SeanG

Try Trailfinders. They sorted my flights to Oz last year. 3 weeks return with 2 internal flights included was about £800 IIRC

druddle

I would advise Bridge The World. I have know quite a few people that have used them and got very good prices and very good service.

I used Trailfinders and was not impressed with them, the visa that was arranged for my fiance to be at the desk in Sydney when we arrived was not there and she couldnt get into the country for 3 hrs [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

Dave

Mo

Sorry but I've got to agree with Dave.

I'm going for a month later on this year. I wanted to get an overnight stopover in Bangkok or Singapore both there and back and required three internal flights. Our return flight would be from a different airport than the one we arrived at. Traifinders were changing their prices depending on who and when I spoke with them! When I then stated that 'Jane' had given me a price of xxx earlier they would then stick me on hold only to return and say that this was not the case. This happened on more than one occasion. One of the operators even said that I could not return via a different airport!

I ended up booking direct with BA (if you keep looking they do some very good offers) and got my internal flights from Virgin Blue.

Total cost = less than the cheapest quote from Trailfinders

uncle buck

thanks guys, Sean what I'm planning is doing either:

a: Fly to Sydney hire a car to drive up to Brisbane and then on to Cairns in three weeks or:

b: Fly to Brisbane then drive to Cairns in three weeks.

Is b more prctical than a and could I return from Cairns or would I need an internal flight back to Sydney or Bris to get the return flight?

cheers,

R.

druddle

Mo - we had to argue about the flights until i went to the Trailfinders office in Kensington and sat there until i saw someone who would honour the price I was quoted.

We flew LHR - Singapore - Sydney, then an internal from Sydney - Perth and then Perth - Singapore - LHR.

One piece of advice, of all the airlines I have flown long haul (including BA, Qantas, Virgin, Continental, Lufthansa) I would say that Singapore Airlines stand head and shoulders above the rest. They do a coshare with BA and Qantas i think, make sure you get on a Singapore flight !!!

Dave

uncle buck

"a bit convoluted" you're not kidding there..

Good advice about the speed limits - but I'm not planning on too much 'Scooby style' driving

So, do you need to fly to and from the same destination, I suspect you do. In fact, does Cairns have an international airport? I'm not sure if it does?

druddle

Everyone i've known thats flown to Cairns has gone via Sydney.

uncle buck

That's what I suspect. I'll check it out.

Robin

Mo

I'm flying into Sydney then using internals for Brisbane and Cairns.

Cairns does have an international airport and our original return flight was booked from here. However (nothings ever simple is it!) BA wrote to me three weeks after booking saying that they had had to change the flights and we now get a flight from Cairns to Brisbane, pick up some people in Brisbane then onto Singapore. They did not give any reason for the change other than saying that they had to reschedule for reasons beyond their control.

Dave our flight numbers are QF so I presume they're with Quantas although it'd be good if it was with Singapore Airlines.

We'll wait and see!

SeanG

According to the Lonely Planet Australia site Cairns is an international airport and I remember that when we were there you could fly to Auckland from Cairns, but Long Haul flights may not land there.

You also need an International driving permit to rent a car (these are available from the RAC and last for 1 year).

Sydney - Brisbane = 612 miles
Sydney - Cairns = 1684 miles

uncle buck

Sean,

I think you can get an International driving permit from the Post Office also.

Sydney - Brisbane = 612 miles
Sydney - Cairns = 1684 miles

Indeed - the distances are huge, but that's the appeal... Highway 1 - coastline all the way (almost). Not sure about the Sydney to Brisbane stretch time wise, I may just go for the second part, but I would like to see Sydney though. Maybe fly from Sydney to Bris, though it seems like a bit of a cop out...

Robin.

zilch

Ref the international Driving permit, not needed if you have a standard UK licence (the picture one), which is accepted at most rental companies that i dealt with

Cheers

Jim

uncle buck

thanks guys - useful stuff

anyone else?

Miles

Erm, I was in Perth 18 months ago and rented a car just with my standard GB driving licence. Didn't need an international driving licence

druddle

Me too, just took me photocard license to the place in Perth and I was away down to Albany in me Corolla........

uncle buck

hmm... I've seen it said that a GB photocard license should be OK, but someone who is native reckoned an International Drivers Permit would guarentee no problems.

ariel

Standard license with no picture was Ok for me.
Try to get inland a bit when you drive north, the way the colours and flora change as you drive down from the high ground is amazing.

uncle buck

Does anyone know of good sources for getting these please?

...and any other advice about booking long haul flights....

Thanks in advance.

[Edited by uncle buck - 7/10/2002 2:40:35 PM]

SeanG

You can get a tourist electronic visa off the Australia House website for half the price of the travel agents and you are sure that it has been done as you get a email with reference number to quote if asked by customs. Travel agents should be trusted with as little as possible I have found. However, I have used Trailfinders twice now for pretty complicated trips to Oz and also to Alaska with multiple changes en route and have not had any problems with the flight bookings.

[Edited by SeanG - 7/10/2002 2:53:05 PM]

SeanG

Uncle Buck - Our trip was a bit convoluted as we wanted to see 2 Lions tests and visit Cairns, but my sister-in-law was living in Perth and we also wanted to visit her. So we flew into Syndey, changed planes and flew to Cairns for 5 days (This was probably enough time to 'do' Cairns with a trip to the rain forest and a reef diving trip). We then flew to Perth for a few days then on to Melbourne for the Lions test. Then we drove to Adelaide via the Great Ocean Road which took 3.5 days driving. A couple of days in Adelaide then flights to Sydney for another Lions test, a couple of day sightseeing then home.

We thought about driving to Cairns from Brisbane but it is a much longer drive then we first thought and as we had so much to cram in would have taken up too much of our time. It should be possible to drive it from Brisbane in the 3 weeks you have with time to spare for doind stuff, but the speed limits are 90 - 100 km/h in most rural areas and the cops are very strict on enforcing this (None of the aussies we saw on the roads were speeding)so it can take much longer to get anywhere then you first think when comparing to driving here in the UK. Not sure if the Sydney - Cairns drive would be possible, it is a very long way.

Not sure if you can fly back from Cairns to the UK, we certainly had to fly in via Sydney.

[Edited by SeanG - 7/10/2002 3:36:06 PM]

druddle

Mo - when we got the flight details the flight had a BA number, QF number and a SQ number due to the coshare. We were luck enough to be on a Singapore plane !!

One of the most vivid memories i had of that flight was taking off in the frost on 4th Dec from LHR and landing at 0600h in Singapore. Walked thru the Airport and thru the doors to the viewing platform/garden and almost got knocked back in !! It was 83 deg F at 0645h in the morning !!!

Oops also forgot walking out to meet my sister in Sydney airport, 10 metres behind one of the top Aussie Rules footballers, and being greeted by TV crews, cameras and boom mics. I didnt know that my holiday to Oz was that important !!! Then i woke up

[Edited by druddle - 7/10/2002 4:50:11 PM]

zilch

Got back from OZ in april, I went through ebookers, http://www.ebookers.com. Flew with JAL to Sydney and got an internal flight (brisbane-Sydney return), plus overnight stay in tokyo on the way back for about 650 squids per person. Sometimes its better to call them and get them to work you a deal, they also do the electronic visa for you. Recommend them anytime from my own experiences of course

Cheers

Jim

Edited to say you can go direct to Cairns via Tokyo with JAL

[Edited by zilch - 7/12/2002 2:14:11 PM]