter-state, extend your travel search by including travel options such as regional buses or rail – regional bus and rail companies sometimes offer attractive rail / bus tickets and hotel bundle deals aimed at short holiday goers (e.g. during the Easter break holidays).