Flighthacker

Jetstar's 7th birthday: Fly a friend for free!

Jetstar have finally sprung their 7th annual birthday sale upon us, releasing ‘fly a friend for free’ sale fares for many routes across their network. Both domestic and international fares are in the fray, spanning a variety of travel dates between mid-October 2011 and the end of March, 2012.

To be honest, I’m finding it a little hard to get hysterically excited about this one. Across the board, the fares presented deliver rather conservative discounts to the discriminating buyer, but certainly don’t echo the staggering generosity of sales past. For example, the 2 for 1 fares between international routes only apply to the outbound trip out of Australia. So for 2 people to travel from Melbourne to Singapore, the fare per person comes to (369×3)/2, or $553.50.  Only last week, the same route was being offered for $503 return per person. Better value fares can be found on domestic routes, but again, the price tags aren’t as kind as we’ve previously witnessed.

At 8pm EST today, the Jetstar website was having serious troubles handling the demand for this sale. Searches have been near-impossible to complete. With this in mind, be patient and try to book later at night/early in the morning.

Good luck – now go get yourself some great fares on Jetstar’s sale page!

Update (10pm): Website is much better now. Some international fares have the ‘fly a friend for free’ promotion applied in both directions – Sydney to Manila for $410 per person return, not bad!

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!

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/

Tiger Airways' extends its $28 fares until March, 2010!

Great news for those wanting to plan their domestic travel for the months ahead – Tiger Airways have extended the travel dates for their special $28 fares between Melbourne, Sydney, Launceston, Adelaide, Hobart and Canberra until 27 March, 2010. Even better news is that there are still affordable fares to the Tour Down Under in Adelaide on 17 January, 2010 (starting from $48 one-way). So if you’re still planning on cheering on Cadel Evans and Lance Armstrong, it’s not too late to take a punt.

Important Note: Due to the recent catastrophe in the Philippines caused by Typhoon Ondoy, Tiger Airways’ call centre is currently out of action. Please visit Tiger Airways’ advisory for the latest on this situation.

Sale is on now until 5 October, for travel between 6 October and 27 March, 2010. Visit Tiger Airways’ sale page for details and hop to!

Fly to where the good weather is - Whitsundays on sale. Photo Credit: Dinaiz

In a fare war most unlikely, Jetstar and Virgin Blue have gone head-to-head for the supreme title of… The cheapest carrier to service the Whitsundays. Or, the head-honcho high-flyer of Hamilton Island. Being one of the many Australians who has circumnavigated South-East Asia but hardly seen anything north of Brisbane, I cannot quite work out why Jetstar has decided to pick this fight (Virgin came out with the fares first), however if you’re planning a North Queensland break either side of Christmas, here are some great fares for you:

• Sydney to Whitsunday Coast (Bowen Airport, Virgin Blue): $268
• Melbourne to Whitsunday Coast (Bowen Airport, Virgin Blue): $308
• Sydney to Hamilton Island (Virgin Blue): $148
• Melbourne to Hamilton Island (Jetstar): $200

For some reason, I haven’t been able to find the advertised sale fares from Brisbane (but apparently they exist). All prices quoted above are for return travel, including all taxes. Sale is on now until 11 September for both airlines. Jetstar travel dates are: 1 Feburary – 10 March 2010, except Melbourne – Hamilton Island where travel is for 2 November – 9 December 2009 and 1 Feb – 10 March 2010. Virgin Blue travel dates are: 2 November – 9th December 2009 and 1Feb – 10th March 2010.

Check out Adioso.com for prices and availability, plus Jetstar and Virgin Blue‘s sale pages for details. Follow the sun to the Whitsundays!

Tiger Airways goes tax-only: $26 Sydney - Melbourne fares!

Tiger Airways has once more scratched down their fares, announcing yet more $26 (‘tax-only’) flights between Sydney and Melbourne, as well as pretty cheap fares for the rest of their Australian network. Perth folks rejoice – the usual sub-$200 international fares are still in full effect, with Tiger touting $139 fares to Singapore, $166 to Kuala Lumpur and loads more Asian destinations for a similar price point. All fares listed are one-way and include taxes.

Check Adioso for dates and fare availability on the following routes:

• Sydney – Melbourne: http://adioso.com/au/sydney-to-melbourne.html
• Perth – International: http://adioso.com/au/perth-to-international.html

Perth friends: Please note that it may be cheaper to fly from Perth to Kuala Lumpur via AirAsia to get out of the country, as they’re on sale, too.

Sale is on now until Monday, 7th September, for travel between 6 October – 30 November, 2009 (Sydney – Melbourne) and various dates ex Perth. Check Tiger Airways’ sale page for the full list of sale fares and pounce to!

Tiger's Knockout Fares: $28 between Sydney and Melbourne from Oct onwards!

Another notable mention from Tiger ‘Always on Sale’ Airways – fares between Sydney and Melbourne are $28 each way, including tax! Make sure you book with a debit card, skip seat allocation and leave your check-in baggage at home in order to get tickets at this price. Sale is on now until 2 September, or until seats sell out, for travel between 4 October and 27 March, 2010. Don’t fret too much over snapping up tickets for this one – knowing Tiger, similar prices will be floating around in the weeks to come.

Other great fares are currently on offer for a swag of Australian cities, including the $48 Tour Down Under Adelaide fares mentioned in yesterday’s article. Check Tiger Airways’ sale page for details and Adioso for available flights. Scoot to!