flights in australia
 

We are visiting in dec '02 and concerned about the expense of internal travel. What are the best flight options= sydney to whitsunday is; whitsunday to adelaide; adelaide to melbourne.<BR>thanks

Hello--There's Qantas' Boomerang Pass which you must buy before you arrive in Oz--it is $160 for one segment, $200 or so if you travel through 2 segments...I found better fares w/ qantas' efares...there is also another airline that flies internally but can't remember the name...look at past Fodors travel threads, that's where I found lots of good info.<BR><BR>Good luck!

Have a good look on Qantas & Virginblue sites, they both offer oneway fairs.<BR>The currant one way fare is A$77.oo. Melbourne /Sydney plus taxes.<BR>Their web pages are very easy to work with. Just a little advice, if you book on the net (which I do.) & you are travelling different legs on the same day try & do this with the same airline, if your flight is delayed then they will have to place you on another flight, if you flew via the other airline they will not find another flight.<BR>Virginblue is a no frills airline, you will have to purchase all drinks & snacks on board.<BR>Qantas will give you a snack & tea/coffee.<BR>What airport are you flying into & departing from?

Jennifer,<BR>you may already know, but the closest airport to the Whitsundays is Proserpine. When we flew there from Melbourne, we flew to Brisbane then had to connect on a smaller plane to Proserpine. Proserpine is about 20 min drive (bus/taxi etc) to Airlie Beach. AB is about 10 min drive from Shute Harbour which is where the ferries leave for the islands. Airlie Beach has some nice accommodation but the beach is pretty awful. The islands are lovely.<BR>Kay

You can fly directly from Sydney to Hamilton Island, which is in the Whitsunday group. If not staying on Hamilton, there are boat transfers to the other islands. From the Whitsundays to Adelaide, you will need to transfer via Sydney or Brisbane.

Remember that once the schools break up in Dec (around the 20th in Victoria) there will not be any discount internal fares available. I'd be checking them against a Boomerang pass and making a decision based on that.