When half-price domestic flights go on sale, how can you get one

Almost 100,000 cheap flights have been snapped in the half-price airfare program — with this tropical destination a popular choice.

It may not be a travel destination at the top of any Melburnian’s list right now, but cheap flights to Queensland cities have been highly sought-after within the first hours of discounted airfares going on sale.

The Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Cairns are among the most popular half-price flight routes being snapped up by travel-hungry punters, after the cheap flights went on sale at 12.01am Thursday morning.

The three major airlines — Qantas, Virgin and Jetstar — all reported growth in ticket sales to the sunshine state through the Tourism and Aviation Support Program, a $1.2b federal government initiative to help Australia’s struggling aviation sector.

Qantas has sold more than 50,000 discounted airfares and Jetstar 45,000 in the first 11 hours of tickets going on sale.

Cairns, Adelaide, Darwin, Hobart, Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast are among the most popular destinations.

Virgin Australia saw a surge in cheap flight sales to Queensland, with the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Cairns the three sought after routes.

Almost 20 per cent of Virgin’s top 10 routes booked since 12am were for flights to or from the Gold Coast.

Virgin Australia said consumer confidence in booking flights in advance was up on last week, with almost 80 per cent of bookings made at least 30 days from the departure date, compared to last week which only saw 40 per cent of bookings made within two weeks of departure.

A Qantas Group spokesman said it was great to see return to domestic travel.

“It’s fantastic to see this kind of confidence coming back to the domestic travel market,” the spokesman said.

“This sale gives everyone a chance to reconnect with loved ones, reschedule those important celebrations or just take a well-deserved break, and means we can get more of our people back to work.”

Discounted flight tickets will be available to buy from Thursday April 1. Picture: Akane Hatai

Tickets went on sale at 12.01am on Thursday morning, with a sudden surge in demand momentarily crashing both Virgin Australia and Qantas’ online booking pages.

Virgin Australia released 260,000 half-priced economy seats across nine regions and 25 destinations, which includes eight routes departing from Melbourne.

Virgin’s cheap flights start at $55 one way per person between Melbourne and Launceston, discounted from $109.

Other Melbourne highlights include one-way tickets costing $88 to the Sunshine Coast, $78 to the Gold Coast and $103 to Hamilton Island.

Virgin Australia’s website momentarily crashed when flooded with requests to book cheap flights. Picture: Supplied.

Many tickets were still available when the Herald Sun visited each airlines website as the sale began.

However later on Thursday morning, fewer fares were available to popular destinations such as the Sunshine Coast or Hamilton Island on certain dates.

Depending on the airline, it appears the discounted fares are only between certain dates and not across the federal government program’s indicated travel period between April 1 and September 30.

Virgin Australia has $55 tickets from Melbourne to Launceston between April 13 and September 28.

However, Melbourne to the Sunshine Coast’s $88 fare is only valid between April 28 and June 23 and July 14 and September 15 — which excludes Victoria’s winter school holidays.

About 10 minutes after the cheap flights went on sale, Jetstar also appeared to have very few discounted flights in April, and also excluded cheap airfares over the winter school holidays, on the Melbourne and Sunshine Coast route.

Jetstar’s discounted flights in April and May as of 12.10am Thursday. Picture: Supplied.

Jetstar’s cheap tickets also exclude July’s winter holidays. Picture: Supplied.

Qantas said it did not have an update on its half-price ticket sales on Thursday morning.

Virgin Australia and Jetstar have been contacted for comment.

Qantas saw an influx of users access its website. Picture: Supplied.

YOUR CHEAP FLIGHT QUESTIONS ANSWERED

WHEN CAN I BOOK?

Discounted airfares will go on sale from April 1 at 12.01am, until July 31.

WHEN CAN I TRAVEL?

From April 1 to September 30, 2021. Qantas will reportedly take bookings from May.

HOW MUCH IS THE DISCOUNT?

Return flights to eligible locations will receive a 50 per cent discount if booked between April 1 and July 31.

The discounted airfares will be half-price to similar flights in February 2021, a Department of infrastructure, transport, regional development and communications spokesman said.

HOW MANY DISCOUNTED AIRFARES WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE?

A total of 800,000 discounted airfares will be available, with about 46,000 half-price tickets released each week. Flight-routes will be chosen based on their historical reliance on aviation tourism between the months of April and July.

HOW DO I BOOK?

Log onto your preferred airline’s website from April 1, or book a flight via Australian-based travel agents.

HOW WILL I KNOW WHICH FARES ARE DISCOUNTED?

It’s understood fares will be clearly marked when booking online.

DO I NEED TO GET A DISCOUNT VOUCHER?

No, travellers will buy their discounted airfares at the time of booking, rather than through a separate voucher or reimbursement system.

WHAT DISCOUNTED FLIGHT ROUTES ARE AVAILABLE FROM MELBOURNE?

Gold Coast, Cairns, Maroochydore, Uluru, Devonport and Merimbula.

WHAT ARE THE DISCOUNTED FLIGHT ROUTES?

WHAT DESTINATIONS ARE INCLUDED IN THE SCHEME AUSTRALIA-WIDE?

Gold Coast, Cairns, the Whitsundays and Mackay region (Proserpine and Hamilton Island), the Sunshine Coast, Lasseter and Alice Springs, Launceston, Devonport and Burnie, Broome, Avalon, Merimbula, and Kangaroo Island.

Flights, routes and the total number of tickets will be driven by demand and are subject to final discussions with the airlines.

WHICH AIRLINES WILL BE ELIGIBLE?

Major airlines participating in the scheme include Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin.

Airlines that have been operating for at least two years are allowed to apply the discount.

HOW CHEAP WILL THESE DISCOUNTED TICKETS BE?

The Herald Sun approached each major airline with this question and was told more information would be released at a later date.

Based on our calculations from current online pricing, a full-priced Qantas Red e-Deal direct return flight between Melbourne to Maroochydore, travelling between May 3 and 5, will cost $425 per adult. With the discount applied, this trip would cost $212.50.

During the same travel period, a return trip between Melbourne and Cairns will cost $575 per adult, or $287.50.

For Jetstar, on the same travel period, a starter fare return trip between Melbourne and Maroochydore will cost $150 per adult with the discount applied.

Virgin Australia. Picture: Patrick Hamilton.

WHAT TYPE OF FARES ARE INCLUDED IN THE DISCOUNT?

The Herald Sun understands the fares will only include economy. More details around this would be released on Thursday April 1.

I LIVE IN MELBOURNE AND WANT TO TRAVEL TO ALICE SPRINGS — CAN I DRIVE TO SYDNEY AND FLY ON A DISCOUNTED TICKET?

There appears to be no restrictions on doing this.

CAN I GET DISCOUNTED BUSINESS CLASS TICKETS?

No, it appears the discounts will only apply to economy tickets.

ARE THERE LIMITS ON HOW MANY DISCOUNTED FLIGHT TICKETS I CAN GET?

There will not be any limits on the number of tickets customers can purchase.

There will be no limits on the number of discounted airfares you can buy with Virgin Australia. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper.

CAN I EARN FREQUENT FLYER OR VELOCITY POINTS ON THESE FLIGHTS?

All fare types are eligible to earn Velocity Frequent Flyer Points or Qantas Frequent Flyer points.

I HAVE A BIG FAMILY, CAN I BUY MULTIPLE DISCOUNTED AIRFARES AT THE ONE TIME?

Buying multiple tickets at the one time is allowed.

DOES THE HALF-PRICE AIRFARE INCLUDE MY RETURN TRIP?

The discounted airfares are available per leg. So if you can find a discounted fare for both legs of your return trip (getting there and coming back) you can buy both.

WILL I BE COMPENSATED IF I HAVE TO CANCEL BECAUSE OF A SNAP LOCKDOWN?

During COVID-19 most major airlines offered travel credits and refunds for customers impacted by grounded flights and snap lockdowns. Make sure you check the booking terms beforehand with your chosen airline.