Marina

How reliable is it to purchase air tickets on the internet? I am thinking of purchasing domestic air tickets by Quantas Airlines i.e. Sydeney to Cairns to Brisbane and Coolangatta to Sydney on the internet. It appears to be cheaper than getting a boomerang pass. Do we receive some kind of receipt as proof of our purchase or do we get some kind of acknowlegement. This is my first time purchasing on line. Please advise me if any one has done this type of thing and how safe it is to give the credit card number. Thank you.

lizF

Hello again you two :0}<BR>I rarely ever use a Travel Agent now and do most of my buying of plane tickets on the NET. You get a reply confirmation email from Qantas which you can print out or if you live here they will send one to you. Have no fear about the manner in which they do their Internet business - you will have no trouble at all. You can also check with prices of Virgin Airlines too on www.virginblue.com.au because sometimes they too have very good specials and they have now extended their destinations - last week they had $5 tickets for sale via the internet out of Melbourne ( in case you are wondering, yes they are all sold now - and I didn't manage to get one.......pooo!) Just make sure that you have photo ID with you when you get to the airports.

David

Marina,<BR>I can only endorse LizF's comments. I travel regularly within New Zealand and Australia and between the two countries. I must have booked on the Qantas internet site 20 times. Never a problem.<BR><BR>Also, and significantly, the prices are cheaper and the schedule information lets you look at different times to fly and compare the cost of flying at these different times. Proces vary, so comparing and booking early make a difference. As an example I recently booked Auckland Sydney return for our family (2 adults, 1 child, 1 infant) and depending on the day and time the price variance was over $1000NZ in total.<BR><BR>Cheers<BR>David

Ben

Just be sure to read the fine print. I bought tix online from Qantas and because it was a low internet fare I couldn't change the ticket. When I decided to leave Sydney early because of the fires I had to eat the ticket. Not all their online sales are no change - just depends so you need to know when you book.

mina

Hi Marina...<BR><BR>I did both a boomerang pass (Sydney to Cairns to Melbourne) and a internet deal from Mel. to Sydney on Qantas. I hear the boomerang pass is easier to change (although I didn't have to test that theory). As Ben mentioned, Qantas is strict about changing your itinerary if you book on the net. I wanted to leave Melbourne early, and called them. They said I was stuck with the day and time I had..I couldn't even change for a fee. However, as for the transaction itself, it was a breeze..you get a conf. # you can print out, and I had no problems whatsoever.

Jenn

I have travelled with both Qantas and Virgin a couple of times from internet fares - if you read the fine print you will find that the Qantas Red-E deals (which are the cheap internet only airfares) allow no change at all, while the price-comparable Virgin flights allow a change, assuming there is a seat of the kind you have bought on the day you want to travel, for around $40 Aus. Having said that, Virgin did cancel a flight I was on, meaning I couldn't travel until the next day as there was only one flight a day (but then that's what you get for living in Mount Isa).