Has anyone booked through this company?
 

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone has ever used discoveraustralia.com.au to book accommodation, flights etc.

They have some good deals - not cheap cheap but well priced. I'm organising a bunch of girlfriends to head to Melbourne in May next year for a 'Wicked' weekend of theatre and shopping and their prices for the flight/accommodation packages are pretty good.

Just hoping they're not dodgy.
cheers
Stormbird

There's a thread on TA about this company stormbird, might be worth a read:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...Australia.html

Thanks for the heads up Mel - I appreciate it.

I have no knowledge or experience of the company you're thinking of using but, based on the comments in the thread linked by Melnq8, I wouldn't touch them with a ten foot pole.

I assume from your profile that you're coming from Brisbane? I'm curious why you would look to use an agent to book a weekend in Melbourne, particularly if you are only looking for the airfare and hotel. Are some of your group coming from other locations or is the agent providing more than just the airfare + hotel? Perhaps they can get a better deal than you can do yourself? We get up to Brisbane (from Melbourne) several times a year but I must admit it's never occurred to me to use an agent rather than just book the airfare direct (invariably QF) and whatever hotel suits us and/or has a decent rate.

Looking at some dates in May 2014, and assuming you're coming on a Friday afternoon and returning on Sunday evening (so two nights), their lowest price is $306. That sounds pretty good - until you start to look at the details. The airfare is a 'starter' fare on Jetstar into Avalon. I've never flown the DeathStar (and hopefully never will) and I'm not familiar with their fares but I would guess a 'starter' fare does not include any checked luggage (which may or may not be a problem .... but perhaps is a problem if "shopping" is part of the agenda ... :-) ). Coming into/out of Avalon is much less preferable to Tullamarine. QF currently wants $174 each way BNE-MEL but when it's on sale (which, with QF, happens fairly often) it's $129. You can upgrade the airfare in the package but doing so to a QF flight appears to be another $146 each way (and somewhat lesser amounts on various VA flights etc.).

The hotel in the cheap ($306) package is a hostel in St. Kilda. Obviously YMMV but not something I would choose. For $360, you get a studio at the Punthill apartments on Little Bourke (in the CBD), but the same Jetstar fare. That Jetstar fare is currently $89 each way if bought direct.

Depending on what you want, I would be surprised if their package is ultimately any better than what you can get on your own. If Jetstar into Avalon is ok, fair enough .... but I'd be looking for a QF (or VA) on-sale fare into Tullamarine - at some point between now and next May, they'll be on sale (so $129 or thereabouts). As for accommodation, depending on how many of you there are, I'd be looking for a 1/2/3 bedroom apartment in town (Punthill or various others) and see what price you can find -- and then compare what that 'package' costs compared with what your suggested agent is offering.

Hi tt7

Yep I usually do all my own arrangements but you're correct I am coming from the Gold Coast/Brisbane and the fares aren't total bargains. Add to that the hotel costs for a couple of nights - it adds up for a little weekend away.

So I thought I'd just google packages and see what came up. Obviously, I had alarm bells ringing straight away with discoveraustralia.com.au but thought I would just ask the question anyway.

I hadn't really pondered apartments but will follow up on that but thanks for all your input. I have flown deathstar on occasions - not by choice - and you're right they aren't always the best.

Anyway, I will NOT be using discover Australia and I'll see what I can come up with.
Cheers
Stormbird

For apartments, Wotif is presumably the quickest way to get a sense of what's out there-

http://www.wotif.com/hotels/australi...partments.html

As they only go out 6 months, currently not a definitive solution for next May but, depending on how many in the party, perhaps worth having a look through to see what might work in terms of size/location/price.