Cheapest time of year to fly to Queensland?

[CarterTucker]

Hi there, We are planning a trip to Australia to make the all important decision if we are going to emigrate.

My question is, does anyone know the cheapest time of year to fly?

Ideally we would be looking to go for a month, so if we could go at a time when some school holidays are on, that would be a bonus (So our children dont miss too much school)

Any advice will be very gratefully recieved,
Thankyou in advance,
Kelly & Family.

[kaz101]

Hi Kelly,

I would ask a few travel agents in the UK and see what they say. We moved out here in July 2007 and we were told that the prices had just gone up due to school holidays and flights were packed. So going when the children are out of school and trying to get the cheap time of the year may not work.

Let us know if you find out anything.

Regards,
Karen

[Dolly]

Hi there,

Yep, the cost will definitely shoot up during the summer holidays. The cheapest time of year is any time that isn't a school holiday

Have you thought about having the last 2 weeks of school in July plus the first 2 weeks of the school hols....or the last 2 weeks of the school hols and the first 2 weeks of the new school term? The latter one isn't ideal as they'll probably want to start their new school year with everyone else.

I'd go round a few travel agents and see what they can come up with.

Dolly

[CarterTucker]

Hi again, well the travel agents on the high street were as good as useless, so I just did some online searching myself & so far the best I can come up with is a flight in December (so the children could have 2 weeks of school holidays & miss 2 - max 3 weeks of actual school time) for total cost £3256 (for all 4 of us) Which is alot more than the £2500 we were hoping that the flights were going to cost! What do you think, a reasonable price?

We are thinking of hiring out an Rv camper so that we can travel around easier, rather than stay in hotels, we are hoping that this will work out good value?

Looking forward to hearing your opinions,
Kindest Regards,
Kelly & Family.

[kaz101]

Originally Posted by CarterTucker

for total cost £3256 (for all 4 of us) Which is alot more than the £2500 we were hoping that the flights were going to cost! What do you think, a reasonable price?

If that's the best you can find then it's reasonable With fuel prices going up I expect flights to go up too or surcharges to be added after tickets are booked. We used to buy our tickets through Austravel since we found them to be good value so it may be worth getting a quote from them (if you haven't already). There was 2 of us so we hired a car and stayed in motels.

Originally Posted by CarterTucker

We are thinking of hiring out an Rv camper so that we can travel around easier, rather than stay in hotels, we are hoping that this will work out good value?

Austravel used to do vouchers for the hotels but I think that they have stopped this now. They still do a special pass system http://www.choicehotels.com.au/hotel...rams-hotelpass. The hotel prices are usually per room rather than per person and you'd probably need a family room. The reason we liked the voucher system was that we didn't have to plan too far ahead although you will be coming out in December which is the holiday season over here so if you book into hotels you may want to book in advance since hotels may be busy. Summer holidays here last from before Christmas until just after Australia Day (Jan 26th).

Compare staying in hotels and renting a car against hiring an RV. It may be that the RV is cheaper. For car rentals there are hertz, avis, budget, europcar as well as lesser known ones. I don't think that they do RV's though.

Regards,
Karen

[samgeordie]

we used Austravel for our flights, booked last oct and fly out on sat, going with Emirates from Glasgow via dubai/singapore to Brisbane. Costing us approx £2500 for 2 adults, 1 child inc tourist visa cost and 2 nights in a hotel.

I would recommend booking as early as you can and avoiding the xmas/new year period which is the main school holidays in oz.

Definately worth giving them a call.

[CarterTucker]

Originally Posted by samgeordie

we used Austravel for our flights, booked last oct and fly out on sat, going with Emirates from Glasgow via dubai/singapore to Brisbane. Costing us approx £2500 for 2 adults, 1 child inc tourist visa cost and 2 nights in a hotel.

I would recommend booking as early as you can and avoiding the xmas/new year period which is the main school holidays in oz.

Definately worth giving them a call.

Hiya, thankyou for your advice, I have just been on the site looking for prices, December is very expensive!
Im going to try different 'holiday' dates now, but with the Uk school holidays usually only being one week long, apart from the summer (which may be a bit soon for us to plan&save up spending money-2months away ) there is really only the Christmas break where they get 2 weeks!

Will let you know how I get on.

Thanks again,
Kelly & Family.

[CarterTucker]

Originally Posted by kaz101

If that's the best you can find then it's reasonable With fuel prices going up I expect flights to go up too or surcharges to be added after tickets are booked. We used to buy our tickets through Austravel since we found them to be good value so it may be worth getting a quote from them (if you haven't already). There was 2 of us so we hired a car and stayed in motels.



Austravel used to do vouchers for the hotels but I think that they have stopped this now. They still do a special pass system http://www.choicehotels.com.au/hotel...rams-hotelpass. The hotel prices are usually per room rather than per person and you'd probably need a family room. The reason we liked the voucher system was that we didn't have to plan too far ahead although you will be coming out in December which is the holiday season over here so if you book into hotels you may want to book in advance since hotels may be busy. Summer holidays here last from before Christmas until just after Australia Day (Jan 26th).

Compare staying in hotels and renting a car against hiring an RV. It may be that the RV is cheaper. For car rentals there are hertz, avis, budget, europcar as well as lesser known ones. I don't think that they do RV's though.

Regards,
Karen

Thankyou so much for all your helpfull advice, I went straight onto the site you recommended & started searching the prices....(then got side tracked by the videos of white beaches & blue seas)!
But im back on it now & following a post from another member, I am going to try searching different dates, but, as I said in my reply to them, school holidays here in the Uk, make it a little tricky...But I will let you know how I get on.

Thanks again,
Kelly & Family.