A one-way train ticket from Brisbane Airport to the CBD costs $22.30. But with a bit of creativity, the cheapest way to get from Brisbane Airport to the city using public transport costs just 50 cents!
This article explains your options for getting to and from Brisbane Airport….
Taxis and rideshares
The most convenient but expensive way to get from Brisbane Airport to wherever you need to go is to use a taxi or rideshare service.
A typical taxi fare between Brisbane Airport and the city is around $45-50. If you use Uber, you could expect to pay around $40 for the same trip, and DiDi was around $35 when we conducted a spot check.
Don’t forget that you can link Uber to your Qantas Frequent Flyer account to earn Qantas points when riding to and from selected Australian airports, including Brisbane. You can also earn Velocity points for DiDi rides in Australia.
A slightly cheaper option is the Con-x-ion shuttle bus which charges $32 for a one-way fare from the airport to the city. Different prices apply for travel to other parts of Brisbane or Southeast Queensland, and the per-person price becomes cheaper if you have multiple people in your group. This is a shared shuttle, so you might stop a few times along the way.
The Brisbane Airtrain
The Airtrain is also a very convenient way to get to and from Brisbane Airport. There are stations right outside the domestic and international terminals, and it takes around 25 minutes to get to the city centre. Trains run every 15-30 minutes, depending on the time of day, and continue to the Gold Coast.
If you buy a paper ticket or touch on using your Go Card or credit card, the price is $22.50 for a one-way trip from the airport to the city. But you can get a 15% discount if you pre-purchase your Airtrain ticket online, bringing the price down to $18.96. Two adults travelling together can get a slightly cheaper price at $32 for both people ($16 each), and kids under 14 travel free with a paying adult.
The 50-cent method
As a much cheaper but less convenient alternative, you can take the free Skygate Airport Transfer Bus from the Brisbane domestic or international terminals to Skygate Shopping Centre (opposite DFO).
The complimentary Skygate Loop shuttle service departs every 30 minutes and the trip takes 10-20 minutes. It runs every day between around 6.20am and 6pm (except on weekends, when the first service departs at 8.20am).
From Skygate, you can then take a route 590 bus to Toombul train station. Finally, catch a train or another bus from Toombul to the city or wherever you’re heading in Brisbane or Southeast Queensland on the Translink network. As this is part of Brisbane’s regular public transport network, the fare will only be 50 cents.
Note that the Airtrain is excluded from the 50-cent public transport tickets in Brisbane. But by using the Skygate method, you don’t have to pay the much higher Airtrain prices!
The Skygate method can take quite a bit longer than the direct train service, so only use this method if you have spare time up your sleeve. And check the connection times first as the buses don’t run that frequently. According to AFF member henrus, using this method adds around 30-45 minutes to the journey time.
But at a cost of just 50 cents to get to or from the airport, you really can’t beat the price!
