Chances of QF sale fares BNE - MEL return during Australian Open

[mjgriffo]

Hi all,

Mrs MJGriffo and I are off to see the first week of the Australian Open, and are looking to book some cheap Y QF fares BNE > MEL on Sunday 17/01 returning Thursday 21/01.

What are the chances of there being a QF sale for that period / route, prior to then? The cheapest flights we can find at the moment (not using an overseas agent via Cheap Flight Finder —) seems to be around $696 return.

Any ideas or alternatives welcome - thanks in advance.

 

[opusman]

It seems unlikely as MEL is obviously a very popular destination at that time. Have you looked for award flights?

 

[Kade Reid]

Those dates are still school holidays in Victoria. Fares may come down $30 or so each way, but I don't like your chances. I would lock them in as soon as possible to get the more popular flight times.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Sometimes they announce sales on Boxing Day for travel around 07Jan onwards but when you've locked in tickets for an actual event you'd understandably want to locknin something earlier.

Sometimes redeeming points can be handy for these times when fares are a lot more expensive. Have you looked whether there's any award seats for those dates?

 

[mjgriffo]

Yes - there's plenty of award seats on most of the flights - we had planned to ferret away our points in preparation for a big OS trip, from memory they were all 12,000 points + $34 per person per sector.

 

[wmetz]

Why do people need cheap tickets to fly, they just need to get a better paying job to pay for more expensive tickets or get the tax payer to pay for their ticket

 

[opusman]

Seems like a good use of points then.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

You could always book a one way fare BNE/MEL using points for Sun 17 Jan for the times you want seeing as though there's plenty of award availability then leave booking the flight home for Thu 21 Jan until after Boxing Day when the post Xmas sale fares are released.

Then there's no stress about missing your all important tennis match and if you can't get a cheap sale fare coming back you could then use points to fly home. As 21 Jan is a Thursday there's more likelihood of finding "X" class seats than there would be on a weekend.

You could even book VA MEL/BNE on a sale fare once they're released and with family pooling, everyone's status credits and points would help you retain your VA silver status or go towards gold.

 

[Kade Reid]

Thank you Mr Hockey!

 

[chrispy3276]

To the OP - Looks like you may be in luck between now and the 22nd of June for sale fares in the period you're after!

 

[mjgriffo]

Thanks Gusty, snavelled some up within hours of them going on sale, ended up saving around $200 return for the 2 of us. Had my trusty Qantas app listening for any sales!

 

[JohnK]

To the OP - Looks like you may be in luck between now and the 22nd of June for sale fares in the period you're after!

Did I miss a sale last week?

I was going to say very little chance of a sale during school holiday peak periods but it seems you need to be looking at the right time.