You Can Now Snag $49 Fares Between Sydney And Melbourne Thanks To A Delicious Airline Price War
Virgin Australia is shaking things up in an effort to match their competitor’s best offers, slashing prices on the Sydney to Melbourne route and extending its free date-change booking flexibility.
We love a price war because the winners are always the customers. The current battle is in the sky on the Sydney to Melbourne route with a very, very good price of $49 one way including checked baggage and refreshments.
Back in December, regional airline Rex decided to take on the big guns by announcing they were launching flights between major cities from March 2021, adding some much-needed competition. They started with $75 fares between Sydney and Melbourne, but from today you can actually snag them for $49 one way, with business fares $199 one way, in their excellently named ‘Rex and the Cities’ sale.
In response, Virgin Australia has reduced their sale fares further on the super popular route, coming out with an exact price match: $49 one-way economy fares and $199 one-way business fares.
While Qantas probably wont come to the party with such low fares, as part of their ‘1 million seat sale’ they announced customers can now enjoy unlimited flight date changes until at least January 2022, for bookings made by the end of April.
So what did Virgin Australia do? They amended their change and cancel fees too, waiving them for travel up to January, 31 2022 when you book by April, 30 2021.
This is our favourite kind of tit for tat.
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Here’s a summary of the current domestic flight sales
Rex
Offering one-way flights between Sydney and Melbourne for $49 economy, and $199 business class for travel in March when booked by February 28. This includes 23kg of checked baggage, seven kilos of carry on plus refreshments on board.
Rex has a COVID guarantee, offering the option of a full refund for all passengers who are directly affected by COVID-related border closures or travel restrictions, even if their flights continue to operate as scheduled. And yes, this includes promo and sale fares. Check the sale out here.
Virgin Australia
Offering $49 one-way economy fares and $199 one-way business fares between Sydney and Melbourne for flights in March, when booked by February 28. This also includes 23kg of checked baggage and seven kilos of carry on. A light snack and drink will be provided.
They have extended their ‘Flexible Flying’ policy for travel up to January 31, 2022 when you book by April 30, 2021. They’re also offering unlimited changes and waiving the change fee, and providing the option to cancel your booking and opt for a credit with no cancellation fee.
You don’t need to click on their current ‘Let the good times fly’ sale (which has fares from $75), just search for March dates normally to find the $49 fares. Check the sale out here.
Qantas
Running their ‘Spirit of Australia‘ sale, with more than one million seats on sale to 55 destinations starting from $99 and a boost to the premium-service offered on-board (read: complimentary beer and wine in economy, plus new hot meals like gourmet beef pies and roast chicken with tomato, garlic and lemon sauce).
The updated ‘Fly Flexible’ policy applies to all new domestic flight bookings for Qantas and QantasLink and Trans-Tasman services booked from now until at least the end of April, where you can have unlimited flight date changes until at least January 2022. Check out the sale, here.
No matter who you choose to fly with, one thing’s for certain – it’s time to plan that trip to Victoria and NSW.
(Lead image: Virgin Australia / Instagram)
