Finally some REAL competition on the coveted Melbourne-Sydney route with the entrance of Tiger Airways.
Fly with Tiger Airways from Tullamarine Airport to Sydney Airport from $68 one way all inclusive (plus CC and luggage fees). It will fly 4 times a day.
Travel between 03 Jul 09 - 03 Oct 09.
Though this is not rock-bottom price, this will hopefully drives the fare down in the future.
Bravo for Tiger Airways. Bravo for competition.
Remember that Jetstar uses Avalon airport which by itself is a big disadvantage for many of us.
Not really fair to compare Avalon Airport departure (Jetstar) with Tullamarine (Tiger).
Real happy that Tiger has entered this route now!
Departing/Arriving at Tulla rather than Avalon beats Jetstar alone, YOU get NEGATIVE!
Pfft, Jetstar are ridiculous, I recently went SYD-MEL and they were TWICE as expensive as Virgin for the SAME time, but they went to Avalon which for someone like me (from Sydney) was in the middle of nowhere. Qantas took us straight to Tullamarine and a short Skybus trip later we were in our hotel..
I applaud Tiger for getting their paws wet and starting Sydney flights. They've always had fantastic prices but as they didn't service Sydney it was no use for many of us. Glad to see them here.
FYI: Virgin one way SYD-MEL cost $68 + cc surcharge, departed 9.15AM - Jetstar were $129 for the same time, one-way to Avalon. Another 40 minutes - 1 hour from Avalon to CBD. Even Qantas were only $89 going MEL-SYD, included 23kg baggage allowance and refreshments..
If you want to pay $39 to Avalon, feel free. If you then want to pay $100 for a cab to the CBD, go ahead!
So where's the deal Virgin = Tiger
And what bargain hunter will catch a cab anyway from Tullamarine or Avalon.
Only if the company pays - and they will pay the airfare as well.
Most times in Melb it cheaper to rent a car than catch a cab, unless its a business trip going to a meeting in the CBD
and everyone can quote a cost that was paid for a flight eg Jetstar $100+, vs a deal price. I am off to NZ with emirates for $300 return where Virgin was $450 for same time and Jetstar didnt have flights to book. So what does that mean?? - frankly nothing - because two days later emirates was $550 vs Virgin $420 but i wanted those days.
Good that Tiger is entering the Tulla market to Sydney.
I'm not paying Jetstar more to fly from Avalon!
Nice find. More competition is great.
Tullamarine is much more convenient than Avalon. One is 15 minutes away from the CBD the other one is 45 minutes to an hour away.
Boo. This is what previously seperated tiger from other airlines.
Now with this route covered we will be seeing less specials and low fares as tiger will need to raise all other ticket prices to encorporate the huge fees from Kingsford Smith airport.
To be honest I don't think we'll see this happen. I reckon Tiger are just testing the waters to see how well this sale goes. Mark my words - we will see cheaper Sydney fares from them soon.
(I don't work for tiger - this is just my personal opinion!)
Well I don't see how both of your statements can't be true.
I see Tiger doing it (they are already selling fares) and I see prices to get cheaper in the future with increased competition.
By the way, Tiger is NOT paying heavy fees for Sydney Airport that Jetstar/Virgin pay. Tiger have been in talks since last August and have been negotiating for ages. They will not budge until they get their low price. Or they will drop a route if the airport does not offer commissions/low charges etc… Plus their Managing Director used to work for Sydney Airport Limited. I think she knows what she is doing…
And for the bargain hunters, I would be VERY surprised if that fare did not drop in in the next three months..
I don't think the fees to pay to Sydney Airport is because of negotiations. It probably because they dont need as many services/frills as Jetstar/Virgin.
IRC, the only reason they didn't move into Sydney airport was due to space restrictions. Because of the downturn and other airlines cutting back flights they can now use the airport.
Jetstar and Avalon blows - go Tiger!
Perhaps Seanb is employed by Jetstar/Qantas?
Can't wait for Tiger fares from Sydney to Asian destinations like KL, SIngapore, Bangkok and Manila
I can confirm that I am not employed by Jetstar/Qantas or any other airline… Just commenting like everybody else but happy to be proven wrong (as the crowd overwhelmingly seems to be telling me!!!)
Really people - this in itself is NOT a bargain, as most admit.
Most will spend an hour in a queue to save $20 on a tank of gas, so $30 for an extra 30 minute trip to the CBD is that not a bargain?
And then to quote Jetstar as the only "competitor" Virgin have also been offering cheap fares to Melbourne at $69 oneway. And you dont have to wait until July for this.
So why not save the votes for when Tiger DOES do the competing not just because its entered the market.
Those in Newcastle aren't that excited about Tiger anymore - it came it saw and it left. When the fares get hot they melt.
BTW perhaps GreatWhiteHunter works for Tiger.
You can't wait for July to fly Virgin as their sale isn't on then (starts again from 28 July) whereas Tiger is. Virgin Blue generally has different, more restrictive sale dates. If i can remember right, Tigers sale dates are usually much more flexible. You'll rarely find Jetstar or Virgin Blue offering sales through the bulk of July.. this is what i get if i do a test search of Syd-Melb return on 15-20 July - during NSW school holidays..
Virgin = $85+99 = $184 return
Tiger = $68+68 = $136 return
Jetstar = $69+69 = $138 return
Exactly, and Virgin Blue has themselves said they won't be in the same league as Jetstar and Tiger when it comes to pricing.
I'm still struggling to see how it's not a good deal, especially the potential price reduction it will bring to the competition. You can expect Jetstar to drop their Avalon to Sydney fares pretty soon because there's no way they can compete with Tiger with that sort of price.
It should be noted that Tiger will only start flying in July.
So go for it, the more the merrier - as you said it will bring on the competition. That way I can book one of the cheaper flights that you say will come from this "deal". When that comes I'll be back quick smart and vote positive on this deal. Until then I'll reserve my vote.
Well, I have no idea why you think it's 30 minutes from Avalon to CBD because it took me at least 45-1hr to do it.
First you need to get from Avalon to Lara (about 10-15 minutes). Then you take the train which is about 40 minutes on its own.
That is the absolute cheapest way to do it. Keep in mind not everyone is eligible to rent a car too (license/age restrictions).
Or you can go to Tullamarine and pay $26 for a RETURN Skybus concession ticket. Free shuttle bus to hotel as well. And imagine carrying all your luggage from Avalon on a bus and then a train to CBD. No thanks..
Perhaps OzPete works for Jetstar/Qantas too?
Really??? Guess Geoff Dixon will have my head for flying Emirates to NZ - see my post above. This ticket BTW hasn't been beaten in price since it was offered in January (And it didn't cost extra for CC or for baggage)
finally Tiger flying out of Sydney! this is great news :D
hope Tiger starts bringing in some Syd- S.E Asia routes too.
I don't think this is a bargain, but could (hopefully) mean more bargains in the future - will be watching carefully from now on.
Just made a booking on this route.
I don't think anyone has noted this, but Tiger charges a $5 "convenience fee" for booking online and $7 fee for booking on the phone. That's per seat, not per booking. So I was charge $20 extra for return flight for 2 people.
That was a bit of a surprise for me as it was only added to the total cost after I had submitted my credit card information.
Going back through the booking process, I found a "convenience fee" link in tiny text on the left sidebar on the credit card screen. Not very noticeable at all.
This is still a good deal for the price, but I thought I'd warn anyone who had not booked with Tiger before.
I'm afraid that's standard practice in the Aussie airline industry. I think only with the exception of Qantas which provides a Bpay option for flights booked more than 7 days in advanced, they all charge this credit card processing fee or whatever they call it.
I think they should just include it in their total price given that there's no way of not paying that fee.
Still cant believe Qantas charge a $7.40 Credit Card Fee. Crazy. LCC's over in Europe want $15-20 for a Credit Card swipe, so mabye we are lucky?
jetstar have that option too. well they did last time i booked but didnt the time before (even though i booked a month in advance). i think jetstar now lets u pay bpay if 14+ days before flight.
"I think they should just include it in their total price given that there’s no way of not paying that fee."
spot on there - if they give you no option with card payments, they should include it. do they still let you put in a "voucher" code - no idea how to even get a voucher?
I think anything more than $2-3 for a domestic flight card fee is ridiculous (thats for return). I think right now the standard charge is $5 per segment per per person, so that's $20 for 2 people right there
Can't find any seats avail. for when I wanna fly ;)
Good price - not a bargain as like other cities though from Tiger!