When Is It Cheaper to Fly to Australia?

Ah, Australia. Fascinating country of contrasts: cosmopolitan cities and snow-capped mountains, dramatic beaches and the desert-like outback. Well worth the 20-or-so-hour flight from the U.S., most travelers find. Some Americans love it so much they even opt to relocate there after they stop working (see Find the Top Retirement Cities in Australia).

Alas, the Land Down Under is not a cheap place to visit, and just getting there can strain any travel budget: Airfares from the U.S. can be as high as $2,000 to $3,000. The good news is that there are times of the year and even days of the week when you can fly to Australia for less.

Like most tourist destinations, Australia has different travel seasons. Qantas, Australia’s largest airline by fleet size and number of international flights, publishes fares based on three seasons: high, low and shoulder. Because the airlines pay close attention to demand in pricing schemes, there are multiple low and shoulder seasons throughout the year (which differs from many tourist destinations that have only three defined periods for low, shoulder and peak seasons). What would be one long low season during Australia’s winter, for example, is instead interrupted by a pricier shoulder season that coincides with school vacations in the U.S.

So just when are the various seasons? According to Qantas, the high (or peak) season, which runs from about the second week of December through January, is when airfare tends to be the priciest because of the heavy holiday-oriented traffic. This is Australia’s summer (remember, the country is in the Southern Hemisphere, so seasons are opposite those in the Northern Hemisphere), and, depending on where you are, the weather can be (really) hot and dry, making the numerous beaches especially popular.

The shoulder season fits in between the peak and low seasons, and runs from February 1 thru April (late summer into fall); the second week of June until about the third week of July (winter, but when schools are out in the U.S.); and the third week of September through the first week of December (spring), just before people start traveling for the holidays.

The cheapest airfare tends to be during the low season, which runs from May 1 through the first week in June, and again from about the third week in July through the third week in September. These periods represent late fall and winter and temperatures are cooler, especially the farther south you are, heading toward Antarctica (again, this is opposite of the Northern Hemisphere, where people are used to heading south during the winter to warm up).

For comparison, we looked for the cheapest published fares on qantas.com for 14-day trips, traveling on Wednesdays in both directions during each of the three travel seasons, flying between Los Angeles and Sydney (prices in U.S. dollars). While the precise prices will vary, these figures represent the typical ratio among the seasons:

If you have some flexibility in your travel dates, you may be able to save money by flying Monday thru Thursday, and avoiding weekend flights. A quick peek at the published fares on qantas.com, for example, shows that if we traveled on Saturdays instead of Wednesdays, the fares would increase in each season by at least $100 (we looked at the same general dates as above, but moved each trip forward a few days to travel on Saturdays in both directions).

Depending on your plans, you may be able to save money by purchasing a travel package that includes airfare and accommodations. A search on online travel aggregator Kayak, for example, shows a flight-plus-budget hotel deal for $2,300, traveling between August 14 and August 28 (the same dates we searched for low-season fares), which is just $260 more for the flight alone on qantas.com (for more on comparing booking sites, see Best Ways to Purchase Cheap Airline Tickets). Depending on your preferences, you could spend $2,300 for a package and stay in a hotel in Downtown Sydney, or $3,784 to stay at a larger but luxe venue like the Four Seasons Hotel Sydney, with its swank spa. Many other options are available as well.

Australia is such a diverse country (and continent), that it takes weeks, if not months, to even begin to explore all that it has to offer. Like other tourist destinations, the country has different seasons when travel will be more, or less, expensive, so it pays to study the dates. You might be able to shave a few dollars off your airfare if you can travel on different days of the week. Booking your flight and accommodations together, instead of purchasing them separately, could also result in hefty savings. Spend some time on research now – and that way, you’ll be able to spend more time in Australia.