Flighthacker

These sale fares should have you hanging out for Macau. Photo Credit: Henrik Berger Jørgensen

Viva Macau may not be the most classy airline, but it sure does offer the punters a cheap fare to China. For the next 3 days, they’re offering direct flights between Sydney and Macau for $700 return, including tax! Direct flights also depart Melbourne for about $20 less each way.

Sale is on now until 14 January, for travel between 1 March – 24 October, 2010. Take a look at Viva Macau’s promo newsletter for details.

When Winter starts to set in, take off with Jetstar! Photo Credit: Flickr user Christopher Bearman

Jetstar have dropped their fares between Australian cities and a number of international destinations including Osaka, Tokyo, Phuket, Bangkok, Christchurch and Auckland, for departures during April – June, 2010. My favorite – flights to Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City) are now only $427 return including tax ex. Sydney. Perfect for avoiding the blues as Winter approaches!

Other return fares ex. Sydney include:

• Christchurch from $264
• Bangkok from $587
• Tokyo from $617
• Phuket from $635

This doesn’t seem to be an advertised price drop, so get in quick for cheap fares. Naturally, visit Adioso to find select dates and fares for your destination of choice.

I anticipate we will see more price drops  like this between now and Feb, however don’t let the opportunity pass if you genuinely want to visit these destinations. On a related note, it is not known if the detainment of two Qantas/Jetstar Pacific employees over a dispute regarding jet fuel futures will affect future Jetstar operations into HCM City. For the interim, I’d say it’s totally safe to purchase away. Happy travels!

Need another holiday? Singapore on sale for less than $450 return

Jetstar has dropped the prices for all its routes to Singapore, meaning that you can pick up some unbelievable return fares, including:

• Melbourne return from $386
• Sydney return from $446

All fares are including tax. Departures are in late Feb – March. The full round-up of dates and fares can be found on Adioso.

I predict that we’re going to be seeing a lot more cut-price fares as January & February bring the usual retail lull. So, there’s no rush to spend your Christmas money all at once – by the end of January, there’s certainly going to be more where this came from.

Happy new year, everyone! I wish you all great adventures and more coin to spend on cocktails in 2010.

Perth. It's a long way, baby. Credit: Flickr user Ole Reidar Johansen

If you thought Adelaide had all the luck yesterday, well today is Melbourne’s day. Tiger Airways has excellent fares ex. Melbourne, including the Sydney $10 mid-week special, $20 fares to Brisbane (both one-way) and $206 return fares to Perth, including tax! Most departures are in March. Considering the price of Perth fares, it’s worth flying in from other capital cities to take advantage of this cheap round trip. I’ll be darned if I find a one-way fare for this price.

Check Adioso for a round-up of the cheap flights available from Melbourne. Full details feature on Tiger Airways’ sale page. This sale ends Thursday night. It’s great to be back, by the way. Thank you for hanging in there!

Nope, you don't get ants like these in Sydney. Credit: Flickr user vtveen

Tiger Airways has gone a little wild during the month of February, offering $20 flights between Sydney – Adelaide and Adelaide – Alice Springs. This means that if you line up your flights (departing Sydney on Tuesday or Saturday, then returning the following Wednesday), you can fly from Sydney to Alice Springs for only $80 return, inclusive of taxes! If you’ve ever tried booking a holiday to the red centre, you will know that fares for this route can easily cost $700 – $800 with Qantas. No wonder that Australians don’t visit their own backyard…

You can find details for these sale fares on Tiger Airways’ sale page. Dates for the Adelaide – Alice Springs legs are also searchable on Adioso. Sale is on for departures in February only and also includes other awesome fares ex. Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. Get crawling!

Fly low to Tokyo! Photo Credit: Ali Nishan (Flickr)

Planning an international break next year? Or a ski trip to Japan’s legendary powder in February? Jetstar have released some amazing fares across their entire network, including international destinations! My favourites are as follows:

• Sydney – Tokyo for $590 return
• Gold Coast – Tokyo for $472 return
• Sydney – Bangkok (via Melbourne) for $575 return
• Well, any of the Japan fares ex. Australia… They’re all fabulous!

All fares listed  above are for Jetstar Light fares and are inclusive of tax. Travel periods are 10 November – 14 December 2009, 28 January – 23 March, 2010 and 20 April – 20 June, 2010. That said, check from February onwards for the cheapest and most plentiful fares and our friends at Adioso.com to find that bargain!

Oodles of routes are on sale, for both domestic and international travel, so check Jetstar’s sale page for the latest. Banzai!

Get Kevin out of Canberra on the cheap. Photo Credit: stage88 (Flickr)

Passed Lake George one too many times in the car? Your playlist no longer cutting the drive across flat and boring, either side of Goulburn McDonalds? You will be glad to know that Virgin Blue are offering $48 one-way fares between Sydney and Canberra, including tax! There are also a number of other hot tickets to Australian destinations (including Melbourne) as part of Virgin Blue’s 48-hour promotion. Sale is on now until midnight, Thursday, 8 October, for travel between 3 November – 17 December, 2009.

Check out Virgin Blue’s sale page for details and Adioso for availability. Get into it before the pollies do!

Kuala Lumpur at a nice price with AirAsia. Photo Credit: onggon (Flickr)

AirAsia X has released a rather unusual batch of sale fares for travel in 2010, with fares departing Gold Coast, Melbourne and Perth for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia starting from a laughable $52 a pop one way, prior to tax. Post fees and taxes, the return fare comes to $238 departing Gold Coast and Perth and $298 from Melbourne.

This may not be AirAsia’s cheapest sale, but we live in what is truly a buyer’s market – getting to Malaysia for less than $300 is not a price to shirk from. Strangely enough, this fare has not been announced by AirAsia (who currently have a sale advertised, but not at these low prices).

Travel period for these solid fares is from 20 January to late July, 2010.

Check Adioso for the cheapest fares from Gold Coast, Melbourne and Perth to Kuala Lumpur – http://adioso.com/au/australia-to-international.html

Happy Mooncake Festival, everyone!

Melbourne to Singapore for $400 return inclusive. This is madness.

Hi folks, it isn’t often that a fare has a habitual tightwad like me falling out of the flight deck, but Emirates’ $400 Melbourne – Singapore release just can’t be missed. Pair it with cheap flights from Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane and you have a real situation on the east coast.

Our friends at Best Flights have the skinny:

You will fly with Emirates from Melbourne to Singapore.

There is a minimum stay away of 3 days and a maximum stay away of 30 days.

Travel period is 1 October – 23 November. All travel must conclude by the 30th November 2009.

Please note no inbound travel is permitted from Singapore to Melbourne between 01st October-20th October 2009. Full payment is required at time of booking. Sale ends 19th October 2009.

That said, you can book directly with Emirates via their site – http://fly.emirates.com

$400 return to Singapore isn’t going to be a regular feature on the block, so if you’re considering a trip to Singapore, run. For sale chatter, check out OzBargain. Singapore wants YOU!

Update (07/10/10): OzBargain link updated to new thread, including accommodation.

Discover Indonesia's wonders with Jetstar. Photo Credit: Fadil Basymeleh

Fancy a last-minute escape to Asia, prior to Christmas? Jetstar have launched their International Sale, offering some exceptionally tasty flights to Asia from a number of Australian cities. Highlights include:

• Melbourne – Bangkok: $309
• Perth – Jakarta: $130
• Sydney – Bali (Denpasar): $330

Plus numerous other international routes. All fares listed are one way and inclusive of taxes. Sale is on now until Tuesday, 6 October, for travel during varying periods between  8 October – 10 December, 2009. Jetstar have also posted their domestic sale fares for this afternoon’s Fare Frenzy, so make sure you take a look and prepare to snap up a cheap flight. Check out Jetstar’s sale page for details. Have a fabulous Labour Day long weekend, Australia!

Important Note: In light of the recent tragedies that have occurred across Asia-Pacific (Typhoon Ketsana, Sumatran earthquake, Samoan tsunami), I would like you to consider donating to the Red Cross or Red Crescent. The spare change that you may throw at a fun trip this Friday will certainly bring respite to the victims of these tragedies, so please consider making a difference - http://donate.ifrc.org/