Hi there! <BR> <BR>We are flying into Sydney. We want to stay in Sydney for a week and then fly to Cairns to stay in Port Douglas for a week before flying back to Sydney to go home. <BR> <BR>1. What is the best way to go about purchasing my flight for Sydney-Cairns-Sydney? Should I purchase the tickets before we go to Australia or should I purchase them once I am down there? We are on a strict, strict budget and I want to do it the cheapest way!! <BR> <BR>2. Is there a way you can recommend to get from the airport to where ever we're staying. I.e. in Sydney, we are staying in Sydney Central hostel, how do we get from the airport to the hostel? And when we go to Cairns, how do we get to Port Douglas? <BR> <BR>Thanks a lot! <BR> <BR>KC

hi, i am also planning a trip to australia for this december and from what i understand, the cheapest way to fly is thru ansett's g'day pass (only is you are from the u.s or canada tho). the cost is $155 per segment (2 segments: sydney-cairns-sydney). these must be purchased before you get to australia and they'll need your international flight info. you buy these coupons and you can fly anytime, tho during high season, it's recommended that you make reservations in advance. there is also a rumor that virgin will start domestic flights within australia and there will be a fare wars starting in june. will keep a lookout for those. <BR>also, from cairns to port douglas, i understand it's way cheaper to take a coach bus than a taxi, but i'm not sure the prices. <BR>if you find cheaper flights than what i found, please share the details! <BR>good luck! <BR>tina

If buying tickets in Australia, generally you will get the best prices if you buy at least 21 days in advance and outside school holidays. www.travel.com.au is a reputable on-line agent. <BR>As for Sydney connections, a new train line from the Airport to the city opens later this month. I think its $10 one-way. There is also the Airport Express buses to the city which are about $7 one-way. <BR>Port Douglas is about 1 hours drive north of Cairns. There is a scheduled bus service (Coral Coaches) but most people book one of the mini bus services. They are about $25 one-way. When we went to Port Douglas last year, the hotel we were staying at arranged the booking and just added it to our bill. <BR>Try www.pddt.com.au or www.great-barrier-reef.com for more info.

KC, <BR> <BR>You don't say in this post when you are traveling..is it during a busy time? <BR> <BR>We will be flying 5 one way segments in Australia during Sept- Oct this year (olympic months). My travel agent (through Brendan Tours) got me a total price of $900US including 10%GST on Quantas. We have booked flights and seats. This seems pretty good to me. In the US it could cost double this price for one way flights. <BR>I called Ansett and Quantas about their 'flight passes', but decided on getting something more definite because we will be traveling during a busy time. <BR>The 'moral' of this story is: it all depends on when you are traveling ( a busy time?) and/or if you feel comfortable with the passes. They seem pretty good to me,but again, it all depends on when you are going to Australia. A suggestion is to call Ansett and Quantas and ask them how their passes work at the time you will be traveling. <BR> <BR>Kittie

KC: My wife and I just returned from a vacation "Down Under". <BR> <BR>Two points...both Ansett and Qantas offer international traveller fares within Aus. Make a booking with them and show the agent a return ticket and your passport. The one ticket we bought was one-third the price of a similar distance ticket in Canada. <BR> <BR>Second...all the towns and cities we stayed in had good shuttle services from the airport to our hotel. One company to avoid in Sydney: KST Airporter. They were the worst airport shuttle service I have ever used. The radio chatter from the dispatcher was loud, insulting to the drivers, and profane at times. On our return to the airport the bus showed up 20 minutes EARLY and we received some flak from the driver about keeping the other passengers waiting.

Talk to the airlines about a ticket to your "outer-most" destination (Cairnes) with a "stopover" in Sydney. This is how we booked our tickets in April and the Sydney/Cairnes portion of the tickets were essentially free. The roundtrip ticket was the same price whether our destination from the U.S. was Sydney or Cairnes. We flew Qantas.

Hi, <BR> <BR>I just flew last month from Newark, NJ - LA - Sydney - Cairns - Melbourne - Sydney - Christchurch, NZ - Queenstown then Auckland - LA - Newark for $1972 (US). I have no idea what the individual segments were but it's about $1200-$1300 from Newark - Sydney. I flew mostly Qantas (and American). I believe that it is cheaper to purchase your ticket outside of Australia.