Word has it that there may be a Qantas/Jetstar points tie-in announced next year.

Make sure you check details first, but the skinny is that interest will be pegged at 10.99% and the card itself will come with a $49 annual fee. So, if you think all those cents accrued will exceed the annual price tag, then it doesn’t seem too rough to me. Hopefully it won’t come with a minimum spend in order to collect points, like that pesky Everyday Rewards/Qantas Frequent Flyer card.

Watch this page for the card’s launch later today.

Related posts:

1. Jetstar: International price drop, Vietnam from $427 return!

Tiger Airways - The verdict is out.

Recently I had the pleasure of flying Tiger Airways between Sydney and Melbourne, on my own coin, of course. Prior to the flights, I had been inundated with both positive and negative stories regarding Tiger flights, ranging from, “Oh, you have to walk on the tarmac, ooooh!”, to “Well, it’s $28 a pop”, not to mention exposure to Channel 7’s controversial show, ‘Airways’. Combining these tales with my own experience, I realised that, for all its merits, perhaps Tiger Airways isn’t really for everyone. The following is my breakdown of what to expect on a Tiger flight; hopefully it will help you decide whether Tiger should be your carrier of choice, or if you should invest that extra few dollars to avoid the mobile stairs.

On the Ground

Most of the criticism towards Tiger Airways’ operations have been directed at activities on the ground, such as check-in procedures and crowded boarding areas. I collaborate with these points, as it can’t be denied that Tiger Airways’ check-in queues appear to be consistently long (one of the results of having no web- or self service- check in facilities) and while in queue, the thought persists that you may not make it for their ‘45-minutes prior to departure’ cut-off. On the flight to Melbourne (departing Sydney’s domestic airport), there were two check-in agents who were working diligently enough, however one seemed to be engaged for over ten minutes in processing a five-man metal band and their shabby assortment of guitar cases. Fifteen minutes into the wait, people in queue were starting to shift their weight uneasily, looking at watches, perhaps anticipating that an ‘Airways’ cameraman would turn up any moment now…

Which leads me to the return leg, via the legendary Melbourne (Tullamarine) Terminal 4 corral. This time, the ‘Airways’ crew were already standing in wait, like bored vultures with boom mikes. Yes, we had been warned – a placard on the door declared that we were to be filmed – but the fact that the crew were making themselves so obvious, so close to check-in cutoff and in such an enclosed space made for a very uncomfortable atmosphere. Were they really waiting out for the cutoff so they could pounce upon the hysterics of some suburban mum, all in the name of ‘good television’? I willed the queue to hurry – it wasn’t my intention to personally kick-off ‘Airways’ Season 2.

Security screening at Sydney and Melbourne was stock-standard, as security should be. The gates at each respective terminal, however, were miles apart in terms of comfort to passengers. So, lets talk about terminals. Sydney domestic T2 is shared with all the other domestic carriers – Qantas, Virgin Blue, Rex, Jetstar – meaning that you enjoy facilities of a standard befitting premium-fare passengers. This is not the case with Melbourne’s Tiger-exclusive Tullamarine Terminal 4, which resembles, well, a busy weekend at Bunnings Warehouse. Look, I won’t knock it too hard – it keeps out the weather and is of the same construction as the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal in Kuala Lumpur (LCCT). But that said, it is a budget commission – the plastic seats are hard, there aren’t enough of them (especially when people sleep across four abreast), people crouch/lie/pray on the dense carpet and the arcade machines have come to die (if they haven’t already).

People sit so closely in Terminal 4 – back to back – that you can catch snippets of low-cost conversation:

“I spent nine years in boarding school… Think of all that family time I missed… nine years…”

“Ya couldn’t have said it any louder, luv!”

A girl sits in the shadow of her Henleys-jock boyfriend, so blue it makes her spray-tan look a less than complimentary grey. A ground staffer announces delays to Tiger flights bound for Sydney and Canberra. He wavers, sounds uncertain.

Moving onto boarding the aircraft, it’ll break it to you gently – boarding is via the front and rear stairs. If you have a problem with climbing stairs for reasons other than age or disability, then honestly, discount travel is not for you. In fact, I recommend staying in bed.

That said, mobile stairs do pose an interesting problem in Melbourne, which is as famous for its volatile weather as it is for its Chapel St ragtrade. Both on arrival and departure, we were met on the naked tarmac with bone-chilling gusts of wind. I pulled my coat around me in a stranglehold.

Melbourne’s T4 baggage carousel is sheltered, but not from the wind. I met a cockatoo once, who lived in a similar enclosure.

In the Sky

Well, this is what you pay for – the romance of flying, skirting the elements for the price of a DVD. And at this task, Tiger Airways is perfectly adept. However, in the spirit of discount, there are a few caveats – snacks have to be paid for, the seat pitch is not for basketballers and when the seat in front of you reclines, it momentarily seems like you’re going to be cradling the seatback in your lap. But for an hour of cheaply-priced flight (or in my case, 47c per minute), it’s completely acceptable.

I picked up a well-worn copy of Tiger Tales, their inflight magazine. It’s one of Ink Publishing’s better in-flight magazines. I wanted to tear out the destination guides and an interesting article on Mt Kinabalu. Someone had already beaten me to a third of the cover, after all.

The flight attendants are all amiable and confident. They all looked full of Spring, unlike the Jetstar insomniacs I had met when trans-Tasman last month. One gives a fellow a stern, but fair rap for using his phone while the plane is refuelling. I’d want that FA on my raft if we were ever to ditch into Lake Burley Griffin.

On the Phone

Important Note (29/09/09): Tiger Airways’ call centre is based in the Philippines. Due to the recent catastrophic events following Typhoon Ondoy, telecommunications’ services have been thrown out of whack, as well as the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. If you are trying to contact Tiger Airways, visit their Call Centre Update page for details.

I love talking to the Tiger Airways’ call centre staff. I don’t really like waiting 10-15 minutes for the pleasure of it. And I wish they could do something more for me. But there’s one rule on a $28 fare and that’s that it will cost you another $28 to book a new ticket. Want to change your flight time/date/name on ticket? Too bad – that will cost you $50 per person, per sector. A new ticket will generally cost you less than that. And that’s what the call centre will tell you – more politely, of course.

In Conclusion…

I may really like to knock around what is a very competitive new airline on the Australian travel scene, but Tiger Airways met my optimistic expectations. Yes, Melbourne’s Terminal 4 is a bit droll and having the ‘Airways’ film crew on the wings sure makes one reach for the antiperspirant, but in the air, they’re fine. So, here’s the wrap:

Why you should fly Tiger Airways:

• Flights are consistently cheap, starting from $28 between Sydney and Melbourne;
• They have a great in-flight magazine (hah!);
• They fly to Tullamarine, not Avalon;
• They fly. As in, they stay in the air. Singapore Airlines’ 49% stake ensures this.

Why you shouldn’t fly Tiger Airways:

• No web- or self service- check-in; queues can be long and worrisome;
• Boarding and disembarking involves walking on stairs and tarmac (potentially into Melbourne weather);
• You have agoraphobia – Melbourne (Tullamarine) Terminal 4 can get pretty crowded;
• You’re a tall person and the seat-pitch is saying, ‘no’.

Make sure you share your Tiger Airways’ experiences – good and bad – on this blog, as I’d love to hear from you. Happy flying!

Related posts:

1. Tiger Airways: Welcome to Sydney!
2. Tiger Airways: $28 fare travel dates extended to March, 2010!
3. Jetstar vs. Tiger Airways: The great Sydney – Melbourne fare war! Fares now $25.

A striking red dust storm blankets Sydney. Photo Credit: tolomea

For the first time in living memory, Sydney has been hit by an apocalypse-red dust storm, paired with gale-force winds and a whole lot of environmental anxiety. This has caused chaos on both the ground and in the air, causing numerous flights to be redirected to Melbourne and Brisbane airports and creating major delays for passengers arriving to or departing from Sydney Airport. Even I encountered a significant delay this morning, while determining whether I wanted to walk through a painted reproduction from the final chapter of a children’s Bible. Finally, I closed my eyes and stepped outside – it couldn’t be any worse than in the Emirates, if they were to ever have a cold day, right?

If they ever had a day this cool in Dubai, I’m sure there would be chaos, too. But that was beside the point.

Onto the practical stuff:

• As of the time of writing, Sydney Airport’s website has been put out of order due to the influx of enquiries regarding flight delays
• Significant delays are to also be encountered at Brisbane airport, due to the arrival of redirected flights
• Qantas has announced that they will be refunding or rescheduling passengers on affected flights
• Jetstar will be rescheduling passengers on affected flights until Friday
• No word from Tiger Airways and Virgin Blue – call your airline if you are concerned about potential delays on flights departing in the next 24 hours

Well, the skies are starting to clear now over Sydney in a fascinating transition, from the morning’s blaze of grapefruit red, to a dull orange-yellow, to cottage cheese and finally, a sliver of blue. Check out this amazing Sydney dust storm photo set on Flickr.

What a dramatic, final day to my twenty-fifth year!

Related posts:

1. AirAsia X: Malaysia to Sydney route delayed, greater flight frequencies to Australian cities
2. Air Vanuatu: Sydney and Brisbane to Port Vila, Vanuatu for less than $500 return!
3. Flight Sales and Discount Airfares: When to book, where and how to get that deal in Australia

Fly into your perfect hotel room. Photo Credit: James Yu

First of all, I’m not a travel agent. In fact, I’m a graphic designer who primarily constructs email and websites with some degree of competency and plans holidays with zest and grand design. However, unlike my travel agent friends, I don’t have access to magnificent tools or connections, so when it comes to finding the right hotel, I use the same resources as everyone else – travel websites.

As a result of the fat-fingered $124 Bali sale last week, I’ve taken it upon myself to find quality accommodation for my five guests. So to save yourself some time on your next trip, here are a few tips from my experiences on how to get a hotel at your destination that will put both your mind and wallet at ease.

1. Consult TripAdvisor.com – Forget the rest – TripAdvisor.com IS the leaderboard to consult on quality hotels worldwide. Not only is it the most comprehensive database of destination and hotel reviews online, but its forums are always jumping to respond to new questions. Generally I’ll take the hotels in the top 25th percentile and make a shortlist, based on my budget and preferred location. TripAdvisor also provides average room prices, based on what they’ve found on partner hotel aggregates, thus streamlining the process of finding that perfect hotel and booking a room.

If you’ve found a hotel that isn’t near the top of the leaderboard, yet has some decent reviews, here’s my rule of thumb – make sure the hotel is in the top 50% (eg. in the top 100 of 200 hotels available) and has received a thumbs up by at least 50% of guests. If still in doubt, put down the extra money and get one of the hotel’s better rooms (if available). Don’t just fall for the cheapest hotel available – you may not remember your stay in a decent hotel, but you certainly won’t forget a dump.

2. Compare your shortlist to what’s available on the hotel booking sites – The prices listed through TripAdvisor’s partners aren’t necessarily the best prices, so it pays to shop around. Hotel booking sites and aggregates generally collect hotel prices from a number of sources and often have independent consumer reviews of their own. More often than not, the prices listed are better than what the hotels can offer through their own websites! Here’s a shortlist of the sites to visit:

• Wego.com – Wego encompasses the most comprehensive search engine of hotels and hotel booking sites, plus their interface is pretty hot, too. That said, you cannot book hotels directly through Wego, it simply directs you to the hotel booking site with the best available price on offer. Wego also provides airfares in a similar fashion. Definitely on the top of a travel-planner’s list.
• HotelsCombined.com – Like Wego, this site allows you to canvas a number of hotel booking sites and choose the most competitive price. HotelsCombined covers a number of hotel sites that Wego doesn’t, so it’s a good idea to try both and compare.
• AsiaRooms.com – AsiaRooms has recently had a major redesign, which on one hand has improved their interface, but on the other, prevented users from filtering out hotels based on the number of guests or rooms you require. For example, I commonly search for triple (three-person) rooms, as they’re far more economical than purchasing two rooms when shopping around for friends and family. Sadly, you can no longer do this, but AsiaRooms assures me that they will restore this feature in the near future. Once you’ve located the hotel of your choice, AsiaRooms provides a secure booking facility and their response times are fairly fast, too.
• Wotif.com – For hotel bookings within the next 3 months, Wotif is the site to visit.  Not only are the prices very competitive, but their booking interface is up there amongst the best. In fact, Wotif has licensed their hotel and flight accommodation system to lastminute.com.au, one of Australia’s more popular travel and leisure sites.

3. What about HotelClub? Expedia? - Often the smaller hotel booking sites are more responsive than international monoliths like HotelClub. My own case study is that I wasted five days attempting to book rooms that did not really exist via HotelClub. Despite their standard “Instant Confirmation” response time being 24 hours, they took about 36 hours to respond to my first hotel booking, then about three days to respond to my second request. Both bookings failed due to the hotels having no available rooms, despite the second hotel being recommended to me personally by HotelClub as an alternative.

Smaller hotel booking sites can also provide much cheaper rates and strangely, rooms that other sites can’t provide. My own happy story is that I discovered EasyClickTravel.com and booked three hotel rooms in Bali for $45 USD per night each, whereas the advertised “Internet Rate” on the hotel’s official site was $60 USD per night. EasyClickTravel confirmed the availability of the rooms within 24 hours, while other hotel booking sites not display available rooms for the hotel at all. Shop around – the differences in price and room availability on different hotel booking sites can be quite amazing.

Finally, do provide your feedback regarding hotel sites – this list is by no means exhaustive and when it comes to booking that perfect room, there are many ways to skin a cat. Happy holidays!

Related posts:

1. Tune Hotels: Now open in Bali, cheap rooms across Malaysia

Race to Adelaide with Lance! Photo Credit: Anita Ritenour

Flying to Adelaide

Adelaide is more accessible than ever, as it is serviced by all of Australia’s major low-cost carriers (Jetstar, Tiger Airways and Virgin Blue) at very affordable fares. For example, Tiger Airways flies Sydney to Adelaide twice-daily for $49 and Melbourne to Adelaide for $39 each way for the duration of the Tour. For international guests, Adelaide also entertains discount flights from a handful of Asian and Pacific cities.

As of August, Adioso has not indexed fares to Adelaide, however if you’re planning to book a ticket closer to the date, do check Adioso for details.

Staying in Adelaide

View Larger Map

The great news – Adelaide’s CBD is relatively compact, so staying in the city will keep you near all the action during the first (Tour Down Under Classic, Rymill Park) and final stages of the tour. The bad news – affordable accommodation currently seems to be in short supply, so here’s a shortlist of hotels that won’t break the budget:

• Hostel 109 – 109 Carrington St, Adelaide – from $25 (dorm)
• Majestic Minima – 146 Melbourne Street, North Adelaide - from $99
• Breakfree Directors Studio – 259 Gouger Street, Adelaide - from $118
• Quest Mansions Apartments – 21 Pulteney Street, Adelaide - from $145

Make sure you also check TripAdvisor for hotel reviews before you book. Enjoy the Tour before Le Tour!

For more information:

• Tour Down Under Official Website – http://www.tourdownunder.com.au/
• South Australia Official Website – http://www.southaustralia.com/
• Lance Armstrong on Twitter – http://twitter.com/lancearmstronG

Related posts:

1. Tiger Airways: $28 fare travel dates extended to March, 2010!
2. Flying to Macau and Hong Kong on the cheap
3. Tiger Airways: Sydney to Melbourne for $28, including tax!

Pack light, outta sight! Photo Credit: SlipStreamJC

Hand Luggage Only (HLO) travel seems to be a perennial topic across countless travel sites and forums, especially now that pretty much every low-cost airline has provided it as a fare-saving option. Often the questions raised include the following:

• I’ve booked a discount flight and waived the check-in baggage fee, how am I going to carry everything I need?
• I’m tired of lugging a suitcase around, can I fit everything into a carry-on bag instead; or
• Honestly, how do you carry-on only folks do it?

In so far as I’m no expert on the sublime art of bag-packing, I was recently faced with the precarious situation of packing for a week-long ski trip, with only 10kg carry-on allowance to my name. Thankfully, I’ve been a long-time convert to cabin-only (due to a profound phobia of baggage carousels), so here are some lessons learnt from my ski jaunt and some other practical tips for packing more into less.

Know your Rights

Each airline has their own exactions regarding the maximum weight and dimensions of carry-on luggage. For example, Jetstar’s policy for Australian flights is as follows:

• Max. weight: 10kg (one main item of cabin baggage + one small bag)
• Max. dimensions: 56cm (length), 36cm (height) & 23cm (depth) for an overnight bag, laptop bag or briefcase

Virgin Blue follows a similar suit with:

• Max. weight: 7kg (one main item of cabin baggage + one suit bag/small bag/briefcase)
• Max. dimensions: 48cm (length), 34cm (height) & 23cm (depth)

What this all roughly means is a medium-sized duffel/overnight bag that can fit into the overhead locker, plus a smaller bag for slipping under the seat in front of you. For the ladies, the choice of bag for the latter is obvious – one of those oversized boho handbags always works a charm. For the gentlemen amongst us, a manbag, messenger bag or briefcase is ideal, the more pockets for stash the merrier. A few words of caution – Solid roller bags are usually excessively heavy for their size. Ditch them. That said, any shoulder bag that weighs more than 8kg will become a real burden to carry through a long terminal, so you’re well advised to keep within the limits stated above.

What to Pack

Now you have your duffel bag and your small-but-mighty hand/man bag, it’s time to pack what you need for the trip. Here are some tips:

• Pack your toiletries and any liquids in a mesh/plastic bag in one of the outside pockets. This will make it easy to remove for security checks (and save your gear from a potential shampoo-bottle explosion). Don’t forget the 100mL liquid limit on international flights.
• Purchase at least one compression stuff sack for putting all your clothes and crushable items in. You can buy these at Kathmandu stores from around $15 up and can shrink a remarkable amount of gear in them. Consider purchasing a second one for dirty laundry, if you’re squeemish about storing your used knickers in the same space as your pristine t-shirts.
• Count your clothes. Estimate how many days you will be away from a laundry and pack accordingly. Pick items that mix and match well (and don’t require ironing). That said, I always end up wearing black on tour
• For cold climates, bring a down jacket. Down in particular provides a lot of warmth for little weight. Perhaps more importantly, down jackets crush down remarkably well in a compression sack.
• Only count on bringing one pair of shoes, being the pair you’re wearing. If you’re lucky, you might be able to stuff a pair of thongs/slippers or canvas shoes into your bag. For my ski trip I lived in one pair of snow/apres boots for the entire week!
• Fasten your jumper/jacket to the outside of your bag if you don’t intend to wear it on the plane.
• Stuff your small electronics, books and gew-gaws in your smaller bag. See illustration above for all the amazing goodies you can fit in. If you’re too manly for small hand-luggage, carry your gear on your person. Watch this video if you’re truly interested in how much crazy stuff you can fit into a trusty pair of baggy pants! I don’t endorse carrying firearms on aircraft, though…
• If planning to shop, only shop for flat/crushable items. Ye be warned!

At the Airport

• Expect to have your bag weighed. ‘Nuff said.
• Buy drinks at the gate (ie. after the customs & security check) for international flights – any liquids exceeding 100mL prior to this point will be confiscated. On one particular low-cost carrier, I slipped a 2L bottle of water into my bag in front of a flight attendant – there was an expressionless, wan acknowledgement, an understanding. Neither of us wanted to pay for water on this flight, obviously. That said, I tried the same at Bangkok Airport and had to board the flight with a very full bladder.
• Try to board in good time, before all the overhead locker space is taken. The only time I’ve been threatened with the dolly (being the carry-on bag scale) is when my legitimately-sized bag had trouble fitting amongst everyone else’s stuff.
• Enjoy your righteousness over all those jetlagged people lining the baggage carousel at the other end. 15 minutes saved jostling for a luggage cart is 15 minutes extra in the hotel hot-tub. Ahh… The only way to fly.

Thanks for reading. Do you have any killer tips you would like to add to this list? Add a comment below!

Related posts:

1. Checking-in your Ski Equipment on Discount Airlines

Buy your tickets with low-cost carriers at the right time and save money. Photo Credit: Martin Gommel

Everyone will tell you – Earlybird specials are dead. So when exactly is the best time to book that budget holiday and how? Here are some lessons I’ve learnt from tracking sales and booking fares, so don’t let anyone bully you into buying an airfare 10 months in advance!

When to buy a bargain airfare (and the travel dates to target)

Here are some tips on when to book that Holy Grail cheap flight:

Book 1-4 months ahead. As a rule of thumb, discount airlines seem to release their choice sale fares 1-4 months prior to their travel period. For example, you should start looking in July if you plan on travelling in August to November. The exception to this rule are discount airlines like AirAsia, who often sell sale fares for travel periods up to 10 months ahead. Balance the risks against the price – you may end up paying roughly $50 – $100 more for a sale fare between Melbourne and Kuala Lumpur by skipping the first or second sale that comes around, however at least you will have a greater sense of security by booking closer to your intended travel date.

Stick to ’shoulder periods’ and avoid holidays. When booking fares in Australia, the travel periods to avoid are from 15 November – 31 January (Christmas), 27 March – 31 April (Easter) and Australian school and public holidays (depending on where you’re travelling to, of course). Conversely, I have also found that awesome sales and fares seem to appear just after major holidays (eg. Christmas), as if to compensate for that post-holiday dip. February – March and July – early November seem to be blessed with an abundance of sale fares, so as per tip #1, start shopping around from July onwards for sale fares in November, or even as far afield as February and March.

That said… If you’re after a particularly popular, yet non-holiday period such as the Winter ski months in Queenstown, New Zealand, the rules can go out the window. For example, Jetstar’s notorious $160 return fares to Christchurch in July/August, 2009 went on sale at the beginning of December, 2008 (Note: this was also the launch of the new SYD – CHC route, there were sales in the following months, too). If you’re into seasonal activities like skiing, look into what an “average” fare is like and use discretion, not rules, to decide when it’s the right time to buy.

Look for Tuesday and Wednesday (mid-week) airfares. Commonsense will dictate that the most popular time to fly are weekends. Be flexible and look for mid-week fares – airfares for Tuesdays are almost consistently cheaper than weekend flights and even opting to fly back on a Monday morning instead of a Sunday night can save you a considerable amount of money. An exception to this rule is Tiger Airways, who commonly release sale fares on Saturdays, however you will have to book fast to get them!

Buy your web fares in the morning, or late at night. Unless the sale is blink-and-you’ll-miss-it, you’re best booking online when the least amount of people are hitting the airline’s website as well. To save yourself the stress of a potentially slow online booking process, check and select fares first thing in the morning, or well into the evening. Lunch and dinner are times to avoid. Get the jump on Asian sales as well – if an AirAsia sale starts at midnight (Malaysian time), just get up early the following morning – you will be at least 2 hours ahead of the rush (unless you’re in Perth… Sorry, fellas).

Where to find and book a discount fare

In so much as purchasing fares online is all the rage, don’t forget your friendly travel agent – they’re still in business for a reason!

Book one-way and short/medium haul trips online, long-haul, complex and round the world tickets with your travel agent. If you’re planning a quick trip from Sydney to Melbourne, the days of coughing up the big bling to your travel agent are well over. Do the research and shop around online for flights to domestic and short to mid-distance international destinations, too. A great site to check is Adioso, an airfare comparison site for discount carriers, both here and abroad. Also check this site (Flighthacker) regularly… It’s my serious hobby, after all!

That said, once you add multiple hops to your itinerary, or travel beyond  Asia and the Pacific, the value in purchasing multiple point-to-point fares with discount carriers diminishes considerably. Shop around online and compare fares with your travel agent. Some will even match fares available via Australian-registered online businesses (eg. Webjet, Zuji.com.au), so you can be secure in knowing you have found a good deal and have the personal service of an agent to match.

Finally, consider your travel needs – if you need a ticket with flexible dates, have specific requests or simply need creature comforts during a long flight, book a full-fare airline ticket with your travel agent. If all you need is the equivalent of a bus ride, then buy a discount fare online. You get what you pay for.

How to find out about cheap fares and sales

Subscribe to airline email newsletters, follow airlines on Twitter, or… Check this blog, of course! I’m already subscribed to a whole bunch of newsletters and follow multiple airlines on Twitter, so you don’t need to do the legwork. However, if you’re particularly interested in that cheap flight to Malaysia, subscribe to AirAsia’s email newsletter. Check AirNinja for carriers that fly to your desired destination and make sure you sign up for your favourite airlines’ sales and offers.

Check out alternative routes. Is Sydney to Hong Kong too expensive? Check out fares from Sydney to Macau, then transit to Hong Kong. You may be very surprised at the price differences. Also, target nearby holiday destinations or alternate airports. In Asia, it is often cheaper to fly into a tourist-town like Phuket, then transfer to a low-cost flight to reach your final destination. Particularly in Europe, many discount airlines fly into “alternate” airports that service a particular city, so research what other options are available with AirNinja and Adioso.

Visit Australian online forums and bargain sites. Established sites like the Australian Frequent Flyer Community can provide oodles of insider advice. OzBargain commonly features sales just as they break. Find a community you like and subscribe to their email newsletters, RSS or follow them on Twitter.

Ask around. Talk to your travel agent, friends/family and send me a Tweet. It may sound obvious, but often the best tips are home-grown!

Finally…

None of this is a hard and fast, so send me your top tips and I’ll update this article accordingly. Now, make your friends jealous and buy that dirt-cheap airfare!

Related posts:

1. Jetstar: JetMail subscribers – book a return flight and receive a $100 flight voucher
2. V Australia and Virgin Atlantic sign frequent flyer points deal
3. How to Fly Round the World via Discount Airlines

Photo Credit: slack13

Well, when I’m not writing, performing the day-job or watching Tour de France, I seem to be doing one thing quite successfully – booking holidays for other people. So when I do get the pleasure of booking a trip for myself, I have the bargain radar well honed  and those specials be quakin’ in their boots.

The mission: Fill a 5-day, 6-night itinerary with fun (and not too pricey), Winter things to do in Christchurch and Queenstown, New Zealand. With a fistful of Australian dollars, this wasn’t to hard at all (all prices are in AUD).

Night 1 – Christchurch: Arrive late in Queenstown on Jetstar, $300 return. Crash out at the Ibis Christchurch (I managed to rustle up this one up a few months ago using the infamous HotelClub hack, usual retail $100 pn). Check the Accor Hotels website as you can get good deals on centrally-located hotels and resorts.

Day 2 – Christchurch/Queenstown: Explore Christchurch on foot/by tram. Fly down to Queenstown via Jetstar (was Qantas, $140 return), settle in at the Novotel Queenstown Lakeside (another hack special, $127 pn rrp). That night, ride the Queenstown Gondola and enjoy dinner ($57).

Day 3 – The Remarkables / Queenstown: Ski madness at The Remarkables! Two-day adult starter packs (including 2-days of gear hire, lift passes, lessons and bus transfers to Queenstown) can be purchased online direct from the resort for $210. A 50-minute drive out of Queenstown, The Remarkables are cheaper, quieter and have more beginners’ runs than Coronet Peak. Transfer to Queenstown, enjoy the apres and crash out.

Day 4 – The Remarkables / Queenstown: Day 2 of falling over awkwardly at The Remarkables. Once well damaged, transfer to Queenstown, enjoy a local dinner, then check-in at the Queenstown Onsen. Listed by TripAdvisor as the #1 activity in Queenstown, you can book a hot pool for up to 4 people at any time of the year – a perfect treat for ski-battered limbs. Prices start from $25 for an hour of slow-cook bliss.

Day 5 – Milford Sound: An early start to join the Milford Sound day-tour, courtesy of NakedBus.com. NakedBus offer the cheapest Milford Sound day-tours ex. Queenstown hands-down, starting from $70. Personally I paid $100, which is still great value, as it includes Milford Sound transfers by bus and a 1oo-minute boat cruise. Tour returns to Queenstown at 7:15pm, at which point, I’ll certainly be in a good mood to gloat over my photos over dinner and crash.

Day 6 – Queenstown/Christchurch: Time for last-minute shopping and sightseeing. Fly Jetstar back to Christchurch, settle back at the Ibis Christchurch, dinner at the Pinnacle Restaurant atop the Christchurch Gondola (yes, another gondola, $10 plus dinner). Fight the sleepies. Fly out early the following morning, end of tour. Phew!

I hope some of you find this itinerary to be useful when planning your own South Island short-breaks. If you’re one of over one-million Aussies that have visited New Zealand in the last 12 months, please do share your experiences – I’ll be heading over there in two weeks, so y’all have something to teach me.

Watch out, New Zealand! Flighthacker is coming!

Related posts:

1. Jetstar: Sydney to Auckland and Christchurch for $119 one way, $204 return inc tax!
2. Jetstar: Sydney to Christchurch for $264 return, including tax!
3. 10% off Air New Zealand fares with promo code: THANKS10

Photo Credit: P J Partridge

To celebrate the launch of CherryPow.com yesterday, I’ve decided to write on a topic that has many ski-bunnies quaking in their boots, being how to carry your prized ski equipment on a low-cost flight in Australia and New Zealand.

Now, many of you will be saying, “Well, I’m paying thousands for a holiday to the snow, why skimp on the airfare?”, however with the glut of cheap Winter fares to New Zealand in recent months, it’s inevitable that many people, perhaps including yourself, would have purchased a cheapie fare and worried about the consequences later.

The good news first – it is possible. The bad news – you may have to pay for it. Here is a breakdown of how each discount carrier handles ski equipment.

Jetstar

Checked-in Baggage Allowance: 0kg (JetSaver Light), 20kg (JetSaver & JetFlex fares) or 30kg (StarClass)

Excess Baggage Fee: $20 AUD / $20 NZD per kg

Jetstar was the cheap ski-season fares culprit for 2009 and justly, I’ll tackle them first. Jetstar can check-in your ski equipment, on the following conditions:

• Your skis and gear are carefully packed into a bag that is less than 1.9m long
• You check in at least 2 hours prior to the scheduled departure time for flights departing from a domestic terminal and 3 hours prior to the scheduled departure time for flights departing from an international terminal
• No bag should weigh more than 23kg

Once you weigh your ski clothes, boots, stocks etc together, you may find yourself pushing the 20kg limit. Keep an eye on those excess kilos, as they can soon erase the savings on your bargain fare and Jetstar is entitled to refuse flying your gear should you not comply with their baggage policy. Note that you are also entitled to 10kg of cabin baggage (being a cabin bag and a smaller bag), so distribute your cargo carefully and check-in early to save yourself (and the ground staff) any undue stress. Read Jetstar’s baggage policy here.

VirginBlue

Checked-in Baggage Allowance: 0kg/23kg (’Go’ or Blue Saver fares, $8 per sector for 23kg allowance), 23kg (Flexible Fare) or 32kg (Corporate Plus or Premium Economy fare)

Excess Baggage Fee: $8 AUD / $8 NZD per kg

VirginBlue have a more flexible policy towards checked-in equipment and their excess baggage fees are considerably cheaper. As snow skis are categorised as sporting equipment, the following rules apply:

• If you check in skis, you are entitled to an additional 5kg of baggage allowance on top of your existing allowance (see above). For example, if you have purchased a baggage allowance of 23kg, and are travelling with skis, you will be eligible for a total checked baggage allowance of 28kg
• All ski gear must be properly packaged and cannot exceed 3m in length
• You check must in at least 2 hours prior to the scheduled departure time
• No bag should weigh more than 23kg

Nice, an additional 5kg on your allowance. VirginBlue are certainly more flexible with ski gear and their excess baggage fees don’t hurt anywhere as much. Plus you have an on-board allowance of 7kg (across two bags), so again, consider how you pack. View VirginBlue’s sporting equipment policy here.

Tiger Airways

Checked-in Baggage Allowance: 0kg/15kg/20kg/25kg/30kg (Free/$10AUD/$20AUD/$35AUD/$70AUD, with advanced booking), $30 flat fee for ski equipment (Sporting Equipment)

Excess Baggage Fee: $15 AUD per kg

Tiger Airways categorises ski gear as ’sporting equipment’ and  charges a flat-fee of $30 AUD per item, per sector, irrespective of weight! Well, up to 30kg per item, anyway. However, this is followed by the ominous caveat:

Tiger Airways is prepared to carry such items on a ‘limited release’ (i.e. entirely ‘at your own risk’ for damage or delay) basis. You may therefore wish to ensure that you have suitable private insurance cover in force for such items. If the fee is not paid on your outbound journey it will still be imposed on your return journey.

That said, common sense applies – if you’re going to bring your pricey gear, you sure as heck should insure it!

Other rules are:

• You must check in at least 2 hours prior to the scheduled departure time
• No bag should weigh more than 30kg

Good one, Tiger! Cabin allowance is 7kg. View Tiger’s checked luggage policy here.

AirAsia

Checked-in Baggage Allowance: 0kg/15kg/20kg/25kg (Free/$10AUD/$28AUD/$53AUD, with advanced booking)

Excess Baggage Fee: $30 AUD (up to 15kg), $10 AUD per kg thereafter

Finally, for our Asian guests, ski equipment is not categorised as sporting equipment and therefore must be checked in as part of your baggage allowance. Note that even when baggage allowance is pre-booked, AirAsia’s fee schedule is not very forgiving, so weigh your gear and pre-purchase your baggage allowance accordingly. A kilo over your pre-ordained allowance and bam! $30 worth of excess baggage fees!

More fine print:

• You must check in at least 1 hour prior to the scheduled departure time
• No bag should weigh more than 32 kg and have combined dimensions of more than 81cm height, 119cm wide and 119cm depth

That said, AirAsia is a great ride, but hang on to your pennies, folks! Cabin allowance is 7kg. AirAsia’s carriage conditions can be viewed here.

Anyway, that’s the skinny of it! Amongst the discount airlines, VirginBlue and Tiger Airways appear to have the most skiier-friendly baggage policy, however it pays to read the fine-print and check with your airline if you have any questions. Enjoy the powder!

Related posts:

1. How to Fly Round the World via Discount Airlines
2. RTW Fare-Off: Full-Fare vs. Discount Airlines
3. Flying to Macau and Hong Kong on the cheap

Photo Credit: Gemma (3fold)

Foremost, I’ve read a handful of articles proudly proclaiming that “you can now fly around the world using discount airlines alone!”, but sadly, no-one has told their fair readers how this can be done. Secondly, I’ve read countless round-the-world (RTW) itineraries and they all share one thing in common – they’re all the sort of trips that your mum would put you on. So let me hit two birds with one stone, friends. Not only am I going to show you how to travel RTW solely on low-cost carriers, but provide you with two itineraries that not only showcase the variety of airlines that can get you there on the cheap, but will provide trips to remember. For all the wrong reasons.

First of all…

The initial disclaimer – flying around the world solely with discount airlines may not be the cheapest or most efficient option. If you’re serious about shopping around for a RTW fare, make sure you check with your favoured travel agent as well. Also, this method requires you to book each leg of your itinerary separately. When I did a circle trip of Asia in March, this meant that I was carrying around a plastic folder stuffed full of print-outs of my air tickets and boarding passes. So if you’re comfortable with this (or just darn curious), read on…

How to get from A to B on the cheap… Or die trying.

For this exercise, you will need two websites:

Google Maps – An interactive world map. For plotting your route, or alternate destinations

AirNinja – A directory of low cost-carriers and routes. For finding the airlines to get you there

Fire up AirNinja and select and in the area labelled “Step 1: Enter trip details”, click “Use drop-down list”. In the “From:” section, enter your country and city of departure. In the “To:” section, select your destination (or closest airport to it). The “Step 2: Check low-cost airlines” section of the page will automatically update with the airlines that fly the route you have selected. For details and to book, simply click on the name of the airline you wish to fly with.

Please note that you may not be able to get to your desired destination directly, so either a) choose the nearest airport, or b) enter your intended destination into the “From:” section and work backwards from there. Also, not all airlines listed are of equally good value. For example, whereas Air Berlin, JetBlue or EasyJet seem to have consistently cut-price fares, Aer Lingus, S7, Philippine Airlines and others that are listed tend to provide comparatively pricey flights, so if you are stuck with one of them, you may want to see if you can split the journey into two legs by flying via a stopover with a better-value carrier(s).

Sample Itineraries

So now you know what it’s all about, here are two sample itineraries that will hopefully, inspire you to plan your own nutty low-cost RTW adventures. Without any further ado:
View Round the World via Discount Airlines (ex. Sydney) in a larger map

RTW #1: 24-hour Party People (ex. Sydney)

Sydney – Waikiki – Vancouver – Las Vegas – New York – Ibiza – Berlin – Phuket – Sydney

This is for people that save their money so they can book high-end hotels, yet inevitably end up sleeping on beaches, beer bucket still in hand. Or don’t see sunlight for three days straight while being holed up in a Berlin warehouse party with “aspiring” models. If this sounds like you, don’t forget to pack a pillow, as the only sleep you’re going to get is on the long-haul flights…

Sydney, NSW, AU to Honolulu, HI, USA – Jetstar
Honolulu, HI, USA to Vancouver, BC, CA – Westjet
Vancouver, BC, CA to Las Vegas, NV, USA – Westjet
Las Vegas, NV, USA to New York, NY, USA (JFK) – JetBlue
New York, NY, USA (JFK) to Ibiza, ES – Air Berlin
Ibiza, ES to Berlin (Tegel), DE – Air Berlin
Berlin (Tegel), DE to Phuket, TH – Air Berlin
Phuket, TH to Sydney, NSW, AU – Jetstar

RTW #2: Bad Habits (ex. Sydney)

Sydney – Macau – Bangkok – Paris (and Monaco) – Las Vegas – Los Angeles – Sydney

Your parents are always telling you not to end up like the kind of people that book trips like this one. Meaning, the kind of people who suddenly clear the till one evening and skip the country, because of a bad habit. If these bad habits are indeed your own, then the fares had better come cheap – roulette, girls and cigarettes aren’t free, you know.

Sydney, NSW, AU to Macau, CN – Viva Macau
Macau, CN to Bangkok, TH – AirAsia
Bangkok, TH to Paris, FR – Air Berlin (need Monaco? Book a side-trip to Nice, FR)
Paris, FR to Las Vegas, NV, USA – Condor
Las Vegas, NV, USA to Los Angeles, LA, USA – JetBlue
Los Angeles, LA, USA to Sydney, NSW, AU – V Australia

Download these Itineraries

Both these routes can be downloaded as a .kml file (requires Google Earth to view). Good luck!

Related posts:

1. RTW Fare-Off: Full-Fare vs. Discount Airlines
2. Checking-in your Ski Equipment on Discount Airlines
3. Round-the-World fares now available direct from Star Alliance