Cheap flights
 

My son is going to Australia in February for a semester abtoad. He will be coming from Boston, traveling to Sydney for orientation and then traveling to Melbourne for school. We have been searching for flights and are getting cocfused. Any advice for the best and dheapest flights to use, especially once in Australia?

Hi, eznmomma!
Once your son is in Australia, tell him to find an internet cafe and log onto the VirginBlue website. There are one-off specials coming up all the time, without warning, and he might well get a fare from Sydney to Melbourne for as little as $AUD39. Of course, if you know what date he's making that trip and you can get that fare from VirginBlue right now, I wouldn't hesitate, as prices can't possibly go much lower than that!

Thanks. Is that true, Virgin Blue, for all fligths in Australia?

Hi, again, eznmomma!

VirginBlue don't fly to every Australian town, not by a long shot. They cover the capitals plus some major tourist destinations (such as Alice Springs and Cairns) and a couple of growing-in-popularity routes such as to Broome and to Townsville. If you want a wider selection, then you're a Qantas customer (they have a new no-frills option coming up, but it won't be in operation by the time your son arrives). Normally, you'd pay more for Qantas (but for your money, you get full meals thrown in), but sometimes they like to give the people at VirginBlue a touch of indigestion, so you might get lucky. It's hard to advise on air fares inside Australia, as things are so volatile at the moment that the situation can change on a daily basis. You do not, however, have many airlines to choose from. Apart from the two just mentioned, there are only a couple of other very- minor players which probably won't apply in your case, as their routes are so restrictive.

We've ended up booking 2 Qantas flights and one Virgin Blue. Cost was about the same for both airlines - very inexpensive I thought, compared to fares in Canada. I think we chose the Virgin Blue flight because of the time of day that it was flying - the Qantas times weren't quite as good. I booked all 3 flights over the web. Maybe we could have got better deals waiting until we got there, but as I said, the prices were good.

I am going to study abroad in Australia in the spring and I found Student Universe to have the cheapest flights.
www.studentuniverse.com

My daughter is studying in Sydney next semester. We bought her tickets through STA Travel. I purchased them over the phone, but you can also buy at their website www.statravel.com. I called Qantas to ask if they had student fares and they referred me to STA Travel.

Student Universe also had good prices.

You may want to check if transportation from orientation to the school is included in the program.

STA travel will meet student universe and give you a refund for the difference if the fare is lower.
Some semester abroad programs will only meet you at the airport if you travel through STA.