# Flight to Uluru - prefer Brisbane or Sydney departures?



## NoreenS

I've just booked two flights to Brisbane from Canada in March 2010 using Mastercard points. Now I want to book a flight from Brisbane to Uluru. Is it a lot easier or faster to get to Uluru from Sydney? I tried to check airline schedules online but can't find out how long each flight will take and what the stop-overs are. It may cost me a $200 reschedule penalty to change our flights from Canada to Sydney but it may be worth it in the long run? I'd sure appreciate any help you can give me. Thanks!


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## Wanderer

Welcome to the forum Noreen and I hope you like it hot which to some extent coming from Vancouver in March could be something of a gift but it's going to be hot hot, like up around 40C if not a tad over.
It is however a very dry heat there [well usually] but what rain that the inland centre does get is usually associated with monsoonial flows, storms and any cyclones of the northern wet season and NW that may cause moist streams to head further south and east.
But even with any late rain [that'll be welcome by locals] it will not make things too humid nor for too long.
Bonus is that if it rains at Uluru, you can get even better colour changes at sunrise or sunset when the rock is wet.

But back to getting there, Qantas is the only airline that flys in and out of Uluru and yep, flights from Brisbane are not as good as those from Sydney or Melbourne and maybe even Cairns.
But the flight times ought to be pretty clear on the Qantas web site, Qantas.com and if you put in Brisbane and then Ayers Rock [the airport out there still being referred as that] you ought to get the various flights popping up.

If you are staying long enough to see a bit more of the country, like heading down to southern parts the other option you might want to look at is flying to Alice Springs from Melbourne or Adelaide.
There is Welcome To Tiger Airways, a budget airline who are a subsidiary of Singapore airlines and quite good and safe [use them regularly myself] and they fly between M and A to AS and also to the Gold Coast [90 km. south of Brisbane].
You'll see from the web site that Tiger run sales and they do fairly often and so if that looks like an option to you, you could register for emails from them and you'll hear of sales that include the March period.

The GC btw is Australias fun holiday capital - MyFun - The official site for Australia's favourite Theme Parks, Attractions and Resort | MyFun by way of some explanation but also much more down there too.
Pretty easy to get there from Brisbane, either by a direct bus type shuttle @~$40 and there's also the Brisbane's Airtrain - Airport, CBD & Gold Coast Transfers for about same cost with most of the journey by train and a connection with a chauffered vehicle or even cheaper if you get a standard bus from one of the GC stations, Helensvale probably as good as any.

You're probably thinking well AS is nearly there but what of the trip to Uluru and that's where you need to consider the other cost that can be quite high, accommodation out at Uluru - and Ayers Rock Resort, Uluru - Kata Tjuta, Outback Australia, Nothern Territory, Voyages Hotels & Resorts have something of a monopoly and cheapest will be backpacker or 3* accommodation at the Outback Lodge - Outback Pioneer Hotel and Lodge - Ayers Rock Resort - Uluru , cheap enough for a 20 bed dorm!!!!, and you can supposedly book it a bit cheaper through YHA Australia if you were a member of Hostelling International.; meal costs also going to hit your pocket a bit too as will getting from your accommodation at Yulara to the rock some 15-20 km. away.

The alternative is to do a camping out style trip between AS and Uluru, Small Group adventure tours and travel throughout Australia being pretty good and there's others such as Groovy Grape Getaways , The Rock Tour - Uluru - Ayers Rock - Central Australia and about the same price as the latter or cheapest of the lot, G'DAY!! from Mulgas Adventures Alice Springs Central Australia
You not only have your accommodation and meals mostly covered, even if it is to be camping style but you get the bonus of a real experience of the red centre, including Kings Canyon, transport to the rock and then the unstated best bonus of all, sleeping out and taking in stars of the inland unpolluted dark skies like you'll never have likely seen them before.

You mention flights from Sydney and yep, that's another option but before you go accepting a change penalty, it may not be necessary for pretty much standard fares between Sydney and Brisbane are ~$100.00 and sometimes they'll be a bit lower if sales are on and flights between Sydney and Uluru can be had for about $250 at times if pressed for time, so you could fly Brisbane down to Sydney and then Sydney to Uluru and return the same way, or even down to Melbourne or Adelaide one way, do a camping trip and stay at Uluru to fly back from there via Sydney to Brisbane.
Cheap Flights, Qantas, Virgin Blue, Jetstar - Cheap Flights & Airfares - Compare Flights at Webjet - Webjet.com.au will show what best Sydney/Brisbane normal fares are, there being that airtrain running between international and domestic terminals, the domestic one being furtherest east or away from the city towards the east end of the airport.

There'll be sales at various times and for March, they could be put out either before or after Xmas peak flights time and if you register with Virgin Blue Home , Cheap flights - Jetstar Airways for emails as with Tiger you'll get to hear of sales specials.
Australian Travel Agent : Best Flights Online Travel Agency Australia is a travel agency site you could also try registering with as they used to send out emails, maybe not now though.

There's a couple of catches with Tiger like there is with most budget airlines and that's anything over 15Kg for luggage and you pay an excess [not so bad if you pre declare and pay it when booking] and then you have to make sure you allow plenty of time to check in for 45 minutes before flight time, those people waiting to check in will miss the flight!.

So work your way through all that and any more questions, come back.

*EDIT* It could vary a little depending on exact dates you're looking at but just using webjet and nomial dates of out on 13/3 and back 16/3 prices ex Brisbane to Ayers Rock are better than for Sydney, some showing @$254 as against $271.

You do not really ever get sales for those flights seeing as Qantas have a monopoly and that's a good price and if that is the sort of thing you ideally want to do, then I'd book but always do it direct with the airlines.


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## NoreenS

*Awesome answer, Wanderer*

Wow, what an awesome answer! Thank you, Wanderer, for taking so much time to help us. Actually, there's a method to our madness of traveling to Uluru mid-March. We land in Brisbane March 17th. After getting over our jet-lag we plan to spend two days at Uluru (we hope to go to a Sounds of Silence dinner) and two at Alice Springs. Then we'll take the Ghan train south to Adelaide. After a few days there we'll catch the Overland train to Melbourne. Awaiting us in Melbourne will be the motorhome we've reserved. We plan to spend the next 2 3/4 months traveling the east coast of your wonderful country, taking interesting side-roads along the way. We figure the weather will be pretty nice as we travel, being autumn, and by the time we get to Cairns winter will make that area more comfortable. We're older, 60, and are very protective of our comfort now! My husband was in the Canadian Navy and visited Brisbane and Melbourne in the eighties. He's talked about Australia for years. The internet has been invaluable for researching our trip and people like you make us even more anxious to get there. Thank you.


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