In honor of its 100th Birthday, Australian flag-carrier Qantas is offering a limited amount of $100 fares departing from its US gateways to Oz's big three airports: Melbourne (MEL), Sydney (SYD), and Brisbane (BNE)!
Seem like a deal too good to be true?! It might be – as yesterday's release crashed the website seconds after they were posted and after 45 minutes of continually receiving an error page, I finally gave up like many other customers looking to snag one of these golden tickets.
Despite overwhelming its website, Qantas said the sale will go on, and more fares $100 fares will be released today. Here's what to expect if you plan on trying your luck to secure one of these specially priced centennial seats.
- Fares will be released daily through Thursday, November 21, 2019, at 5pm EST/ 2pm PST.
- 100 tickets will be released each day.
- Fares are only available on select routes and specific flights, yesterday's release was only for a few outbound flights from LAX in late February and early March.
- $100 fares are broken up by flight, so only 10 will be available per flight number and city-pairing. (so if you're trying to snatch them for a whole family, your odds are nearly nil).
- Even though the sale is promoted as $100 one-way, a roundtrip purchase is required, meaning you'll be paying a little over $200 per itinerary after taxes.
- Expect outbound dates to be in spring 2020, and you must be flexible with your travel plans.
- If you secure a $100 outbound flight, return flights are wide-open and allow for returns through October 12, 2020. (blackout dates apply)
- San Francisco (SFO) to Melbourne and Brisbane, will be available today (Tuesday, November 19), likely followed by Chicago-ORD and Dallas-DFW.
- The website will likely crash again or run extremely slow, so have patience.
- Keep trying until the Qantas website lists the fares as sold out.
Needless to say, this is more of a gimmicky promotion, with the hope of snatching a $100 fares to Down Under a dream for most flyers, the demand will be immense, and the limited seat availability makes the odds of scoring a seat similar to winning the megabucks.
Can't seem to snag one of these honorary $100 fare deals? No worries, mate! Qantas is also offering a fantastic fare sale to go along with its anniversary celebration. While not quite $200 roundtrip, the carrier is listing fares starting at low as $695 roundtrip between 7 North American destinations to its Aussie hubs in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane.
Travel Availability
- Travel Period: Travel periods vary by route, but for the most part, you'll find departures available between late January and April 8, 2020, returns available onward. Chicago departures from early April through September 23, 2020, returns available onwards.
- Travel Days of the Week: Sale fares are valid for travel on Sunday through Wednesday, dependent on city pairing. With the occasional Thursday available.
- Minimum Stay: 7 days.
- Blackout Dates: Vary by route, click on links below to view.
Sale Period
Tickets must be purchased by Tuesday, November 26, 2019, at 11:59 pm PT.
Sample Sale Fares:
Cheap Flights to Sydney
Los Angeles to Sydney $695 roundtrip, nonstop
San Francisco to Sydney $699 roundtrip, nonstop
Vancouver to Sydney $831 roundtrip - USD
Dallas-DFW to Sydney $846 roundtrip, nonstop
Toronto to Sydney $983 roundtrip - USD
Chicago-ORD to Sydney $988 roundtrip
New York-JFK to Sydney $990 roundtrip
Cheap Flights to Melbourne
Los Angeles to Melbourne $698 roundtrip, nonstop
San Francisco to Melbourne $698 roundtrip, nonstop
Vancouver to Melbourne $833 roundtrip - USD
Dallas-DFW to Melbourne $846 roundtrip
Chicago-ORD to Melbourne $984 roundtrip
Toronto to Melbourne $985 roundtrip - USD
New York-JFK to Melbourne $997 roundtrip
Cheap Flights to Brisbane
Los Angeles to Brisbane $697 roundtrip, nonstop
San Francisco to Brisbane $697 roundtrip, nonstop
Vancouver to Brisbane $832 roundtrip - USD
Dallas-DFW to Brisbane $846 roundtrip
Toronto to Brisbane $983 roundtrip - USD
New York-JFK to Brisbane $996 roundtrip
Chicago-ORD to Brisbane $997 roundtrip, nonstop
Related: What's in a Name? 15 Airline Acronyms Explained
Baggage
Sale fares include a carry-on bag, a personal item, and two free checked bags up to 50lbs/23kg each.
Seat Assignments
Seat assignments will be assigned at random during check-in, advanced seat selection starts at $30 one-way
Example Booking
Searching the Qantas website, I found seats departing San Francisco SFO on Sunday, March 15, with a return flight from Brisbane BNE on Wednesday, March 24, 2020, for $697 roundtrip.
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