A London-based traveler is outraged after she was charged up to $1,899 for a three-hour flight between two neighboring Australian states.
Hayleye was looking for return flights from Sydney to Hervey Bay in Queensland over the Christmas and New Year period through booking.com, a third-party travel agency that sells Qantas flights.
She was shocked to discover that flights would cost between $441 and $1,899 and branded the cost of the higher fares as “purely a money grab.”
“This is what they charge from NSW to Queensland. This makes me beyond angry!
‘I’ll say it again for the keyboard warriors: there are cheaper options, but they don’t match my international flight arrival, and this happened to me while searching all the different websites.
‘I was just pointing out that they think/could charge for this at all. Yes, there is cheaper, yes, this is the most expensive there is, but the point was that that is even an option.’
The same data on the Qantas website showed direct return flights from Sydney to Hervey Bay would cost passengers between $471 and $1,005.
Return flights that stopped in Brisbane ranged between $698 and $2,081.
A traveler from London was shocked to discover Qantas return flights from Sydney to Hervey Bay could cost her more than $1,700 (pictured, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce)
Flights that stopped in Brisbane between Sydney and Hervey Bay cost almost $2,000
There are several factors that influence the quoted fare for flights.
Australians are advised to compare prices from different sources to find the best deal. An effective method is to use a website like Skyscanner, which searches multiple travel sites and lets you compare offers.
Being flexible with variables such as travel dates, layovers and airlines will also maximize savings. The more flexible you are, the more options you have.
Budget airline Jetstar, for example, offers direct flights with similar departure times at less than half the price of Qantas fares, albeit without baggage.
Traveling a day later can save you around $85 on Qantas fares, and avoiding the peak summer period can lead to significant savings.
A Qantas spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia that Jetstar had return flights from Sydney to Hervey Bay for $409 and Qantas offered return flights from $799.
“It seems like the rates on booking.com are more expensive,” she said.
Aussies were divided over whether the prices were unfair.
“You fly out of a small/regional airport during the holidays and complain because they don’t have cheap flights at the exact time you want,” one man said.
Hayleye responded, “The point I wanted to make is that they should be allowed to charge this amount in the first place. The fact that it is regional should not make it extortionate.’
‘If you have family in Australia, let them book the flights, it’s cheaper. Qantas can tell you’re in another country,” one woman suggested.
Hayleye said the cheaper flights wouldn’t leave her without enough time to travel from the international to the domestic airport, meaning she would have to spend more (stock image)
Hayleye said she understood Christmas was expensive and had no problem paying between $700 and $800 for return flights to Hervey Bay.
“But I just think everything up there is a complete money grab!” she continued.
‘I’m not saying there aren’t cheaper options, just not options that fit what I need. I just think it’s crazy that they can charge for this at all.’
One woman said she had lived in Hervey Bay for 25 years and it had always been expensive to fly from regional areas.
‘I fly from Adelaide to Brisbane regularly, about once or twice a month, it always costs $600 return. It might have been better to book from here,” she wrote.