My husband and I will be traveling to Australia in May of 2003. We only have 8 days to sight see, as we are going for his sister's wedding, which will take up the first portion of our trip. In my research, it seems that Sydney and the Carins/Port Douglas areas need to be our focal points. However, what I would like to know is, what are the best ways to travel between the two considering price and efficiency?<BR><BR>Thanks.

Becky,<BR><BR>If you read the "Luggage at Kingsford Smith" posts you'll see all my troubles posted, but just FYI- my husband and I will be travelling from Syndey to Cairns Int'l airport for a week long stay in Palm Cove via Virgin Blue air. I spent quite awhile scoping out the cheapest ( & quickest) way to get there and back and Virgin Blue won out easily! You can buy your tickets online (they'll charge your credit card but the total is actually in AUS currency, so if you're from the US- you'll win out, financially, big time). Anywho, go to www.virginblue.com - I think you'll find it the overall best option to get up to the Cairns/Palm Cove/Port Duuglas way... I'm sure Liz, Patti, and Alan could give you more (and better) info as well - they seem to all be very knowledgeable on this site! (among many nameless others too!) Have a great trip Becky!

I will chip in here and say that I would only fly Qantas to Cairns, or anywhere else, after my last flight with Virgin Blue. There is not that much difference in price if you buy on line tickets and in some cases Qantas is cheaper. <BR>On my last flight( and I mean that in both way as I will never fly with them again) on Virgin my son and I were in the back of the plane although we had requested and was told that we could have exit aisle seats. David's knees just about came up around his chin and there was absolutely no way that I could get out of the seat without going through some dreadful contortion. I made a note that on a 737 Virgin Blue have about 30 more seats than does Qantas and let me tell you that you wouldn't want to be sitting on Virgin for longer than one hour in that state as that does equate to a lot less room. <BR>Cairns is about a 3 hour flight from Sydney with a stopover in Brisbane mostly but you may be lucky and go right through. <BR>By the time you add having to pay for headphones, coffee, tea and snacks and a Chiropractor after flying Virgin, Qantas doesn't look too bad in terms of cost.

Hi, Becky!<BR>Regardless of which airline you choose, flying is the most efficient and cost-effective way of making the trip, as the long, winding coast road is a bit of a pain and does not even look at the water for most of its interminable length. By next May all the airlines will have changed prices and pecking order, and one or two will have gone belly-up anyway, so don't get too stressed about which one to fly, just yet. It's a major traffic route and there are many flights every day, so you won't have any trouble getting on a plane.

Thanks for all the advice! We will keep all the advice in mind for when we book the flights!! I will be sure to check out your post about your struggles and keep those in mind too! Thanks so much!<BR><BR>