Why is holidaying in Australia so expensive?

[markis10]

I have no problem going to the Sunshine Coast or the Gold Coast to play golf.

I thought about going to Melbourne as I like the golf courses and wanted to use the HPC $99 rate cards before they expire end of April. Anyway the Melbourne trip is too expensive so may go back to SYD that weekend.

Cairns might be a cheaper alternative than Melbourne allowing you to still use those rate cards, Palm Cove & Paradse Palms will keep you busy !

 

[Alanslegal]

For me, I like going to SE Asia as it's not only super-duper-ly good value BUT everyone involved in the tourism hospitality is super-duper-ly warm and welcoming. Australia can try with all it's might but will not come close in terms of the service shown by our asian neighbours, and that's just a sad fact.

I don't see the point that someone being paid relative to their respective standard of living cost matters, because at the end of the day, they're paid to work and provide a service.

 

[docjames]

I have no problem going to the Sunshine Coast or the Gold Coast to play golf.

I thought about going to Melbourne as I like the golf courses and wanted to use the HPC $99 rate cards before they expire end of April. Anyway the Melbourne trip is too expensive so may go back to SYD that weekend.

JohnK - FWIW I'd be choosing Thailand too at those prices. :shock:

Airfares QF = $365
Accommodation = $342 (3 nights including 2 nights @$99/night with HPC)
Car hire = $200 ($145 car hire + $55 fuel)
Golf = $225 (3 games including cart)
Food and beverage = $150
Cost to/from BNE airport = $26

Going to SC or GC and you take out ~$400 and the overall price looks much better.

 

[JohnK]

There's no charm in a holiday for us unless you can fly there

So true. :shock:

Also, not sure if you can carry golf clubs on a turboprop without coughing up

John has some knowledge on that question:http://

Now that was a long time ago. Unfortunately that trip never eventuated as a one-way car hire from Mildura-Albury and vv was not feasible.

 

[Oneworldplus2]

Do you really want to go for Songkran? Unless you want to hang around semi-naked in the streets all day and play water fights it is a waste of time.

A friend of mine lives in coughet. He told me that he gets over it after 1 day every year, so, if l plan on going there, I should arrive to get the tail end of it.
I didn't get a chance to go to coughet last time and wanted to have a look around that area. It just happens that it's that time of year. See what happens eh?

 

[JohnK]

Cairns might be a cheaper alternative than Melbourne allowing you to still use those rate cards, Palm Cove & Paradse Palms will keep you busy !

I think the airfares to Cairns that weekend were also expensive.

Going to SC or GC and you take out ~$400 and the overall price looks much better.

It definitely is a much better option and could also save 1 night's accommodation by leaving Saturday morning.

 

[serfty]

Point 1:

It's the ANZAC Day long weekend; Monday being a holiday nationally. Typically airfares increase during such times.


Point 2:

Golf on Mornington Peninsula? March & April are the best months. Not a lot of rain and temperatures consistently around 25° - unlike many Queensland courses which typically get drenched.

Point 3:

Songkran? I was in BKK last year with SWMBO. I did not realise on booking over Easter that our BKK stay would coincide with the water festival. A bit of fun, but far easier viewing from the inside of a tourist bus.

 

[markis10]

Point 2:

Golf on Mornington Peninsula? March & April are the best months. Not a lot of rain and temperatures consistently around 25° - unlike many Queensland courses which typically get drenched.

Its good to see the mis-information campaign is working down south to stop you mexicans stealing all those cheap hotel rooms at holiday times on the coast

I beg to differ on point 2 and so does the Bureau, with a mean max temp of 18 for April and 15 for May for Cape Schanck, while there are 3.1 clear days in April and 2 days in May.

By comparison Southport has a mean max temp 25.9 in April and 23.3 in May, and 7.9 clear days in April and 9.4 in May.

On bureau stats Cape Schanck has more days of rain than the Gold Coast in April and May, but when it does rain it buckets down on the coast accounting for almost double the monthly rainfall!

April is the end of the rainy season in QLD, it is at its worst in Jan when we happily hand over the rooms to our southern friends at $300 a night, in April we pay $109 for the same room :shock:

 

[serfty]

Summary statistics CAPE SCHANCK LIGHTHOUSE

Summary statistics GOLD COAST SEAWAY

Or to put it another way; this is generally the best time weatherwise to play Golf on the Mornington Peninsula.

(The rest of the year, it's generally either hotter, colder or wetter)


None of this detracts from point 1 or 3

 

[markis10]

Or to put it another way; this is generally the best time weatherwise to play Golf on the Mornington Peninsula.

(The rest of the year, it's generally either hotter, colder or wetter)

It did look very nice down at Moonah on Sunday on the TV , not sure I would be travelling so far, in fact for a frequent flyer I would have thought the airport golf course would be worth a shot given its the closest one to any Hilton property, and you get to plane spot at the same time.

BTW I used the Met data from the nearest station - Southport rather than the seaway for the GC.

 

[serfty]

Plane spotting is not too bad as you get most of the South Bound movements to Tassie overhead.

 

[ColinP]

For me, I like going to SE Asia as it's not only super-duper-ly good value BUT everyone involved in the tourism hospitality is super-duper-ly warm and welcoming. Australia can try with all it's might but will not come close in terms of the service shown by our asian neighbours, and that's just a sad fact.

Totally agree. You've just hit the nail on the head.

IME the average hospitality service provider in Australia (more often than not) gives the impression that as a customer, I'm an inconvenience and they'd rather be doing something else.

I'm in Chiang Mai at the moment, about to head out for my third dental appointment this week. The smiling service I receive from everyone from the car park security guard (who has reserved a spot for my motorbike right next to his office so he can keep an eye on it) to the restaurant staff, Tuk-Tuk drivers dentists -- the list goes on, is a quantum leap above anything I have experienced in Australia.
I get the impression that, as the customer, my needs are paramount and it's their job to keep me happy. Of course, in a low paid developing country, there is the financial incentive that a happy customer is more likely to tip but I think it goes much further than that. It's a cultural thing that Australia can never hope to emulate.

 

[drron]

Plane spotting is not too bad as you get most of the South Bound movements to Tassie overhead.

So next time I'm off to DPO I'll wave.

 

[anat0l]

So next time I'm off to DPO I'll wave.

$1,000,000 if you can drive the ball into the side of drron's plane :mrgreen:

 

[serfty]

$1,000,000 if you can drive the ball into the side of drron's plane :mrgreen:

You've seen me play Golf ... you know such an effort requires the ball to be hit into the air off the tee ... QED - your money is safe.

(And safe are any birds flying around; although you can't say the same for those pecking at the ground or roosting in nearby trees )

 

[JohnK]

$1,000,000 if you can drive the ball into the side of drron's plane :mrgreen:

I did not realise that drron owned a place.

Do I have to be on a golf course to drive a ball into the side of drron's plance?

 

[drron]

I doubt I could hit a plane but about 10 weeks ago at Royal Beerwah I did hit a bird in flight.Fortunately it was not an aussie native but an Indian myna-there definitely needs to be less of them.
Unfortunately until then it was the first perfect 1 iron I had hit.

 

[Mrmaxwell]

Australia in general is just becoming too damned expensive!

Housing, living costs, food, cars, entertainment, etc.

I was always told as a kid that travel to worldly destinations would open my mind but also make me appreciate home...well the more I travel the more I don't want to come back. It's always ironic that the first person I see when returning to Oz is some customs officer with a big frown who refuses to speak even after I say G'Day...makes me want to turn around and get back on the plane!

PS. $509 is the cost of my (sale) Jetstar return fare to Thailand over Anzac long weekend...almost the same to fly to Gold Coast or Cairns from Melbourne and I'll still get lounge access Sorry Australian tourism.

 

[Warks]

[deliberate trolling] Why the hell don't you use some of those millions of FF points you have if you want to cut the cost down?!!![/troll]

Anyway...
Yes it's expensive here but I can never understand how anyone can get away with travelling overseas and spending less than here for a beach holiday. Okay Whitsundays vs coughet might go close but with a family the airfares overseas are a killer so we'd go to the beach here (not golf though!) and stay in a holiday house within driving distance of SYD. No way on earth a holiday in Bali could be cheaper (or more enjoyable).

With Mrs Warks we managed a SYD-MEL weekend last year with two nights in a 3.5 star hotel and flights on QF plus what we spent on transfers and meals and we wouldn't have spent much over $600.

And finally there must be two types of travellers - those who enjoy horrible steamy hot places where you nearly get hit by a scooter every four seconds...
and those who don't.
Guess which group I'm in.
(typed from Townsville)

 

[Mal]

I was always told as a kid that travel to worldly destinations would open my mind but also make me appreciate home...well the more I travel the more I don't want to come back.

So true! Although for me, I think I have to return at some stage...